Six hours – this is what we discovered is the time zone difference between Hawaii and Detroit. Since they request you get to the airport five hours before takeoff, our son Matt dropped us off at Metro at about 5:00 a.m. for our 7:00 a.m. flight. We were in Seattle by 9:00 a.m. for a short layover, back in the air by 10:30 a.m., and landed in Honolulu by 2:00 p.m. However, in our body clocks, it felt like 8:00 p.m. because of those six hours.
We gathered our luggage and started walking toward the exit, wondering how we would get to the hotel. As we approached the exit, less than ten feet away, we heard a gal say, “Norwegian Cruise Line looking for Monica and Mark Hetzner.” We were the last in the group of well over 20 people to arrive, and the first on the bus. By 3:30 p.m. we were registered, settled in our room, and ready to relax. Because of those six hours it felt like 9:30 p.m. We grabbed a little food by the pool – still in our traveling clothes and then struggled to stay awake as long as we could.
The following morning we needed to be up by 8:00 a.m. (ignoring the six hours) for our 9:00 a.m. excursion up the north shore of the island. Lots of beautiful scenery, but a rainy day. Our stop at Dole Plantation was too brief to include a train ride to see the actual plantation (this disappointed me). The Polynesian Cultural Center was interesting, but the consistent and fairly hard rainfall limited us at this place that definitely has a heavy Mormon presence.
Saturday morning we toured the south shore and the Kualoa Ranch and then were on the Pride of America by 4:30 p.m., although because of those six hours it still felt like 10:30 p.m. We arrived at Maui around 8:00 a.m. the following morning and immediately disembarked for a tour up the “Road to Hana” (this six hour or more tour was one of our favorites). There were at least 30 hairpin curves in a 15-mile stretch along a very narrow two-lane road (and multiple one-lane bridges) with the view of a waterfall at most every curve. One stop had us walking in a cave and on a black sand beach. Another gave us a great view of a group of large sea turtles. And I should mention, after those six hours of rain on Thursday we had perfect weather the rest of the trip.
Tuesday morning we docked at Hilo and took an excursion that included Volcanoes National Park – lots of steam ascending, and the following morning we heard that it started to erupt less than six hours after we left the park. Wednesday we docked at Kona and viewed the island by land in the morning and by sea in the afternoon. Thursday and Friday were spent at two different ports in Kauai. Yes, we toured the island, and yes, we were managing to get lots of great pool time in around the excursions. One of those evenings we attended an outstanding luau.
Friday night our bags were packed and outside our room before 10:00 p.m. Saturday was a long day because we had to be off the ship by 8:30 a.m. and our plane’s departure was not until 11:30 p.m.! We found a place to relax (for a cost) until a shuttle took us (and our luggage) to the airport around 2:00 p.m. I must say that the people at the Honolulu airport were outstanding.
First someone told us we could not check our baggage until 6:00 p.m. but gave us directions to a very comfortable place to wait. At 6:00 p.m. we were able to check our baggage with no line and given great directions to our gate. We were getting weary and still had four and a half hours until our plane would depart for Seattle (at least this was less than six!)
We arrived in Seattle around 8:00 a.m. and buckled down for another long day. It took us three shuttles to get from our landing terminal to our departure gate but we managed without any hiccups. We were feeling pretty dead as we boarded the last leg of our flight home at 9:30 a.m., with a Detroit arrival scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Because of that six-hour time change, we still are not sure how long our flight was (but I think it was about six hours).
The flight from Honolulu was a large plane with individual screens, but not so with the second leg. While the two people to my left on the first flight never said a word, the man on my left was more talkative as we flew to Detroit. We asked him if Detroit was his final destination, he said yes, and then said from Detroit he would be driving home to Frankenmuth! While he was a Bridgeport graduate (my high school’s crosstown rival) he had married a girl who was a classmate of Monica’s at FHS. He shared that his wife had passed away a year and a half ago, and he was on his way home from attending his brother’s funeral in Idaho. The time passed quickly as we learned much about his life. As we prepared to exit the plane he said, “By the way, what do you do?” I said, “I am a retired Lutheran pastor.” His immediate reaction was, “Wow! I did not see that coming.”
Rachel picked us up at the airport. We watched the conclusion of the Lion’s game as a family. And we are now basking in the blessings and exhaustion of the trip. At this point I am thinking two thoughts: 1) It will take us more like six days than six hours to recover. 2) Praise to our God in Christ Jesus for leading us, unexperienced travelers as we are in our 70’s, the entire way. There are many more stories to be told, but I will conclude with some words from Solomon, the wise: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.” (Proverbs 3.5-8)
