Losing Track of Time

** Note, this was supposed to be posted on the 9th, but my lack of internet kept me from posting.  I just transferred from Word.

Confession time: I am 26 years old, and the farthest I have ever flown by myself was from Honolulu to Kona. For those readers who are unfamiliar with interisland travel in Hawai’i, that’s a whopping 40 minute flight. So, as can be imagined, I was a little worried as I headed off on the first steps in my awesome summer adventure this morning.

   

Thankfully, I have a super boyfriend who took off of work this morning to escort me to the airport. He also made sure I had something in my tummy before takeoff. The first leg of my journey took me from Maui to Los Angeles. Departure was set for 12:58pm with an ETA of 9:08pm. I thought that this would be perfect because my connecting flight to Raleigh/Durham was at 10:15pm – just enough time to get a snack and head to the gate. The flight was pretty easy peasy lemon squeezy – I sat next to Nick, a well-behaved 8th grader who spent most of the ride reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Yes, I was thoroughly impressed! All was well until I noticed that the airplane made a 365 degree turn. Sure enough, the captain came over the speaker in that low, mumbly pilot voice that seems to be the same no matter what airline you travel on:

“Good evening, passengers. As you may have noticed, we are turning around in a circle. Please do not be alarmed. We just got word from LAX that Vice President Biden will be taking off shortly and they need to clear the area around the airport of all planes. We have been put into a holding pattern and will have to continue flying until we get the clear to land at 9:00pm local time.”

I thought that this would be no problem until we were in the holding pattern for what felt like forever. The minutes dragged on mostly because I rely too heavily on technology to tell me the time and find no reason to wear a watch … I think I just found a reason. Finally we got the clear to land. As soon as we touched ground, I rummaged through my purse to locate my phone, held down the on key, and anxiously awaited for the Motorolla jingle that sounds when my phone powers on. The screen flashed 9:40pm and panic began to set in. We were still taxiing and the pilot announced that we would have to wait to get towed into the gate. Not to mention, I was sitting in row 43 of 45. Twenty minutes later, I erupted from the mouth of gate 33, frantically searching for the nearest Delta agent. She calmly let me know that my flight would be leaving out of gate 34A – right beyond the wall. The travel gods were watching over me today – unfortunately, the snack gods were not. Darn you, Vice President Biden, darn you.

I boarded the plane to Raleigh/Durham with a growling stomach. A $1 breakfast burrito, cup of OJ, and plane pretzels is not enough to sustain life for very long. This was all negated by the fact that I sat next to yet another pleasant passenger, Doug, who was on his way to Raleigh to visit his brother. After chatting with him for a while, the hunger subsided. Even though we sat in the plane for about an hour before taking off, I was happy. I closed my eyes and didn’t wake up until the sun was rising. Awaiting me was something I had never seen before: a massive amount of land. Rivers, lakes, and fields passed below, colored by the oranges and blues of a brand new day. Mainland travelers may take this for granted, but it sure was a sight for little ol’ me who is used to flying over nothing but clouds and ocean. Call me cheesy, but the view got me singing “America, the Beautiful” in my head as the plane glided down.

My not so little, little sister is hosting me for the next couple of days in Durham and Winston/Salem. North Carolina is beautiful and green – very different from the islands. Janna took me to Waffle House to satiate my hunger and give me a taste of what food in the South is like. After a hearty meal of biscuits and gravy and a breakfast sandwich and creamy grits I was one happy camper.

We toured Duke University, where I was blown away by their beautiful library. We ate Pho for linner (not quite lunch, but not quite dinner) – who knew I could get Vietnamese cuisine out here? We ended our night with lots of catching up, talking story, chilling out with Law and Order SVU, and sipping on delicious milkshakes from Cook Out.

We’ve got another busy day tomorrow, so I’d better get some sleep. I just wish that I could figure out this whole time zone thing … I’m really losing track of time!