Last Day on Maui
Today was sadly our last day on Maui. We had an 11:30 flight and a week of accumulated things to clean up in the hotel room, so we got an early start. After unscrewing the fins from our board and rolling up the kites, we packed and then repacked all the other junk. After stopping at Safeway and the gas station, we returned the rental car and were sucked backed to reality by the typically efficient airport staff. After waiting in line and finally getting to the head of the line, the counter lady informed us that we needed to go back to the agricultural x-ray scanner, and then come back to the end of the line. Of course, there were no signs anywhere, and everyone else had to do the same thing! ATA had overbooked on this flight (as had been the case for our other flight), so they were offering $300 vouchers for volunteers, which we signed up for. It still meant checking in and going to the gate, however. Along the way, the brilliant TSA people refused to hand check my film, and we ran into *another* x-ray machine, this time an outgoing agricultural check... which meant that Chloe and I had to eat most of the apple-bananas and ice cream" bananas we had bought yesterday at the swap meet. I felt slightly ill after eating three bananas. We pressed on, not knowing whether we wanted another night on Maui and free ticket vouchers, or to go back home. In the end, because of a clerical snafu on the part of ATA, we got onto the originally scheduled flight.
This was the first time we had used a package deal (hotel+flight+car) and I think I would probably do it again, especially since seasoned hawaiigoers tell me that the flight+hotel can sometimes be cheaper than just the flight!
As we took off westward, we looked down and saw the wakes of kiteboarders on kite and canoe beach below. Dave was probably down there, but I couldn't pick out his kite.
