Day 1 - The Trip Thus Far

This being our 15th trip to Maui, we%26#39;ve manage to settle into a fairly predictable routine that works for us... an early morning flight out of LAX, carry-on only to get us through the airports quickly, pick up the car and lunch on the rail at Kimos before checking into our hotel. That gets me on the beach by mid afternoon and the travel day is redeemed. And we%26#39;ve never really had any difficulties before so the law of averages were against us.

Well - I should have suspected things were heading south when yesterday, while we were getting things ready to leave, my wife dropped her laptop. It%26#39;s now in Geek Squad day-camp while we%26#39;re gone.

Arriving at the airport this morning, we discover that American Airlines has new criteria for carry on and is screening everyone rather aggressively. Not only must your bag fit into the new, smaller measuring frame, but it must slide in and out of the frame effortlessly. So for the first time in at least 6 years, we had to check our bags - at $15 a pop. Mumbling my way through the security line, my wife drops (note her tendency to drop things above) her little plastic bag of liquids and shatters a bottle of nail polish. Now we must go on a terminal safari to find nail polish remover in order to clean everything off before doing anything else.

Settling into my seat on the jam packed flight I discover my seat is broken. I feel like I%26#39;m going to slide off into the aisle for the whole 5 hour flight. And needless to say, our bags are like the last ones off the carousel in Kahului (I%26#39;m guessing punishment for the crime of trying to sneak them into an overhead bin). Finally - we%26#39;re in our Sebring convertible and on our way. But it%26#39;s now 2:30 and we%26#39;re both seriously hungry... and noticing that the trunk on the car doesn%26#39;t seem to be closed. So we pull into Ma%26#39;alea to get some food and close the trunk. Yup - you got it. It won%26#39;t close. The latch seems to be broken, so back to Kahului we go to get a different car.

I%26#39;m happy to say, though that the remainder of the trip into West Maui was uneventful. In fact - the weather is gorgeous, the water is calm, and I%26#39;m settling in. Went over to Whaler%26#39;s tonight for a bit of ';comfort food'; at the Hula Grill after our long day. It did not disappoint. Cane and Taro, however is nowhere near completion. I asked our waiter and he said no one is saying a date at this point. Several other shops in Whaler%26#39;s are closed and borded up as well, including the great bookstore on the upper level. There%26#39;s a large new strip mall on the east side of the main road across from the Cannery Mall that has a Borders in it. But it%26#39;s another 10 minutes down the road. Seems unbelievable to me that with all of those resorts in Ka%26#39;anapali a bookstore couldn%26#39;t make it there.

More to come. Going to go let the waves lull me to sleep now.

Day 1 - The Trip Thus Far

Oh, what a trip! You seemed to take it well!

I%26#39;m glad you mentioned AA checking bag size. My carry-on fits in the overhead, but would never fit in those small frames that I%26#39;ve seen. I guess I%26#39;ll have to find a bag!

The best part must have been the beautiful weather. It makes up for everything!

Sad news about the book store. I loved their selection of Hawaiian books.

Have a great trip! Keep the reports coming!

Day 1 - The Trip Thus Far

Were you flying on a 757 out of LAX? Do you think that now the lines charge for checked luggage more passengers are trying to go with only carry-on?

(So happy not to be a flight attendant in these times!)

What a travel day...thank goodness your destination was Maui. You need beach relief / lanai time.

We leave for Tampa on AA in two days..I%26#39;ll double check to see how the bags slide...thanks for the heads up.

VC,

Thanks for the trip report. The info about luggage is most helpful to me as well. We will be flying American to Maui in a couple of weeks.

Sorry to hear of computer and car problems. Hopefully that will be all of that!!

Anxious to hear more when you have time.

The same thing happened to us with the seabring trunk. We were about 20 minutes out of the airport and I wanted a hat to shield the sun so I opened the trunk and then it wouldnt shut. We made them bring us another car. What a pita but we quickly shook it off and enjoyed the rest of the ride. Looking forward to reading more.

VC - Tell %26#39;Murphy%26#39; to go home! It%26#39;s not funny, I know it must have been unnerving and frustrating, as well as an uncomfortable flight. It%26#39;s very good to hear that you arrived safe and sound, got your comfort food, and hope you slept well.

Also sorry that you will have to go even further to pile up on books! Those big book stores are killing the smaller ones. Remember ';The Shop Around the Corner';? More recently known as ';You%26#39;ve got Mail';? sad, but true.

Here%26#39;s hoping that the remainder of your vacation is smooth sailing!

Nice trip report VC so far-and yes when we were in maui last july there were more than a few retail stores in whaler%26#39;s village closing-that was at the start of the recission and Aloha Airlines going under.

Guess you should be happy you are there safely and everything is going well now. Enjoy.

Wow had to read it twice. Glad the weather is nice.

Thanks for the carryon tip. Hawaiian Airlines is weighing carryons. Can%26#39;t be over 25 pounds.

What a start to your trip! Good attitude though... Enjoy the rest of your trip.