LEAVING THE STATES TODAY

09-23-2014

7:00 AM

I awoke a little early and went downstairs to smoke a cigarette.  The "free" breakfast was being served so I got dolly a cup of coffee and some peanut butter and went back to the room.  We watched CNN with the news about the bombing in Syria.  Really interesting and a little sad.  We had not gotten our boarding passes so we went to the Business Center to print them.  We did everything, but the printer was not working.  Dolly had them sent to email.  We got some of the free breakfast and went back to the room to prepare to check out.  Our flight was not until 11:55 PM.  We were going to go and look around and then hang out a Judi's place.  She and Brook were going to take us to the airport in the evening.

 

While we were getting our stuff together, Judi called and told us that the Air France pilots were on strike.  Dolly called the airline and she was told that our flight had been cancelled and we would be placed on the same flight the next day at 11:55 PM.

 

After some frustrating conversation with the agent, Dolly gave me the phone and I explained that we had commitments that could not be changed.  He asked me to hold a bit while he checked on some other options.  He said he could put us on Air Tahiti Nui leaving at 11:10 PM and arriving in Papetee at about 5:00 AM the next morning.  We accepted and we were booked.  He said he would email everything to us.  Dolly got an email shortly thereafter, but I had not gotten one.  We went out to LAX to go to Air Tahiti Nui, but we discovered that the counter did not open until 6 PM.  We wanted to get our boarding passes and seat assignments, but that did not happen.  Dolly called customer service and told the representative that I had not gotten my confirmation by email.  She said she would send it right way.  She did and all was well.

We kind of just chilled at Judi's place in the late afternoon.  We had to wait for Brook to come home from work.  Eventually, Brook got home and we sat around for a while.  I had to take the minivan back and then we had to leave there and go to the airport.  I had already filled the tank, so it should be a breeze.  We left and they followed me to the rental office.  Sure enough, it was a quick process getting checked in.  Judi and Brook dropped us at the William Bradley International Terminal and bid us safe travel.

We went to the Air Tahiti Nui counter and slowly made it to the front.  We transacted our business and went to security.  That did not take long and we were headed toward the food area.  We found what we wanted and found seats to eat.  It wasn't long before they were calling our flight to begin boarding.

The flight left on time and we were on our way to French Polynesia.  Check us out tomorrow.

The Day Has Come

09-22-2014

6:00 AM

I arose prior to the sound of the clock radio.   I lay in bed for a while.  Today is the first day of our journey to French Polynesia.   We are on a non-stop flight to LA at 9:15 AM.  It's a beautiful day.  Cloudless and the temperature is just perfect. 

We got a Lyft car to transport us to Reagan National Airport.  After checking our bags we eventually went to the waiting area for our call to board the plane.  The flight was almost booked solid.  The ticket person gave me an exit row seat that appeared to have been vacant.  Dolly and I would not be sitting together.  That was only OK, but nothing more than OK.  The flight was good and uneventful. 

I called the rental agency for our minivan and they told me to take the parking lot bus to Lot 1 and there would be a driver waiting for us.  We caught the next bus and got off at Lot 1.  the driver was there waiting for us and took us to the office.  Dolly was concerned that the vehicle had not tags on it.  I had inquired about that and the clerk told me as long as I had the contract, I was legal.

We got a rental minivan and proceeded down the street to our hotel, the Best Western Suites Plus.    It is close to the airport.  We got settled in and connected with Judi and Brook.  We arranged to get together later in the evening for dinner.  Brook worked a little late so Dolly and I picked up Judi and Brook was going to meet us at the restaurant.  We had decided on FWD, Fishing With Dynamite.  It was an interesting small place in Manhattan Beach.  Brook came about 30 minutes later.

We had a great meal in a nice atmosphere.  The food was excellent and the music was "kicking".  We all had a great time and enjoyed each other.  We left and headed our respective ways.  It was a good evening.