Praying Our Way Through The Traffic
This morning Bob, Marie and the 4 grandkids left at 9 am for La Jolla where they would meet up with Marie's sister for a couple hours of kayaking. The plan was for us to meet Bob and Austin near Camp Pendleton at 1:45 as the 3 of us had 5:45 pm flights from LAX - Austin to Phoenix and us to Hawaii.
After they left our house, we quickly cleaned up, did laundry, dishes, etc then packed, had lunch and picked up a rental car. It was a very hurried morning, but hey, we're going to Hawaii! The drive time to Pendleton is normally 40-min but not today. The traffic was unreal, often going 10 to 20 miles at 20 mph. We got to our rendezvous point at 2:15 (30 min later than planned). Austin jumped out of Bob's car and jumped into our rental and off we went to LAX. Like the southbound traffic, the northbound traffic was also really bad. A normal 1 1/2 hr drive was now a 2 1/2 hr drive and our flights were at 5:40 and we'd need to first drop off the car...ugh, do the math!
We decided our number one priority was to get Austin to his flight first and worst case scenario, we'd change our flight to Saturday night as there is only one non-stop flight daily to the Big Island. We were all anxious and Austin was so stressed he said he was praying we'd make it in time. He was very happy - and so were we - he got to stay all week but needed to get back to work Saturday morning.
The traffic was at a snails pace for 40 plus miles. The only way we'd make our flights was divine intervention (and remember, we had to drop off the rental car). We reached the airport at 4:45 and decided to first go to Terminal 6, Austin's terminal. Bill dropped Karen and Austin at the curb, they grabbed their bags (carry on only) and made a mad dash to TSA then his gate. He was worried and really needed Karen to help him know what to do and where to go. He made it! He made it! In fact, just in time as they had just started boarding. Karen said good bye and then she made a mad dash to our gate in Terminal 4, which is a pretty good distance away.
Meanwhile, Bill was racing out of LAX to the rental car return lot. Making our flight was a long shot. He asked for a personal car to take him to the terminal as the flight was boarding in 10-min. The manager had just left and no one was there to approve, so they told him to tell the shuttle bus driver to leave immediately. So off they went in heavy Friday night traffic to Terminal 4. About 100 yards from the AA Terminal, he decided to jump off the bus and run. Run Bill run!
Thank God he had pre-check and there was no one in line. At pre-check, he only had 10-min before they'd shut the boarding door then it happened. He got an electronic call from AA on his cell phone - boy is it nice to be an Executive Platinum member - saying we apologize but your flight is delayed 1-hr. What a blessing.
Meanwhile, Karen was speed walking from Terminal 6 and barely made it in time as well, not knowing the flight was delayed. Bill had sent her a text and called her but in her haste, she didn't hear her phone. And then, there she was, a little out of breath, practically arriving at the gate at the same as Bill...and they would have made the flight 5 min before the door was shut. Bill told her about the delay, which was an answer to their prayers, giving them time to grab dinner in the airport before heading the Hawaii.
The flight was wonderful and we had 3 seats in the emergency exit row all to ourselves. We arrived at the Mauna Kea Beach Resort at 10:45 pm (1:45 am Sat Calif time). As a Marriott Platinum Elite, they upgraded us to a beautiful ocean view room. In addition, they left us a nice congratulations card, champagne and fruit platter.
We would never had made it today without Austin and Karen's positive attitude that God would work a little miracle. What a 50th Wedding Anniversary to remember: a beautiful party hosted by Bob, April and the grandkids, celebrating with family and friends, a fun week spending time together with all of them and now a week in Hawaii. Thank you all for making the last 50-years so special. We have been blessed and look forward to our Hawaii adventure this week.
Aloha to all, and to all a good night. Stay tuned for future blogs.
After they left our house, we quickly cleaned up, did laundry, dishes, etc then packed, had lunch and picked up a rental car. It was a very hurried morning, but hey, we're going to Hawaii! The drive time to Pendleton is normally 40-min but not today. The traffic was unreal, often going 10 to 20 miles at 20 mph. We got to our rendezvous point at 2:15 (30 min later than planned). Austin jumped out of Bob's car and jumped into our rental and off we went to LAX. Like the southbound traffic, the northbound traffic was also really bad. A normal 1 1/2 hr drive was now a 2 1/2 hr drive and our flights were at 5:40 and we'd need to first drop off the car...ugh, do the math!
We decided our number one priority was to get Austin to his flight first and worst case scenario, we'd change our flight to Saturday night as there is only one non-stop flight daily to the Big Island. We were all anxious and Austin was so stressed he said he was praying we'd make it in time. He was very happy - and so were we - he got to stay all week but needed to get back to work Saturday morning.
The traffic was at a snails pace for 40 plus miles. The only way we'd make our flights was divine intervention (and remember, we had to drop off the rental car). We reached the airport at 4:45 and decided to first go to Terminal 6, Austin's terminal. Bill dropped Karen and Austin at the curb, they grabbed their bags (carry on only) and made a mad dash to TSA then his gate. He was worried and really needed Karen to help him know what to do and where to go. He made it! He made it! In fact, just in time as they had just started boarding. Karen said good bye and then she made a mad dash to our gate in Terminal 4, which is a pretty good distance away.
Meanwhile, Bill was racing out of LAX to the rental car return lot. Making our flight was a long shot. He asked for a personal car to take him to the terminal as the flight was boarding in 10-min. The manager had just left and no one was there to approve, so they told him to tell the shuttle bus driver to leave immediately. So off they went in heavy Friday night traffic to Terminal 4. About 100 yards from the AA Terminal, he decided to jump off the bus and run. Run Bill run!
Thank God he had pre-check and there was no one in line. At pre-check, he only had 10-min before they'd shut the boarding door then it happened. He got an electronic call from AA on his cell phone - boy is it nice to be an Executive Platinum member - saying we apologize but your flight is delayed 1-hr. What a blessing.
Meanwhile, Karen was speed walking from Terminal 6 and barely made it in time as well, not knowing the flight was delayed. Bill had sent her a text and called her but in her haste, she didn't hear her phone. And then, there she was, a little out of breath, practically arriving at the gate at the same as Bill...and they would have made the flight 5 min before the door was shut. Bill told her about the delay, which was an answer to their prayers, giving them time to grab dinner in the airport before heading the Hawaii.
The flight was wonderful and we had 3 seats in the emergency exit row all to ourselves. We arrived at the Mauna Kea Beach Resort at 10:45 pm (1:45 am Sat Calif time). As a Marriott Platinum Elite, they upgraded us to a beautiful ocean view room. In addition, they left us a nice congratulations card, champagne and fruit platter.
We would never had made it today without Austin and Karen's positive attitude that God would work a little miracle. What a 50th Wedding Anniversary to remember: a beautiful party hosted by Bob, April and the grandkids, celebrating with family and friends, a fun week spending time together with all of them and now a week in Hawaii. Thank you all for making the last 50-years so special. We have been blessed and look forward to our Hawaii adventure this week.
Aloha to all, and to all a good night. Stay tuned for future blogs.
Wow, not a relaxing start to your trip. So glad everything worked out in the end...enjoy those tropical breezes and sounds of the surf!
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