We made it ... to San Francisco :(

Well, our less than perfect beginning turned into more of a bad dream - we ended up having to deplane when they couldn't fix the mechanical problems and told us they were bringing in another plane ... that was JUST about to leave Denver - over 2 hours away! The people from United went back and forth trying to figure out what to do with those of us connecting to Honolulu (there were 65+ people on our plane making the connection - most of them teenagers for a soccer tournament). Would they hold the plane waiting for us in SF? Would they be able to find room for us on other planes that were already overbooked? Would they route us through LA or another connector?

Well, they sent the plane waiting for us onto Honolulu with the Marsdens on it while we waited in the airport. Apparently there were 75 people trying to get on that flight standby so I'm sure they were thrilled when there were suddenly 65 seats open! They got us on a flight to SF that left around 8:30 (original time of departure was 3:40). United wouldn't even give us food vouchers while we were stuck in the airport!! They gave them to the soccer players "because they were kids and they didn't have money." Um ... totally disagree!! Those kids were going to play soccer in Hawaii for heaven's sake - and many had their parents with them. They were hardly going without ... most had laptops, iPods, AND cell phones with them. I overheard one girl say her friend went and got a dozen cookies from Paradise Bakery with her voucher because she had already eaten. I would have liked one of those cookies during my LONG airport vigil!!!

So here we sit in San Francisco waiting to catch a flight to our "perfect vacation" tomorrow. United has been acting like they're doing us a favor putting us up in a hotel for the night and giving us a $10 voucher that we can use for breakfast in the airport while we wait tomorrow. Apparently they "upgraded" one of their other Honolulu flights tomorrow to a larger plane that could accommodate the extras from our flight ... thanks for going out of your way to help us!!! Trust me - United will be getting a letter from me after this fiasco!

To top it all off, our carry-on bag has our cameras, laptop, snacks, books, 4 swimsuits, and a cover up. We were told if we wanted to wait and pick up our luggage tonight (rather than having it sent right on to our new flight) it would take 2 hours. Needless to say we are sleeping in our clothes and won't be able to comb our hair tomorrow - really tough on Steve, I know ;) Guess that is our "what to pack in a carry-on" lesson. Good to know since it will probably be another 9 years before we travel again.

Just got a text from the Marsdens - they just landed in Honolulu. I bet the smell of plumeria is amazing. Can't wait to smell it for myself ... tomorrow. We should get there about 16 hours later than originally scheduled. At least we'll get there in time to hit the beach, get in some shopping, sip a tropical drink, and watch the sunset :)