Aloha!

We got to the airport to leve for Hawaii pretty late. Then my ticket said Mara, so they wouldn't let me through security. United couldn't change my name, so I had to go through the entire security rigamarole. Oh my gosh! I had to go through the puffer machine that sniffs for drugs, and then they specially screened all my bags, rubbedthem down with those little cloth, and then emptied everthing out. At one point I told Stephanie I was a drug mule and the security guard said, "Hey, someone's gotta do it. It pays the rent." It's good he had a sense of humor about it. Anyway, by the time we got through to the gate, we were the last few people to get on the plane...but we made it!

Then, thanks in large part to Stephanie's ability to divide by two, I won the contest to guess what time we would reach the half-way point. Stephanie was a runner up. We cheered and the flight attendant congratulated us. I won three containers of macadamia nuts, which is much better than the time I won wine, but Stephanie thought I should have won a plane ticket. At any rate, we were both pretty proud of this little victory and repeated the story to my parents, who apparently didn't hear them call out names.

The last of the amusements for the day came when I got to call 411 for Snorkel Bob's number. The lady thought I said "Local Bombs" which caused me to completely crack up on the phone, and she joked back that she might have to call the cops, and then she put me through to Snorkel Bob. That was the funniest mis-hearing ever!

Stephanie saw her first whale breach. Out hotel has apparently been taken over by mongeese. They're everywhere. We have a beautiful view from our rooms, no doubt thanks to David, and even though Stephanie fell asleep at 8:30 Hawaii time, I think she's having fun. We'll see what adventures tomorrow brings.