It is our final day here on Maui but we do not fly home until 11:10pm. The check out time at Kahana Village is 10:00am. The problem is then what do you do for the entire day with all of your luggage before heading to the airport. Karen noticed that there was a booking for tomorrow but no one coming in today. Before we arrived, she contacted the office and was able to get us a 1/2 day in the condo. This meant that we could stay at the condo until we had to leave for the airport. That is a pro tip … always check to see if you can get a late check-out.
After breakfast, we decided to go to Kahekili Beach Park. Earlier in the week, I struck up a conversation with Dr. Tom. He was also a guest at Kahana Village. In chatting with him, he told us about this beach. He said if you get there early enough, you can find a free parking spot and that the beach has facilities and shade. We got there around 9:30am and sure enough we got a free parking spot. We spent the next couple of hours soaking up the last of our vacation.
On the way back to the condo, Karen says let’s get lunch from L& L Hawaiian Barbecue which is in the same mall as the Times Supermarket. As we were parking the car, we saw a Dole Whip sign at Pizza Paradiso. After we got our fried noodles, we walked across the parking lot and got ourselves a Dole Whip.
We finished up our lunch and then it was time to pack up. I managed to get everything in the suitcase but I knew it was overweight. My reward for getting done was to go and relax by the pool. About an hour or so later, I headed back to the condo so that we could do some cleaning up.
We picked up dinner from The Fish Market which we enjoyed on the lanai with an incredible sunset. I sure am going to miss eating out here. We did some final clean up and by 6:10pm, we were on our way to the airport.
I dropped Karen and Paula off at the terminal while I went and dropped the car off. While I was gone, Karen went and weighed our suitcases. Hers was 61lbs and mine was 64lbs. I was right, I was overweight. She ended up taking things out of her suitcase and I decided not to bother. I was going to take my chances with the gate agent. When the check-in counter finally opened at 8:10pm, they did end up charging me $100 USD. At least the flight was free. I think next time, I am going to make room in my suitcase and bring a duffle bag. It would have been cheaper for me to check a second bag. In the mean time, we got a text saying that our flight to Vancouver was delayed until 11:40pm.
Security was a breeze thanks to having TSA PreCheck and by 8:25pm, we were sitting at Gate 27. The airport was pretty quiet. We spent the next couple of hours relaxing, reading and watching whatever I had downloaded to my iPad.
Finally at just after 11:00pm, it was time to board. Karen and I got settled in seats 26D and 26E, while Paula was back a few rows. It was a full plane, The flight to Vancouver was ok but I was not able to get comfortable. I managed to get a couple of short naps in-between watching a movie and listening to podcasts.
I can’t remember what time we landed in Vancouver but I seem to recall it was after 7:30am. After we got through Canadian Customs, we headed over to Gate C50. Our 9:10am flight to Toronto was not boarding until 8:25am, so Karen and I went to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge which was nearby. The lounge is on the smaller side but there was a good selection of breakfast items.
When we got back to the gate, we noticed that the lines for boarding zones were very confusing. We got ourselves into a line which we hoped was for Zone 2. Eventually once boarding started, we figured out where we needed to be. When we chose our seats, we picked 37D (Dorothy), 37E (left it empty), 37F (Karen) and 37G (Paula). We were betting that 37E would remain empty. Unfortunately it was a full flight and therefore Karen and I had a stranger between us
The plane left on time and the next 4-1/2 hours was spent trying to keep the stranger from leaning on me, napping, playing games and watching TV. The flight seemed to go by pretty quick.
We landed in Toronto around 4:30pm to a much different temperature than when we left Hawaii. It always seems that our gate is the furthest from the baggage claim. Along the way, I ran into Santa who was getting his boots shined. After we collected our suitcases, Karen texted her brother Ross who came and picked us up. We had a short visit with him and his wife Susie before heading home. We dropped Paula at home in Guelph and then we arrived at my house around 7:00pm. We were greeted by Nana and Maui.
Another great trip and time to start planning the next one.
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