If you could go anywhere for your birthday, where would you want to go

It’s birthday vacation time and this year things were a bit different.  We had a change of plans at the last minute and therefore we did not have time to do any planning.  So on Tuesday night we are at Karen’s house trying to figure out where we wanted to go.  One option was an Alaskan cruise from Seattle, Washington.  We were able to get a great deal on the cruise, but unfortunately we could not find decently priced flights.  Next option was a driving trip down the coast of California.  We could get two free flights but the logistics of finding hotel rooms on short notice put that idea out the window.  All of a sudden Karen says to me we could go to Maui because there are cheap flights.  To make a long story short, within a half an hour we had our flights, car rental and accommodations  booked.

We left home at 8am and stopped in with the Toronto Maloneys.  Uncle Ross was at the cottage but we did get to visit with Susie, Greg and Liz.  The purpose off our visit was twofold.  Number one they were kind enough to let us park the car at their house and drop us off at the airport.  Number two was that Liz had a couple of passes to the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.  After a very quick visit, Liz dropped us off at the airport.

It did not take us long to go through check-in or security since the airport was deserted.  We did not encounter any lines.  Maybe the trick is to fly on Saturday afternoons.  This left us with two hours to spend in the Air  Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.  The lounge is a quiet place where special Air Canada passengers can hang out.  It has free food, magazines, Wi-Fi and booze.  We started off with breakfast and shortly before lunch, Karen and I each decided to have a drink.  Karen went with the white wine while I enjoyed Crown Royal.  I think I might splurge for the lounge in the future.  I feel it is well worth the $25.

We made our way to the gate to catch our first flight to Los Angeles.  We had enough Aeroplan miles (60000 miles and $256.12 in taxes) to fly to Maui for free.  The flight seemed to go by quickly and five hours later, we landed in Los Angeles.  We had to change terminals to catch our second flight with United.  Before boarding, I was paged to the ticket counter where the ticket agent asked me if I minded having my seat switched.  There was a family that was trying to get seated together.  I told the agent that I did not mind but could he somehow accommodate putting Karen and I together since we were going to be separated.  He put us in the exit row for no charge.  The extra legroom was fantastic but the seats were really narrow.  I don’t know why but this flight seemed to take forever.  Five and a half hours later, we landed in Maui to warm ocean breezes.

We grabbed out bags and headed over to Hertz to pick up our Chevy Equinox ($215.43 USD including taxes).  Before going to the condo, we stopped at Safeway to pick up a few groceries.  We are staying at the Kealia Resort ($1122.82 USD including taxes) in unit 202.

Time for me to sign off since my body thinks it’s 4am.