Two Tickets To Paradise!

Our Trip to Maui, December 2011

There is an old saying that goes something like this -"There is no place like home!"

Last week, my wife Laura and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a trip to Maui, Hawaii! Laura had been planning the trip for over a year and was really looking forward to this special anniversary trip. She spent countless hours on the computer looking for the best deals on airfare and hotel prices. Like Sherlock Holmes looking for clues at a murder scene, she scanned website after website researching and praying for the ultimate in deals. Of course, I did my share in the preparation and planning of the trip - I stayed out of her way! 

When the big day came for us to leave, we were filled with great excitement and anticipation! Visions of waterfalls, palm trees, pineapples, gentle blue ocean waves, and numerous other customary Hawaiian scenes danced through our heads. Little did we realize what lay ahead of us prior to arrival at our tropical paradise.

We arrived at Detroit Metro Airport at approximately 10:00am for our 12:00pm flight. The usual flight check-in and security lanes went smoothly and quickly, but - like the Apostle Paul on his trip to Rome - we thought that we had obtained what we wanted. However, soon a storm of hurricane force blew down upon us! After taking our seats on the plane, the real adventure was about to begin!

I received an aisle seat near the rear of the plane with Laura getting the middle seat next to me. Soon after a very smooth liftoff, the plane climbed and leveled off at 32,000 feet. At that point, all 250 passengers decided they needed to use the one bathroom located at the back of the plane. A large line formed in the aisle, and passengers took turns kneeing me in the leg, elbowing me in the shoulder, or just stepping on my feet - which were NOT in the aisle way! I felt like Joe Frazier getting pummeled by Muhammad Ali. If that wasn't enough to get me riled, a strange odor began to emanate all around me from an unknown location. I thought someone may have had an accident or maybe a baby needed to be changed, but whatever it was, the smell just intensified to where it was becoming overwhelming! I could not locate the source of the smell, and assumed that someone in line didn't quite make it to the bathroom, but made it to near my seat.

 

As soon as the odor faded and I could breath again, a very young child on board began to cry and throw a temper tantrum! Once again, this child was in my vicinity and could not be quieted by his mother. Louder and louder grew the cries of this young child until his screaming became ear piercing and nerve rattling! On and on he went for almost the entire four and a half hours of the trip to Los Angeles! Besides this, the constant flow of people wanting to use the bathroom NEVER stopped - and neither did the pounding I took!

Once the plane landed in Los Angeles, all 250 passengers rose in unison to get off the plane. Why people in the middle and the back of planes don't wait until the person in front of them gets up, removes their stored items, and then begins walking down the aisle to get off is a question that will never be answered! Like Job questioning God, I wanted to know why people stand and think they are going to get off the plane any quicker when there is a multitude of people in front of them who haven't moved for 45 minutes!  

After finally getting off the plane, Laura and I were hungry and wanted something to eat since we were going to be on another plane for another 4-5 hours! The Los Angles Airport Delta Terminal was undergoing renovation and almost every restaurant was closed! We did manage to find a restaurant that made horrible pizza. We ordered a pizza and waited to eat, mentally exhausted from the symphony of screaming we heard non-stop on the plane! 

Our stay in Los Angles was short, and we were soon back on another plane for another five-hour flight! Once again like magic, the bathroom line formed once we leveled off and the pounding I formerly took resumed with uninterrupted intensity! The flight, thank God, was relatively calm until we landed in Maui! Then once again the "exit the plane scene" unfolded before us like a bad rerun of an old Twilight Zone episode!

Inside the airport at Maui, Laura went to the car rental station to get our rental car. Unfortunately, the center was closed because it was already 10:00pm Hawaii time. We were instructed to go to the main rental office that was outside the airport grounds. A shuttle would take us to the main office - we just had to walk two blocks with all our suitcases to get to the shuttle stop. Upon approaching the shuttle stop, we could see the bus shuttle getting ready to depart. It was not full of people but it began to pull away from the curb to begin its route to the rental car offices. Laura began yelling at the driver to stop, but the bus continued to pull away. Her voice rose like the screaming kid on the plane, but she still did not get the driver's attention. I could see that the driver "saw" us, but he was not going to stop. Laura began running after the shuttle like the Tyrannosaurus Rex chasing the Jurassic Park jeep in the movie Jurassic Park. Unable to stop the shuttle, we had to wait 45 minutes for the next shuttle to arrive and transport us to our car rental office. Needless to say, I somewhat missed the screaming kid on the plane compared to Laura screaming for 45 minutes about the shuttle driver.

Once we obtained the rental car, we were off to the hotel, which was 45 minutes away. The drive was uneventful, but that was the way we wanted and liked it! The remainder of the vacation was great with all sorts of beautiful sights, sounds, smells, adventures, and meeting new people. It would be impossible to describe them all accurately and fairly in this small post, so you will have to grab Laura or me over the next few weeks so that we can tell you about them.

When it came time to leave Hawaii, we were both excited to get back home to family and church and share the experiences we enjoyed even though it was very hard to leave the beautiful weather and scenery. Visiting Maui was wonderful, and the memories we have will last a lifetime, but our hearts truly belong at Downriver because there is really only one place you can call home! Who says you can't go home...! Maybe Laura!

  

I've spent 20 years trying to get out of this place
I was looking for something I couldn't replace
I was running away from the only thing I've ever known
Like a blind dog without a bone
I was a gypsy lost in the twilight zone
I hijacked a rainbow and crashed into a pot of gold 

I've been there done that and I ain't looking back on the seeds I've sown.
saving dimes, spending too much time on the telephone....
Who says you can't go home

Who says you can't go home
there's only one place they call you one of their own
Just a hometown boy born a rolling stone
Who says you can't go home

Who says you cant go back been all around the world and as a matter of fact
there's only one place left I wanna go
who says you can't go home
Its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright

I went as far as I could trying to find a new face
There isn't one of these lines that I would erase
I left a million miles of memories on that road
every step I take I know that I'm not alone
You can take the home from the boy but not the boy from his home
these are my streets the only life I've ever known
Who says you can't go home


Who says you can't go home
there's only one place they call you one of their own
just a hometown boy born a rolling stone
Who says you can't go home

Who says you can't go back been all around the world and as a matter of fact
there's only one place left I wanna go
who says you can't go home

Guitar(solo)

Doesn't matter where you are
Doesn't matter where you go
If its a million miles away
or just a mile up the road
take it in, take it with you when you go
Who says you can't go home

Who says you can't go back
been all around the world
and as a matter of fact
there's only one place left I wanna go
Who says you cant go home
its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright

Who says you can't go home
its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright

Who says you can't go home
its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright, its alright

Who says you can't go home!

Mele Kalikimaka!

Stay Holy, My Friends!

Pastor Don