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I'm sitting in the Gate 16 waiting area at Honolulu International Airport. My flight doesn't leave until 13:45 - another two hours and twenty minutes away. The flight isn't even on the departure boards yet!
There is an Hawaiian band playing songs with "jazzy" music and Hawaiian lyrics on the concourse near the next gate down. Not bad.
I'm getting hungry - and I don't have any American money left! I could change some Australian dollars. I'll see how desperate I get.
It's not hot and sunny like the last time I was here. It's warm (85°F - 29°C) and cloudy. The mountains outside the windows look pretty neat.
I woke at 05:30 this morning and changed quickly, throwing my pyjamas into my suitcase and locking it up. Allison was over shortly thereafter and made eggs with bacon bits for breakfast. Her dad got up too and wished us goodbye.
Allison and I left home (it really does seem like home!) at about 06:15 and arrived at the airport about 07:40. I checked in and then we wandered around and looked at some junky tourist shops for a while. Then it was goodbye time.
We made it short - Allison didn't want to have the chance to get sad. A quick hug and kisses on cheeks and I went into the gate area. Forgetting to pass my camera around the metal detector frame! Beep... beep... beep! That made the moment a bit lighter. We waved bye as I turned the corner. I looked back just before rounding the wall, but I couldn't see her - the glass in the way was glaring, though, so she may still have been there.
And now I won't see her until I have no idea when. Sigh! [As it turned out, I saw Allison again just three years later, when she invited me to her wedding in 1993. Not to Carl; to a great guy named Terry.]
Gate 20 across the way (my gate) just flashed a sign change. It reads flight HA451 to Pago Pago at 12:45. I guess that's mine, but my ticket says the flight leaves at 13:45. Oh well. We'll see. I think I'll go check.
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