Fly Hawaiian...

we only fly on one airline, Hawaiian.  Actually haven't flown anything else for 

many, many years.  

Hubby is one of their Platinum members.

I'm a gold member and we both have gotten the "TSA Pre" on our 

boarding passes.  Not that I fly that much, but I guess they do keep track.

Since I only take a carry on (we have all the necessities at the MH), I don't

spend a lot of time in the lobby, but it is nice.

after going through security, and maybe the lounge, I get on the Wiki Wiki shuttle

to the gate. It can be either 24, 25 or 26. Then I wait.  I'm always happy when

I see the plane waiting…we'll leave right on time.

I was wondering if some day they're going to re-do the retro-looking light fixtures at these gates.

Yes, I do love my early boarding!

I have one of the "official" Hawaiian Airlines blankets and

I really do use it.

when I get to LAX, I call my ride when I get to the gate and it's off to SC.

So noisy here!

return trip, go through the crazy security at LAX.  

every time the "TSA Pre" has been different and I can't

figure out if they really don't know what they're doing or they change

the rules all the time.

back to my early boarding

this last trip there was a problem with the air conditioner and all the power shut down

while they were boarding.  

Not Good.

The Captain came out and explained that they were trying to fix it.

My friend, Grace a FA for Hawaiian was texting me and she also said that

we didn't want to get off and have to go to another gate…delay of about 2 hours if

they do that.

We love Hawaiian Airlines.

Hubby flies so much on the same route that they know him.

He sometimes has to fly other airlines on the mainland for business and always

says how different Hawaiian is.

Hawaiian Airlines, the true spirit of Aloha.

MOA and a Little Food Crawl...

Traci and I had decided that we weren't going to go to the Mall of America (MOA),

but we read that there was an amusement park there.  So we looked at maps and 

figured out exactly where to park and decided to be there exactly when it opened and there WOULDN'T be any shopping!

We got there a little after it opened and were surprised that there weren't many people there.

The park is right in the middle of the mall and I have to admit, pretty cool.  It was so clean and

uncrowded.  We were talking to someone and they said it wasn't crowded because the weather outside

was so nice and people were glad to be out...so why stay in.

Lauren was just getting a feel for the rides...

a log ride

one of many roller coasters

she just wasn't sure about the "Sponge Bob" roller coaster because

you went up-side-down twice. Traci went on it first and Lauren was excited

to see what her mom thought of it.

a whole store of Peeps!!!!

On one side of the park was a Lego store...

every Lego you could ever imagine

even this super cool VW camper...if I could have fit it in my bag I would have.

A guy took it out and showed me the inside of it.  It has the table, bed, curtains, everything!

I laughed at the age...16+

Lauren finally got the courage to go on this ride.  She and Traci went a few times

and then she started going by herself...

yup, that's "Miss Adventurous "

pretty proud of herself.

She begged to go back, but we wanted to get to Stillwater.

the one store we went into was Nordstrom's since it's one of Traci's accounts.

Traci took photos of the display and spoke to the mgr while Lauren and

I hung out.  We never even went into the American Girl store...places to go, more places to see.

Our first real meal in Iowa was at Whole Foods.  We knew that we'd be able to get food for Lauren there.

at MOA we ate at a great sushi place (sushi is always a good option for Lauren) called

CRAVE.  I had the poke and must admit it was some of the best I've ever had.

Traci had read about a cafe called "French Meadow".  The actually have their GF baked 

goods in stores out here. So we were anxious to try it.  Love it when places "get" the GF thing.

a little GF muffin for Lauren

my sprouted wheat quesidilla with spinach and egg...delicious

Lauren's GF cornmeal waffle with bananas, nut and real maple syrup from Vermont.

the syrup was so thick it was like honey.

Traci and her healthy hot cereal with almond milk and apples

To find places to eat, we'd ask Siri for the nearest GF restaurant .  In the Summit area of 

St. Paul, she directed us to a great place called "Brasa".  Really good simple, wholesome food.

They even had a GF poundcake!

Since our hotels had a breakfast included it was easy to eat there.

The wedding food was great (ham so tender, Lauren cut it with a fork) so that

was so easy.

Traci had packed lots of snacks and one night we went to dinner at Chipole or Chee-pot-lay

as Siri called it.

After our meal at French Meadow Traci and I didn't really eat again...it was that filling.

The reason...

We're going to Utah to attend Women's Conference

and just maybe see some friends along the way.

Can't wait, it will be an adventure I'm sure.

Off Again...