US694 PHX1330-HNL1740

Phoenix, Valley of the Sun, was fairly warm at 100F.

The Admirals Club lounge is on the mezzanine level above the moderate chaos of the concourse below.  It looks like you only get in the lounge with status, not just because you are travelling First.  So the Cathay Pacific Gold card - which equates to BA Silver and OneWorld Sapphire was the entry ticket.  I could be wrong.  Plenty of plugs and charging points, a bag of nuts, some water and the World Cup is on the TV, so watched the first 20mins of Netherlands vs Costa Rica.  Of the few people that I have talked to, Costa Rica has been recommended, especially a Danish guy whose father had a property there. 

The flight to Honolulu on this 25 year old Boeing 757 was delayed in boarding because... the aircraft was too hot inside.  They had been working on the aircon for an hour to no avail.  When we did board, this was at the whim of the gate agent who received a bo**ocking from Shelley, our First hostie for this trip, as it was still 88F down the back and that was violating some new health and safety regulation.  But at least we were ready to go!

Or so we thought.  One of the escape slides was showing as u/s when we closed the doors, that delayed us another 30min while the mechanics fixed it by cleaning dirt and dust out of the door.  A common problem according to a white haired grumpy old man.  No, not me, Captain Speaking.

There's 4 rows of 2:2 seats in the forward section of the 757.  Today, only 6 customers.  
Soon after we passed over Los Angeles heading out over the Pacific, there was a 'is there a physician on board?' PA request.  I briefly thought about volunteering my A Level Physics knowledge before remembering that Lizzie seems to be able to do her GCSE science papers better than me.  There's a 4-5 yo girl who's not well in 14A; I'm wondering whether we press on or divert back....we press on....

CBs over Palm Springs

US Airways 'premium' beverage and snacks with a list of additives so long it fills the whole reverse of the packet

Chicken Tarragon

The seats aren't very comfy and seat pitch isn't great by today's standards but it's (a) way better than being down the back and (b) the US Airways service is good.  No hiding away in the galley or going for a kip, they keep on coming with the drinks, nibbles and asking if Mr Metty is ok.  On this one, the only thing wrong was that I was - very unusually - freezing cold, I guess a factor of the a/c issues.  So I ended the flight wrapped in blankets, nodded off and woke up as we broke cloud for Honolulu.

Short final for 08L at Honolulu; Hickam AFB is a segregated area of the same airport, sharing the runways with Pearl Harbor top left.

 A few additional aircraft here for the RIMPAC exercise.

Medics met the aircraft, the girl was whisked off and I went off to pick up the car from Dollar and drove the 100m to the Best Western, where I asked politely for a nice airport view room, got a furrowed brow, then an upgrade to rm1120 which is the only one left with a view.  Of the airport of course.

As I'd emailed Dr Emily Morse from the aircraft on the way over with some feedback on her podcast - it keeps me amused while at work and she talks a lot but it's sense - I was delighted to get a reply!