We're home in DC now, but we spent two days this week on one side of Maui while the other side burned. It was a surreal experience. Superficially, it was little more than an inconvenience for me and my family, but it was nerve-racking at the time, and my emotions have only intensified, now, after the fact, as I read about the extent of the death and destruction, much of which was unknown or still unfolding while we were there.
We either got incredibly unlucky or lucky, depending on your perspective. We arrived in Maui on Tuesday, and had we been scheduled to do so a day later, we would never have been allowed to enter the island in the first place, and we would have avoided the entire ordeal. But had we flown in a day earlier, we would have very likely been in the exact area the fires hit the hardest, at the exact time they hit the hardest. That's... a scary thought. So, I think the correct perspective is just to be happy to be home and safe. Others were not so lucky -- at least 80 people are confirmed dead, and hundreds of others lost their homes and businesses. They are still trying to evacuating people as I type this, but it's a slow-going process, as many roads are still shut down, and the ones that are open are clogged with cars. The airports can only handle so many flights a day. Many people don't have anywhere to go and are staying in pop-up shelters.
Things escalated so quickly -- that was the problem. We flew from Oahu to Maui Tuesday afternoon amid very strong winds from hurricane Dora, and my first worry was our flight. S and the boys and I were traveling with my bother and his wife and their two kids and my mom and dad -- so ten of us total. My friends JY and CC* were already at their condo on Maui, and I was really looking forward to seeing them, so I was worried the winds were going to prevent us from flying there. That turned out to not be an issue (although the flight was super rocky), but then we got word the power went out at our Airbnb in Lahaina, so my worry shifted to us having to stay in a place without electricity. How will we charge our devices or do laundry?!
*We never saw them and only had limited communication, as they had no power and spotty cell service. They had to leave their place a bit north of Lahaina and stay with some friends in Paia before flying out. I got a text from them today saying they made it home safely, which was a big relief for me.
Upon landing, S got word from the property manager -- who is an unsung hero in this whole ordeal -- that things were getting a little sketchy in Lahaina. A lot of the streets were blocked, there were downed power lines everywhere, brush fires, and there was still no electricity and limited cell service. It certainly didn't sound like a pleasant place to bring children, and she suggested we stay near the airport one night (on the other side of the island from Lahaina), and hopefully things would be sorted out by the morning.
At this point, a lot of travelers were realizing they were in a similar boat as us, so hotels were filling up fast. Thankfully, I have a wife who can work Travelocity faster than anybody I know. She's like those kids who can solve a Rubik's cube in under five seconds. She had three rooms for us booked in no time at the Maui Seaside, only a few miles from the airport. Everybody else went to check in, but I stayed back to wait for a rental car. It took forever (two hours! and we had a reservation!), but I waited anyway, because at that point I still thought there was a vacation to be had after things cleared up, and we would need a car.
And that's pretty much how we spent the evening, thinking there was still a vacation to be had after things cleared up. It wasn't until I went on Twitter, after S and the boys were in bed, that I realized things were much more dire. Usually going on Twitter because you can't sleep is a terrible idea; in this case, it probably saved us a lot of consternation. Social media can be hyperbolic, but even accounting for that, it was clear watching the videos of raging fires and reading people's horror stories, that we were not going to Lahaina anytime soon, and, in fact, we should probably leave the island ASAP.
So, I woke up S, and then I called my sister-in-law and my dad and told them we were going to move our flight up as much as possible. They agreed that that was the best idea. Then S and I, with the patience of Job, sat on the line while a very slow and confusing airline rep changed our tickets. We wanted Wednesday, but could only get Thursday, so that's what we took. When I went to the front desk of the hotel to ask about extending our stay one more night,* the phone was literally ringing every 20 seconds with people looking for rooms for the night. The receptionists told the callers they were full, but that Maui High School had opened their gym to shelter-seekers for the night. Shit had officially gotten real.
*Weirdly, the hotel computers wouldn't let the receptionist extend our stay, but they still had rooms available on Travelocity for the next night. I guess when people are concerned about shelter for a night, it doesn't occur to them to book something for tomorrow. So, we just booked new rooms at the same hotel. Whatever. It worked and they didn't make us check-out and check-in again.
Then we hung out in Maui for a day and went home. They put a ban on all incoming passenger flights, and put out an order for all tourists to book outgoing flights and leave as quickly as possible. The fires were now front-page news, and it felt really weird to be on the island. We did normal vacation-y things -- what else are we supposed to do? -- but it didn't feel completely right to me for obvious reasons.
We went to the airport super early on Thursday, and the security line was quite long, but it wasn't that different than any other busy day. Our flight was delayed, just a half-hour, but that was enough to cause us to miss our connection in San Francisco, so we stayed a night at a hotel adjacent to SFO, and flew back to DC the next afternoon. I didn't really mind. It was a nice hotel, and I wasn't looking forward to a red-eye, anyway. Mostly I was just happy to be on the mainland.
I watched John Wick on the flight because I was in the mood for the most mindless entertainment possible. It was a good choice.
Until next time...
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