Senior Thesis Cruise Day 0
By Nicole
12/28
We left Seatac bright and early around 7:15 am and flew over to Honolulu, HI for the first leg of our flights to Pago, Pago, American Samoa. It was around 6 hours, so we spent the time playing sudoku and poker on the airplane tablets or trying to nap. Once in Honolulu, we hung around for around 4 hours waiting for our next flight to Pago, Pago. Some folks tried to nap, others played cards or hackey sack, and some were productive and prepped for their project on the cruise. Unfortunately, one of our instructors was not allowed on the second plane from Honolulu to Pago Pago due to visa issues, and another instructor had a medical issue that prohibited them from travelling. The second flight was super long, and landed around 9:30PM local time, or 12:30AM PST. It took about an hour and a half to get through customs with all of our equipment, and we were greeted by a giant party bus which played 80s pop karaoke music very loud with vibrant lights that drove us around the island to port. When we all saw the R/V Thompson, delirious and exhausted, we sighed a collective sigh of relief. We loaded everything on the boat as fast as possible, set up our bunks and are headed to bed. Despite already having had a few road blocks, it won't stop us from getting cool data and learning more about this incredible place!
