I suppose it makes sense that Kona to Seattle should be a rewind in terms of the experience of what it had been for Seattle to Kona 30 days ago. Once more we noticed that Alaska Airlines was giving absolutely nothing away that they didn't have to. This time, though, I read their seat pocket magazine a bit. The lead story was about how they had "refreshed" their brand, but changing the expression of the "Eskimo" painted on all their tails to be more friendly looking. There was an article from some marketing director saying how honoured she was to be involved in the rebranding. This is so blatantly an example of putting lipstick on a pig that it was almost laughable. I would trade all the smiling Eskimos they can dream up for one extra inch of seat width.

I am mentioning the inch of width because this time the seat beside me was occupied by a mountainously huge man. Dodie advised me to stake out my territory and not be bullied into cowering in the right most 12 inches of my 18 inches of seat. It was not easy, though, because the man just totally overlapped the space.

I found I could not sleep, because of the constant pressure of being pushed on. Fortunately, I did come up with the answer. The man was not only wide but also high. By scrunching down just a bit and reclining the seat, I found just enough space underneath him, and actually passed a pretty good red eye.

Just as Kona airport had been a revelation for its small size and ease of getting to things, Seattle on the flip side impressed with its huge size and long walk to the baggage claim. On the other hand all along the walk were restaurants and shops. These plentiful supplies of everything are very different from the relative scarcity of Hawaii.

Despite the restful night under the huge man, we will take to our bed now to recover from the night on the plane and the two hour time differential.

Of course, this is not where the blog ends, exactly. Check back for a retrospctive, for the cost breakdown, the hits breakdown, and of course the Pros and Cons summary!