It’s Saturday night. I am thinking about my exit strategy. I think backwards. My plane leaves on Monday morning at 8:20 AM. Therefore, I must be at the airport no later than 7:00 AM. I’ll need to drop off the rental car, and catch their shuttle to the terminal. I have two large suitcases with basically nothing to bring back. I do have the 6 tee shirts I bought at the ABC store that say something about Hawaii on them. They were probably made in China, and printed in Thailand before being shipped to Hawaii to sell to the tourists. 6 tee shirts for $20.00. It’s a crazy world. I also have a small roller suitcase that I left here from an earlier trip, along with a duffle type bag we bought in Florida. I put the small roller suitcase into one of the large suitcases, with the tee shirts inside the small roller bag. Then I stuff the large duffle into the other. In my back pack I put a hawaiian shirt, a pair of shorts, my computer, and the two portable chargers. I’m packed!
It’s at least an hour and a half drive to the airport, so I’ll need to leave by 5:30 AM on Monday morning, and that leaves me all day tomorrow. I still need to pack up my kitchen, take down the shade/rain tarp, dismantle and put away the solar system, and lock up the shed. I still only have two of the four doors I will need.
Sunday morning – I have half a papaya for breakfast. It is bright and sunny, so I make sure the water bottles are out in the sun heating up. I’ll want to take a shower later and will want hot water. I plug the charger for the portable tool batteries into the inverter and hope they will charge. I gather all the extra lumber from the drive way area and store it below the shed floor, and carry all the full length pallet 2 x 4 supports down to the porch floor. I put the wheels back on the chipper and reinstall the pull rope mechanism with a new pull rope. Then I cover the chipper with a small tarp and tie it in place. I move the mini fridge to the corner inside the shed, and stack all my plastic tubs containing my clothes, blankets, pillows, tools, food, etc. into the corner as well. I eat the other half of the papaya for lunch.
Then I set to work to build the last two doors I will need. It is late afternoon when I have finished glueing and clamping together the last door. The solar panels have done great to keep the drill batteries charged up. A sunny day was the needed imgredient. I take a shower, wash my hair and my feet using eight of the 2 liter water bottles set out to heat up. I walk out to the road and contemplate walking down to Scott’s to see about moving the car to his place. Instead, I get my cell phone. I’ll give him a call. I look up and see his car coming down the road towards me. He is driving very slowly. His dog – Charlotte Ohara – is sitting in the passenger seat.
As he pulls up next to me, I bend down and peer into the car as I pet Charlotte. “Good afternoon”.
He smiles. He has a very mellow expression on his face. I continue, “I was just about to call you to see about moving my car over to your place.”
“i’ve been down to Bill’s.” He says. “I was watching the Super Bowl and drinking all his beer.”
“So, did your team win?” I ask. I didn’t even know that today was Super Bowl Sunday, or much care. Nor did I even know which teams were playing. I’ve lost interest in professional sports since they have decided to become platforms for advancing social programs that will accomplish absolutely nothing.
Scott just frowns and mumbles something unintelligible. He brightens up and says, “Just follow me down.” And he slowly rolls towards his place. It is a good thing that he did not need to go out on any roads to get home from Bill’s place. It appears as though he has had more than his share of Bill’s beer.
I get in my car and follow him to his place . . . at about 2 miles per hour.
He parks his car, something like a Suzuki Sidekick with a soft top that looks like it has seen better days, in the middle of his driveway and gets out. He staggers toward an area off to the side and indicates that this is where he had thought of parking my vehicle. I maneuver around his car which is still running, and back my car into the spot, kind of under the trees. He is worried about vegetation growing up under and into my car and goes and gets a piece of corrugated roofing and places it under my car. I get out a big tarp and throw it over top. I get out some ropes I had brought as he goes in search of some bungy cords. By the time he returns, (without any bungies) I have the tarp secured over the car. I walk back towards the road and he staggers beside me. I leave him as he is trying to manage the steps up the hill.
The sun has gone down and the light is starting to fade as I carry my doors down to the shed. I still need to put on the hinges and hang them in the opening. I secure two of them in the side opening on one side of the shed with a couple of boards and screws. Not the most secure, but it will have to do. They fill the opening and from the outside, they look to be secure – Looks are everything. I begin to chisel the hinges into the side of one of the 18″ doors I want to hang. Then I begin to chisel into the post on the door opening. The light is gone. I am working with the light from my solar inflatable light. I get both doors installed and install the locking hasp I had purchased earlier at Ace in OceanView for this purpose. It works. I can now lock up the shed.
I go up to the kitchen area and heat up a can of spaghetti and meatballs for my last dinner. As this is heating, I begin putting my pots and pans and utinsels and dishes into the large tupperware tote. My solar light goes out. I am in the dark. I pull out a small flashlight and use it to find the second solar light. My spaghetti is ready, so I eat dinner. I pack up the stove and wash the last of my utinsels, then I carry everything down to the shed. The last item is the tarp hung up in the trees. I sit down on the bed after storing the last tupperware tote. I am so tired. I lay down.
I wake up. Slowly, I roll off the bed. I am so cold. I put on a sweatshirt. I still need to take down the tarp. I stagger up the hill with the small solar light that is still working, so I wasn’t asleep too long. I begin climbing trees in the semi-darkness trying to untie the ropes holding up the tarp. I wonder what I will do if I fall out of a tree and break something – like my arm or leg – and think about finding a knife to just cut these ropes! But I finally get the tarp down and folded up. I put it under the deck and go down to the shed. I sit down on the bed, take off my shoes, and look at the clock on my phone as I crawl under the blankets. 11:42.
Four forty seven in the morning on Monday, February 8. It is still dark outside when I get up. I change into the clean levis, clean shirt, clean socks that I have set aside for my trip back to the mainland. I look around the shed, and make sure that everything is as I want it to be to leave for a month or so. I go out onto the porch, lock the doors and go up to the upper deck area. I find the papaya that I had set aside for my breakfast and cut it in half. I eat half the papaya and leave the other half for the geckos, birds, and feral cats. I drink the rest of the milk, and empty the ice and water out of the ice chest, and stow it under the deck. I get in the rental car and head out to Kona. It is 5:20 AM.
Three or four times, I pull over and let other cars pass me on the highway. I must be getting old, because I do not like their headlights shining in my rear view mirror. As I come into south Kona, I pull in and fill the car with gas, and get a large drink. At 15 minutes to 7, I arrive at the airport. I’ve made good time. There was little to no traffic. I wonder how I will manage two large suitcases, my backpack and my drink on the shuttle bus from the car rental agency to the terminal. I find the cell phone parking lot at the far north end of the terminal and park there. Even though the signs say not to leave the car unattended, I take the two large suitcases out of the trunk and lock the car. Then I walk up to the airline check in desk. I check in for my flight, ask them to print my boarding passes, and check both bags. I go back to the cell phone lot where my car is the only one in sight and drive to the car rental agency. I check the car in and get on the shuttle bus for the short ride back to the terminal. I breeze through security and wait at my gate. At 7:55 AM I get on the plane and settle in for the flight home. We taxi out and take off. As we are gaining altitude, I look out the window toward the island. I can clearly see Hualalai volcano with Mauna Loa in the background and Mauna Kea to the left. Both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea have snow at the summits. The perfect photo, and my cell phone is dead! The plane rises into the clouds as the island disappears from view and I settle back and go to sleep.
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 