October 31, 2021
I am on my way back to Hawaii. Based on the recent actions of the government in Hawaii relating to the pandemic, I decided it would be in my best interest to get vaccinated. In some locations in Hawaii, you have to prove that you are vaccinated before they will let you go into a grocery store, restaurant, etc. So, in the middle of August, I got my first shot. 21 days later, I got the second. I had no reaction to either – apparently they forgot to put the government tracer into either of these injections – other than a sore spot on my arm where I was stabbed that could be covered with a tea cup. 15 days later, I was cleared to travel – that was October 27th.
I arrived at the airport in Phoenix at 6:30 am for a flight at 8:10 to San Diego. In San Diego, I’ll change planes for the flight to Kona. The line at the skycap was quite long, and it did not seem to be moving, so I went into the terminal. The lines inside at the service desk were even worse, but I found a kiosk where I was able to print my checked luggage tags.
As I was waiting in yet another line to drop off my checked luggage, a woman at another self-serve kiosk next to the luggage drop line, retrieved her luggage tag from the machine and turned around and got in line in front of me. There was one couple in front of her and they moved off to the counter as she was bent down trying to put her tag on her luggage, so I stepped around her. She tapped me on the arm and said, “I was there, you are in my place in line.” Then she moved around in front of me and added, “I was having issues.”
I didn’t think it would be wise for me to tell her that she was still having “issues”. She moved off to the next available agent, and I was called to another one as well.
I got through security rather easily and found my gate. It was 10 minutes to seven and they were boarding a flight to Sacramento. On the concourse was a Mexican food restaurant that had a breakfast burrito on the menu. It appeared that they were preparing to open at 7 so I got in line behind two other people. At 7:10 they had still not opened and the guy in front of me asked one of the workers, “What time do you open?”
“7:30” he replied.
The guy left and so did I.
At the gate, they had not started lining up to board, so I found a seat. At 7:37 they announced that they were waiting for one of the crew and as soon as they arrived, we would be on our way. It was 8:45 before we took off – I could have stayed in line and gotten my burrito. I only hope that I do not miss my connection in San Diego. I will probably not have time for pre-clear. The last time I went to Hawaii, I was able to pre-clear at the last stop before Hawaii, and receive a little blue wristband. Then when I arrived, they simply waved you through if you had a blue wristband. The airlines and th Hawaii Safe-Travels program had set this up to make it easier. I may not have time for this on this trip.
I am on the plane over the Pacific Ocean a few miles from San Diego!
Well, that was an adventure! Because we left Phoenix late,
we got in to San Diego late.
We touched down at 9:40 AM. Boarding for my next flight is scheduled for 9:45. I can only hope that the gate for the next flight is close by. I was one of the last to board in Phoenix – but i still got a window seat; row 26 – I think there are 30 rows in a 737 Max. Consequently, it was ten minutes after we touched down that until I got out of the plane I checked the monitors for my flight – Flight 4626. We arrived at gate number 4. There are 10 gates in this “pod”. Flight 4626 to Kona leaves from gate 12. I had to exit the secured area and go past the baggage claim area to get to the “pod” for gates 11 through 18. This meant I had to go throuigh TSA security again . Whoever planned this layout for the airport is certifiably crazy! By the time I had gone from one end of the airport to the other, and re submitted myself to the worthless nonsense of TSA, they were boarding the last group. Just after I got on the plane, and before I had found a seat, they announced “Boarding complete”. I barely made it.
The previous flight from Phoenix was totally full – not an empty seat on the plane. I shared row 26 with a young couple who looked to me to be Asian. They were definitely American, but possibly their grandparents had immigrated to the US from somewhere like China or more likely, Japan, because they had a slight asian look. For all I know, they may have been Middle eastern, or hispanic. I just noticed that they were not the midwestern American caucasian farmboy and girl. Does that make me a racist for noticing that they were different from me? Anyway, after I had gotten settled in my seat in Row 23 on the flight to Kona – and was pleased to see that I had the entire row, both sides of the aisle, to myself, when who should come walking down the aisle of the plane? This same young couple. I guess that boarding wasn’t as complete as they thought it was. What a coincidence, that we were on the same flight from Phoenix, sat in the same row, and are on the same flight to Kona, and will be sitting in the same row! We nodded a silent greeting of acknowlwdgement and they found seats across the aisle and put their carry on luggage in the overhead compartment.
As I said, the previous flight was totally full. On this flight, maybe 60% of the seats are occupied. There are 7 rows behind mine – each with 6 seats, three on each side of the center aisle – and there are a total of 7 people in these rows. From my row forward, each row probably has 4 people – most of the middle seats are unoccupied, unless it is a family or a couple flying together. I would guess that this plane would hold 180 passengers. It appears that there are maybe 100 on this flight.
When we took off from San Diego, we went up through a layer of clouds at about 6,000 feet. We’ve been flying northwest along the coast above the clouds for the last hour without a break in the clouds below. The clouds are not over land, just over the ocean. The ocean below is covered by clouds – solid cloud cover – for the first two hours of the flight,
then there are a few small spots where I can peek through and see the ocean. 3 hours after leaving San Diego, we are totally engulfed in clouds. We had been flying directly over a solid cloud cover, kind of like skipping over the clouds, for the last 10 or 15 minutes.
Now I cannot see past the wings, or above the plane, or below. I guess that is due to climate change – all the build-up of greenhouse gasses and carbondioxide – somehow I always thought that clouds were made up of water vapor – Who knew?
About an hour away from Hawaii all the clouds cleared up. There are a few clouds above us and a few below, but it is mostly clear. As we pass between the Big Island and Maui, the mountains on both islands have a ring of clouds around them like giant white lei’s.
The covid check was fairly simple – I showed them my QR code, which they scanned and saw I had uploaded my vaccination card to their website. Then they glanced at the hard copy of my vaccination card and checked my information against my government issued ID (my driver’s license) and I was good to go.
November 1, 2021
I spent most of the day today just getting organized. I put the solar panels on the roof and got the system up and charging the batteries. Then I sorted through the different totes in the shed and got out my kitchen stuff.
I put up a tarp over the kitchen – just tried to make it a bit more liveable.
Friday November 5, 2021
I took a shower today. This time with an actual shower head. When I would shower before, I would stand on a wooden pallet and dump water over my head from a 2 litre soda bottle that had been sitting out in the sun to warm up.
I could shower this way using 4 bottles. At first, I had difficulty washing my feet until I brought over a chair to sit in while washing my feet. In the morning, I would set the bottles of water out in the sun and at 3 or 4 PM, the water in them is quite warm – hot even.
I have drilled a hole in the bottom of a 5 gallon plastic bucket and installed a fitting to which I have attached a hose with a shut off valve and a shower head. Then I installed a pulley about 15 feet up in a tree and with a rope tied to the bucket, I raise the bucket up in the air after pouring four bottles of this hot water in the bucket. Then I can turn on the valve and have hot/warm water to shower with. There is not a lot of water, nor is there a lot of pressure, but I can get all wet before turning off the water. Then I can soap up all over and turn the water back on to rinse off. Actually, it is quite luxurious. Or, maybe it just feels that way!
For the past two days, I have been working on clearing an entry path from the road – an entry other than the driveway.
About 30 feet west of the driveway gates, I have dug footings for concrete and rock columns like the ones at the driveway for a 4′ wide gate. I have also been building a rock wall along the front property line from the driveway gates to these two columns.
From the new 4′ wide entry gate, I have carved out a pathway through the jungle and tried to level the ground as much as possible. The pathway angles from the gate back towards the site for the house. There were some small trees to be cut down, lots of bushes to be removed, and two large rocky humps to be leveled and used to fill in the low spots. I have also lined this pathway with short rock walls. Now I need 4 or 5 wheelbarrows full of cinders.
Two trips ago, I had brought a little cardboard box about 2 1/2 inches square. It was a small cube. Inside was what they called a “tomato bomb”. It was a roll of fibrous material with tomato seeds and fertilizer. Theoretically, you just add water and it “explodes” with tomato plants. Accidentally, I had stepped on the box. So, I took what was left of the roll and put it into the end of an upright hollow log about 2 feet long along with some leaves and dirt. Then I began watering it. I figured that the rotting log would provide some sort of nutrients for the tomato plant and I watered it for the next two weeks. Sure enough, three little tomato plants came up inside the end of the rotted log. I had also put a spoiled tomato into a 1 gallon plastic pot along with some leaves and dirt. I had been watering this as well as the tomato bomb. Two plants came up in the pot. All of these plants were about 10″ tall when I left to go back to the mainland. When I returned on my last trip, there was one tomato plant in the log and one in the pot. They were still about 10″ tall. They were barely alive and I started to water them again. They responded and grew to about 16″ tall in the following three weeks when I had to go back to the mainland.
When I returned this time, the one in the log is dead and brown. The one in the pot looked like it had wilted and fallen over the side of the pot and died. Weeds had grown up around the pot. I wanted the soil in the pot to try again, so I picked up the pot, only to find that there was still some slight green on the ends of the tomato vine buried in the weeds. As I lifted the pot, I felt it tear the roots of the tomato that had grown out of the bottom of the pot and into the ground below! OOPS! The tomato was about 16″ long with two branches at about 8″ from where it came up from the soil in the pot. I took this to a garden by the front gates and created a hole by moving some rocks.
Then I carefully removed the root ball from the plastic pot and placed it in the hole along with some leaves and soil, and I soaked it with lots of water. I propped up the branches. I soaked it with lots of water three times a day for three days. The first day, it wilted. The second day, it was still a bit green. The third day, the leaves started to pick up. It has been a week and it is actually growing. There are new leaves on it. I have staked it up to give it some support.
Saturday, November 6, 2021
I would not say that today has been a total loss, but it is close. I had arranged to go to Mountain View to pick up a queen bed this afternoon. I would go to Hilo in the morning for groceries, etc., and would stop in Mountain View on the way back and pick up the bed I had found online.
So, about 9:30 I headed off to Hilo. I was in no hurry – I had all day – and when I arrived in Hilo it was close to 11. There is a gas station in Hilo down by the bay where gas is always cheaper than anywhere else. So, I drove down there. It was closed! There were chain link fences all around the property and a backhoe sitting in the back. Apparently they are doing some repairs/remodeling/upgrading. Surely, there is another one of these in Hilo. I know of 2 over by Kona area of the same brand, so there must be others on this side of the island – of course, that could just be wishful thinking on my part.
My internet search is futile. I can’t get access to look up these gas station locations, but I do have phone service. I call Alanah. She’ll find them for me while she’s in Arizona. There are two. One north of Hilo, and one out towards highway 11 on the south end of town. That’s where WalMart and Home Depot are located, so, I decide to go that direction. She sends me the address and I start to head that direction. Just up the street from the gas station being remodeled is a Bank of Hawaii. It looks like people are going inside. The bank is open and it is Saturday! I need cash! I was able to stop, here and withdraw money from my account in Arizona.
As I am leaving, I remember the Farmers Market in downtown Hilo. It is just on the other block to the north of me, so I let myself get sidetracked again. I drive around the corner and find the parking lot. Unfortunately, I enter at the exit side. The road inside the parking lot is wide enough for only one car. If I meet up with someone who is going the right direction, I’m in trouble. I find a place to park. The only available spot. On this side of the road are tents selling jewelry, art, souveneirs, etc. On the other side of the road are the fruits and vegetables. I buy some tomatoes, green onions, and papayas. and go back to the car. As I begin to drive out the entrance (the only direction I can go because there is not enough room to turn around inside the parking lot) I meet up with someone who has pulled in. They were about three car lengths in and could have easily backed out and let me get out, but they just sat there looking at me. Well, I was the one who made the mistake, so I put the car into reverse and backed up until I backed into the parking spot I had just left. The other car drove past me and through the parking lot looking for a place to park. No spots available! They came back through once again. Nothing available. They left. Then I proceeded to drive out the entrance. If they had cooperated, they could have had the spot I was in, but they made their choice. Yes, I am a vindictive old man!
I find the gas station out by Hwy 11 and I fill up. $4.11 per gallon. Every other gas station is $4.34 or $4.39. A year ago I could get gas in Hawaii for $3.39 while gas in Arizona was $2.89. Thank you President Biden. Keep making those big bad awful corporations pay through the nose for higher taxes. Never mind that they just pass the cost on to the consumers in the form of higher prices! Economics 101 must not be a popular course in Washington!
Off to the lumber yard for parts for the new walk in gate. Then to the grocery store. Then I call the person selling the bed. She told me that they were leaving to take their kids to soccer practice in 5 minutes and would be in Hilo until 5 PM. Could I come back tomorrow?
“I live in Na’alehu”, I tell her. “I drove an hour and a half to get to Hilo today – I don’t want to do it again tomorrow!”
“Well,” she thought a moment. “Maybe we could put them in the back of the truck and meet you somewhere on the way to Hilo.”
“Sure.” I answered. “You pick a place”
“Let me talk to my husband and I’ll call you back.”
I called her back 15 minutes later.
“Oh, You didn’t get my text?” she asks.
“No, I didn’t”
“Well, we are so late now that we didn’t really have time to deal with this. But we can meet you tomorrow in Volcano”
“That’s still an hour’s drive.” I reply. “But I guess it is better than all the way to Mountain View.”
“Uh – OK – Well, then, we’ll see you tomorrow in Volcano”
“What time?”
“Huh?”
“What time tomorrow?” I repeat.
“Oh, . . . Uh . . . how about noon?” she said after coming back on the phone.
“OK”, I answered. “Where in Volcano?”
“Huh?” she stammered, “Oh, Uh, . . . the gas station.”
“Ok.” I replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow at noon at the gas station.”
I retrospect, I should have backed out of the whole deal.
Sunday, November 7, 2021
In the morning, I moved a few large rocks out of the driveway.
Then, about 10:30, I headed off to Volcano. I still had the lumber for the gate tied to the roof of the car and would use this as a platform for holding the bed. I made sure I had lots of rope.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, Mauna Loa was totally shrouded in clouds, all the way down to the highway. Today, it is absolutely clear. Not a cloud around the mountain.
Mauna Loa is not the typical volcano people picture in their minds when they think of a volcano. Most people imagine a steep sided pyramid type mountain like these inactive cones on Kilauea
Mauna Loa is a long gentle slope, more like what you would get when trying to pile up dry sand.
It is about 30 miles from Whittington Beach Park to Volcano. Whittington is right on the ocean and about three miles from Na’alehu. This makes it a long gentle rise in elevation to the 4300 foot level as you drive along Highway 11 between Mauna Loa and Kilauea to get to the town of Volcano which is about two or three miles east of the entrance to the Visitor’s Center for Volcano National Park.
I arrived at about 11:45 and went into the store at the gas station. I bought a roast beef sub sandwich and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. I ate 1/2 the sandwich and 1/2 the soup waiting for the sellers to show up.
At 10 after 12, she called. They were just pulling off the highway into Volcano and were almost there. I told her I was already here and what kind of vehicle I was driving. There was one other vehicle in the parking lot, so it would not have been difficult for them to find me, but I wanted to make it as easy as I could. They pulled up in a full size Dodge Ram pickup with the box springs and two mattresses in the back. The husband helps me put the box springs on top of the luggage rack, followed by the two mattresses. They look pretty good. One smells like they spilled a gallon of perfume on it. I give him the money and they leave. I tied the matteesses down and drove back down the mountain to Na’alehu at 45 miles an hour.
When I arrived, I struggled with unloading them.
I got all three to the upper deck where I sprayed them with Fabreze and bug spray. Then I covered them with the big tarp I cover the car with because it was starting to sprinkle.
Monday, November 8, 2021
After breakfast, I decided to do a little chipping. I tried to start the chipper, but it just would not start. I made sure the fuel shut off valve was open and glanced in the tank to check if there was fuel. I pulled, and pulled on the starter rope, but no go. I figured that it was because of the carburetor. It was flooding out before, and I guess now it is not working properly at all. Possibly the float and needle are not working correct on the float bowl, so I decided to take the carburetor off and try to install the new one I had bought. I undid the fuel line clamps and removed the air filter holder. Then I removed the bolts holding the carburetor in place and pried the carburetor away from the fuel line. There is another hose fom the front of the carb that I’m not sure what it is for. Kind of like a vacuum hose on a car, but I don’t think that small engines have vacuum lines. But, maybe? Then It dawned on me that I had not shut off the fuel shut off valve. Gas should be pouring out the open end of the fuel line, but there was none. I looked closer into the fuel tank. The tank was empty. The bottom was wet and I must have seen the wetness and assumed there was gas in the tank. All this for naught. Well, I’ve already got it off, I might as well install the new one. But the new carburetor does not have a fitting to attach the additional hose. Wrong carburetor! Everything else is the same, but just no fitting for this hose. So, I put the old carburetor back on and swapped out the gasket at the top of the float bowl with the one from the new carb that is the wrong one.
I spread the mattresses out on the deck and sprayed them with the rest of the fabreze, then I went back to digging out the big rocks in the driveway. Did a little trimming of trees at roadway in preparation for lumber delivery. In the evening, I stacked the mattresses back up and covered them with the tarp.
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
More digging out of large rocks in the driveway.
Have spent a few hours using the clippers to cut the branches up into pieces two or three inch long since I cannot run them through the chipper. Spread out the mattresses. They do not seem to be drying out. Went down to Whittington Beach Park for a break. The other entrance just beyond the park is still closed and wrapped in red caution tape.
Wednesday November 10, 2021
I worked under the shed today, removing the large rocks and leveling out the dirt. Trying to create more under cover storage area. Now that I have created concrete pillars at three corners of the shed under the roof posts, the original bucket sized concrete supports and the double 2 x 6 beams under the floor rafters are redundant.
Along the north side of the shed floor, I have installed joist hangers on the ends of each floor joist to support them from the double 2 x 6 rim joist. I have removed the rocks and dirt from under one of these bucket sized supports and even removed the concrete support. Now I need to do the same with the other support and I can then remove the double 2×6’s.
I did some laundry today. I found some clothes in one of the plastic storage bins that had either gotten wet, or I had put them away when they were wet, and they have started to mildew. I washed these as well, and have everything hanging out on ropes strung between the trees.
I contacted the lumber yard about my delivery scheduled for tomorrow. Still on schedule. The driver will call me tomorrow with a more accurate time frame.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
Veteran’s Day – Being isolated here, it does not really matter when it is a holiday. Delivery driver called. Delivery will be around 4 PM tomorrow. I worked on cutting some of the overhanging branches at the driveway and next to the road to give more room for unloading. I’m not sure if I have cut enough, but we will see.
I talked with the neighbor, Bill. Asked if he could give us a ride to the bus stop in town on the 21st. Then I sharpened the chainsaw and did a little cutting. I also moved a few more large rocks from the driveway. In the large hump I am trying to do away with, there were four small trees with some little green berries – kind of like guavas, only a little different.
I’m not sure what they are, but I dug the rocks out from around their roots and was able to get a large amount of roots and I transplanted them to a spot next to the gates. Not sure if I was successful, but I’ll know in a month or so. My tomato plant is 3 times the size it was before, and I have squash growing in two places.
Friday, November 12, 2021
Delivery truck came at about 3:30. He was able to unload with his forklift – even in the tight quarters I provided at the road by picking up a forklift load and then moving the truck.
He was gone at 4:30. He was even able to put the pallet of concrete and the two pallets of block inside the gate on the driveway near the walkway.
That will save me quite a few steps.
I went to Ocean View for milk and juice, and stopped to fill my empty water bottles at the water fill station there in Ocean View. It was more busy than I have ever seen it. 4:45 must be when others have finished work and can go get water. Most of them had large 200-300 gallon containers in the back of a truck or on a small trailer. Also, I think that this is the dry time of the year when there is not as much rain to fill their catchment tanks.
Saturday, November 13, 2021
Spent most of the day moving lumber from the roadway.
I started by cutting the 20 foot long rebar into ten foot lengths. I took them down to the shed and leaned them up against the sawhorse. I need to come up with a way to keep them from rusting.
I had spent most of friday leveling out under the shed, installing framing anchors on the floor joist, and removing the double 2 x 6 beam originally installed when building the shed.
I had also removed the concrete pillars I had poured on top of the hill I had selected for the location of the shed. I have removed much of the top of this hill. Today, I also have stacked the lumber under the shed – except for the two longer 4 x 10 beams. I’ll need help with those.
Sunday, November 14, 2021
Today, I spent time building the columns for the walk-in gate at the front of the property. I have gotten both up about 18″ tall. I have built a form about 16″ tall and 22″ square. I set this up over the footing and stacked rocks on the inside of the form as tight to the form and as tight together as I can, leaving the middle empty. Then I fill the inside with concrete and more rocks.
When I remove the form I hope to see more rocks than concrete, and by carefully removing the form, I can reuse it over and over again as the column gets taller. This is what I did when I built the driveway gate columns.
I did laundry today. After the laundry, I needed to go into town to get water. Went to the water station at the waste transfer station in Waiohinu instead of the one at the park – also in Waiohinu. At the park, there are only two hose bibs, but at the transfer station, there are 6. It takes me 45 minutes to fill all my 2 liter soda bottles, one gallon milk jugs, and other assorted plastic bottles I have saved. Others pull up with a 250 gallon metal framed tote and are able to fill this in the same amount of time. Some come woth multiple 5 gallon jugs or 55 gallon barrels and they are done in 10 to 15 minutes. I think I need to get larger containers.
Monday, 11/15/2021
Poured another “lift” on one of the walkway columns. Stripped the forms from the foundation at the SW corner of the shed. Installed sill plate and 2- 2 x 6 blocks – which will ultimately be replaced with the beam for the proch. removed the last two original double 2 x 6 supports for the floor joist, removed the rocks and dirt from where the concrete pillar was poured.
Went to Whittington Beach Park to use the shower there. It has rained most of the day and my water bottles have not heated up, so I may as well use their cold water instead of mine.
Tuesday, 11/16/2021
For the last few days, every time I went into the shed, I have felt that the floor slants from the North to the South – (not that I would have built it that way . . . I would have built it level – honest. Trust me!) When I put a level on it, the southeast corner IS an inch lower than the northeast. Hmmm! I wonder if my activity to reinforce the foundations has caused this? Well, I took the shoring jacks that I had used to support the southwest corner when I replaced the wood post with a concrete column and I used them (along with the car jack) to lift the southeast corner. Then I put a 1″ block under the porch beam that supports the corner post to bring it all in level again. We’ll see if this changes over time.
The sun was out with not a cloud in the sky when I started this project. The clouds have moved in as I was finishing up. I still need to put the twin bed in the tent and put the queen bed into the shed in preparation for Alanah and Sean arriving tomorrow.
Early this morning I removed the tarp from over the queen mattresses on the deck so they could continue airing out. I discovered thet the tarps I had covered the mattresses with had leaked. The mattresses were soaked! Both of them! Back to square one! At that time, there was plenty of sunshine, but I knew I would need more than one day of sunshine to dry these out. I moved the twin bed into the tent and cleaned out the shed in preparation for the Queen bed. Then I worked on leveling the floor as described earlier. I then placed two pallets on the floor to lift the queen box springs and mattress off the floor and to provide some ventilation under it. Then I put some 2 x 4’s on the box springs with one mattress on these, thinking this would provide some ventilation between the box springs and the mattress to aid in them drying out. I also sprayed them with fabreze.
On each wall of the 10 x 10 shed, I have built a 3′ wide opening centered in the wall. I have built two 18″ wide doors for each opening. I have already hung the set in the north wall on hinges.
The other three sets are held in place with a 1 x board screwed across the opening and screwed to the doors. Today, I hung the set in the south wall. I have both sets of doors (in the north and the south walls) open tonight to provide ventilation and I will sleep in the tent.
Wednesday, 11/17/2021
Alanah and Sean are coming in to Kona tonight at 10:00 pm. I will go to Kona this afternoon to pick them up. I worked on another “lift” on one of the walk-in gate columns this morning, then I tried starting the chipper. It ran for about 30 minutes, then started coughing and sputtering before it died with gas pouring out from the top of the float bowl. I need to buy a new carb – the right one this time.
I took a shower with the new shower bucket set-up. Not a lot of pressure, not a lot of volume, but it works; and is better than dumping bottles over my head!
Around 2 pm, I went to Na’alehu to check the PO box – nothing there – then headed off to Kona. As soon as I got to South Point Road on Highway 11 it started to rain, and it rained all the way past Captain Cook. It was not raining in Kona when I arrived around 4 pm. Went to the farmwer’s market on Henry stret. There are only about half the number of venders as there used to be and these were all closing up for the day. I walked down Alii Drive along the waterfront to the ABC store and bought four tee shirts for $20.00. As I strolled back along Alii Drive, I stopped in at an Art Gallery that had some interesting paintings and carvings. After leaving the gallery, I returned to the car and headed off to the thrift store up by the lumber yard. They were starting to close up as I walked in, but I was able to get a spatula and another large quilt and a tea kettle. I stopped in at the lumber store for a short piece of 1/2″ pipe for my hinge pivot for the walk-in gate, then to the grocery store. After groceery shopping, I went to my favorite chicken fast food restaurant, but they were all out of chicken! All the other fast food type places were also closed as it was after 7 pm. So, I went to a different grocery store and got a bowl of rice with teriyaki chicken from their deli section. I took this out to the airport to the cell phone lot and joined approximately 20 other cars waiting as well. Around 10:15 I got a call from Sean. They were at the baggage carousel waiting for their luggage. Alanah’s phone was dead. He would call when they had their luggage. It was close to midnight when we arrived at the property. I had put the second twin mattress in the tent and made up both beds as I knew we could not sleep in the shed on the wet, smelly queen bed. Alanah and Sean slept in the tent, and I slept in the back of the car.
Thursday, 11/18/2021
Raining – not real hard – but enough to make it difficult to get up any ambition to do any work. The queen mattresses were smelling awful. We loaded them on top of the car and took them to the waste transfer station ( the garbage dump). That’s why I stated earlier that Saturday November 6th was almost a total waste.
Then we went to Punalu’u Bakery and to Whittington Beach where we did not get out of the car because of the rain. After sitting in the parking lot for about ten minutes, we drove over to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach. As you leave the highwat to get to Punalu’u Black Sand Beach, you must drive past the Sea Mountain Golf Course and condominium complex. At the edge of the development, there is a road that goes between the golf course and the ocean. Actually, this road is about 2 to 300 yards off the shore line with rugged undeveloped land between the road and the shore. We found a road that headed off into this undeveloped area commonly known as Ninole Cove, and drove out towards the ocean. There is no sandy beach here, but on a better day – one without the overcast and the rain – it might be a place to come to swim. After exploring here a bit, we went to Punalu’u Beach to see the turtles. Away from the area most frequented by the tourists, there is a rather large tide pool. As we were exploring here, we saw a large green sea turtle inside this tide pool. The tide pool is about 100 feet across, so there was plenty of room for the turtle.
It must have gotten in during high tide and now it cannot get out. It will have to wait for the next high tide.
On the beach in the tourist area, someone has built rock walls outlining a rectangular are about 70 or 80 feet long and extending about 30 feet from the shore. There are signs just inside the rock walls telling people to stay out and to maintain a 20 foot distance from the turtles. Inside this rock wall enclosure, there was one turtle measuring about 4 feet across its shell. It was just laying in the sand and I could not tell if it was dead or alive. The turtle was about a foot away from the rock wall with tourists on the opposite side of the rock wall barrier.
I thought that they need to teach the turtles to stay 20 feet away from the rock walls. This should be easy since, they have obviously taught the turtles to come ashore only inside this enclosure and no where else on the 500 to 600 foot long crescent shaped beach area. Additionally, out in the water about ten feet from shore, was another turtle battling the waves as it fed off the growth on the rocks. Eventually, it came up close to the shore.
It was more interesting to watch the tourists than the turtles, and after watching both for a bit, we headed off to Ka Lea – South Point. When we arrived, there were quite a number of people here. Down the coast towards the lighthouse beacon there were people who had set up rather elaborate tents over and around their cars/trucks. It appeared that they intended on staying for quite some time. Most of these had large ocean style fishing poles propped at the edge of the cliff with their line extending far out into the ocean.
While we were there a group of four young men in their 20’s came out to the cliff edge and proceeded to entertain us with dives and flips from the cliff into the water some 30 feet below. Then the rain started. Within a few minutes it was raining quite heavily so we headed back to the car. We then went into Ocean View for eggs and milk and ice.
As Alanah worked on dinner, I inflated the queen air mattress in the shed and put sheets and blankets on it in preparation for tonight.
Friday – November 19, 2021
In contrast to the overcast gloom of yesterday, this morning we woke to sunny skies. This lasted until about 2 pm when the clouds moved in once again.
However, I was able to remove the form from the gate column and raise it up for the last “lift” on the far west column. Alanah lined the inside of the form with rocks and Sean and I filled the inside with concrete and more rocks. Then we did some clearing at the east edge of the building pad and the end of the driveway to connect the two.
With two of us, we were able to accomplish quite a bit of brush/branches clearing. We discovered two or three guava trees in the area we cleared and tried not to disturb them. In the afternoon, I removed the form from the west gate column and installed it on the east column for the last “lift”.
We had enough hot water from the water bottles for all each of us to take a shower with the bucket shower. After dinner, we sat around in the kitchen area and played backgammon until time to go to bed.
Saturday – November 20, 2021
Alanah lined the inside of the concrete form I had installed for the last “lift” on the walk-in gate columns while I made a form with narrow pieces of the corrugated roofing for the top of the west column just as I had for the columns for the driveway gates. Sean and I poured concrete into both of these forms, and afterwards, I formed the cap for the east column.
Alanah started packing up in preparation for leaving tomorrow. We are all catching an 11:00 AM flight out of Kona to return to AZ. This is the part of each trip that I like the least. Obviously. As Alanah was packing, Sean and I did more chainsawing and clearing.
In the afternoon, I removed the solar panels from the roof of the shed, and put away all the tools and materials as Alanah packed up the kitchen, leaving only what we would need for dinner and a quick breakfast in the morning.
Sean and I poured the cap on the last gate column and propped up a piece of siding plywood in the gate opening to similate a gate.
By heating a bit of water on the stove in the two tea kettles, we were each able to take one last hot shower.
Sunday – November 21, 2021
Up early. Got a lot to do this morning before the neighbor comes to give us a ride into town to the bus stop at the Chinese Store. We folded up all the bedding and put it into plastic totes along with some little packets Alanah brought that are supposed to help keep away mildew and mold. I deflated the queen air bed and put it away back into the box it came in and moved the twin mattresses down into the shed from the tent. Sean took down the tent and we all had a bowl of cereal for breakfast. We put the last of the kitchen items into the back of the car and took down the tarp over the kitchen. The neighbor arrived and we caught the bus into Kona, arriving just in time to go through TSA security and line up to get on the plane.
As we flew out and away from the island, we were able to get a good view of the two major volcanos – Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa – both with snow on their peaks.
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 