January 5, 2022
It is just a little after 6:00 AM and I am on a plane waiting to takeoff for Kona. I will stop in Los Angeles to change planes, and maybe I’ll get pre-cleared for Hawaii.
When I got to the TSA Security for “C” gates, the line was out onto the concourse, so I walked to the other end of the terminal to the security for “D” gates. Hardly any line here. I breezed right through. After putting my belt and shoes back on, putting things back into my pockets, and putting my laptop back into my backpack, I walked over to the moving sidewalk and proceeded back to the other end of the terminal. I’m not sure if that was actually any quicker, but I feel better doing something rather than standing around waiting for others to go through their motions.
It took just a little over an hour for the flight to Los Angeles. My flight to Kona will depart from the same gate – only 3 hours later. According to the gate agent, the flight to Kona will have 85 passengers – meaning there will be over 90 empty seats.
I bought myself a $3.00 breakfast Burrito that cost me $12.00 because it is at the airport. I forgot all about getting pre-cleared until we were about to board. I’ll just do it in Hawaii.
The pilot announced that it would be a 5 hour and 5 minute flight – that we had a tail wind blowing our direction and we might even arrive sooner. The flight was uneventful – a smooth ride without much turbulence. As we approached, there were clouds covering most of the island, but the peak of Mauna Kea was poking up out of the clouds, and the top had snow on it.
After we touched down, we stopped out on the tarmac away from the terminal. The pilot told us that we were 40 minutes early and we did not have a gate to pull into, so we would need to remain out on the tarmac until they could sort it out – as if we just dropped in unexpectedly. They did turn off the seatbelt sign and we were allowed to get up and go to the bathroom. They passed out cups of water as we waited. It only lasted about 20 minutes.
As I had not pre-cleared before boarding in Los Angeles, I needed to show them my vaccination card, my ID and my QR code from their website.
The passenger in the seats across the aisle did not have a pre-clearance bracelet. She told me that she was not vaccinated, had not been tested, and did not register on the Safe Travels Hawaii website. Yikes! The State of Hawaii is going to freak out when she arrives. She planned on just quarantining for 5 days at her home. She was out at the baggage carousel before I was. They had her sign a form agreeing to quarantine and she was free to go. That was it!
It took 45 minutes to get our luggage. The rental car agency was more hassle than the government check-in. They wanted to see the travel portion of the website to verify that the QR code I was showing them was for this trip. For some reason, I could not pull up that section of the website. So, the rental car agent called the airlines and verified that I was on the flight that had arrived an hour and a half ago.
After arriving at the property, I found sheets and blankets and went to bed.
Thursday – 1/6/2022
The tall grass had grown up in the cleared area of the roadway in front of the property
– so, I got out the clippers and proceeded to cut it down. Then I used the clippings to line the new walkway.
My tomato plant is still alive and well – It has about 10 tomatos on it and one is dark red and ready to eat. It is about the size of a ping pong ball, and it was delicious!
There are two more that will be ripe in a few days. The rest are still quite green. The squash plant is still alive, barely. It is not very large, but it is still alive in the garden by the gates, but it is dead in the garden below the deck.
There is a guava tree that I had tied up with a rope to straighten it located below the deck. On the ground below this tree, there are at least 20 guavas in various stages of decomposing. I shook the tree and four more fell down. I picked up these four and peeled them and ate them. They are not quite fully ripe, but they were still good.
I removed the temporary plywood at the walk-in gate and the wood and corrugated metal forms from the top of the columns.
As I removed the tarp from over the car, I saw that the sun roof must not have been closed all the way, because there is now mold and mildew all over the front seats of the car. Yuck!!! And, the battery is dead! I used one of the batteries from the solar system to jump start the car. I let it run for about half an hour to charge the car battery.
I moved the 2 batteries for the solar system to the concrete pad below the shed to get them out of the shed and out of the way.
I have brought a metal connection box with a lid to make the connections inside. I have installed this under the floor in the corner, and have run wires from the batteries to the connection box. Then ran wires up to the controller inside the shed, which I located near the south doors.
I set up the stove and got out the kitchen stuff. Slowly, I’m getting set up again.
Friday 1/7/2022
I set up the solar panels on the shed roof and attached them to the controller so they could begin charging the batteries.
Went to the store in Naalehu and got ice. Then drove to Kona as I need to return the rental car today, and found a shop to scan my blueprints onto a thumb drive so I can attach them to my permit application. They could not or would not scan the structural calculations as they were on 8 1/2 by 11 paper, so I went to an office supply store and was able to accomplish this. I could have done it all at the office supply store as they also had a large scanner. Then I went and got some bleach and a hand held portable vacuum to work on removing the mold from the car. I returned the rental car at the airport and caught the bus to Naalehu (actually, to Waioninu)and walked home. I was exhausted when I arrived.
On the way to Kona, I had stopped at a bbq chicken and ribs place. They called the chicken huli huli chicken.
I think this is run by some non profit organization or community. I have wanted to stop here before, but when I had the time, they were not open. Today, I stopped and got a 1/2 chicken meal that consisted of a scoop of white rice, a scoop of corn, and 1/2 a chicken. It must have been a very large chicken, because after I ate a drumstick and a wing and some of the white breast meat, there was still a drumstick and thigh and lots of white meat. They must have given me a whole chicken instead of a half. I ate some of the white meat for dinner and went to bed.
Saturday – 1/8/2022
In the corner of the shed, there was a cardboard box. It was the box that the mini refrigerator came in. I kept it in case I wanted to return it. I have been throwing stuff in it just to get it out of the way. Today is the day to get rid of this box. The odds and ends have been put away where they should be and I took the box up to the driveway. I moved the newer mini fridge into this corner.
I have run wires from the panel below the floor up to the inverter. Turned on the refrigerator today and ran it until around 11 AM when the voltage dropped to 11.9 volts because the sky had clouded over. I hooked up the switch box for the lights to the electrical panel below the floor. Now I have lights again in the shed other than the inflatable ones or my flashlights.
During my last trip in November, I had “acquired” four coconuts. We opened two of them and shared them. Today, I picked up one of the two remaining and sliced it open with a machete. I enjoyed the coconut milk and the coconut meat.
Heated some water and added a little bleach to clean the inside of the car. I wiped down the dash, the steering wheel and column, the center console, the doors and the seats. I even wiped down the trim on the sunroof and a little of the roof fabric. Removed the vinyl floor mats and washed them. Vacuumed the carpet in front and back seats with the cordless vacuum, and left the doors open for the rest of the day to dry out.
Tried to put the new carburetor on the chipper but could not find where I had put the bolts, so I went to the hardware store and bought new ones. I also went to the post office and picked up two packages – the electrical buss bars I had purchased for my solar electrical system.
Got the carburetor installed on the chipper but it is cutting out – I think it is bad gas, so I drained the gas from the tank and in the morning I will get new gas.
I moved the branches that were in the planter on the east side of the driveway out to the area next to the road. Tomorrow I will move the other piles. I am putting them out by the roadway in preparation for hiring the guy with the large chipper.
Talked with Scott and Brian out in the roadway as Scott was repairing the road in the intersection of Holowai and Palaoa where someone on an ATV had driven in a tight circle creating a circular rut. Asked them for recommendations for an electrician and a plumber. Scott said he knew a plumber who lives in Discovery Harbor and he will get me his phone number.
Continued with moving branches out to the road.
Sunday 1/9/2022
The weather has been great so far. The temperature gets up to 80 degrees during the day (with high humidity). Yesterday and this morning, the ground and the proch were wet, so it must have rained over night.
I tie the two gas cans on top of the car in the luggage rack. I don’t want the smell of gas in the car and one of them leaks, but I don’t remember which one. I throw some empty soda jugs and one gallon milk jugs into the back of the Escape. I may as well get some water while in town.
The car won’t start!
Dead battery!
I still have the battery from the solar system up by the car, so I hook it up and the car starts right up. I guess I’ll be going to Ocean View to the auto parts store for a battery. I can get ice and water there also, and I can check the price of gas.
It is Sunday!
The auto parts store is closed!
Gas is $ 4.59. In Naalehu, it is $4.42.
A letter I had sent to mom had been returned to the post office box because it had the wrong address on it. I had readdressed it in a new envelope so I dropped this off in the mailbox. I also got a bag of ice.
I get gas in Naalehu and head home. I forgot to get water!
The solar panels are producing 12.8 volts, so I turn on the refrigerator. I put the two freezer packs in the freezer compartment along with the small ice cube tray to see how it goes. Put the ice in the ice chest where the milk, eggs, juice, etc., are.
I carry more limbs out to the roadway. Then I start to build the frame for the walk-in gate. I cut some corrugated roofing into four triangles – 13″ on the two sides – and hammer them flat taking out the corrugations. Then I fold over each edge creating a hem all the way around each triangle. I screw one of these on each corner of the gate and attach the eyebolts that will serve for my hinges.
The gate looks great hanging in place.
I put some gas into the chipper and proceed with some small branches I had piled up next to the chipper. Doing great – for about 30 minutes – then one branch gets clogged inside the chipper and shuts it off. That’s just as well as it is now 5:00 I was going to shower today. The water was hot at 2 PM, but now it is barely warm. Maybe tomorrow.
Dinner is baked beans and Spam.
Monday – 1/10/2022
The car started this morning, so I loaded up all the empty bottles and went to the water station at the waste transfer location in Waiohinu. It took me over an hour to fill about 30 two liter soda bottles, a 5 gallon jug, 6 one gallon milk jugs, and three other gallon sized jugs. If I had 4 ten gallon containers I could get just as much water in about fifteen minutes.
Back at the property, I unloaded the bottles of water and put the fence slats on the gate frame.
When I was creating the driveway, I dug a trench under the neighbor’s 1″ black water line that runs past the property. This black poly pipe extends for about 1/4 mile to Wakea Road where their water meter is located Everyone in this subdivision with county water has their water meter on Wakea or on Kama’oa Road. Then they lay a black poly pipe on the ground all the way to their property. I dug this trench and buried the pipe at the entrance to my driveway to protect it from damage as I drove into the property. I dug a trench abour 8 to 10″ deep – mainly by removing the rocks – and put a couple of inches of sand in the bottom of the trench before placing the pipe in the trench with more sand to cover the pipe. Then I filled the trench with what dirt I could find.
The last time I was here, I extended this for about 15 feet towards the east from the driveway. Today, I dug out the rocks from under the pipe for another 20 feet or so to bury it in front of the walk-in gate. This way, anyone walking through the gate will not trip on the pipe, or damage it. Now I need some sand.
It is now 3 PM. time for a shower. I took 5 two liter soda bottles full of water that had been sitting out in the sun all day, down to my shower – a five gallon bucket with a hose attached to the bottom and a shut-off valve in the hose.
The bucket is hung from a tree branch about 10 feet in the air with a pulley. I lower the bucket, add my hot water, hoist the bucket into the tree, turn on the valve and I have a hand-held shower. I have a hand-held hot/warm shower. I turn on the valve long enough to get wet, then turn it off while I soap up all over before turning it back on and rinse off until the water is all gone. Crude, but effective.
After the shower, I do some laundry.
Tuesday – 1/11/2022
Yesterday, I had created a large pile of branches in the upper portion of the driveway, so today I ran them through the chipper. I tried to move the car out of the driveway, but the battery is dead! Started the car with the solar battery, and went to Ocean View for a battery. $140.00! I think I will put up the hammock and take a nap!
Oh, the plans of mice and men – they often go astray! No hammock! That is to say, I DO have one, I just didn’t use it to take a nap! Instead, I continued working on moving the branches we piled up on the last trip. I started with the pile closest to the road – the largest one. I carried the branches up to the chipper and used the clippers to cut off the branches that would go through the chipper. The larger branches, I carried up to the piles by the road. After completing this pile, I now have a pile next to the chipper, so I started the chipper and ran them all through. I had a pile about 10 foot long and 10 foot wide and eight foot tall. Running this through the chipper, reduced the size to what would fit in two 55 gallon drums. It was now about 4:30, so I started on dinner.
I took a red bell pepper and cut it into chunks about 1 ” square. Then I did the same with a zuchini squash. When I was in Ocean View, I went to the grocery store and bought some zuchini squash, some yellow crookneck squash, a can of pineapple chunks, a can of peach slices, and a can of mushroom pieces. I also got a cheap bottle of wine. I put a dab of margarine in my large fry pan and put it on the stove. When the margarine had all melted, I added the bell pepper and zuchini, some salt and pepper, and about 1/4 ” of water in the pan. I put a lid on the frypan and let it simmer on as low of heat as the stove would go. When the water was almost all gone, I added another dab of margarine and let this melt to cover everything in the pan (about 10 seconds), and then I scooped that out onto a plate. That was one of the best meals I have cooked there.
Saturday – 1/15/2022
The days seem to blend into one another when I am here. I had to stop and think about what day it was, and I was surprised to learn that it is Saturday morning already.
On Wednesday morning, I started the coffee on the stove and took my house numbers (4″ tall numbers that have a small hole in the top and the bottom part of each number so that they can be attached with a small nail) up to the gate to see how they would look once they are installed. I have drilled out the small holes so that a 1/8″ bolt will go through. I have 4″ long bolts with the idea to have the numbers stand out away from the gate, instead of mounted tight to the wood. By using a nut, I can fasten the letter at the bolt head, and then another nut 1″ from the end of the bolt will act as a stop on one side of the wood slat and another nut on the back side of the slat to hold it all in place.
I took the numbers up to the walk-in gate just to see how to lay them out on the gate. I ,looked at different layouts – evenly spaced across the top of the gate, vertically on the left side, vertically down the middle – and settled on at an angle starting at the top left corner angled down towards the bottom right. I got the drill, a wrench that fit the nuts, and a screwdriver, and started to install the numbers. I ended up 8 nuts short, the last two numbers are on the bolts with no nuts, but the hole I drilled in the gate slat is small enough that the bolts are in snug.
This took me about 2 hours. I gathered up the tools and put them away in the shed. then I went back to the kitchen to discover that I had left the coffee on and it had boiled dry. The handle on the coffee put had started to melt, as well as the little clear plastic knob on top.
I turned everything off. When it had cooled, I scrubbed the inside to get the burned coffee smell out. That night, when I made coffee in the coffee pot, it seemed none the worse for wear. The rest of the day was spent hauling branches either up to the road or up to the chipper.
Thursday and Friday were spent working under the original platform. I am enlarging the footings so I can build 16″ square block solumns and raise the deck to 8′ high – making it a flat topped gazebo so I can move my kitchen underneath.
Thursday night dinner was squash, bell pepper, onion, mushroom and a little bit of pineapple sauteed in a bit of merlot wine. Not great! It was edible, the mushrooms and pineapple were an improvement but the wine took away the squash taste, and that is what I liked before. Then I started the coffee, washed the dishes, and went down to the shed to make my nightly phone call home. After the phone call, I played games on my tablet, and went to bed.
In the morning, I realized that I had left the coffee on the burner all night long! The handle of the coffee pot is hanging at a weird angle, and the little plastic knob is gone. It has totally melted and is a puddle of goo at the bottom of the coffee pot. A total loss! And all that propane – wasted!!
Saturday – 1/15/2022
Slept in today until 9 AM. What’s up with that? I opened the can of peaches for breakfast. Removed the forms from the expanded concrete footings under the deck. And tried out one of the screw jacks I had brought for lifting the deck.
Then I started cutting and fitting the blocking in the rafters in the roof of the shed above the beams. I installed the blocking in 2 of the walls as I was building it, but ran out of blocking material for the other two.
The blocks at the corner take more time as they have multiple angles to figure out and to cut. Today, I have all the blocks in place except for two at one corner.
I went to the U-Cart Concrete place in Ocean View for sand and propane. Wouldn’t you know it? They close at noon on Saturdays! So, I went to Ace Hardware and picked up four broken bags of mortar mix for 25% off and filled the propane tank.
I had created another small pile of small branches by the chipper, so when I got back to the lot, I ran them through the chipper.
I got tired of walking around the pile of block in the driveway, so I started to move them to the pallet I used to use for taking a shower in the clearing for the building. This took the rest of the afternoon.
Sunday – 1/16/2022
Today was a clean-up kind of day. I finished moving all the branches from the driveway clearing that Sean and I had cut on the last trip.
Then I moved all the branches from the original building pad out to the piles by the road.
For lunch, I ate some of the smoked sausage. Then I built a rock wall across the garden below the deck using the rocks I had dug out to enlarge the footings. There was quite an empty hole behind this rock wall, so I took all the small branches from the pile between the deck and the fence (one of the first piles we created over a year ago – or more) and put them behind this wall. They were brittle and easily broken when I stomped on them. Some of the larger branches had begun to rot and deteriorate, So I threw this there as well. I was able to reduce this pile by a third by doing this. The larger branches that were left, I took up to the piles by the road, and the rest of the smaller branches were taken to the driveway by the chipper. At around 2:30, the clouds had all moved in and it started to lightly sprinkle while I was doing all this. At 3:30 I took a shower. Then I lay down in the hammock for 30 minutes. I would have stayed there longer, but the shower had washed off the bug repellant so the flies were bothering me. So, I got up and started dinner. It was still sprinkling – just a very fine mist of rain, and I looked up while preparing dinner to the north and east and I was pleasantly surprised to see a full rainbow.
As I watched it, the colors became darker and more pronounced. Then I noticed a faint outline of a second rainbow above the darker one.
They both were full rainbows and went from the ground on one side to the ground on the other side. Absolutely gorgeous!
Monday – 1/17/2022
Another clean-up day. On past trips we had created three large piles of branches and limbs along the east side of the property. I have been ignoring them hoping they would go away – but they haven’t. The one closest to the deck, I took care of yesterday, which geve me the energy to tackle the other two. Again, the larger branches were carried out to the piles in the roadway. The smaller branches had been there so long that they were either very brittle, or they were in an advanced state of decay. Along side the fence at the east side of the property, there was an indentation about a foot deep, and three feet wide, and twenty feet long. I filled this with branches and then stomped on them. This crushed the branches and broke them into pieces about 6 to 8 inches long. I did this three or four times, and took some of them over to the chipper until the pile was gone, and the indentation was filled in. The last pile, I carried over to the chipper, or threw out onto a pile at the road.
I started the chipper and in about an hour, I had this pile all chipped and chopped. Then I gathered all the chipped pieces and skattered them on top of the end of the driveway where I had built a rock wall. I have been throwing my garbage here, so these chips all covered the garbage nicely.
Then I went to Ocean View to the U-Cart Concrete place and got six bags of sand. I used the bags from the 60 pound concrete mix. This sand is to put around the pipe I am burying in front of the walk-in gate. I also did some grocery shopping, and went to the post office. I needed to buy a stamp for a letter, but they were closed. I thought they were closed because it was 4 PM, but they were closed because it is Martin Luther King Day.
So, I went to Whittington Beach Park. Since it was a federal holiday, I figured I could take a break. In the parking lot at Whittington Beach, there was a large motorhome – probably 40 foot long with Montana license plates, and a one ton chevy truck with a quad cab and dual rear wheels. This truck had license plates from Alberta Canada. I wonder how they drove those two here from Montana and Canada!
I had gotten the phone number of an electrician and a plumber from the guy at the U-Cart Concrete place, so I called them both. the electrician will be in Naalehu on Wednesday, so we can get together then. The plumber did not answer, so I left a voice mail message.
Then I went back to the property and had dinner. After dinner, the moon came up – a full moon, but it peeked out from under the clouds at the horizon, and within minutes it had gone up behind the clouds and was gone.
Tuesday – 1/18/2022
I’ve been intending to work on the columns under the deck ever since I arrived, but I have managed to get sidetracked with chipping, and clean-up, and lob/branch piling at the roadway. Now that all that is done – I guess that today is the day to start laying block on the footings I have expanded at each corner of the deck.
In one of my checked bags, I brought two screw Jacks along with two pieces of 1 1/2″ pipe about 30″ long. Using these, I can raise the deck a little at a time, placing blocks under as I lift.
When I was expanding the footings, I had 4 x 4 posts supporting the deck and sitting on the footings. The new footings encased the lower ends of these posts, so I had to cut them off level with the top of the footings. Then I laid two block side by side to create a 16″ square column. I alternated the direction of the block on each subsequent row.
I was able to raise the deck high enough with the screw jacks to lay three courses on each corner column – to get 24″ tall. I did the two at the south end of the deck first, and then I could start on the two at the north end of the deck.
As I was raising the north end, it became very unstable and the whole deck started to shift. Apparently, as I was raising the north beam, it was also raising the southeast corner leaving only the southwest corner sitting on the stable pile of block I had put under each corner as a safety measure. I was able to raise the north beam so the deck was level. I placed block piles under the north beam in two places to support it while I laid the block. I noticed that it was 3:30PM I wanted to mail a letter. The Post Office closes at 4PM and I need to buy a stamp. So, I got in the car and hustled down to the post office in Naalehu. It was raining in Waiohinu as I went through.
When I got to the post office in Naalehu, there were 20 to 25 people standing in line to get into the post office lobby. Due to the pandemic, they only allow one person in the lobby at a time and they only have one clerk. I’ll mail my letter tomorrow!
I got a voicemail from the plumber I had called. He has too much work and is not interested.
Back to the property, where I heated some water and took a hot shower – Then I fixed dinner – now off to bed.
Wednesday 1/19/2022
Continued to lay block on the north columns under the deck. They are all up to three courses high.
Around 2 PM I went to the post office in Naalehu, bught stamps and mailed my letter. Then I drove to Kona. Alanah arrives tonight at 9:30PM. I did some shopping in Kona – bought some tee shirts, 2 coffee cups to replace the ones I have broken, some concrete, bolts, and went grocery shopping. watched the blazing red sun dip into the ocean from a clear sky. The only clouds were behind me around the volcano. Hualalai was totally engulfed in clouds from about 3,00 feet elevation. Went out to the airport – to the cell phone parking lot – and waited for Alanah’s plane to come in. The plane arrived at about 8:50 PM – 30 minutes early. She got her luggage about 45 minutes later, and he took off for Naalehu. We arrived at the property at about 11:30 PM and promptly went to bed. It was a little chilly, but not cold, when we went to bed. Around 2 or 3 in the morning, it got cold. Also, the air bed was losing air. There must be a hole in it somewhere. We reinflated the bed and added another blanket and tried to go back to sleep.
Thursday – 1/20/2022
Slept in until 8:30. Very restless night. Had to reinflate the bed two more times.
We loaded all the 2 liter soda bottles and the 1 gallon milk jugs into the car and drove into Naalehu. Went to the gas station and bought gas for the car. Paid $4.42 per gallon. When we were in Kona yesterday, the best price I saw was $4.59, with most of them at $4.64. Thank you President Biden!!! Stopped at the park in Waioninu to fill the water jugs from the public water station. There are two hose bibs here for people to get water. There is also a restroom with flushing toilets and sinks with running water. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the county has kept the restrooms locked. They even installed additional steel gates over the openings. They placed three port-a-potties in the parking lot for people to use instead of the restrooms. I guess this is to stop the spread of covid. My thinking is that if there were restrooms with flushing toilets and sinks with running water where people can wash their hands after going to the restroom, then these people might leave their covid cooties behind to infect others, but with port-a-potties, only the insane (or the truly desperate) would go into these smelly, disease ridden, hell-holes. and anyone who goes into one deserves the results and will most likely get bubonic plague, the black death, or anything other than covid.
Back to the property, I raised the deck to lay one more course of block on each column.
Friday – 1/21/2022
I spent $26,000.00 today that I don’t have.
I met with an electrician who lives in Hawaiian Paradise Park. His price for my $1,500.00 worth of electrical is $9,000.00. plus $3,000.00 to the electric company just for the priveledge to hook up.
I called another plumber and met with him at noon. He wants $7,500.00 to install $2,000.00 worth of plumbing pipes. Also, the solar water heater will cost $6,500.00. I will never use $6,500.00 worth of hot water!! I fugure that I’m paying $15,000.00 to satisfy governmental stupidity!! As for the environment – the damage to the environment from the manufacture, shipping and installation of this system will be far greater than the damage to the environment from my hot water usage – even if I burned dirty coal to heat the water! The price to live in a “civilized” society!!!
We went to the new farmer’s market in Waiohinu to view the artwork created by our neighbor Scott. While we were there, we bought a papaya.
We returned to the property about 1 pm and it started to lightly rain. I completed laying block on the columns under the deck so each column had four courses while Alanah proceeded to jab a piece of wood into her leg while moving some branches out to the road.
So, we stopped working for a little first aid. and a bit of refreshment.
Cut open the last coconut with the machete.
The water in my solar water heater isn’t heating up hot enough, so we heated water on the stove to take a shower.
Saturday – 1/22/2022
This is the day of every trip that I like the least – I would even say that I dread this day – the last full day before leaving – pack-up day. Everything must be packed up and put away.
Today I raised each corner of the deck with a screw jack so I had room to put two 2 x 4’s on top of the new corner columns and then two more at right angles to these. Then I lowered the deck so the beam was resting on each column. Then I removed the block piles and stacked all the block in a pile under the center of the deck.
I had a metal one gallon rectangular can of wood sealer/preservative which was about 1/4 full. I applied what was left in the can to the top surface of the deck, covering about 1/2 of the deck.
The can was rusting and I felt that when I returned on my next trip, I would find the bottom rusted out and the can empty so I might as well use it up.
There were three or four large branches down by the shower so I took these up to the piles by the road.
I moved the chipper further down the driveway and behind some trees out of sight and covered it with a tarp. We went into town to check the po box one last time. I moved the last two bags of mortar mix to the pie by the kitchen and put the two layers of plastic and a blue tarp over the pile. Then I secured it all with a rope.
Alanah packed up the kitchen stuff and put it into three tupperware style totes which we will put in the back of the car. We have not put away the stove yet as we will need it to fix dinner tonight, so we heated water and took a shower.
I took down the hammock.
As the sun was going down, Alanah cooked dinner and I took down the solar panels from the shed roof.
Tomorrow, our neighbor Bill will give us a ride to the bus stop at the chinese store in Waiohinu so we can catch the bus to Kona and a plane ride back to Arizona – Funtime is over!
Sunday 1/23/2022
We got up early, had a quick breakfast, put away the last of the kitchen and locked up the shed.
We made it to the bus stop in Waiohinu in plenty of time. And we sit and wait for the bus. It is supposed to be here by 8:30 and it is now 8:40. Alanah goes on line with her phone and finds out that all bus service is suspended today because of mandatory training! We call Bill. We ask him to take us back to the property. From there, I will drive Alanah in to Kona so she can catch the plane, and we will change my flight to another day.
When Bill arrives, he says that he needs to go to Kona to go to Costco this week anyway, so he offers to drive us to the airport. On the way, we learn about the history of the Chinese store, the hotel down the street where the new farmers market is being held, and other miscellaneous gossip.
We arrive at the airport in time to catch our flight. I give Bill the last $40 I have in my pocket to pay for the gas.
As we fly away from the island, we have a great view of the volcanoes. I can clearly see the snow at the summit of Mauna Kea – perhaps even some snow on Mauna Loa.
Our flight takes us through Oakland. After an hour layover, we fly home to Arizona.
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 