Friday
Flying through Oakland to reach Kona.
I’m going back!
As I sit in the terminal waiting to board the plane, I realize that I did not pack my medications, and forgot the blocks of cheese I wanted to bring.
Was originally scheduled for August 13th but I got the flu and have been battling it for the last 2 1/2 weeks. I still have a nagging cough.
I was able to change my flight on-line. The airlines had made a change about three weeks ago and told me that if their new itinerary did not work for me, I could change it up to two times without any fees. I didn’t even have to pay for the additional cost between the flights.
I arranged for a ride share ride to the airport. Normally, the cab ride is between $16 and $20, but because I needed to be at the airport at 4 am for my 6 am flight, the cab company wanted $36. The ride share was $33.00.
The flight out of Phoenix was totally full. The flight attendants on the flight from Oakland to Kona said that that flight was totally full also, but the middle seat in my row as well as in the row behind me were both empty.
I slept for most of the flight from Phoenix to Oakland, and about half the flight from Oakland to Kona. About an hour from Kona, they passed out the mandatory State of Hawaii Agriculture forms. . . more landfill fodder.
We landed in Kona about 5 minutes ahead of schedule, so we had to stay out on the tarmac until the plane that was parked in the place they wanted to park our plane moved out. After pulling into the place where they wanted the plane to park, they opened both the front and the rear doors for people to get off – different – Never done that before. The front door had the typical sloping ramp, but the rear door had stairs.
Before going to the luggage carousel, I walked around the airport looking for a luggage cart. The only ones I saw were secured in the dispensers where you have to pay $6 to use one to move your luggage 100 feet from the baggage claim area to the roadway. By putting my carry-on roller bag on top of one of the checked bags and my backpack on my back, I was able to drag both checked bags over to a restroom where I could change into a pair of shorts.
After leaving the restroom, I saw an empty lugggage cart, so I hustled over to it and commandeered it for my luggage. By now it was 1:15 PM and the bus is scheduled for 2:30 PM, so I pushed the luggage over to the bus stop between the two roadways in front of the airport terminal and waited.
The bus arrived at 2:35 PM, and I loaded my luggage into the baggage compartment and got on the bus. We rode through Kona, then Captain Cook, and on to OceanView, stopping to let people on or off as the situation warranted. After stopping at the rideshare parking area in Oceanview, we rode past South Point road and on into Waiohinu without stopping until we got to the chinese store where I got off and collected my luggage. My neighbor showed up a few minutes later to give me a ride and I was at the property at 5:15 PM.
The grass along the side of the road in front of the property has grown to about 2 or 3 feet tall.
Everything appears to be undisturbed, and right where I left it. The weeds/plants, grass in the footings and over the septic system has become overgrown – some are 3 feet tall and there are lits of that shrub with the obnoxious little burrs that stick to your clothing.
My plumeria in the wooden planter is doing well, as is the one behind the kitchen gazebo, but the hibiscus that I put into a wooden planter box next to the gazebo lanai appears to be dead. The palms and avocado by the road seem to be alive and green, but the avocado by the pathway has no leaves – it looks like a stick. None of the mango cuttings I tried to start the last time I was here are alive and in my garden tires there are a few small papayas, but nothing else.
The first order of business is to see if the car will start. Success on the first try – no problem!
So, I open the gates and head off to Oceanview for milk, eggs, butter and juice! Dinner is a heated up can of ravioli!
TTFN
TropicalCastaway 