Back in May, I posted about the poncianna trees I have planted in our front yard here in Arizona.
Arizona really isn’t the correct planting zone for these trees as they thrive in hot, wet, humid, tropical locations. While Arizona is hot, and for two months it is humid, I would not say that Arizona is wet, or tropical. Exactly the opposite! Dry and desert, yet there is one growing outside the Arizona Senate building in downtown Phoenix!
We have had these trees growing in the front yard for twelve years. For the past two years, we have been getting the red flowers on top. Two years ago, we even got one solitary bean that had no seeds in it.
I was sweeping the front walkway this morning when I just happened to look up.
One of the things I needed to do when I was in Hawaii was to register my Ford Escape. The Registration expires at the end of October.
All during the month of September, I kept checking the post office box for the renewal notice. To no avail. It finally came on September 28th, less than 2 weeks before I was to return to the mainland. I knew that in order to register the vehicle, I needed to get the safety check. For some reason, I thought I needed the renewal to get the inspection. I didn’t! The safety inspection expired in August. I stopped in at the repair shop in town where they do the inspections and made an appointment for the next Tuesday. 9AM. I showed up on time (a new me) and the technician asked for my current registration and my insurance card. Then he told me it would cost $26.00. I gave him the money and he entered some information on his tablet.
Then he went around to the front of the car.
He told me to turn on my headlights. I turned on my headlights. Then he told me to turn on my high beams. I turned on my high beams, He told me to turn off my headlights. I turned them off.
He told me to turn on my left blinker. I turned on my left blinker. He told me to turn on my right blinker. I turned on my right blinker.
He told me to turn on my windshield wipers. I turned on my windshield wipers.
He told me to roll up the window on the drivers side. I rolled up the driver’s side window. Then the same on the passenger’s side.
He went to the back of the car and told me to turn off my right blinker. I turned off my right blinker. He told me to turn on my left blinker. I turned on my left blinker.
He told me to put my foot on the brake pedal. I put my foot on the brake pedal.
He told me to start the car. I started the car. Then he told me to put the transmission in reverse. I did. He told me to put it into park and turn off the engine.. so, I did.
He went into the office while I waited in the car. After a few miuntes, he came out with my inspection certificate and he put the sticker with the new numbers for the month of September and the year 2023 on the back of the car.
My car is now safe.
It has passed the state safety inspection.
I go to the Hawaii MVD website to complete the registration. Cannot do it, because I allowed the safety inspection to expire before getting it reinspected so I need to mail in my inspection certificate, the one that says “Must remain in vehicle at all times under penalty of law!” Hmmmmm. How do I keep it in the vehicle, but also send it in to Hawaii MVD?
I’ll copy it and send in the copy, or keep the copy in the car. Whatever. But I’ll do that next week when I get back to Arizona. In the meantime, my registration renewal has arrived, $117.68 for one year. Registration for my truck in Arizona is about $30 for a year. Oh, well, this is Hawaii!
When I received the registration renewal there was a big sticker on th envelope telling me to notify the sended of my post office box instead of the street address. Back in Arizona, I called the Hawaii MVD. Asked about changing the mailing address for my car registration, and a nice lady helped me through their website to find the hidden link to do this. I asked her about how I send her the inspection certificate but yet also keep it in the car. She told me that I did not need to send in the certificate, that it had been uploaded in the system. All I needed to do was pay the fees. so, I did. Hopefully, when I return in November, the renewed registration will be waiting for me in the po box!
Speaking of my truck in Arizona, one of the reasons I am returning to the mainland is to renew the registration of my truck. It expires at the end of October – and it needs an emission test. I know it will not pass because the “Service Engine Soon” light is lit on the dash. The oxygen sensor in the exhaust system needs to be replaced. The truck is not causing excess pollution, but the sensor is not working anymore, so the state feels that my truck should not be allowed to operate because it is polluting the air. So, I take it to an emission station “just in case” I might get lucky and in the crap shoot of emission station results, I just might pass. Cost – $17.00.
No such luck.
I used up all my luck last year.
The “Service Engine Light” was on last year when I had to get it emission tested,(that’s how I knew what the problem was) but it still passed.
The guys at the emission station told me about a program where the State will pay up to $900.00 for emission related issues. One time per person. So, I took it to one of their “approved” repair facilities – a shop just down the street from the house. They said it would take two weeks. They had to diagnose the problem, then send the results with the estimate to the state ADEQ for them to review and approve. This could take up to two weeks. anything beyond the $900.00 was my responsibility.
Long story short, they repaired the truck, and it passed. Cost me $550.00.
I got my truck back yesterday – three days before I leave for Hawaii, two weeks and two days in the shop.
I went on line last night and renewed my registration – for two years – for $31.00.
So, to register my truck in Arizona cost me $550.00 in repairs, $17.00 for the emission test, and $31.00 registration fees. Total of $598.00. For two years, so divided by two is $299.00.
Hawaii cost $26.00 for the inspection, and $117.68 for the registration fees. Total of $143.68. Less than half what it cost in Arizona. Maybe the system in Hawaii isn’t as bad as I thought!
The following quote is from the Hawaii Volcano Observatory on Friday, 10/14/22 at 2:49 PM:
MAUNA LOA (VNUM #332020) 19°28’30” N 155°36’29” W, Summit Elevation 13681 ft (4170 m) Current Volcano Alert Level: ADVISORY Current Aviation Color Code: YELLOW
HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY INFORMATION STATEMENT
Two moderate earthquakes occurred beneath the southern end of the Island of Hawai‘i at 9:07 a.m. this morning. The first earthquake (magnitude-4.6) was slightly offshore and south of Pāhala, at about 13 km (8 mi) depth. It was followed 24 seconds later by a larger magnitude-5.0 earthquake just south of Pāhala, 7.4 km (4.6 mi) beneath Highway 11. These two larger earthquakes were followed by a string of aftershocks, mostly less than magnitude-3.0, but including some larger ones up to magnitude-4.0. The aftershock sequence is continuing, between 0–12 km (0–7 mi) depth, south of Pāhala. The aftershocks could continue for several days to possibly weeks and may be large enough to be felt.
The two larger earthquakes were reported by hundreds of people from the Island of Hawaiʻi and felt to a lesser extent across the entire State of Hawai’i. Shaking from the larger earthquakes may have been strong enough to do minor local damage, especially to older buildings. The two earthquakes occurred within 24 seconds of each other creating shaking of longer duration and possibly greater intensity than either of the earthquakes would have created on their own.
This sequence of earthquakes appears to be related to readjustments along the southeast flank of Mauna Loa volcano. There has been no immediate effect on the continuing unrest beneath Mauna Loa summit, which remains elevated at levels similar to the past week. On several occassions large earthquakes have preceded past eruptions of Mauna Loa, though these have typically been larger than today’s earthquakes. It is not known at this time if this sequence of earthquakes is directly related to the ongoing unrest on Mauna Loa.
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Yowza! And I missed it! Pahala is about 15 miles from my place!
Sept 9 – 6 AM flight leaving Phx Sky Harbor to Kona, with a stop over in Oakland.
We should arrive at 12:10. At the same time, Hurricane Kay is slowly moving up the west coast of Baja California! I am glad we are flying through Oakland and not LA as this might not have an affect on our flight plans. We shall see!
Alanah is coming and will spend the weekend before returning to Arizona on Monday.
I have a list of the things I want to get accomplished this trip, and a list of things we need to pick up in Kona at various places.
Everything is the same as I left it back in August.
One thing I was glad to see, was that the burned out planter resulted in nothing more. That was a strange ordeal on the morning I left, to see that planter on fire!
The geckos welcomed us back as we set out the kitchen supplies under the gazebo.
We spent most of the weekend out by the ocean.
We took a scenic drive along the overpass road from Naalehu to Pahala up past the cemetary.
We came across an old concrete bridge over an interesting creek/waterway.
After Alanah returned to the mainland, I got busy on my “to do” list. I went up to the Ahi lot and made contact with a contractor who was clearing the next lot on Ahi Road.
Turned out, it was the lot next to ours, so I made a deal with him to continue clearing on the road up to the opposite side of our lot.
He had a brush chipper attachment for his trackhoe that really does a number on the standing vegetation. Within two hours, he had cleared the trees in the 100 feet in front of our lot.
Much to my chagrin, there were two additional vehicles buried under those trees, and clearing the trees exposed the abandoned trucks. Additionally, there was another truck, an suv, and a station wagon at the edge of the property line, but on the road. There is even a frame for a trailer – but no axle!
Using the blade on the front of the track hoe, he pushed these three vehicles back into the trees on Ahi Road until they were past my property line.
Then he picked up the two junk trucks and moved them back as well, piling one on top of the other!
There are seven waterlines running along Ahi Road on my side of the road. I gathered them together and covered them with sand to protect them.
Then I had a load of gravel brought in and dumped on the road at the top of the driveway location.
Before pushing this gravel down the hill where I planned to create a driveway, I gathered all the loose garbage – car parts, an old mattress, an office chair, a screen door frame, etc., and piled them next to the hill in the driveway location.
Making sure the water lines were protected, I had another dump truck of gravel, dirt, and rocks dumped over the hill on top of the garbage.
Not enough – so I had another load brought as well.
Then I had the guy with the tractor (Shannon of Kaholhoe Construction out of Milolii) move the first load of gravel onto the other two loads and grade them into a downward slope.
Over the next few weeks, I piled all the limbs I cut from clearing select portions of the Ahi lot at the bottom of the new driveway.
Periodically, I would run my chainsaw through the pile to reduce them to pieces less than six inches long. This is building up a pile that is pretty solid. I am hoping that this green vegetation will give me a base for the driveway. It also provides me a place to get rid of it all.
In my spare time, I contacted Greg in Mark Twain Estates who has a backhoe, and arranged for him to come start digging the footings for the house. I do not have a permit yet, but the footings can be dug and the forms set before the permit. I just can’t pour the concrete until afterwards.
The first thing he did was to clear away the loose rocks, vegetation and the lone guava tree.
Then he switched to the hammer and began pounding on the rocks.
After two days of hammering, I felt that we had enough to enable me to move the rocks around to create the footing pads for the pier columns of the house and the lanai (patio, porch, or deck). I spent the next two days moving rocks and leveling out the footing bottoms. Now I need to get some material to build forms.
At the same time, I continued to clear portions of the Ahi lot. I was able to find and identify all four corner pins.
I cleared the downed trees and branches along the north/east side of the property and piled them in the driveway.
I cleared a pathway through the lot to the back fence line along the south/west property line.
There is a fence on this property line that the neighbor installed. When he did so, he cut the trees and branches and piled them on my property. I moved the ones for the first 50 feet or so out to the driveway pile.
I also identified and began clearing the west/north property side. This side is mainly the tall thick grass that grows in huge clumps. It is very thick and overgrown in this section of the property.
In the movie titled “Romancing The Stone”, Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas have just slid down the side of a mountain in a waterslide and are running away from the cops. He pulls out his machete and begins hacking at the tall grass in the jungle, following what he refers to as “some sort of trail”. That is just how I felt while clearing the west property line, except I had a pair of lopping shears instead of a machete!
In the south/east corner of the lot, I came across a half a dozen guava trees that had many guavas on them. My own guava patch! Yum!
Meanwhile, back at the lot, on Holowai, there are a few guava trees there as well. Twice, I have found a guava on the ground in the middle of the driveway. There is a guava tree in the jungle along side the driveway and there are a couple of guavas on it.
The purpose of all this is not to provide a construction project, but to experience the ocean. Therefore, I continue to go down to the shoreline. One day, there were so many people at the place we usually go, that I went out towards the point of land closer to Whittington Beach. Not many people venture out here as the road is quite rough – passable if you go slow, but still, it is rough! Once out here, I spotted a tidal pool in the middle of the lava field.
I checked it out, and there is a canyon, crevass that leads from the ocean to this pool. The waves come rolling and roaring through this narrow gorge and crash onto the side of the cliff that forms the pool.
As they crash here, they spill over and keep the pool full. It is about 40 feet long and 20 to 30 feet wide. At the deepest point it is maybe two feet deep. Just right for wading, soaking, relaxcing. As it is contained within the lava, it is at leasty 5 degrees warmer than the ocean. As this pool fills, it spills over into another depression next to it that is a little larger, but not much deeper.
One day, I ventured back along the coast and found yet another land locked tidal pool. While this one is about the same size as the other one, it is almost 6 feet deep in one spot. Being a bit deeper, it is cooler than the other pool – in fact, it is only a few degrees warmer than the ocean, but the water is calm.
A bit further along the coast, is an estuary/tidal area that is about as hundred feet across and is guarded at the ocean by a rocky shelf. While this area is subject to some of the wave action of the ocean, it is a bit less violent – especially during low tides and calm seas. But when the tide is up and the seas are full – watch out! I would not want to risk being in there then! The possibility of being washed across the sharp rocks and out into the ocean to then be slammed back against the cliffs is too great! There is so much more here than we had originally thought!
I have not yet seen a place/opportunity to launch or to land a kayak here, but maybe. . .
I like to come here and spend an hour or two . . . watching the ocean, soaking in the pools, eating lunch, etc., I set up a shade cover off the back of the car to sit under. This gives me a front row seat to the best show in town!
I could stay here all day!
While gathering up branches and clearing the Ahi lot, I came across an unexpected tenant.
A Jackson Cameleon. (poor photography skills)
But he’s not the only visitor I had. Back at the Holowai lot, I regularly had a pair of Red Crested Cardinals stop by looking for crumbs. I began to accomodate them, and soon their friends joined. At times, I had six of these red headded birds, two regular red Cardinals, as well as a couple of green finch type birds stopping by.
You have to look real close at the concrete floor to see the birds.
And the geckos were making themselves right at home.
My time in Hawaii was quickly winding down. I am quite pleased with the progress on this trip – Footings dug, Ahi Road cleared past our lot, a driveway started, some clearing done. Not exactly what was on my “to do” list, but we’ll get to that . . . Next Time!
Tomorrow I go back to the mainland. It will be August 22.
I have been here in Hawaii since the 12th of July.
I am sitting in a chair on the lanai (porch or patio) portion of the gazebo, thinking about all the things I need to do before I go. I could just leave. But then I would worry about all the things left out. . . worried about if they would still be there when I return, and what condition they would be in.
I need to pack up all the things in my “kitchen” that I have gotten out – the one plate, two bowls, numerous cups, my silverware, two frying pans and two sauce pans, with a couple of glass lids, spatula, potato peeler, can opener, wooden scraper, and what few food items I have left. I have eaten all my canned foods, but I still have peanut butter, honey, sugar, etc.
The geckoes are out and I am watching two of them climbing on the bucket next to me that I am using as a garbage can.
These particular geckoes are the Gold Dust Day Geckos that are the popular Geico gecko. They are predominately green with a bit of gold dusting and three or four bold red spots on their back just above the tail. They like papaya, peaches, and pineapple!
The lanai of the gazebo is raised about three feet above the surrounding terrain. It is actually an extension of the hill on which the gazebo is built. Just off the edge of the concrete floor is a planter. I have been throwing my kitchen scraps here so they can become compost. I have not seen the geckoes scavenging around in these scraps, but the birds absolutely love it.
There are three pair of red cardinals that hang around the property. The males are bright red with a black masking around the eyes and a bright orange beak. The females are a dull brown with a faint dusting of red in their feathers, but they also have the bright orange beak. I have found that these birds like bananas. I will buy a hand of bananas from a fruit stand and bring it to the lot. Then I will drape it over a rope tied between two trees that I use as a clothesline. As the bananas ripen, I find that the birds have hollowed one or more of the bananas on the hand, so I have taken to covering them with a cloth.
This morning, there is a pair of cardinals trying to gather the courage to fly down into the planter to retrieve some over ripe banana I have tossed there. I watch a bright red male fly to the lower branch of a tree about 15 feet above the planter. (I call him Larry Fitzgerald) He sits there cocking his head back and forth, looking left and right, trying to decide if it is safe to fly any closer. Directly below him is the round patio table. As I watch the red cardinal, a brown female flys down onto the table. The red one starts prancing back and forth on the branch and squalking and chirping. The brown cardinal looks up at him, then looks left , then right, and flys down to the rock wall of the planter. She sits there looking around as another bird that is half the size of the cardinals, about the size of a sparrow, with bands of multiple colors, orange, yellow, and blue, flys in and lands directly in the planter. I think it is some kind of a finch. But this bird then hops up onto the planter wall with a chunk of banana about the size of it’s head in it’s beak. The banana drops onto the planter wall as this finch takes off with a mouthful of banana. Immediately, two more of these same type of birds fly down to the planter wall and start taking turns attacking the slimy rotting over-ripe banana piece. It is now that I realize that it is these birds that have been attacking my bananas, not the cardinals.
As I stand up, the birds all fly away. The three geckoes on the counter above the water storage tank all look at me to see what I’m going to do. I pick up a bottle of tropical fruit drink and sit back down. The geckoes on the counter ( Larry, Moe and Curly) go back to licking at spots of peach juice, while the two on the bucket/trash can (Shemp and Sam) scoot around to the other side of the bucket away from me.
A to do list would be helpful so I pick up the pad of paper from the ice chest next to my chair that I am using as a table. I make my list:
Put away dishes and kitchen stuff into totes. Put extra food into food tote. Put totes into back of car. Put stove in car. Remove cushions from chairs and put into the car. remove solar light from ceiling of gazebo and pack into box. Put into car. Remove solar panels from roof of shed – store inside shed. Disconnect batteries from shed electrical wiring. Put away shovels, rakes, hoe. Put away chainsaws. Cover chipper. Put away totes on shed porch into shed. Gather all small hand tools and put into tool box in shed. Rebuild steps leading up to shed porch. Put oil on extra pieces of rebar and store under shed. Rehang the gates (I had taken them down so the trucks and equipment would not damage them when working on the septic tank – and to give them a little extra room to get through the gates)
I get up and start working on the list, resisting the urge to just go spend the day at the ocean. The kitchen first. I put away the dishes and pans and silverware into the totes, leaving out one bowl and one spoon for breakfast in the morning, my last can of beef raviolis, and a cup! As I carry the totes up to the car in the driveway, I smell a faint odor of a campfire. I have smelt this for the past two days and I assume it is from one of the neighbors. I untie the cushions from the chairs and throw them into the back seat of the car. Then I carry the gates back up to the gate columns and re-install them on their pivots. I leave the stove to heat the raviolis for dinner!
I gather up the shovels, the rakes, and the hoe and store them under the shed along with the excess rebar after rubbing oil onto each piece of rebar to try to keep it from rusting. I put away the two non-running chainsaws. I pick up the one that I recently bought at Ace. I tried to start this yesterday, but I think I flooded it. No matter how many times I pulled the starter rope, it just would not fire! I figure that I gotta try it just one more time. I pull the starter rope . . . nothing. I check the switch – it is in the off position! No wonder it would not start! I pull out the choke, and press the priming bulb three times. Pull the rope. One cough! OMG! I pull the rope again, – nothing! I push in the choke, and pull the starter rope. Cough, cough, cough! Again, – nothing, again, nothing, again, cough, cough, cough, cough, squeeze the trigger to give it some gas, and off it goes, coughing and sputtering, but it is running!
Up near the gazebo, there is a stump that I have dug out all the rocks around it. I wanted to cut it out yesterday, but could not get the chainsaw to start. Trying with the handsaw was too laborous – especially down in a hole. Taking the chainsaw up there as it is running, I start to cut it out. Wood chips start flying. Then there are sparks! Damn! There is a little rock hidden in the roots under the stump! I thought I had checked for rocks, but apparently not well enough. This rock is about the size of a peanut M &M, but it is wedged tightly between two roots! 1/2″ either side, and I would have missed it! The chain won’t cut a thing! Razz-a-phraza- schick-a-munda-blla-noda!!!!
I shut off the chainsaw and put it away under the shed!
I cover the chipper with a tarp and tie it on as best as I can! The gas cans are put under the end of the chipper under the tarp.
My neighbor has agreed to give me a ride into Waiohinu in the morning so I can catch the bus into Kona. I send a text message to my neighbor to make sure he remembers and is still in agreement. I get a response, “Yup. See you at 5:30” I had checked with the bus company on Friday to make sure they were running on Monday – that it was not a holiday, or some kind of training day, and I’m good to go. The lady mentioned that the TSA is recommending that you be at the airport three hours before your flight so that you will have time to go through security. My flight is at 11:30 in the morning.
The 8:20 bus from Waiohinu gets to the airport around 10:30. Maybe not enough time, so I opt for the 6:20 bus.
I grab four soda bottles filled with water that are laying on the corrugated roofing in the sun. As they are emptied into the bucket at the shower, the bucket drops a little bit from the added weight. Taking a shower feels really good! As it is 4 o’clock in the afternoon, it is time to disconnect the solar panels and take them off the roof. They are put into the shed against one of the sets of doors – the set that is hung with hinges that I do not use. Maybe next trip I will hang the other two sets of doors on their hinges. I have said that before the last two trips, but have yet to do it! I leave the batteries hooked up to provide power to the refrigerator and the lights in the shed.
Dinner consists of beef ravioli. After dinner, the pan and the plate get washed up and put into the car. I’ll let the stove cool down and put it into the car in the morning.
It is time to sit back on my cushionless chair on the lanai by the gazebo and watch the day turn into evening. As it has every afternoon for the past two weeks, it starts to lightly sprinkle. A little after noon, the clouds began to float in until the sky was totally overcast. The bright, sunny day turned to a cloudy day. Now it is a rainy evening. The rain is not much more than a light mist but I still get up and move my chair back until I am under the roof of the gazebo. The string of solar lights along one edge of the gazebo are on, but you could not tell it if you didn’t look closely. They do not give off much light, and in the dusk, they are barely noticed.
After a while, the two lights on the pathway leading to the lower section of the property come on so I turn and look at the driveway gates. A few minutes later, these two lights come on as well. In a few minutes, the light in the gazebo will also come on, but I go down to the shed to get ready for bed.
I use the remote control to turn off the light in the gazebo that has just come on. I will have to pack this light up in the morning before I go so it is not coming on and staying on all night while I am away. I play a few games on the tablet – backgammon, solitaire, etc. before calling it a night and going to bed. I set an alarm on my phone to wake me up at 4:00 AM.
During the night, I keep waking up every two hours and checking the time. It would be horrible to over-sleep and miss the bus and the flight!
I am up at 4:00 AM. It is still dark! Have a bowl of cereal, put away the stove in the back of the car, disconnect the batteries from the shed electrical, lock up the shed, and take my suitcases up to the road.
As I am coming up the stairs in the pathway, I see a fire burning at the side of the path near the driveway! What the Heck? The little wooden box that is the planter I made for the plumeria tree is on fire!
I grap some bottles of water and start pouring them onto the burning flames as my neighbor pulls up. This little planter is partway under some trees, so I drag it out from under the branches and out into an open area. The planter was sitting on an old tree stump, and the stump is still burning, as well as the ground all around it! More water to douse the flames! In fact, I tip the planter over and dump everything out. The only thing that was on fire is the sides and bottom of the planter. Nothing inside was burning!
I rush back to the gazebo, and pack up the light. I take it to the car, and go back to the planter!
I scatter the stuff that was in the planter and turn it upside down. More water! More water on the old tree stump and the leaves around it.
This is spooky! And very scary, and un-nerving! What started the fire? There were flames two feet high on the side of the planter! The bottom of the planter and the stump it was sitting on were cherry red, burning coals! I need to stay and make sure this is out! But I have to go! More water! More water! More water!
I go out to the road and load up my suitcases. As we drive into town, I tell my neighbor what had just happened. He says he will check on it after dropping me off, and a couple of times during the day!
A very worrisome bus ride into Kona!
I arrive at about 8:45AM and there are three people in line at TSA!!!
I text my neighbor. He responds that all is good!
I drink my milk, eat my papaya, and my banana. Drink my pepsi and my POG (Passion fruit, Orange, Guava) juice! All remnants of the last of my refrigerated foods! I eat the last of the rolls I bought at the Punaluhu Bakery last Wednesday!
It is 10:00 AM and I notice that there is now quite a line at the TSA Check in! Dang! I should have gone through earlier, but I needed to drink all my liquids – the milk, the soda, the juice!
It takes 45 minutes to get through security. Only half their lines are staffed! When I get to the gate, I sit and I wait; along with 130 to 150 other passengers! At 11:15 they announce that they are about to start the boarding process. I’m not in the first group who paid an extra $50 to board first, I’m not in the “Families with young children” group, or the “Military in uniform” group, or the “disabled who need extra time to board group”, so I remain seated! At 11:30 they announce that there is a technical problem with the plane and that as soon as the FAA clears the plane, we will be boarding! At 11:45 , they are still waiting to hear from the FAA! At 11:55, we start boarding.
We take off almost an hour behind schedule. Good thing I have a two hour layover in Oakland! I worry for the entire flight!
While in Oakland, I get a text from my neighbor. He checked on the planter again and all is good! I texted back that there is a second wooden planter in the same area – would he please tip it over, dump it out, and scatter it around also? As we are boarding, I get another text – Done! I owe him big time!!!
Still worried! Still concerned! Hope it will be OK till I get back in September!
I have returned to Arizona to take care of things here that needed my attention.
While in Hawaii, I accomplished a lot. I poured the concrete floor under the gazebo. I poured the concrete on the lanai extension of the gazebo. I hired the contractor for the septic system and he completed it. I will create an entire post just about that! I built a water storage tank to collect rain water from the gazebo roof. I moved a lot of rocks, built some rock walls, moved a lot of old cut down tree limbs, chipped a lot of branches, and built a set of concrete steps down to the lower section.
The travel refrigerator I ordered arrived and is working out . . . not the best solution, but it will suffice for now. I ordered a queen bed/mattress and it came. I have built a bed frame for it and now I don’t know what to do with the single bed and single mattress.
LLeaving California Behind
Leaving California
Flying Above the Clouds
Flying above the clouds
Arrived in Kona
Arrived in Kona
My stretch Limo Arrives
I ride the bus from Kona airport to Waiohinu where my neighbor will pick me up for the last mile and a half!
Looking south from airport
As I ride the bus out of the airport, I look at the brown desolate landscape outside the airport grounds towards Kona to the south. A mixture of dry wild grasses growing helter skelter within the lava fields. Later in the week, i learn that there is a massive wildfire burning on the Big Island north of Kona. With all the dry vegetation, I can see why!
Tomatoes in the plumeria planter
When I get to the lot, I find that there is a tomato plant growing in the planter with the plumeria. and there are four little tiny tomatoes on it!
The smaller plumeria is doing very well also. There also is something growing in the other pot . . . perhaps some type of citrus? tangerines?
guavas on the bush
There are also a few guavas growing on the bush/tree in the middle of the house clearing.
And there are quite a few on the ground around the tree.
rotting guavas under the bush
Everything is pretty much the same as I left it. The tarps over the kitchen area seem to be a bit lower. I’ll need to work on raising them up and tightening them.
The first order of business is to receive the order of lumber and concrete that arrives the day after I do.
Mainly concrete and rebar, but a few 2 x 4’s to build screens to go around the gazebo to block the rain and wind.
I get out all my kitchen stuff and get the kitchen set up, and take a few of the things out of the shed to give me a bit more room in there.
One project is to complete the floor of the gazebo. I have brought some color for the concrete I will pour around the islands I had created on my last trip. I set up a form to divide the gazebo floor into quarters so it would be easier to pour. I did not think I could pour it all at one time.
The islands seem to just blend in. Maybe if I acid wash the whole floor, it will clean them and make them stand out more.
The next project is the extension of the gazebo to the south – what I will call the gazebo lanai. Again, I divide this up into four sections to make it easier to pour. I gather a bunch of flat stones to embed in the concrete – kind of like a cobblestone effect.
I pour small round inset holes to facilitate installation of some kind of a railing in the future.
No trip to Hawaii is successful without visiting the shore.
Water is like gold. I am constantly hauling water. I have a gutter on the lower edge of the gazebo roof and I want to use it to collect rainwater. I will need something to collect it in, so I have decided to build a tank along the one side of the gazebo out of concrete block.
One day, the wind picked up and tore up the big old tarp I had hung up over the kitchen area. I guess it is time to move the kitchen up to the gazebo.
With the walls of the water storage tank completed (built but not grouted) I was able to place some pieces of plywood over the tank and put my kitchen there. I then built a lean-to shed roof over this to keep the rain off. I added a wooden screen from some 2 x 4’s and 1 x 4’s I salvaged from some pallets. This will help keep the wind from blowing out the flames in my stove.
Garden steps
I have started pouring individual steps or individual small pads spaced 5 1/2″ below each other as the hill descends. I have poured 12 of these to make it much easier to go up and down the hill. Also, I do not have to keep rebuilding the steps as the rocks that were the risers kept getting kicked out of place. Now these same rocks are concreted in place between the different slabs.
Tachikara
Tom Hanks had “Wilson” to keep, him company in the movie Cast Away. Well, I found my own volleyball and created my own companion. Fortunalely, I used red paint instead of my blood to create the face. Like Wilson being named after the manufacturer of Tom Hanks’ volleyball, I have named my friend “Tachikara”. I call him Tachi! He is quite the fashionista!
Wildlife
At the previous kitchen area, there were a half a dozen gecko lizards that would crawl up through the pallets to the working surface. I found that they really enjoyed the papaya and I would leave them small pieces. They did not really eat them, but would lick them. They also liked peach juice. After opening a can of peaches, the syrup that comes in the can was quite attractive to them. There were three that I thought were recognizable as they were frequent visitors. I started calling them Larry, Curly, and Mo. Then I noticed a smaller one. I called him Shemp.
After moving the kitchen up to the gazebo, I noticed the geckos seemed to have followed, and there were more of them. The new ones, I called Manny, Moe, and Jack. The one in the picture climbing into the peach can is not one of the original three Stooges, he has a darker tail. One day, I saw one that looked like his tail had been cut off as he just had a short stump of a tail.
The septic system is completed. The gazebo floor is poured. the lanai extension floor is also poured. Concrete steps have been installed through the garden and down the hill for easier access. The random piles of cut branches have been gathered up and cut into small pieces. These small pieces have been stacked behind some rock walls to continue to deteriorate and create compost for planting in these areas.
The time has come to return to the mainland for a short time.
On my trip to Hawaii in July/August I have successfully completed the installation of a septic system on the property. This is in preparation of building the house.
Most homes in Hawaii outside the major cities, have a cesspool; a large hole in the ground where the sewage from the toilet, kitchen, bathroom, etc drains and is collected. This is a typical cesspool:
Periodically, this cesspool needs to be pumped out and the sewage hauled away. Many never do that. Many depend on the cesspool to be leaky and the liquids leak out into the ground around the cesspool while the solids stay in the tank. This is not all bad, as the solids slowly break down and flow out with the liquids. Depending on how “leaky” the cesspool is, it can be a very workable solution, or a stinky mess if the solids leak out before breaking down.
Hawaii has mandated that by the year 2050 all homes will either be connected to an approved sewage treatment system or they will have an Individual Waste Water System – a septic tank with leach field (an IWS). That will be an expensive item for these homes to complete as they will have to replace the cesspool with a septic system.
A septic system is quite common. I have designed and installed quite a few. Typically, they have cost less than $5K. This one cost me $10,000.00 – That’s Hawaii for you!
Additionally, I had to hire an engineer to submit the drawings to the state of Hawaii Department of Health (DOH). Another $1200.00 cost! In other locations I was able to draw the plans myself.
The engineer copied my design into his template along with the legal/engineering wording and layout and submitted it to the State Department of Health. Within a few weeks, he had the approval letter which is basically the permit.
I began contacting septic system contractors. Past systems, in other municipalities, I have installed myself, but here in Hawai’i, they require that you pay exorbitant prices to contractors who have paid a bribe to the County/State in order to be on their “approved” list. Anything to force you to support the local economy. However, the engineer was located in Colorado, and had simply filled out the necessary forms and paid the bribe to be included on their list. Such is life!
I settled on a contractor out of Kona. Actually, I think he is located in Naalehu but has a Kona business address for some reason. Strange. I contacted him on my last trip, but I was not staying long enough for him to do the job, so when I returned in late July, I contacted him and got on his schedule.
I had to pay him a large deposit up front, but I guess that is standard. I talked with a neighbor down the road who had just used this contractor and that was the way it happened with him.
Equipment arrives on site
Equipment arrives
Creating a clearing
Apparently, there cannot be any trees within 10 feet of the finished system, so the first thing they did was knock down a bunch of trees and create a large clearing. I think that they just wanted the “elbow” room in which to maneuver. This did open up the view to the ocean though! One night, I climbed on top of the excavator to see what the view might be from the house. Not bad!
View from standing on the roof of the excavator.
Then he got in position to start digging!
Not much digging – more hammering on the rock to loosen it up to get it out
Hammering and hammering.
This is the result of the first day’s hammering and digging.
They need to dig two holes – one for the tank that is about 12 feet long and 5 feet wide and 6 feet deep. The other is for the leach field. It needs to be about four feet away from the tank and it must measure 12 feet by 12 feet by 6 feet deep.
The hole for the Tank
The results of a week’s worth of hammering and diggingLeach Pit Excavation
They brought in the tank on the back of a truck. Then they used the excavator to lift it off the truck and set it into the hole.
Septic tank in place in the hole
Then came a load of volcanic cinders to back fill around the tank. Before placing the tank, they put a layer of cinders in the bottom for the tank to rest on.
Then came more cinders for the bottom of the leach field. Using a laser level, they marked on the sides of the hole, where the level of cinders needed to be filled to.
Once the cinders were spread and leveled out, they placed the leach lines and the distribution box. They propped these up on short pieces of pipe so that when they put in the leach rock (rock sized bout 2 or three inches in diameter) it would suppound the pipes.
They filled the hole to the top of the leach lines with this leach rock.
Then covered it with a cloth membrane to keep the fine dirt from filtering into the l;each rock and clogging it up.
Using the smaller rock and dirt that was dug out, they carefully covered the membrane.
Then backfilled with the larger rocks.
At this point, it sat for a week. I got a phone call from the contractor wanting to get paid the balance. I asked if the Health Department had approved the system. Had the final inspection been done? and did it pass?
They told me “The Health Department does not do that. The Engineer does. “
“Well, has the engineer inspected it and approved it?”
“Oh, yeah. It’s all approved. We sent him the videos we took as we were doing the work and the final results and he approved it”
“That’s great! So, do you have a certificate of approval, or a completion certificate from the Engineer? Even just an email?” I asked.
“It was all verbal”
“Well, I will need the system completed and I need something from the Engineer or the Health Department saying it is complete.”
“Well, not yet, because we still need to fill the tank with water, and take measurements of where it actually sits on the property. Distances from the property lines.”
“So, it is not done yet. Well, you need to get that done before I can pay the final payment”
“I’ll have someone out there today to do that”
“I’ll also need something from the engineer certifying that is has passed. When I applied for the building permit for the house, they wanted me to provide them a document from the State Department of Health stating that it was an approved system”
“That comes from the Engineer.”
“OK, I’ll still need that from the engineer first”
“I’ll call him”
After that phone call, I texted the Engineer asking him about the final inspection, and if the system was approved. He texted me that after he received the photos and the videos from the contractor he would review them and upload his approval to the State Department of Health website. He had not received this from the contractor yet.
About an hour later, two guys showed up with a tanker of water and filled the septic tank. Then they took measurements.
The next day, I received a text from the Engineer that the system had been approved, and in about a month I should get the certificate from the Department of Health. Nobody from the Department of Health ever came out to inspect. The engineer has never been out to my property – he is in Colorado! But he inspected and passed the septic system! What a Mickey Mouse way of doing things! Welcome to Hawaii!
No covid vaccine requirements! No covid pre-tests to take! And best of all . . . no facemasks! – not in the airport, not on the plane, not in Hawaii!
I have a list of projects I want to accomplish. I have contacted my septic tank contractor to arrange for him to get started. I have ordered more concrete and lumber and some more guttering to be delivered on the Thursday after I arrive.
I have ordered a low voltage refrigerator, and it should be at the post office waiting for me to arrive.
Traveling from Arizona to San Antonio, Texas for another High School graduation requires us to travel through the bottom corner of New Mexico.
Just across the Arizona/New Mexico border is a “ghost town” called Steins. We stopped here on the way back from attending a high school graduation in San Antonio and I have created a seperate post for this.
One of the things memorable about New Mexico is the openess, the empty spaces, and the isolation.
Another memorable item is the extent of government waste. Such as this Border Patrol check point – Millions of dollars spent to create this checkpoint, and it is not even being used. There are barricades across the entrance!
I guess that is better than what we witnessed at other Border Patrol checkpoints where they stop each individual car and ask if everyone is a US citizen. You simply say yes, and they wave you through. I have wondered what they would do if you answered “Si” or “Ja” or “Jawohl”! What is interesting about this is the fact that none of the big rigs, the commercial trucks pulling a 45 foot cargo trailer loaded with hundreds of illegal aliens are stopped. No questions asked! They simply drive through!
We also saw many dust devils, whirly winds, mini tornadoes, heat created wind twists.
A few miles to the west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, standing on a bluff overlooking the highway, is a very large statue of a roadrunner.
This statue is made from pieces of trash. It looks very impressive from a distance and it is only after stopping at the rest area behind the hill and walking up to it, that you can see the individual pieces of trash.
Very well done.
Unfortunately, the only coyotes we saw were roadkill along the sides of the highway.
A few miles east of the Arizona/New Mexico border along interstate 10 is an old town called Steins, New Mexico. It is privately owned, and is touted as a “ghost town”. currently, it is nothing more than a dump.
I’m not going to go into the history of Steins, as you can do that by researching it on the internet.
What I am going to do is post some pictures of what we found when we pulled off the interstate to satisfy our curiosity(OK, to satisfy MY curiosity). At about mile marker 11 in New Mexico, there is a billboard (that looks like it has seen much better days) inviting travelers to stop and explore Steins. I didn’t get a picture of the billboard, maybe next trip!
But when you get to Steins, you find a much different reception!
You are met with a mixed reception – one of welcome
and one of “Go AWAY!”
At opposite ends of what used to be the old town, are residences set up for the people who live there. It looks like there are two residences on the east side that center around RV trailers,
and at the west end, there is a manufactured home.
There is a fence around the town intended to keep out the inquisitive travelers. (like me).
Pictures on the internet show the buildings when they were in a little better condition, but now, they are just boarded up and deteriorating.
I for one, was a bit disappointed by my visit to Steins, New Mexico.
TropicalCastaway 