Hookena Beach

I had been in Hawaii for a week. I needed to return the rental car. I called the rental company and asked about changing the drop off location to Hilo. They told me that it could not be changed. The car MUST be returned to Kona on the scheduled day at the scheduled time. So, I rented another car to be picked up in Kona and dropped off in Hilo – a one day rental. I am headed in to Kona to exchange cars. Tomorrow I will go to Hilo to drop off the second rental and pick up the car I bought earlier this week in Hilo.

Between South Point and Kona, is a beach called Hookena. It is 2 miles off the highway, and is a great place. The water is always warm and inviting.

It is a rainy day. It is overcast. It is a rainy day. It is overcast.

As I look out into the bay, I can see thirty or more dolphin fins coming up out of the water, and even a few of them jumping out and spinning in the air. I stand here in the rain and watch the dolphins playing in the bay, about twenty yards off shore. I walk down to the ocean edge and walk into the water. The water is warmer today than it is standing here in the rain.

TTFN

All Good Things . . .

It’s Saturday night. I am thinking about my exit strategy. I think backwards. My plane leaves on Monday morning at 8:20 AM. Therefore, I must be at the airport no later than 7:00 AM. I’ll need to drop off the rental car, and catch their shuttle to the terminal. I have two large suitcases with basically nothing to bring back. I do have the 6 tee shirts I bought at the ABC store that say something about Hawaii on them. They were probably made in China, and printed in Thailand before being shipped to Hawaii to sell to the tourists. 6 tee shirts for $20.00. It’s a crazy world. I also have a small roller suitcase that I left here from an earlier trip, along with a duffle type bag we bought in Florida. I put the small roller suitcase into one of the large suitcases, with the tee shirts inside the small roller bag. Then I stuff the large duffle into the other. In my back pack I put a hawaiian shirt, a pair of shorts, my computer, and the two portable chargers. I’m packed!

It’s at least an hour and a half drive to the airport, so I’ll need to leave by 5:30 AM on Monday morning, and that leaves me all day tomorrow. I still need to pack up my kitchen, take down the shade/rain tarp, dismantle and put away the solar system, and lock up the shed. I still only have two of the four doors I will need.

Sunday morning – I have half a papaya for breakfast. It is bright and sunny, so I make sure the water bottles are out in the sun heating up. I’ll want to take a shower later and will want hot water. I plug the charger for the portable tool batteries into the inverter and hope they will charge. I gather all the extra lumber from the drive way area and store it below the shed floor, and carry all the full length pallet 2 x 4 supports down to the porch floor. I put the wheels back on the chipper and reinstall the pull rope mechanism with a new pull rope. Then I cover the chipper with a small tarp and tie it in place. I move the mini fridge to the corner inside the shed, and stack all my plastic tubs containing my clothes, blankets, pillows, tools, food, etc. into the corner as well. I eat the other half of the papaya for lunch.

Then I set to work to build the last two doors I will need. It is late afternoon when I have finished glueing and clamping together the last door. The solar panels have done great to keep the drill batteries charged up. A sunny day was the needed imgredient. I take a shower, wash my hair and my feet using eight of the 2 liter water bottles set out to heat up. I walk out to the road and contemplate walking down to Scott’s to see about moving the car to his place. Instead, I get my cell phone. I’ll give him a call. I look up and see his car coming down the road towards me. He is driving very slowly. His dog – Charlotte Ohara – is sitting in the passenger seat.

As he pulls up next to me, I bend down and peer into the car as I pet Charlotte. “Good afternoon”.

He smiles. He has a very mellow expression on his face. I continue, “I was just about to call you to see about moving my car over to your place.”

“i’ve been down to Bill’s.” He says. “I was watching the Super Bowl and drinking all his beer.”

“So, did your team win?” I ask. I didn’t even know that today was Super Bowl Sunday, or much care. Nor did I even know which teams were playing. I’ve lost interest in professional sports since they have decided to become platforms for advancing social programs that will accomplish absolutely nothing.

Scott just frowns and mumbles something unintelligible. He brightens up and says, “Just follow me down.” And he slowly rolls towards his place. It is a good thing that he did not need to go out on any roads to get home from Bill’s place. It appears as though he has had more than his share of Bill’s beer.

I get in my car and follow him to his place . . . at about 2 miles per hour.

He parks his car, something like a Suzuki Sidekick with a soft top that looks like it has seen better days, in the middle of his driveway and gets out. He staggers toward an area off to the side and indicates that this is where he had thought of parking my vehicle. I maneuver around his car which is still running, and back my car into the spot, kind of under the trees. He is worried about vegetation growing up under and into my car and goes and gets a piece of corrugated roofing and places it under my car. I get out a big tarp and throw it over top. I get out some ropes I had brought as he goes in search of some bungy cords. By the time he returns, (without any bungies) I have the tarp secured over the car. I walk back towards the road and he staggers beside me. I leave him as he is trying to manage the steps up the hill.

The sun has gone down and the light is starting to fade as I carry my doors down to the shed. I still need to put on the hinges and hang them in the opening. I secure two of them in the side opening on one side of the shed with a couple of boards and screws. Not the most secure, but it will have to do. They fill the opening and from the outside, they look to be secure – Looks are everything. I begin to chisel the hinges into the side of one of the 18″ doors I want to hang. Then I begin to chisel into the post on the door opening. The light is gone. I am working with the light from my solar inflatable light. I get both doors installed and install the locking hasp I had purchased earlier at Ace in OceanView for this purpose. It works. I can now lock up the shed.

I go up to the kitchen area and heat up a can of spaghetti and meatballs for my last dinner. As this is heating, I begin putting my pots and pans and utinsels and dishes into the large tupperware tote. My solar light goes out. I am in the dark. I pull out a small flashlight and use it to find the second solar light. My spaghetti is ready, so I eat dinner. I pack up the stove and wash the last of my utinsels, then I carry everything down to the shed. The last item is the tarp hung up in the trees. I sit down on the bed after storing the last tupperware tote. I am so tired. I lay down.

I wake up. Slowly, I roll off the bed. I am so cold. I put on a sweatshirt. I still need to take down the tarp. I stagger up the hill with the small solar light that is still working, so I wasn’t asleep too long. I begin climbing trees in the semi-darkness trying to untie the ropes holding up the tarp. I wonder what I will do if I fall out of a tree and break something – like my arm or leg – and think about finding a knife to just cut these ropes! But I finally get the tarp down and folded up. I put it under the deck and go down to the shed. I sit down on the bed, take off my shoes, and look at the clock on my phone as I crawl under the blankets. 11:42.

Four forty seven in the morning on Monday, February 8. It is still dark outside when I get up. I change into the clean levis, clean shirt, clean socks that I have set aside for my trip back to the mainland. I look around the shed, and make sure that everything is as I want it to be to leave for a month or so. I go out onto the porch, lock the doors and go up to the upper deck area. I find the papaya that I had set aside for my breakfast and cut it in half. I eat half the papaya and leave the other half for the geckos, birds, and feral cats. I drink the rest of the milk, and empty the ice and water out of the ice chest, and stow it under the deck. I get in the rental car and head out to Kona. It is 5:20 AM.

Three or four times, I pull over and let other cars pass me on the highway. I must be getting old, because I do not like their headlights shining in my rear view mirror. As I come into south Kona, I pull in and fill the car with gas, and get a large drink. At 15 minutes to 7, I arrive at the airport. I’ve made good time. There was little to no traffic. I wonder how I will manage two large suitcases, my backpack and my drink on the shuttle bus from the car rental agency to the terminal. I find the cell phone parking lot at the far north end of the terminal and park there. Even though the signs say not to leave the car unattended, I take the two large suitcases out of the trunk and lock the car. Then I walk up to the airline check in desk. I check in for my flight, ask them to print my boarding passes, and check both bags. I go back to the cell phone lot where my car is the only one in sight and drive to the car rental agency. I check the car in and get on the shuttle bus for the short ride back to the terminal. I breeze through security and wait at my gate. At 7:55 AM I get on the plane and settle in for the flight home. We taxi out and take off. As we are gaining altitude, I look out the window toward the island. I can clearly see Hualalai volcano with Mauna Loa in the background and Mauna Kea to the left. Both Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea have snow at the summits. The perfect photo, and my cell phone is dead! The plane rises into the clouds as the island disappears from view and I settle back and go to sleep.

TTFN

Rental Cars

Looking back towards Kona from Highway 11 on the drive to South Point

It was a short walk from the highway where the bus dropped me off down to the rental car center located between the airport and the highway – or as they say in Hawaii, mauka the airport; makai the highway. Then to the Hertz rental car center. I had actually rented from Dollar, but due to the decrease in travelers, Avis and Dollar had moved their operations to Hertz – consolidating as had many of the other rental agencies.

I had rented from Hertz the first week I was here, and then from Dollar for one day so that I could return the car to Hilo instead of Kona. Hertz customer service told me that they could not change the drop off location on the first rental contract. That I HAD to return the car on the specified day at the specified time, to the specified location. So, I rented a car for one day from Dollar at Kona; to be returned in Hilo. So, after having been in Hawaii for a week, I drove to Kona where I dropped off the first car and picked up the second car. Then the next day, I drove to Hilo dropped off the second rental car and picked up the car I had bought earlier in the week.

It had been raining for most of the last three days, when I went to Hilo to return the second rental car and pick up my car. In fact, it was raining on the 26th when I left for Hilo. I was concerned about flooding, because the day before when I was coming back from Kona, I heard on the radio that Highway 11 was closed around Punaluu Black Sand Beach. I stopped in at the county highway department maintenance yard on Kamaoa Road and talked to a worker there. I told him that I was headed to Hilo and was wondering if the highway was open between here and there. “Oh yeah!” he said.

“That’s good enough for me.” I replied. “I figured that if anyone would know, you guys would.”

Just past the turn off to Whittington Beach Park, the road drops down onto a low flat area. There are signs here that say, “Road floods during rain”.

There were two highway workers standing along the side of the road in rain coats. One was holding up one of those reversible signs that say “stop” on one side and “slow” on the other that they use in construction zones to stop one lane of traffic at a time. The rain was coming down pretty steadily and about 200 yards further on, the water was rushing across the road about 6″ deep. There was a regular river of water coming out of the vegetation on the mountain side of the road about 500 yards further on and followed the side of the road before crossing and continuing towards the ocean. There was another highway worker further down the road stopping traffic from the other direction so only one lane could be used at a time. They waved me through and the road rose up as I head towards Pahala.

A few miles further on you pass the turn off to the town of Pahala and cross a series of three bridges covering river beds that usually are very dry. All three had water rushing down towards the ocean.

It rained on and off the entire trip to Hilo and back to Naalehu.

The next day, I went down to the ocean just past Whittington Beach Park to a place called Halekini where we have found a few shallow tide pools that we can wade in, and even sit and soak in. The shore line here is rocky cliffs that rise 6 to 8 feet up from the water, and the waves crash against these cliffs. Because of the storm, the wave action was producing better than average displays of water shooting into the sky.

From here, I could look inland and see Mauna Loa. There was snow on the very top under a thin layer of clouds

I drove my own car until three days before I was to leave and return to the mainland, when I took the bus from Waiohinu to Kona. I got off the bus on the highway at the turn off to the airport and walked down to the rental car center where I had rented two cars so far this trip. This would be my third trip to this same rental counter during this trip.

Everything went smoothly until the clerk asked to see my negative covid test.

“I’m not sure I brought it with me.” I said as I started to sort through the paperwork I had brought with me.
I’ve been here on the island for about three weeks now, “I mentioned “and my covid test was back in the middle of January. It was now Feb 4th.

“I still need to see it,” she replied mechanically.

I’m thinking that this makes no sense. When someone arrives in Hawaii without a negative covid test result within 72 hours of traveling, they must quarantine for 10 days. When you are under this quarantine order, you cannot rent a car. To prove that you are not under quarantine, you must show your negative covid test results. I had been here for the past 25 days or so! Could someone come to Hawaii, quarantine for 10 days, and then rent a car? I didn’t want to ask and confuse her any more than she already was.

“This will be the third car I have rented on this trip from this very counter,” I offered as I spotted the rental agreements for the other two times.

“Well, maybe we can look it up from those,” she said. And then I found my negative test results and the QR code from the Hawaii Travels website.

I showed these two papers to her, and she was happy. “Oh, OK!” she said. “The car is the Chevy Malibu right there in the first row.” She pointed out the window as she continued, “the keys are in the car.”

When it comes to this pandemic, things aren’t supposed to make any sense. Intelligence is not allowed! Just get on the train in the cattle car with everyone else and the government will take you to a “secure location”. After all, we’re all in this together, and its for your safety as well as the safety of those around you!

My neighbor Scott texted me while I was in Kona and told me that he needed the main ingredient in the concoction that is sprayed on the trees to fight the fire ants. My other neighbor Bill who gave me a ride this morning to the bus stop in Waiohinu must have told him that I would be in Kona. Scott said that the most cost effective place to get this stuff was at the Farm and Garden store in Kona or Hilo.

The chemical is named “Tango”, and it is mixed with peanut butter, cooking oil, and something else. Theoretically, the ants are attracted by the peanut butter and carry the tango to the nest. The cooking oil helps to make the mix easier to spray. The tango makes the queen sterile so she cannot produce any more worker ants. The worker ants have a very short lifespan, and as they die off, there are no more to replace them to forage for food for the nest and the queen, so the colony starves and dies.

So, after going to Home Depot and picking up some 12 foot 2 x 6’s for the porch which I loaded sticking out the back of the Malibu trunk, I picked up the tango. This gave me the opportunity to talk to Scott about leaving my car in the back of his property where it would be a bit safer and away from the road.

TTFN

Another Day . . . Another Adventure

Riding on a bus on my way to Kona. It is actually a large, rather comfortable bus – more of what I would call a motor coach.

I got on in Waiohinu – at the chinese store that is no longer open. I wonder why. Someday I will have to ask. I asked my neighbor Bill to give me a ride from my place to the store this morning at 8:00 AM to catch the bus at 8:25. Bill is in his late 70’s and lives about a dozen lots down from mine. He fancies himself as a kind of neighborhood organizer. He organized a group of neighbors to collectively fight an invasion of fire ants into our subdivision. They would get together every six weeks or so and spray some kind of concoction with peanut butter and a chemical called “tango” onto the trees to kill the ants. Apparently there is some kind of political disagreements going on. Some neighbors are opposed to spraying anything, and some want to go the full route with a more powerful insecticide. But a couple of months ago, something must have happened because he abruptly quit participating. Small town politics – even in paradise!

Yesterday, I got all the floor boards cut and placed for the shed floor. I have not glued and nailed the last 6 or 8 boards because I was working in semi-darkness – working by flashlight as it were – and I want to check them today before I nail them in place. Rather than install these boards parallel to one side or another, I decided to install them on a diagonal. This complicates the installation. Also, I have to select those in the same row to be the same size, and have even had to plane some of them to fit. It has been a tedious process, but it is almost completed.

Yesterday morning started out bright and sunny. I had breakfast, did the dishes, washed my feet, and then washed all my dirty clothes and hung them out on ropes strung between the trees so they can dry. Then I started to build doors for the shed. No sooner did I have all the tools and materials laid out on the deck, but it started to rain. I had not noticed that clouds had rolled in and covered the entire sky. It was just a light drizzle at first, but then it began to really rain.

I quit with the doors, gathered up my tools and materials, and moved inside the shed to work on the floor. It was well after dark before I finished and then I still had to put the bed back together. In order to work on the floor, I take the bed apart and stand it up against the walls in the corner where I will not be working or where the floor is already done. Then I have to put it all back together in order to go to sleep at night. So, when I get back from Kona later today, I will take the bed apart, move it out of the way and glue and nail the last floor boards in place.

I am scheduled to leave the island in three days – going back to the mainland. I have a flight at 8:20 in the morning. The best way I could come up with to ensure that I will be at the airport by 7:00 to catch this flight is if I had a rental car. So, I am going into Kona to pick up a rental car for the next three days. Then I can leave my place around 5:00 in the morning, drive to the airport, drop off the car, and catch the flight. Oh, the plans of mice and men . . . let’s just hope that these plans do not go astray!

The bus trip to Kona was actually quite pleasant. A more relaxing way to see the coast while someone else worried about the narrow winding road. As we came into Kona, the bus turned down Kamehameha III Road towards Keauhou Bay where the Sheraton Hotel is built out on the point. Many years ago on a trip to Hawaii I went on a night scuba dive with a man and wife from Switzerland who spoke mainly french. They had moved to Captain Cook to open a scuba diving outfitting company, and they barely spoke any english. We went out in a large rubber boat like a zodiac from Keauhou Harbor on a rainy stormy night. The ocean was quite choppy – making for a rather rough ride out to the point in front of the Sheraton. Once we got out of the boat and descended about 15 to 20 feet, the rough chop was replaced by a tidal surge moving in and out from shore. The bottom was covered in huge boulders the size of a VW bug, and the surge pushed us back and forth among these huge rocks. The purpose for the dive was to see Manta Rays. Huge, gigantic Manta Rays. 8 to 10 feet across from wing tip to wing tip, and even larger. The Sheraton had installed huge flood lights to light up their gardens along the shore line for their guests. The light shining on the water attracted the plankton . . . millions and millions of small ocean creatures . . . and the plankton attracted the Manta Rays. Manta Rays feed on plankton. They scoop up vast amounts of ocean water with their large mouths – mouths large enough to swallow a man whole – filtered out the plankton and spit out the seawater. The husband had tied four diving flashlights together to form a single beam of light and shined this beam straight up from the ocean floor. This beam would attract the plankton and the Manta Rays would come towards the shaft of light with their mouth wide open. When they got to the beam, they would turn and swim straight up at the last moment coming within a few feet of us. It was amazing as well as a bit unnerving to have these monsters coming out of the darkness, swimming straight at you with their mouth wide open, only to turn up at the last second. They were close enough to touch and I tried to do that, but was chastized by the woman. Apparently, human hands harm the soft underbellies of these creatures – you can look . . . but don’t touch!

The bus drove into the tight parking lot at the harbor and it was all familiar from when I had been there before. A few cars had to be moved so that the bus could make the turn and head back out, and we went up to Alii Drive. We drove through the heart of tourist Kona along the shore line past the billion dollar resorts and million dollar houses. There were surfers out trying to catch the waves and many of the other passengers were trying to catch glimpses of the waves as they came crashing to shore. Apparently the surf was a bit higher than usual today.

After passing through the coast area, the bus proceeded to a shopping center at the north end of town by the old airport. When the driver stopped at the shopping center, the other 7 or 8 passengers all got out, so I moved up to the row of seats behind the driver. He was a large Hawaiian who looked to weigh at least 350 lbs. I said to him, “I know that the bus stops at the airport have all been cancelled, but I need to get to the airport.” He just looked at me as I continued. “I figured that if I got out at the courthouse stop, I could call an uber from there. Would that be the best way?”

He suggested, “I could just drop you off on the highway at the entrance to the airport and you could walk down from there.”

“Wow!” I answered. “I didn’t think you went that way. I thought you turned up and went out the other highway.”

“Naw!” he said. “I go right past there. It would be no problem to stop and let you out.” He continued, “I would take you all the way down to the airport, but they’ve got tracking devices on these busses.”

“Well, that is better than I had hoped!” I said.

“Where are you flying out to?” he asked.

I told him that I wasn’t flying out until Monday morning, and my mission today was to pick up a rental car. That way, when I do fly out on Monday, I will be sure to be able to catch the 8:20 plane. “Yeah,” he added, “you don’t want to rely on the bus schedule. Always running late. It’s better now. Since they got these big new busses. The old ones were always breaking down.” He continued, “I’ve been driving the bus for 10 -12 years now. So, where you going on Monday?”

“Back to the mainland,” I replied. “Back to Arizona.” I explained, “I’ve got a place down by South Point and I try to come over as often as I can.”

“Yeah, you got on in Waiohinu.” he observed. “Your place in Discovery Harbor?”

“No,” I answered. “In Mark Twain Estates, next to Discovery Harbor.”

He nodded as he maneuvered the big bus down the highway. ‘Then he added, “I went to the university in Arizona.”

“Oh, really?” I asked. “Which one?” Fully expecting he would say ASU, and hoping he would say U of A.

“The one in Flagstaff,” He offered. “NAU”

“I got both of my degrees from NAU,” I answered, excitedly.

“So, we’re both Lumberjacks” he laughed.

“Yeah” I said. “How about that?”

“I played football for them” he explained. “Transferred from Junior College to NAU in Flagstaff.”

We were approaching the intersection for the airport road and he said, “I’ll just pull up over there, just past the light, and you can walk down from here.”

As I got out, I said, “It was great to meet a fellow Lumberjack here. Thanks!”

“No problem,” he replied, “and be careful, and be safe.”

TTFN

Accomplishments

Now that I have been here in Hawaii for a few weeks, I guess it is time to stop and see just what I have accomplished.

Perhaps the most important is that I have my solar panel system set up. Previously, I had purchased a 100 watt solar system, but I have yet to set it up. I got the boxes out from under the shed and proceeded to put it together. The instructions said to connect the battery (batteries not included) to the charge controller before connecting the solar panels. It did not explain why, and I did not want to risk it, so I put it all back into the boxes and put them under the deck. I have not purchased any batteries yet. Tomorrow I will be in Hilo, and I will pick up a battery then. So, after returning from Hilo, where I purchased a deep cycle marine battery for $87.00 plus a $12 core charge, I got everything out again. I remembered that the instructions also said something about covering the solar panels so they would not be producing electricity until everything was hooked up, so I covered each panel with a piece of cardboard.

I hooked up the battery to the charge controller with the cables provided. A very simple connection – red for positive, and black for negative, and two set screws on the controller labled positive and negative. This powered up the controller which registered 12.4 volts in the battery. So far, so good.

I connected the two panels to the provided cables with the snap together connectors – no chance for error here – and then connected the cables to the controller. Again, two set screws labled positive and negative. Then I uncovered the solar panels and immediately the controller registered that there was power flowing from the panels to the battery. There are also two set screws for DC output – I connected a pair of low voltage lights to these two set screws. There is an on/off switch for DC output on the controller. I turned the switch to the on position and the lights came on – Success – I now have 100 watts of solar power. Progress!

I have been using two inflatable solar lights for light at night. Hopefully, I will be able to do something better with these solar panels. Not that these lights have not worked great, it is just that each day I had to remember to put them out somewhere in the sun to recharge.

Two inflatable solar lights with yellow tops and square solar panels.

A few times I would forget and had no light at night.

Additionally, I purchased a mini fridge. When I am in Hawaii, I need to buy a bag of ice every other day to keep things like milk and eggs and butter cold. I am hopeful the solar system would be able to operate the fridge with an inverter. I have a 300 watt inverter to convert the power from DC to AC. The inverter hooks up to the battery – red lead to the positive terminal, black lead to the negative. The problem I have had so far is that the solar panels are not in full direct sunlight, and many of the days I have been here, it has been overcast and raining. Additionally, 100 watts just isn’t quite enough. I was able to use the fridge maybe three days. I think I need additional solar panels. As I keep reminding myself, one thing at a time.

Another significant accomplishment is that I have bought a car – a 2008 Ford Escape. I bought it from a used car dealership in Hilo. The car has lots of miles on it, did not cost an arm and a leg, and is transportation. I have felt that each time I come and rent a car, that is money that could be spent on buying instead of renting, which to me is like throwing money away. However . . . owning a car brings other issues. The first issue is what to do with it when I am not here. Once the house is done, I will be able to lock it up under the house, but until then, . . . So, why not wait? Well, I will need a car when I build the house, so do I rent a car every time I come over? I figure that I have spent close to $2K on rental cars so far.

Also, cars need maintenance. This one needs tires. I am sitting outside a local tire dealer waiting for them to install two new tires. I could have rented a car for a week for the cost of the tires, but . . . Then there is always the liability of a rental car being damaged. Even if I buy the extra insurance which just increases the cost, any damage creates a major hassle. Finally, I bought it on 1-21-21. That seems like a good omen. Time will tell.

As part of the car ownership problem solving, I

The car is parked across the road from the property.

have been working on lengthening the driveway. Currently it is only about 20 feet into the jungle which makes it about 10 feet into the property as the property line is 10 feet past the tree line at the edge of the road. I have much clearing along the road still to do. I think that if I could park the car far enough into the property, it will be safe to leave it here. I have cut out the vegetation – the easy part of this job – and have been working on removing a hump of boulders about 2 feet tall all interlocked together blocking the driveway. In order to remove the hump, I have been using a small sledge hammer and a 2 foot prybar. This is a lot of work. I have been loosening and digging out rocks that are 2 to 3 feet in diameter. A backhoe could accomplish in an hour, what I have spent over 4 hours doing. But I do not have a backhoe. But I have successfully removed the hump. Now I need some smaller stones and / or cinders.

Some of the boulders I have been removing with a hammer and a prybar

The last time I was here, my next door neighbor had commented on some of my trees along the property line that were growing towards his house. He suggested that we could work together to cut out the ones he was concerned about. Most all the trees are hanging down and overgrown, and I would like to trim them all – especially the ones hanging over his property. I also need to thin them all out just to attempt to gain some sort of control over this jungle. Also, it might improve my view of the ocean.

So, without any other directions, I have started cutting in the area just above the shed. Cutting down anything that was extending over the fence line, or that might in the next year or so. I have been cutting it not just at the fence line, but all the way back to the trunk. Over the course of two days, I have thinned out a great deal of these trees, and created quite a pile of limbs on the ground. It’s time for the chipper. Have I mentioned that I really don’t like mechanical things?

Sunday afternoon I took the chipper apart to clear whatever was clogging the blade. Actually, it is quite simple. It just requires figuring out what to do, and then doing it. Kind of like anything else in life. I took apart a few bolts and the chipper came apart to expose the blades and the branch clogged in the blade. I dislodged this and put the chipper back together. Monday morning around 8 AM I started up the chipper, and ran branches through it for about 30 minutes – and it clogged again! Have I mentioned that I really don’t like mechanical things? So I took it apart again. This time was easier, as I knew what to do, and had broken the bolts free the last time. I cleaned out the clog and checked to make sure the blade would spin. Then I put it back together. I pulled on the started rope to start the 8 hp motor and the rope broke!

Have I mentioned that I really do not like mechanical things?

I removed the rope pulley and retrieved both pieces of the rope. Now I know the length of rope to buy when I am in Hilo. I have also removed both rubber tires from the rear axle, as they have both gone flat. I should probably fix these as well. Have I mentioned that I really don’t like mechanical things?

Back to what I have accomplished so far on this trip.

Previously, I had put roofing over three of the triangles that make up the shed roof. I ran out of materials to finish the last side. Yesterday, I put the last part of the roofing on this triangle – so the roof is now finished.

I have been installing 1/2″ and 3/8″ thick boards on the floor of the shed as the flooring. These boards I have removed from old pallets. Some of them appear to be oak. I have been installing them on a 45 degree angle for a little bit of a design. I am a little over 3/4 finished and I need more boards. I have a few more pallets that I can disassemble.

I have also been building concrete pillars for a porch on all the sides of the shed.

It will wrap all the way around the shed and have varying widths – 3 foot, 4 foot, 5 foot, and 6 foot. I am working on the 4 foot and 5 foot sides. I plan on using the 2 x 4 supports that I have removed from the pallets as the floor boards.

I may have to replace these with 2 x 6 material. This will be more expensive, as the 2 x 4’s are free.

The solar panels don’t seem to be able to keep up. I have quit trying to use the mini fridge because I keep getting an error message on the controller that the output is too large. I have added a second battery, but this does not seem to have helped. I think that I need to change the location so that they are more in the direct sunlight, or add more panels. The last few days have been stormy and overcast, so that might be part of the problem. Back to buying ice.

Crime Spree

The other morning, I was having breakfast, and went to the car to get something. As I came through the trees and around the corner I saw a Hawaii County Policeman standing in the middle of Holowai Street in front of the car. I immediately wondered what I had done. Had my covid test at the airport come back positive and they have been trying to reach me? Unable to reach me, the government has sent the cops.

As far as I knew, I had done everything the state required of me – I had gotten a negative covid test result within 72 hours of traveling, I had submitted my information to their website so they could control the population, I had submitted to a covid test upon arriving in Hawaii, I had filled out the Department of Agriculture form while on the plane – that must be it. They have come for the sandwich baggie of carrots I had declared on the form!

I should be good to go – just like the teenager masquerading as a medical worker at the airport had said. As I walked past the car, I saw that the officer was listening to one of my neighbors – Brian, who I had just met yesterday. As I got closer, I gathered that Brian was telling him a story about chasing after a couple of guys two or three days ago who had broken into a house in the neighborhood. Brian indicated that one of these guys was the one that the police had arrested in the little blue car sitting along the side of the road towards the end of Holowai Street at the other end of my property.

What little blue car?

I looked down the street, and there it was. A mini Toyota sitting almost in the trees on the side of the road.

Apparently, the little blue Toyota had been stolen a few days ago. A regular crime spree; happening right here in front of me and I had missed out on all of it. There were two Hawaii County cop cars parked in the road and four police officers working over the car – gathering evidence, photographing, taking fingerprints, etc.

I later learned that Lorenzo had been talking with the guy in the Toyota, trying to detain him until the cops arrived. Scott and Brian had been working together nearby when they saw this guy -someone who grew up in the neighborhood and everyone knew – in fact, he was best friends to Lorenzo’s son who lives on Oahu – drive past them and they called the cops.

More concern about just leaving the car parked at the lot when I return to the mainland. Just one more thing to work out!

Later, I was at the park in Waiohinu filling up my water bottles at the free water station there, when an unmarked police car drove into the parking lot and parked about 20 feet away. I knew it was a police car from the little blue light on the top, and the two cops who got out. One of them walked over towards me, while the other walked to the front of the car as if to block me from jumping in and speeding away.

I recognized the officer coming towards me as one who was working on the blue Toyota and said, “So, you guys are all done up there with the Toyota?”

The officer stopped and the look on his face was one of “HUH?” “WHAT?”

He gathered his composure and asked, “Is this your car?”

I continue to fill the two dozen gallon water bottles I have with me as I talk with him.

“Yes” I answered. “well, it’s actually a rental”

“Is that your place up there?” he asks as he indicates in the direction of Mark Twain Estates.

“Yeah” I reply. “I own those two lots on the opposite side of the road from where you were looking at that little blue car.” As I am saying this, four more cars pull in to the parking lot – all with little blue lights on top, and all with two police officers in them.

The cops all get out of the cars, and I recognize the tallest one as the cop who was talking with Brian. I nod towards him and he nods back and kind of ducks his head and slinks back to his car with as much dignity as he can salvage after recognizing me.

I continue to explain to the other officer, “Yeah, my wife and I bought that place a couple of years ago and we come over as often as we can. Trying to tame the jungle so we can eventually build a house there.”

“I see,” he replies. “Did you talk with the guy in the car?”

“I didn’t even see the car until Brian was telling that officer his story about it” I answer as I nod towards the tall policeman who is trying to be as inconpicuous as possible.

“Well, have a good day”. He and his partner walk away and all the other cops join in a little huddle next to their cars before they each get into their cars and drive away.

What was THAT all about? I wonder as I watch them all drive away.

The Envelope, Please!

The southern most town / city in the US is Na’alehu, Hawaii. Na’alehu looks like a small rural town from the 1950’s, but it has been here much longer. There was a sugar plantation here in the 1880’s, and it is rumored that Mark Twain rode through here in the 1860’s, so it was probably here much earlier.

The most prominent landmark in town is the abandoned theatre that was built by the Hutchinson Sugar Plantation to provide entertainment for the workers.

Na’alehu Post Office with abandoned theatre behind (with turtle painted on the roof)

Perhaps the most famous is the Punaluu Bakery.

There are also a couple of small grocery stores, an Ace hardware, a post office, two or three places to eat, a very large elementary school and at least 5 or 6 churches. There is a feed store at the south end of town just before the police station. In spite of there being two grocery stores, most people do their shopping in either Kona or Hilo.

There are maybe a hundred homes in Na’alehu, and there are perhaps fifty in Waiohinu about a half mile up the highway from Na’alehu. In Waiohinu, there is a monkey pod tree that is said to have been planted by Mark Twain when he was on the island and wrote “Roughing it in the Sandwich Islands” There is no mention of the tree or either town in his book, but there is a sign next to the highway by a monkey pod tree.

The towns are surrounded by ranch lands where cattle graze. Neither town is an organized municipality, but they are a both a CPD or a census-designated place.

To the west, southwest of Naalehu, is a subdivision called Discovery Harbor. No, it is not on the ocean, and you have to go through Na’alehu to get to the ocean from Discovery Harbor, but that is what the developers chose for the name. There are around eight hundred lots about a third of an acre each in this subdivision. They have paved streets that are maintained by the county, electricity, telephone and cable TV on power poles along side the road ways. Each lot is served with potable water from the county. The subdivision is laid out around a Robert Trent Jones designed golf course with 18 holes and a community center. Not all lots are backed up to the golf course, but most all of them have some kind of an ocean view. They have an active community homeowners association complete with CC&R’s. The golf course is privately owned, not open to the public, and not very well maintained, if at all.

On the east/northeast side of Discovery Harbor, towards Na’alehu and Waiohinu, is another subdivision called Mark Twain Estates. It is interesting to note, that the same developers developed these 300 lots as developed Discovery Harbor, but they chose not to pave the streets or install water mains. Also, this was their “Phase I” with Discovery Harbor being “Phase II”. The lots in Mark Twain Estates are each just under a half an acre, the roads are rough gravel/rock,dirt roads but passable, and they do have power poles at the roads with electricity and phone. Most of the lots are overgrown with christmas berry trees over twenty feet tall.

Water is available from the county, but the meter would be on the street that divides the two subdivisions and the property owner would have to install a water line above ground from the meter to their individual lot.

At the far north/east end of the subdivision, I found two lots side by side that were for sale. And the price was almost half the price of any other lot in the subdivision, and a third the price of any lot in Discovery Harbor. After a bit of discussion and considerable work on the part of the agent, we closed on both lots in August of 2018.

These trees have been growing for thirty years, with branches that are twisted together and manyn that have fallen down. There is no way to walk through. The immediate task ahead is to clear the jungle and try to tame the vegetation. Stay tuned as we continue with this long term project.

Another Warm Welcome

It was ten minutes after five when the plane took off from Oakland.

The direction was west. – into the setting sun.

The sunset was spectacular – not just because of it’s duration (over two hours) but also because it produced a band above the horizon starting with a dark red-almost a purple – to a yellowish orange. In between, multiple shades of red and orange were on display. It was suspended in time as it it were. Flying directly west tends to do that. A kind of a time machine – chasing the past, but never quite catching up. My cell phone battery is dead. I cannot take a picture! No place to plug it in. But this photo is one I took on a previous trip that shows a similar sunset.

I was heading to Kona, and Na’alehu, once again.

Arriving at the airport in Phoenix, just a few minutes before 1 pm, I left my two suitcases – stuffed to the gills with tools I would need in Hawaii, both weighing well over 45 lbs but under the 50 lb limit – with the skycap at the curb. Arriving at the TSA security checkpoint to find no line at all.

As I sit at the gate waiting to board the plane, a woman approaches me and asks, “Do you have 5 minutes to answer a survey?” I immediately thought of that line in the song “Uneasy Rider” by Charlie Daniels that goes: “And I didn’t bother to tell the durn fool that I sure as hell didn’t have anyplace else to go…” so why not? The survey was about my experience at the airport so far today, along with the typical demographics –

What time did I get to the airport, Did someone drop me off? or did I use public transport? How long did it take to get through security? Did I buy my ticket on line? how long ago? On a scale of 1-5, how would I rate the comfort at the gate waiting area? How would I rate the cleanliness of the airport? And then the kicker – How would I rate the City of Phoenix’s response to keeping people safe from the corona virus?

“Well, now you’ve gone and gotten a bit political with that question,” I said. She smiled – at least, I think she did. It looked like her eyes smiled. I could not see her mouth, as she was wearing a mask to cover her mouth and her nose as per Federal Guidelines.

I continued, “That would be like asking how well the City of Phoenix is protecting the citizens from the ravages of the Apache Indians.” She actually laughed out loud. I explained, “All things considered, I guess the city is doing everything that can be done.”

She thanked me for helping her with the survey and wished me a good afternoon. I watched her as she walked out into the crowded hallway where “social distancing” was a pipe dream, and she was turned down by four other people to participate in her survey. I thought back about the qualifying demographic questions she asked: My age group, education level, number of flights I had taken in the last 12 months, did they all originate in Phoenix as round trips, what is my current destination, how long will I be gone, and then she asked – “Did you come to the airport straight from Scottsdale?”

I was wearing a pair of black jeans, a gray tee shirt, and old tennis shoes. Nothing that would indicate that I was from Scottsdale. I wanted to ask her how she knew I was from Scottsdale, and if she found people to be less receptive than usual to participate in her survey since the pandemic, but she disappeared in the crowd.

From the number of people in the walkway, I would think that the reports that people are not traveling as much because of the pandemic are not fully accurate – but yet – as we drive to the airport, there were a dozen or so American Airlines airplanes parked off to the side of the airport with covers over the engines. As we taxiied to take off in Oakland, there were another 16 or so from Southwest, Alaska, and others.

It is getting darker – the light is fading outside the plane window and the sunset band that extends all the way across the horizon is a darker shade; but it is still there.

The flight from Phoenix to Oakland was totally full – every seat was occupied – and yet, the idea of “social distancing” was still stressed – such hypocracy! The flight from Oakland to Kona is less than 1/2 full. “Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen. Your flight number 1286 from Oakland to Kona is expected to be less than 1/2 full” a gate agent announced over the intercom. “So there will be plenty of room for you to observe social distancing of 6 feet while on board.” Then as we were getting ready to board, a different gate agent reminded us, “Every passenger is limited to one small carry on and one smaller personal item that will fit under the seat in front of you” she announced over the loudspeaker. “women with a large purse will need to condense their items and we will be happy to check your oversized bags here at the gate to your final destination.”

Why?

Why the limits?

Especially if the plane is less than 1/2 full?

There should be plenty of space in the overhead bins.

Control!

Because those are the rules! And she is going to make sure that every one else follows the rules! No logic involved. No logic allowed! No room for thinking! Just do as you are told!

The sunset band is shrinking. Very slowly, but it is getting smaller, and as it fades, it is getting a darker shade of red and orange. I wish my cell phone had some charge in it so I could take a picture.

They have handed out the Agriculture form. We have filled them out. One per family. Declare what fruits and vegetables or agricultural items you are bringing into Hawaii. . . or else! Again, I wonder if anyone ever looks at them after the airlines collect them and turn them in to the State Government. Even with the pandemic, the shear volume would be staggering.

I felt the engines decrease power and the plane has begun the slow descent as we approach the islands. Soon we will be landing and I will have to deal with the bureaucracy. I have my negative covid test results and my QR code from the Hawaii Travels website so it should be fairly simple.

It is dark as we land in Kona. Really dark. The few lights on in the terminal do not quite reach out to the plane, but there is just enough light on the portable ramp for us to see to exit the plane. The terminal looks deserted. Stanchions with those retractable ribbons direct one path only from the plane into the central area of the once upon a time welcoming terminal. Now it is unwelcoming and forbidding. A mechanical voice says, “Have your government issued ID, your QR code from the Hawaii Travels website, and your negative covid test available.” Gone are the days of Aloha, and a lei greeting!

Check point number 1 – government ID checked.

Check point number 2 – QR code scanned into a tablet by a Hawaii government worker.

Check point number 3 – Negative covid test results verified -or at least looked at.

Check point number 4 – A teenager in a surgical costume complete with surgical mask, blue plastic gloves, clear plastic face shield stands behind a folding table. He probably even had on those paper shoe coverings as well to complete the outfit. On the table is a clipboard with a stack of papers attached, each one a duplitate of the one on top – a form to be filled out – Name, address, email address, phone number, where are you staying while in Hawaii, any symptoms of any type of illness, names of all those in your group. I fill out the form. The teenager proceeds to hand me a swab for me to do a covid test. After twisting the cotton swab in both nostrils, he tells me that I may now go. If the test is positive, they will call me within 24 hours and I will have to come back to the airport for further testing and possibly quarantine. I didn’t bother to tell “the durn fool” that my cell phone battery was dead and would stay that way for the next two or three days – on purpose.

As I walked away, I wondered if anyone could remember when you were greeted in Hawaii with a flower lei and a slight peck on the cheek! Instead, I recall the third voyage of Captain Cook to the Hawaiian Islands where he and his group were greeted with rocks and Captain Cook was killed in Kealakekua Bay.

Play it Again, Sam

Well, I’ve done it again. I’m going back to Hawai’i. So, I need another covid test. Back to the Walgreens on line site to book an appointment.

I got this email:

Hi David,

You’re eligible for COVID-19 drive-thru testing based on the information you provided under current state and federal guidelines.

We’ve requested a lab order on your behalf and we’ll email you a confirmation with appointment details shortly.

THIS IS NOT A CONFIRMATION. Please do not go to the testing location until you receive the confirmation email.

Edit appointment ›
Cancel appointment ›

Seek medical attention immediately if you experience severe shortness of breath, continuous pain or pressure in the chest or persistent fever greater than 102°F. If at any time you feel like you are having a medical emergency, please call 911.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Then later that same day, I received this email:

Hi David,

Here are your COVID-19 drive-thru testing appointment details
BRING THIS EMAIL TO YOUR APPOINTMENT.

Confirmation #:

sgYZkTQWz7

Date: Saturday, January 16, 2021

Time: 04:45 PM

TEST: RAPID DIAGNOSTIC TEST (ID NOW

________________________________________________________________________________

So, at the appointed time on the 16th, I showed up at Walgreens. This time, it was set up in the parking lot away from the drive thru. There were two guys standing under the tent/canopy talking. Both had masks on. I drove up. Signs all over saying to stay in the car, and keep windows rolled up tight. The younger one motioned for me to roll down my window.

I rolled down the window. While standing 15 feet away, he asked me if I had an appointment for a covid test. I said “Yes”.

He said, “Roll your window up and place your drivers license against the window.” – I did. He came over to the car and read my drivers license info through the window glass.

He looked through his box of files and found my info. He handed this to the other guy and motioned for me to drive on a few more feet. I did. The other guy had a pile of little blue trays about 6″ wide, and 10″ long, and 4″ tall. He placed a piece of paper in a half roll into the top tray with the two ends ot the paper sticking up on both sides of the tray. Then he placed a paper envelope about 2″ wide and 5″ long into the loop created by the paper. He then placed the tray on a cart, and motioned for me to roll down my window. He stayed 15 feet away from the car.

He asked, “What is your name and birthdate?” Kind of dumb since the other guy just got that info off my driver’s license less than 10 feet away, but, OK. I’ll play your little memory game.

“David Andersen. Eleven, five, fifty six.” I said. He looked down at the paper the other guy had given him and nodded. Great. I passed! He then told me to roll up my window. I did. He pushed the cart over to the car right next to my window and retreated 15 feet away before motioning for me to roll down my window.

He then proceeded to tell me to lift the paper roll from the tray. Open the little envelope from one end – kind of like a large bandaid paper envelope – and take out the swab. Grab the swab with the cotton sticking up and twirl the cotton part around in one nostril for 15 seconds. Then do the same in the other nostril. He would time me. he looked down at his watch and said, “OK, GO!”

I twirled. Right nostril first. Fifteen seconds, later he said, “OK! Now the other one.”

I twirled in the left nostril. Fifteen seconds later he said, “OK. Nowplace the swab back in the envelope with the cotton in first. Then place it back into the blue tray.”

I did just that. He said, “You’ll receive an email within 24 hours with the result.”

I gave him a thumbs up and pushed the cart away from the car. He said, “Now roll your window back up”

I drove home.

Less than six hours later, I got this in an email:

Your results are available!

You can now access the results of the lab testing you did with Walgreens. You will need to enter your date of birth to confirm your identity.

Patient Name: David Andersen

Requisition Number: 61217763

VIEW RESULTS

Walgreens has partnered with PWNHealth to provide you with convenient access to diagnostic lab testing.

Pressing the VIEW RESULTS button, I got my results:

Test Result Details

ORDER #61217763SPECIMEN COLLECTION DATEJanuary 16, 2021RESULTS RECEIVED DATEJanuary 17, 2021TESTSCOVID-19 LAB PDF PATIENT FRIENDLY PDF

EDUCATIONAL INFO

CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: ABOUT CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19)WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: CORONAVIRUS DISEASE (COVID-19) OUTBREAK FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONSSummaryCOVID-19COVID-19NegativeYour results do not detect SARS-CoV-2. A negative test means that the virus was not present in the sample you provided.

Your results suggest you were negative at the time of testing.*

*Although the possibility is low, a false negative result should be considered if you have had recent exposure to the virus along with symptoms consistent with COVID-19.

______________________________________________________________________________________

GREAT! Good to go! Now I need to go to the “Safe Travels Hawaii” website, register, upload a recent photo of myself and the pdf of my negative test results. Then whthin 24 hours of traveling, I need to go online to this same site and answer their health questions – Are you currently experiencing . . . Have you recently come into contact with . . . . etc. . Then, I should get a bar code that I will need to show them when I get to Hawaii.

Welcome to the new world! Our new existence. It won’t be long until we will be required to do this in order to go to the grocery store.

Pros and Cons

Screen Shot 2018-12-19 at 9.26.26 PM.png

I was reading about another couple’s transition to being expatriot Americans and living in a foreign country. They seem to have gone through the same or similar steps as we have – they have gone traveling to interesting places with an eye out for answering the question, “Would we want to live here full time?” They were faced with so many different choices, that they sat down and made a list in descending order of importance, their top criteria. Top of the list was being near or on the beach. They wanted to actually hear the waves crashing on the shore or lapping on the beach..

So, what is your perfect beach house? What do you think about when someone mentions going away to live on a tropical island? Or when asked what you would do if stranded on a desert island, what image comes to mind?

Mele Kalikimaka Hawaiian Christmas Card Hawaii Christmas image 0

Maybe, something like the images above? Or maybe something like this:

Or even this?

Whatever your image of the perfect tropical beach bungalo may be, you picture it right on the beach. Ocean front properties – properties right on the beach – are always the perfect dream choice! There is nothing like waking up in the morning and walking directly out on to a sandy beach, between a couple of palm trees, and straight into the ocean. Unless of course, the wind is blowing, and then that sand hitting your face actually hurts. And there is no way to keep the sand out of the cottage. It is in everything. And the salt spray has eaten or corroded every metal surface around. The door knob crumbles in your hand due to the constant corrosion, and your light fixtures and your kitchen appliances have to be replaced every other year because the salt simply eats them away. Or there is a storm and you are up all night trying to keep the storm from entering the house! Suddenly, your image isn’t so perfect anymore.

For a week or two vacation, when someone else is responsible for the maintenance, a shack on the beach is ideal. But when the storms come up, maybe you would prefer to be somewhere else.

These thoughts were all in mind as we searched for that perfect spot. There were some constants that kept coming up during the search. The first and foremost – this is going to be expensive. Ocean front, beach front lots on Kauai start at a million dollars and go up for a postage stamp sized lot. The same with St Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Mexico has some beautiful spots and affordable locations. Near Todos Santos, north of Cabo San Lucas, there is a beach on the Pacific Ocean that is fantastic. We stumbled across a couple of lots north of Mazatlan, and even along the gulf of California north of Puerto Penasco towards El Golfo. But they are all still in Mexico. And we would always be gringos with lots of money and a target on our back for schemes to get that money; which really isn’t too bad, except when you are in one of those situations and the only way out is lots of money, but you don’t have any, and no one believes you. Others do it, but Mexico might not be for us after all. So, second is security. The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic are fantastic, but every house, every building has bars on the windows to keep out the unwanted. Thinking in terms of a place that is left alone periodically, we didn’t want a place where every time we come, we have to replace half or more of what we had left there. But we also did not want to live in a guarded compound.

I am sure, that we are not alone in this endeavour. Many others are looking for that perfect place, and creating their own lists of priorities. And I realize that others’ requirements and priorities are not the same as mine. In fact, I am finding that my requirements and priorities are not the same as my wife’s.

So, . . .after a day of volcanoes and waterfalls, we got out our list of properties that we had compiled from the internet, and went looking. Again, we gravitated to Ocean View Ranchos – or at least, I did!

Being right on the beach has it’s advantages, and it’s disadvantages. Being just a bit back from the beach relieves some of these disadvantages, and retains the advantages of having an ocean view. And what an ocean view! That is why it is called Ocean View. 270 degrees of ocean view – unobstructed in most cases. That is what brought me back to Ocean View Ranchos. We had made an offer on a lot at the bottom of the Ranchos after our last trip, but it didn’t go through. The owner wanted more than I was willing to pay!

My list had numerous lots to look at. First on the list was one on the SE corner of Menehune and Kamaina. Disappointing to say the least! A thirty foot deep hole in the lava and the lots next door on all 4 sides were all up on cliffs. No ocean view here – explains the low price.

But there was this really cool lava tunnel that looked interesting. Unfortunately, having no flashlight, and not really being dressed for exploring, all I could do was peer in from the entrance.

The second was a jumble of large jagged boulders with the far back 150 feet of the three acre lot being higher than the rest. Wow! what a view from here. Wow! what a chore, just climbing to get here. I can imagine the task to making it possible to access this portion of the lot.

The third on Poha street sloped up from the road to the back of the lot which was about 25 feet higher than the road, and it all faced the ocean. 180 degree views showed the cliffs and windmills at KaLea (South Point) and the small cinder cones at the bottom of Road to the Sea up the coast towards Kona.There was some skraggly grass an a few scrawny shrubs growing amongst the lave, but it was mostly the smooth type lave – the kind they refer to as pahoehoe. In the front south corner, there were three small ohia trees – each about six to eight feet tall. What I wanted was the view, and what a view there was! I was ecstatic! This was it! I really liked this lot! A voice penetrated my visions and dreams – “All this lava is ugly!”

This statement from my wife startled me. It simply did not register.

“What!?” I asked. “You never said that before!”

“Well, it is!”

“So, you really don’t like this area?”

“No.” she said, “Not really”

‘”You never said that when we made the offer on the lot on Lanikai, three streets down” I think to myself. “So, why are we here then?” I ask.

“Just part of the adventure, I guess.” she says and shrugs her shoulders as she turns and walks back down to the car.

AAAAARRGHHHHH!!!!