Kaui: Estrogen Temple

On the 6th of November we flew into Kauai. Every one of the flights we took to the islands transferred through Honolulu, taking twice as long as if you could just go from island to island. We got to Lihue with no car rental and sure enough there were none available. The phone number for Tiffany, our Kauai contact only got voicemail. Well, they did have an island bus that went from Lihue to our Airbnb destination in Kapa'a fifteen miles or so away . Unfortunately this was a Sunday and the buses ran a half schedule.After two hours of waiting for a transfer we ended up at a skateboard park with 5 or so miles up Olahena Road to go. Liz, in semi-desperation, accosted a fellow in a pickup and negotiated a ride. I never spent a better twenty bucks. Just an hour before sundown with nobody actually expecting our arrival. Tiffany was on the mainland and her representative, Rhea, was new to the lodging business and was a rather casual person anyway. Nice place though. Liz was entranced with a real kitchen to work with, real drinkable water from the tap (our last two lodgings required bottled water, the tap water taken from cisterns), an actual washer and dryer, very comfortable bed, a wonderful view from the full length deck. Still no wifi connection.

View from the porch of estrogen temple

Where our Maui residence was pure testosterone, full of surfers, drifters, guys just looking for a cheap place to stay, mosquitoes, this one was soaked in estrogen. All the rooms had statues and artwork dedicated to female objects of worship for every conceivable religion, from Kali to the Madonna of Guadalupe. Different strains of incense floated through the air full time. Diaphanous drapes on the full length windows and french doors in the bedrooms and various dividers in the living room, which was huge. Sitar music, soft feminine voices sharing secrets and revelations, vegetarian potluck dinners, odd devotions involving singing in unidentifiable languages and a gong. No peyote, acid, or other proscribed substances however.

The next morning , after discovering the price of a commercial car rental on Kauai, we managed to negotiate a deal with Rhea for the house's elderly Toyota SUV. A good thing. We took Rhea into town for some shopping and I spent the trip fighting a strong pull to the right. The gas tank was VERY close to empty anyway. Stopped at a gas station, checked the right front. Outer shoulder worn to the cords, rest of the tread fine, extremely low on air. Temporary fix: overinflate the thing, get that bare spot off the road. Strong injuction to replace the tire and get the alignment looked after. Explained alignment. Blank look, vague promise. Well, I could nurse the thing along for four days.To the plus, the instrument panel had holy medals of every description and the rearview was hung with aromatic leis.

By then it was well after noon and we were told of a nearby hiking trail. Just a quarter mile up Olahena and go straight where road turns. 5 or so miles along ridges, around valleys choked with vegetation, ever uphill. Mud. Once again the intermittent Hawaii rain, sometimes drizzling, occasionally pouring, ever imminent. Lots of rainbows. Every few hundred yards, another breathtaking view. I will never sort out my files as to which beautiful view was where. As we found the other end of the trail, other hikers informed us we were about 11 road miles from home. Fortunately, yet another guy in a pickup heard our story and said he happened to live near the trailhead. Whew! Once again saved by the kindness of strangers. Liz later told me it was the first time she'd ever ridden in the back of a pickup. Some people grew up way too sheltered. No one in Hawaii we told this story to felt it was anything out of the ordinary. Just the way things work here.

Next day we did something totally uncharacteristic. We actually paid for a guided tour. Well, they had the kayaks. Only way to use them was to take the tour. Fortunately the group (14 total) took off at a reasonable hour, 10 AM. A nice orientation by our guide, John, an aside that double kayaks are known as divorce boats and off we go. It did soon become apparent Liz and I need to work on our paddling coordination. Never mind, we'll get it eventually. An hour later we beached the kayaks, shouldered our packs and headed off to the waterfall. The party consisted of all kinds, 12 years old to a few in their seventies. Should have been an easy hike, right? Aside from the waist-deep river crossing , the narrow muddy trail, the tree roots and rocks, I guess it was. Truthfully, I was surprised everyone did as well as they did. The 45 minute hike was worth it. Hell of a waterfall, nice deep cold pool. Eat our packed lunch, turn around and do it backwards. Not so bad going back even though we were paddling against the current, slow as it was. Not that we were going to do all that much the rest of the day. Just rest.

The big attraction on Kauai is Waimea Canyon on the other side of the island. Not such a big island, maybe a 2 hour drive. Like the rest of the islands, ridiculously low speed limits stretch out travel times. Worked in our favor, the Toyota had a pretty good shimmy at 50. The canyon was definitely worth the drive. Spoiler alert: Here comes the science. Kauai is the oldest of the Hawaiian Islands, about 6 million years. It used to be 10,00 feet taller than it is now, about 5,000 feet. Lots of erosion. Wierd rainfall patterns, lots of rain, 600 inches a year in places. many hidden valleys. Somewhere in the middle of the island is a swamp on the floor of an old caldera , actually a pocket sized rain forest interrupted by bogs and marshes. the canyon on the other hand is bone dry. Gorgeous pics below.

In the gift shop, we saw a gameboard, modern reproduction of a hawaiian game called Konane. We tried a couple of games on it but couldn't buy it, luggage limitations. Took a picture. Here, try it yourselves.

On our last morning, we were invited to attend a Hindu morning service. The temple was completely exotic, the ceremony reminiscent of a Catholic mass. Same sense of ritual, sonorous foreign sounding chants (The Catholic Church's biggest mistake was abandoning Latin IMHO), symbolic actions with obscure meanings. The outside observer feels like an outsider, probably by design. No pictures of the ceremony of course, just a few shots of the temple and grounds allowed.

One more flight and an evening in Honolulu. A neighbor of our original hosts had decided to give hosting a try and we were the test case. I hope we introduced Liz (her name, just like my beautiful wife's) to the B&B business well. She would make a fine addition to Airbnb. Next morning Merv gave us a lift to the cruise ship. A totally new phase has begun!

Danger, Will Robinson

Liz here with "Danger, Will Robinson, Danger"  

In October my stepdaughter Libby sent out a survey for her class on Marriage and Family. I filled it out with relish since Oct. 2011 is the first month in 27 years that I am not actively seeing a psychologist for counseling. So do not be surprised if I use/abuse the Blog as a vehicle for self- examination and introspection. As a relative newlywed intense feelings of love make it easy for me to gloss over my relationship difficulties. The most obvious issue for me is that Mike smokes. People who know me find that the fact that I married a smoker most surprising. Smoking causes lung cancer after all. Our trip has some conflicts that evoke the TV show, Lost in Space. The protective robot would say "Danger, Will Robinson, danger!" So let me tell what’s happening.

On Oct. 27 I got 10 stitches in my right leg. The leg healed nicely and the stitches are out. This blog is a recant of the danger that day and in subsequent days. 

We began with several visits to a Hot Pond near Pahoa. I tasted and spit out the salt water and I think that is where I got strep throat. Whatever you do, do not gargle with salt water in a hot pond. Even though it is ocean water confined originally for catching fish, a Hot Pond is a germ incubator. I did not swallow the water but I did expose my throat to it. Bad judgement! 

Then we visited the National Historical Park, Pu’ uhonau o Honaunau which is just south of Kona. The park’s theme is Hawaiian artifacts and culture. Europeans incorrectly translated the park’s name to "The City of Refuge". Natives had to go here for absolution if they broke a Kapu (taboo). Even their family members were at risk if they did not cleanse themself (or die if they did not pass the obstacles to getting there).  No trial or time in prison or probation. A Hawaiian got there, was pardoned and then left free. One editorial comment is that the modern prison system is as un-Hawaiian as property ownership. The education from the park is really an important counter balance to political signs on the islands calling for elections for an independent Hawaii government.

Next to the national park is the “2-Step” beach unrelated to the park. While swimming I cut my leg on a sharp lava rock. I got out to the water and especially did not want Mike to see the blood gushing out of a deep cut in my right leg. Mike does not enjoy ocean water. He tells me the ocean frightens him like I might be frightened if he were riding a dirt bike on rough terrain. I did not want this injury to be a self-fulfilling prophecy or add to his dread when I go into the ocean. Nor did I want to miss swimming for the remaining days of our trip! Or have this fear recur at beaches in Australia or Thailand. We visit a lot of beaches on this trip! A Japanese family responded to my beachside request, “Has anyone got a band aide?” A woman sprayed my leg with an antiseptic and a man produced a flesh colored band aide. Their kindly grandmother really did have blue hair and she translated to me the man’s instructions which were that the flesh colored band aid would hold the skin until flesh formed. They put 2 band aides on top of the special band aide. The Japanese man looked me right in the eye to be sure that I paid attention and that I was not in shock and that I understood the woman’s instruction. For all I know they were medical workers on holiday after the tsunami. I was really lucky to find them.

   Then Mike and I chatted with a nice couple, Colleen and Dan both 60 year olds and just married a year or so. They just moved from San Francisco to sunny Kona on The Big Island. Their conversation was practical and forthcoming. Dan is a retired machinist so the marriage gives Colleen health care. Colleen had a house that gave Dan some tax benefits but in the end she gave the house back to the bank.  

Colleen described their nice Kona condo and how she objects to her neighbors’ smoking. One is a cigar smoker and on their condo board so his smoking will be hard to restrict in condo bylaws. Their smoking neighbors do not live there year round and the wife only smokes cigarettes but the smoke goes right into their space. So I tell Colleen how Mike smokes 2 packs a week and chews nicotine gum. I don’t know how much of what I said is passive-aggressive due to the shock and disappointment over my leg wound. No body surfing on the beach for me for a while. She tells me how terrible smoking and nicotine gum chewing is, all the literature says so. I ask specifically, “How is smoking and intermittently, chewing nicotine gum harmful?”  But she does not know a specific health concern. By 4 PM I cannot meditate. I can only think about my sore throat. I find an Urgent Care and Mike takes me there. Female Doctor Sanchez instantly sees the strep on the left side and prescribes penicillin. Then I go to the bathroom and notice the band aids on my leg and decide that I ought to show the cut to her too. She is impressed and says it is an evulsion (deep). She sees a lot of injuries from the 2-Step Beach. She also says staph infection is very virulent here and she prescribed a staph antibiotic too. She sews in 10 stitches. $764 later we drop off prescriptions at Walmart.

I drop Colleen a note to say why we did not meet them for a musical performance after dinner as we had planned. She wrote me to get travel insurance. But we have travel insurance! I called them and they cover 100% of what Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan does not cover. (Judy, I sent you a copy of that note but it came back undelivered, Comcast time out. Mama, I was afraid to alarm you.)

The next morning we make a follow up visit to the Urgent Care as instructed. We meet Dr. Wells as Dr. Sanchez requested. By then I recall how the Japanese lady sprayed my leg with antiseptic before adding the band aid. Dr. Wells says to avoid a yeast infection and not take the staph infection antibiotic unless I actually get a staph infection (which did not occurred). The real reassurance he provides is that he does not see an issue with Mike chewing nicotine gum while he continues to smoke. His compliment is that Mike does not look like a smoker. This confirms Mike’s periodontitis and dentist’s opinions.  The conversation led to marijuana. The doctor prescribes medical marijuana too. We wonder together as to what is keeping marijuana from legalization (beside the lobby by liquor, tobacco, unseen drug cartels and who knows who).

Then we drove up to the east side top of The Big Island. Along the way we passed arid pasture land and even a fire dept. with a helicopter parked in front. Mike and I straddled a high stone wall and ate sandwiches at a lookout point at the end of the road for rental cars. We looked down on a dramatic beach where 2 people were swimming. A very fit and distracted woman ran up the half mile steep path. We proceeded to hike down when the same rescue squad helicopter swooped in.  A man was carried to the beach not breathing. He swam out beyond the “shelf” and could not swim back. He inhaled so much water he was drowned (but he lived). The same fit woman ran down past us with rescue squad men in tow. One heavy set EMT followed a few minutes later. The rescue appeared to be a success story but one that did not reassure us about the ocean. 

Then on Maui on our way out to our backpacker house we saw a helicopter swoop in to put out a fire. Another day we saw a helicopter fly over the Hookipa Beach with fire trucks on standby at the beach. The ocean was full of divers taking turns getting in the helicopter’s hanging basket. This turned out to be  a drill, a most sensible exercise since the beach had just hosted an international wind surfing competition. 

During our stay in the backpacker house in Maui Mike got sick. He had abdominal pain enough to ask for a vicodine. He eventually attributed the pain to a bladder infection. Possible cause was the catchment water he used to brush his teeth and his front denture. One day Mike spent most of it on the toilet in a house with 2 bathrooms and 11 guests. The pain past but by the time we got to Kauai blood came out of his penis. One time only, thank God. We were both upset. We worried since our cruise was 3 days away. Mike said to wait. You know I looked up Urgent Care on Kauai (only ER, no Urgent Care there) and Mike was sorry he told me. Then Mike felt fine the next day and he felt vindicated for not wasting time waiting to see a doctor. 

The Road to Hanna made Maui a great place for me. The scenery is second to none. But it is a dangerous road. Mike bought an audio narrative describing what we saw and where to stop. One stop is an amazing arboretum without any park admission or attendant present. As I approached the gate to the arboretum I observed 2 wrecked 1980’s era cars practically standing perpendicular in a gulley behind a strong guard rail. I asked locals at a stand what happened but they shrugged it off as what happens to stolen rental cars.   

 I am glad to be away from catchment water and washing dishes in this questionable water. In order to wash dishes I ran water through coffee makers or boiled it on a gas stove for 20 days (11 days on The Big Island and 9 days on Maui). Catchment water is collected from the gutters on houses and comes out of the tap. It is not potable. Since plants were growing in the roof gutters in the house in Maui we believe that the water is not safe.

Where is the Danger, Will Robinson? It is in germs in water, in the air and on the road. It is frightening to get sick and even more frightening to get sick as a traveler. Sickness happens. Our trip goes on but when we see danger we say, “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger”. We extend each other our greatest love and support but it is really scary and easy to hurt each other when we are ourselves hurt or when trouble strikes.

 Food Shopping in Hawaii          

Shopping in Hawaii for locals is dominated by one national retailer: Costco. Costco membership is $60 per year. I did not notice Wal-Mart on Oahu; I shopped at Food Pantry on Waikiki which was excellent. Wal-Mart is important on The Big Island. I do not know about west Maui; we were on east Maui where K-Mart was as important as Wal-Mart but neither one had much food to sell. I imagine the poor there suffer from food insecurity there. I was shocked to go from the Big Island where I bought 6 papayas (our breakfast staple like a grapefruits) for $3 to Maui where 1 papaya cost $3. We asked a New Yorker with a produce stand on east Maui why the cost was so high. He said that to lease an acre of land on the Big Island was $500 per year v. Maui at $4000. We found great food at Mana, the market in Paia. I did not go to Wal-Mart on Kauai; I went to a Kroger- type grocery store there. Breakfast was fruit, toast and maybe an egg. Mike drinks milk and coffee while yogurt is for me. Ham sandwiches maybe with liverwurst for lunch and for dinner mostly a local fish called Pokey. Pokey with rice or potato salad with seaweed salad was our standard dinner. We even ordered pokey when we ate out on our last night on Oahu with Liz, Brian and Merv’s neighbor.

Contrasting the houses in Maui and Kauai

I resisted temptation to edit Mike’s take on the masculine Maui house v. feminine house on Kauai. Each house charges a couple $65 per night. Each house was rented by the person who was renting to us. The lease holder was not staying in either house and both were probably experiencing burnout.

 Pierre and his girlfriend came home during the day one day and vigorously cleaned the house but they were away otherwise away caretaking for a friend’s house. The house in Maui was clean. It had no dryer but a clothesline that hung with clothes that hardly ever dry due to almost constant rain. 

 Tiffany was on the mainland and left Rhea in charge. Rhea expected us but we did not have Rhea’s phone number and could not call when we felt the need and Tiffany did not reply when we called her.

Each house seemed near to economic ruin due to exorbitant operating costs. The water bill on Kauai was $300 while the gas and electric cost $400.  

           

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

News behind the Cruise

Liz Here. We leave from our Goddess Temple in Kauai in a few minutes for 40 minute flight to Honolulu. But before we go here is The News Behind the Cruise

or

How it came about that we are taking a cruise from Honolulu to Sydney thru French Polynesia and boarding on 11/11/11@11:30AM

11/11/11 is certainly an auspicous date. That fact was almost overlooked by the marketing group for the Celebrity Cruise Line because when George Markovitch first told his wife Diane Buffalin about this cruise to last April, the departure date was 11/09/11. Boarding was set for 8 PM with Departure at 11PM. The subject came up when our Air Treks travel agent said that she did not have flights from Hawaii to French Polynesia. She asked if we would accept a stop in Fiji. The State Department has a caution posted on Fiji; increase in crime against tourists since dictatorship in 2006. Friend Judy had seen Anthony Bourdain's show on French Polynesia. Judy observed that Hawaii was a commonplace destination whereas French Polynesia was rare. Bourdain thought it was the most beautiful place he had ever been. So how to get there? 

In hind sight I have met a number of people who fly from Hawaii to Tahiti so I might/ could/should have looked past the Air Treks broker's limits but too late now.

Now add another drama. The same date (11/11/11) and place (Honolulu) were also chosen as the kick off date for the 2011 meeting of the APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Counsel). Since Mike and I   marched in Occupy Honolulu we know that Waikiki is the most laid back and welcoming of places and that traffic around Waikiki will be the biggest issue.

I booked our cruise through RCI Cruiser in July but initially I purchased an unspecified RCI cruise package in February. RCI cruise agents had tried to sell me a cruise package twice before but I declined because I did not have a partner to cruise with. I did not have that much time off. When this call came I understood the offer and was ready to accept.

The RCI call in February came in during my regular work day. I quickly pulled out my Discover Card and bought it. I did not cheat GM of work time to make this purchase. I did not call Mike and discuss because he was working and I did not know for sure how he would react. It was a situation so out of his routine that it did not seem fair to interupt him. He enjoyed our 7-day Carnival cruise in the Carribbean so I expected he would go along.  I had a 24 hour period in which to cancel. I had buyer's remorse of course. I was worried that I over paid and that if only I'd asked around I'd have found a better deal. Also I was worried that we were spending an extra 11 days in Hawaii which is relatively expensive and shortchanging time in New Zealand and Asia. It turned out that Mike completely approved of the cruise purchase! He was in a bit of shock like I was. (Can this really be happening after all these years of just going to work everyday?) We really admire Diane and George who cruise so often. When they did not find fault, relief! We got plenty of congratulations from our family and friends.

RCI is a timeshare trading company so offering cruises is a natural off shoot for their customer base. What they sold me was an unspecified package for two for $3200 and not a specific trip. Also included was a week at a timeshare anywhere and a week at some specific resorts in Mazatlan, Mexico. Buyer has up to a year to book specific cruise(s), either 2 cruises for 7 days or a 14 day cruise. Our cruise is 18 days and is still included for same price.  Port fees, taxes and trip insurance are not included. I booked a week in timeshare in Wiakiki and tried to book the trip to Mexico but decided it cheaper and better just to throw the Mexico offer away because it expired before we returned from Asia. The criuse port fees and taxes were another $1200 and trip insurance seems exorbitant at $250 for both of us.  What does a medical airlift off a ship cost? I didn't want to find out so we bought insurance.

The cruise goes from Honolulu to Maui on 11/12/11 then 5 days at sea, then Papeete, Moorea, Raiatea and Bora Bora on Nov 18 -21 (so we hope to update blog then) and then 7 more days at sea until port on Nov 30.

Diane did scheme on how to go on this cruise with us but the returning air fare from Sydney was outrageous. Diane also counseled us not to take a different cruise along the Vietnam and China waterfront instead. The shore excursions add up. Add $200 per day per person. She said that this cruise to best for us and the Celebrity Century is a really classy ship!

In marketing terms if the Carnival cruise line is to cars like Chevy then the Celebrity cruise line is to cars like Buick.

Using timeshares is a lot like using GM's Teamcenter software. It gets a bad name because people buy it but do not learn how to use.  

Now Wiakiki may practically be in a state of lockdown on 11/11/11 since protesters may converge to object to the APEC summit as if it were a meeting of the World Bank or IMF. HPR (Hawaiian NPR) reports on road closings and the difficulty 20,000 employees may have in getting to work during APEC. Our friend Gil Knarich has seen this type of event in Washington, D.C. and thinks Honolulu is ideal place for conference.

The one change that did occur for the cruise is that we got a voice mail message from RCI stating that boarding is moved from 8PM to 11:30AM. WoW! That means we get an extra lunch and dinner on the the ship! We will be more relaxed because boarding is the hardest part. We are priviledged to have private transportation in a van from Brian McCormick who really knows the streets of Honolulu. We spend the night with his neighbor also named Liz. They are located in midtown Honolulu. Brian and Merv are hosting other cruisers. Hopefully we will be away from possible drama in Wiakiki. 

The Road To Hana

One of the big tourist attractions on Maui is the road to Hana. In fact, residents use "the road to Hana" as a metaphor for an unpredictable adventure. Running along the north coast from Pa'ia to Hana a mere 35 miles, the trip would take over an hour and a half without stopping. You're gonna stop. Maybe just to photograph the several waterfalls alongside the road or the small towns on the waterfront hundreds of feet below. Or to stop at one of dozens of fruit stands hawking their wares. Or to drop down off the highway to visit one of those small towns or turn off to hike one of the arboretums or nature preserves.

This is one of the most treacherous roads in the country. At its best, it's a narrow winding two-lane county road. At its worst, it's an unending series of switchbacks hugging the face of a cliff with hundreds of feet of vertical rock above and below around blind curves with a total of 54 one-lane bridges. The whole thing is silky smooth asphalt with a double yellow line along the full distance. Actually, the double line only shows up occasionally - on the easy parts - on the rest of it it's totally unnecessary. I recall hitting 40 mph a couple of times, mostly we stayed well below 30 with many stretches at 10-15mph. The hell of it is, stretches of curves build a rhythm that could be expressed in music. With a good sports car and the assurance of no oncoming traffic, it would be simply the most enjoyable experience a driver could have. Unfortunately, the oncoming traffic means you drive slowly with total concentration on the task at hand. No thrill like meeting a tour bus in the middle of one of those narrow blind curves. Meanwhile, your passenger will be exclaiming over the incredible views. You're going to stop often if only to avoid fatigue.

Note the cars on the road below. A typical view.

We drove it 3 times!

Honest. The first time we took several hours to get to Hana. Stopped everywhere. Had to. It was just so seductive, all those waterfalls, panoramas, beach detours, hiking trails, tourist traps. One of those traps was a lava tube 30 or so feet diameter inside, stretching half a mile. By the time we reached Hana, we had to turn around and go back without stopping or have to face that treacherous bastard after dark. A tip, start with a full tank. Gas was $5.50 in Hana. Worse, Hana itself isn't all that much. Nice beach, a couple of stores,a couple of tiny museums, that's about it.

Next day we did it again. The national park covers Haleakala volcano and extends down to the southeast shore, past Hana. We had to see it. Got up early, set out over that curvy beast again and got to the park by noon. There were still some attractions we'd missed, had to stop. The major attractions of this park were the 7 sacred pools and Wailua Falls. Of course the falls weren't just off the parking lot. 2 miles of rough trail on a near constant up slope through a bamboo forest and a couple of fast flowing streams. No bridge here, just grab a piece of bamboo for a hiking stick and get your legs wet to the knee - watch out for slippery rocks. The view was worth the effort. Hard rains of the past two days had the 200 - 300 foot falls flowing well. As with so much else here, the pictures hardly do it justice.

That took a little longer that we'd budgeted. 4:00 in the afternoon with a hard dark tropical sundown of about 6:30. All the island brochures warn not to take your rental cars on the southern route of the island. There are some bridges that get covered by streams at unpredictable intervals, the road is rough (more about that later) and I suspect the cattle ranchers there simply would rather you not drive through there. We met some people who had come that way and they reassured us the road was passable that day.Away we go. After a few miles I understood why rental companies didn't want to risk their vehicles on this piece of road. It is possible to make asphalt rougher than any dirt two-track you've ever encountered. Just let a few potholes emerge, cover them with lumps of cold-patch asphalt, wait for more potholes and repeat the process. You end up with a suspension-wrecking mess resembling a cobblestone street paved with boulders. Milford's Belgian Blocks is a featherbed by comparison. Where the Hana road featured guardrails, this part of the road definitely didn't. Okay, it's only about 8 miles like that. Something better than an hour, including stops for cattle having their little joke of lounging in the roadway. Worth it - the south side of the mountain is spectacular. After that, everything gets smooth and easy.

We're now on Kauai and Liz is chomping at the bit for a quick walk to the shore. More later, I promise.

We hit Maui on Saturday afternoon after a 45 minute plane trip from Hilo to Honolulu and an almost reciprocal one to Kahului airport in Maui. You can see Maui from Hawaii, fercryinoutloud! Nevertheless, this is the only economically viable option. The airlines have even pretty much gutted the ferry services, which had cost about as much as planes, though the ferries would allow you to take your car along.

Car rental went fairly well. We now possess a pretty nice, pretty new Mazda M3. A huge step up from the Rent-a-Wreck. The Wreck would have lasted about two days on typical Maui roads. The ones that aren't four lanes and choked with traffic grade from narrow, smooth two-lanes to just lanes. The kind your uncle used to drive his tractor from the barn to outlying fields, say. As you glimpse from these lanes to breaks in the dense shrubbery, you're likely to see anything from a mouldering shack to a forty room mansion. Either of these properties will have a sturdy gate and several signs warning dire punishments for trespassing. A strange country this is.

Our new lodgings are east of Kahalui about 35 miles, past Pa'ia town and past Ho'okipa Beach Park. Looking to our left, we saw perfectly formed waves, coming in in perfect sets, covered with windsurfers and further out, kite surfers. Cars and trucks lined the road for hundreds of yards. Turns out there was some sort of kite surfing competition going on. Apparently, the crowding and numbers would have been a little more extreme without it. Of course we had to stop and gawk. The kite surfing was happening on the central area of the beach but I noticed something else happening on the right hand side. Surfing. Quite expert surfing, to my untrained eye, with many of them getting up on the boards and riding smoothly in to the beach. As we got closer, I realized this was a group of kids! Maybe 6 to 12 years old, every one of them tanned nut brown. I was too astonished even to remember my camera, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We finally got to our new lodgings. The house is leased to Pierre Rouault, member of Airbnb. Thank Verizon for GPS. She took us off the major road, all magnificent two winding lanes of it to a much narrower asphalt road, to a yet narrower (one car only, scraping brush on each side) rough asphalt path. Only about half a mile around 6 or 7 tight curves,past as many gated drives, ever downhill. Not so bad. Look for the 160 address and the sign Love underneath it. Full of 4 or 5 nationalities of windsurfers, massage therapists (two German ladies camping in the yard), and us, a couple of middle aged travelers. We'd paid a premium for the private room, the windsurfers preferring the cheaper dormitory rooms. This is a pretty nice house given over to lodging whoever will pay the modest price, run like a college rooming house.

We laid low the first day and a half, venturing only to Twin Falls, a fruit stand with a path to a pretty nice little waterfall. Monday we felt a bit more adventurous. People had been telling us that Halloween in Lahaina was worth seeing. It's only about 40 miles away. In Hawaiian that's a couple of hours. Certainly was worth it. The town was full, there are lots of historical markers, a huge banyan tree along with all the beachside tourist traps one could care to investigate. Oh, also the traditional Halloween parade, not a single costume cut to accomodate a snowsuit.



Today, it was up the mountain. Haleakala by name.  South center of the west island. That's kind of how you get directions around here. Lahaina would be western west island. Oh, hell, here's what it looks like.

Better?
Unfortunately the whole mountain was socked in above about 8,000 feet. No dramatic pictures to be had, though it was definitely a dramatic drive. On the roadmap it looked like an intestine and on the 11 mile road there wasn't so much as 100 yards without a turn. Top speed - 25 mph average speed, maybe 15. Finally saw ne-ne, the Hawaiian native goose. On a lower slope was a grove planted by a long ago forest ranger who wanted to curb  erosion caused by clear-cutting sandalwood, okoi and koa by introducting timber trees from around the world. he was somewhat successful - 13 species of 120 or so survived and thrived. Unfortunately they also choked out native stuff, so now the rangers have to monitor and stamp out the new seedlings. Nevertheless, it does make for a really rugged hike.

How Mike and I arrived at The Long Vacation

As we converse with young people here in Maui from France, Germany and Canada, they ask how we decided to travel. They ask, "Were we travelers before this?" We were not. We might have taken vacations but we were not travelers. Tonight someone suggested that we retired and then got bored. He implied that we decided to travel after we quit work on Aug. 31. Then we planned a 7 month overseas tour through Australia and South East Asia and took off a month later (without realizing that we also disposed of an apartment with all our stuff, settled business affairs and said proper good byes to our families. The following is an attempt to show the evolution of our actual travel plan, a plan that took almost 5 years to develop. Finding one another and arriving at a shared travel goal was the biggest miracle of all but the plan took years. Why wouldn’t it? It needs to take years to properly undo a lifetime of accumulation.

On January 22, 2007 I opened an unusual (actually earth -rocking) letter from General Motors informing me that GM had audited my length of service and determined that under a 1996 contract granting 100% lay off guarantee I had 30 years of service prior to 1/1/07. (Persons not having 30 years prior to 1/1/07 get a lesser monthly payment. They do not get the entire amount of a defined pension plan.) When I got this letter from GM I saw that the only thing keeping me in Michigan was my house. 8 days later a realtor assessed the house. It sold in June 2007.

If I had known who negotiated the 100% lay off guarantee, I would have sent them flowers. I was laid off for 2 years, from Feb 1983 until GM recalled the Tarrytown Assembly Plant’s second shift in Feb. 1985. This lay off guaranty gives me deep appreciation for the UAW (United Auto Worker’s Union). I never paid union dues as a salaried employee but nonetheless the UAW did me a tremendous service.

The young folks here in Maui made note that I sold before the 2008 crash. My house sold for $217, 000 after I paid $255,000 in 1999. So I lost money but I do not mind since I made money when the housing market was good and it equaled out. At the time I felt huge fear that housing would crash. I wanted to travel and see the world. All I needed was to find one buyer and with brokers expertise we did.

What would I do once retired? I looked at travel on the internet because I wanted to go everywhere all at once without jet lag. My Uncle Albert is a good example of what I did not want to have happen to me concerning travel. In 1965 or so he won a prize for selling the most spark plugs. The prize was dinner with Henry Ford II in Bangkok. My uncle got sick at dinner and refused to ever leave home again. I did not want that to happen to me. If I get sick at dinner I want the option to lay up in Bangkok, get well and not have to rush back to work.

On the internet I found RWT (Round the World Trips) offered thru One World Alliance, an airline consortium that charges something like $3500 for 3 continents, $5200 for 4 continents and $6000 for 5 continents. Note: The continent of origin counts as the first continent. The ticket is good for a year. I realized that a round the world trip was for me.

I signed up for classes with a group, 2Y2R (Too Young To Retire) to discuss next steps. Issues with my only child, then 26 year old Ben were emphasized by 2Y2R. Ben graduated from Eastern Michigan in 2006 but he is not self-supporting. Ben was diagnosed as bipolar and by Aug 2008, Ben got his first assistance check. Today Ben no longer depends on me.

Mike and I met at work in April 2008. Mike was planning his retirement and he liked to look at motor homes. He even asked if I'd like to go halves on a used GMC. I did not reply. All I knew was that I was much happier going to work since Mike was nearby. I liked Mike so much that I would have accepted motorhome life all by itself if that was all Mike could tolerate.

In October 2008 threat of a lay off for all contract workers loomed large per the Wall Street Journal. Mike was retired from the UAW after 30 years. He had worked as a contract designer on engine coolings systems and accessory drives.

For me, Liz, the duress of being required to sign "Yes" or "No" as to whether or not I would retire, I could not sleep that the idea that Mike would not be there after Friday. Working next to Mike really cheered me up. He made work better. I approached him the next day and he asked me out. By the weekend of Oct 8, 2008 he set forth a plan to marry on Memorial Day Weekend of 2009. That Monday he designed an engagement ring and 3 weeks later we announced our engagement.

As the overwhelming newness of our union subsided, I showed Mike the dream trip for overseas. He thought the general price range was reasonable. I showed Mike a map with an example of a trip from North America to South America and then Hawaii, Australia and South East Asia. Mike accepted the plan when I crossed out South America. I crossed out South America because it made no sense to fly back from South America thru Los Angeles to go to Hawaii. Mike aptly said indigenous peoples have too many reasons to hate us and that we would not feel safe there. Gradually I modified the idea of a one year trip to a six or seven month trip since any longer feels like punishment.

Thailand is a focal point of out trip because of Mike’s army service. Mike spent a year supporting US Marines in Vietnam when he was 19. He was under constant attack. Then he returned to Fort Leonard Wood, Kansas and was bored so he transferred to Thailand. To this day Mike loves the Thai people and their joy of living. The idea of returning to Thailand totally charms Mike. He speaks some Thai. We expect to spend several months in Thailand, We hope that flooding in Bangkok is over quickly.