Leaving Vernon and on to Hawaii

Tuesday December 9^th

Vernon BC

As of 1:00 pm today we became officially homeless. If you don't think that that is a feeling to give you pause then you have never tried it. A night's stay at the Kiki Village motel in Vernon with a rental car in the parking lot sets us up for tomorrow.

Wednesday December 10^th

Vernon – Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

Worried about missing the start of the journey, and not having every thing down to a science yet, we asked for a 6:00 am wakeup call, set an alarm on my watch and an alarm on the computer. Kinda scares you when they all start to go off about the same time. We head down the road relieved that the snow, which was forecast, had turned into rain instead. Checked in at the Air Canada counter and they, once again, proved that they have some of the worst customer service around. The women at the counter not only didn't give us our boarding passes before she sent us to security but, when we came back after being refused admission, she denied it. Fortunately one of the other staff found the passes sitting on the top of her counter. We looked longingly at the Westjet counter as we went past.

Finally we were on the plane. At least the first one to Vancouver. That was only 35 minutes. The next one, after clearing customs with some very impolite US customs folks in Vancouver, was about 3 hours to LA. Noticed that, as we came in over LA, that is has to be the flattest big city around. Do they have some kind of by-law that outlaws most buildings over five stories or is it that many people there are afraid of heights?

Spent a lovely two hours in LA's airport where I found a vending machine that would sell me an IPhone (really). Next came the five hour flight to Honolulu where we arrived about 8 pm local time. It was warm and breezy as we got into a shuttle to take us to the famous Waikiki beach area. On the ride out it reminded me more of Toronto then a tropical paradise, lots of industrial units, but we were looking forward to some real beach atmosphere.

We were dropped off at the inexpensive hotel we had chosen. 44 stories of small dated rooms “only” seven blocks from the beach. We had a chance to wander the fabled Waikiki area. Instead of the tropical tacky tourist trap we expected what we found was a mecca of shopping for those who like Cartier, Armani and other similar shops. They even had a Ferrari and a Harley store. The beach, unfortunately was a little hidden behind a string of huge hotels and condos. We finally got to walk on it in the shadow of the latest Trump project.

Thursday December 11^th.

Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

We woke to the worst storm that Hawaii had had in the last two years. There were widespread blackouts

and flooding and the streets were full of tourists wearing those stupid clear disposable ponchos. Made them all look like they had been covered by someone with a somewhat abnormal attachment to glad wrap. In the trerrible fuzzy picture you might be able to see palm trees behind the rain drops.

The hotel is full of Japanese tourists who are here for the annual marathon on Sunday. Up to 12,000 of them fly in to run in it. Most of them are, apparently, staying at our hotel.

The sky cleared enough for to take a walk around the large local

park, see even more expensive stores, visit the aquarium and prove that my new scandals will make your feet bleed if you walk in them too long.. Determined that the beach seems to have faded into a minor part of the local scene. At least no one seemed to be paying much attention to it.

Friday December 12^th

Waikiki, Oahu, Hawaii

With the weather clearing took a shuttle to the USS Arizona memorial this morning, saw the battleship Missouri next to it and then clambered through the submarine Bowfin. My hope was that all the WWII submariners that served aboard her were small -very small. I had a hard time with the various hatches and I am hardly tall. Lana, on the other hand, looked right at home.

When we motored out to the Arizonia memorial I found it hard to imagine that there were over 1,000 men still entombed below our feet.

We then spent a boring two hours at the taxi stand waiting for our shuttle to show up. There are a lot of shuttle vans serving the hotels, airports and attractions. All the drivers seem to know each other and they frequently stop to say hi, particulary if someone in the van is late for a plane. They drive like taxi drivers while they answer the various cell phones and radios they have stashed around them. In this particular case we had paid for a round trip and the first driver forgot to mention that the company actually operates under two diferent names (that we know of anyway). Our ride was there when it should have been but we, and he, didn't know it. He really didn't care but was nice enough anyway. He did mention that the owner of the company had made so much money that he was building an apartment building somewhere. That made us feel better. He also knew exactly where Vernon BC was. The "pot capital of BC" was his description. That made us feel even better then before.

Back to the hotel and then off to find anything that wasn't too expensive. An hours walk later we found a bar with really bad nachos and dated decor but pints of Stienlager were only $3 all day and the seats were very comfortable. And, even more importantly, it was not populated by tourists.

Saturday December 13^th

Kona, Hawaii, Hawaii

Quite relieved to leave the city of Honolulu and be on our way to the Big Island (Hawaii – the island, not the state). Got off the plane and immediately felt that this was the Hawaii that we were looking for. Picked up a rental car at the small airport and headed for the town of Kona. Once a fishing village and now home to a fair number of people there certainly weren’t any shops offering Rolexes or Omega’s in their windows. Had lunch at a little bar across the two lane blacktop from the ocean watching the surfers try their luck.

Ended up in the town of Captain Cook staying a hotel straight out of the 1940s. The rates were cheap but the bathrooms were communal and the their wasn’t a computer to be seen at hotel desk. Just a small calculator and sign in book. No air conditioning either but what can you expect for $36 dollars a night.

Did find time to visit a small national park on the coast which housed an old “place of refuge” under the previous management (before the US annexed the Kingdom of Hawaii). Seems that if you had committed a crime and where able to make to this place before the King’s guards killed you then you got a get out of jail free card (or the rough equivalent). All you had to do was stay in this place while the priests made you a better person. When you got out then your crime was forgotten and you were home free. I guess the trick was getting past those King’s guards. The really large fellows with the big clubs and a bad attitude.