Back to HNL

Much of this post was drafted while waiting for the plane in Kona. Because I knew I needed to drive slower on the spare tire, and I wanted to make sure I had extra time in case anything else happened to the car, I left Kohala a little earlier than usual. Even at going 45 mph when it was 55, I got back to the airport by 2:30 for a 5:15 pm flight. It took me about 1 hour 15 minutes when it usually takes me 1 hour. And checking in at Hawaiian Airlines and going through TSA was really quick, too.

Before I left I took a photo of the back yard. This is probably similar to what the back yard looked like about 5 or so years after Grandma & Grandpa moved in. Relatively small trees and still bare patches of dirt.


I picked up 2 pet carriers from Alexis at the Hawai'i Wildlife Center this morning. I will be taking them back to Feather & Fur Animal Hospital. As I was leaving HWC, I thought Alexis looked really familiar. I had only seen her briefly once in July; and she was busy leading a class when I stopped by on Friday afternoon. It turns out Alexis also works at Kohala Village HUB; she was our server!

The carriers were disassembled; I put them in a large garbage bag and put them in my suitcase. Then loaded everything around them. I was able to easily fit everything in. I was even able to pack my carry-on in the suitcase. (I used it on the flight over to haul a clean blanket and the omiyage for Jody, Ron, & Joy.)

I stopped to say Good Bye to Uncle Kazu and found him outside exercising. He does 3 laps around the parking lot at Kohala Hospital. I went with him for 1 & 1/2 laps. There is one part that is slightly sloped, I had to trot along to keep up with him in that section. Another section still needs work to fill a couple of potholes; Uncle Kazu said he fell once when he tried to go too fast through that area. He now slows down to avoid falling so that they won't stop him from going outside. Only a small part of his exercise route overlaps with the ambulance route to the emergency room.

Uncle Kazu half-way done with Lap #2. This is the uphill section.

I also stopped to say Good Bye to Lem; he was at CSC Cafe watching the game with his buddies. I took a photo of the sausage tree on the way out of town. I tried to show it to Jody, Ron, & Joy when they were visiting, but it was too dark when we were going past that section of road.

Because of the lighting you will have to look closely to see the fruits on this Kigelia africana.

Arriving early allowed me to grab a little bit of lunch. I went for my usual Kona Airport meal: Naked coconut water and Sabra hummus with pretzel chips.


This paragraph was written after I got back home. TSA opened my suitcase again. We thought on the way over that they opened it because the drill & the Boost nutritional supplements were right next to each other. But now it is apparent that it was the Boost, they opened my suitcase again. And this time they also opened the box that I had the Boost in. I wonder if they have training in how not to pack things? Perhaps they pack poorly so that you know they have been in your bag? (They did not leave a little note this time; they did when they opened the suitcase in Honolulu.)

TSA's repacking job.

This is how I had it packed originally so it would be stable and less likely to break a container.

Happy Birthday to Mike & Roblin!