I do, however, have a seat on tomorrow’s late flight. Which means I now have an entire day in Guam. Get kicked out of the hotel at noon. Plane leaves at 7:20 PM.
This is pretty much what I expected would happen. So yes—this is what I planned.
The plane from Honolulu to Guam was late from the get-go. The weather was bad. There were screaming little babies. The plane was packed. We transit passengers were only let off once because they were trying to make up time. All in all, a grand adventure.
Hotel Wi-Fi is too iffy to use even with my VPN, so this is coming to you from my phone.
Well, this is it. Blast off tomorrow on the United Island Hopper (UA154) for Guam. And if the travel goddess is willing, I’ll connect with a flight to Tokyo. Twenty-two hours later, I may—or may not—be alive and in Japan.
Note to self: You are too old to walk from Terminal 1 to the “Best” Western Hotel. Do not do this again.
I am safely ensconced at the “Best” Western Hotel, enjoying a Starbucks Fruit and Cheese Box.
Catching the 5 AM shuttle bus tomorrow morning. The plane is supposed to leave around 7:30 AM. When I checked in online this morning, United tried to entice me into abandoning this flight and taking a later one to Tokyo via San Francisco. I said, “No thanks.” So either they’ve oversold this flight—or they really don’t want me to miss the Guam-to-Tokyo connection.
Then on to the main event – breakfast. I voted for Teshima’s. The restaurant is old school. Same location. Same family ownership since 1929. Even older than I am.
Leaving on a culinary high note.
That’s 2 eggs over easy, spam, rice, and a pancake for lagniappe.
This is a pretty great Christmas parade float too.
Just one objective today: get my boxes packed and lugged up to the Post Office. Going to the Post Office at Christmas time and waiting in a very long line is an old Hawaiʻi tradition. The box was only ten pounds—but that’s ten pounds I won’t have to schlep around on the next leg of the journey.
I asked ChatGPT if it was acceptable to mail dirty clothes home. I was told yes. Of course, ChatGPT seems to be wrong about 15% of the time. But I am choosing to believe this.
Tomorrow: put everything I didn’t mail home into my backpack and check in online for the flight to Honolulu. I’ve culled my load down to the barest minimum: three undies, two socks, one bra, three shirts, one base layer, one skirt, and two jackets. Plus scarf and gloves. AllBirds high-tops. And the pair of “running” shorts I’m wearing at this very moment.
Of course, I am lugging too much tech. But I am not mailing my MacBook anywhere. I figure it’s about five pounds of clothes, drugs, granola bars, and pour-over coffee—and five pounds of tech—in a 25-liter Patagonia commuter/day pack.
Little old ladies shouldn’t be doing shit like this. But if you think you’re having fun, then you’re having fun. And this is one of the advantages of being child-free: nobody can really nag or guilt you out of doing stupid things like my upcoming crazy seven-day adventure.
Yesterday’s brunch—a more suitable activity for the senior circuit.
Brunch Location. LavaLava Beach Club. Sunday Brunch Participants. Lava Lava Beach Club.
Many good years and good times in this photo.
Nothing says Christmas better than a new water catchment tank.
Last night I decided not to be a wimp, got myself together, and walked three blocks to check out the Kona Christmas Parade. It was better in years past. But then again, so was I.
The water catchment tank was my favorite float. And no—this is not for livestock but for your own home water supply. Not everyone is connected to municipal water. It could be as high as 30% of homes. When Carlton and I worked at Volcano National Park in the 90s, we had catchment water too.
Here is a little quick-and-dirty two-minute video of the jeeps. They are a relatively recent addition to our little parade.
I am going to miss this. Cardio in the interior passageways and stairwells of the Asylum just isn’t the same. Not even close.
Last night we went out to dinner. I was promised lasagna at the beach, but we ended up at a restaurant—where we celebrated my birthday!
See—my Birthday.
Another day. Another meal. Off to the Keauhou Market and lunch. Well, we arrived too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. Billy and Mary Ellen went for a walk. Monique and I looked at our phones. And I found a stash of photos of Billy from the 80s. Monique has them now, too.
Lunch was excellent. An entire plate of ahi tuna sashimi.
Billy was smoking hot back in the day…
Actually, we were all smoking hot back in the day.
Today’s cardio walk included a swing by the King Kamehameha Hotel to check out the decorations.
The decorations were fabulous. An old friend from Hulihe’e Place days, Ben Mahi, was the Christmas wizard. Nobody decorates for Christmas like Ben.
Today is the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I can assure you the she is well and truly honored by the church next door. Shortly after 4AM this morning the faithful started arriving to honor her. In this neighborhood, The Lady of Guadalupe beats out the old world’s Feast of the Immaculate Conception. (That was on Dec 8).
My exciting adventure today was breaking out an absolutely steampunk old vacuum and giving it a little runabout. It’s the first time in 10+ years that I have run a vacuum. I will happily wait another 10 years.
0623am. It must be Wednesday. The Pride of America is parked out front.
Today’s only adventure was taking my box of coffee to the post office.
Isn’t that exciting?
And now I learn that Calibri has been declared a DEI typeface. Naturally, it’s a Microsoft font — and all my fonts are Apple or Adobe — so I cannot immediately start using it on everything, even if I wanted to join the revolution via typography.
Have I mentioned recently that I hate the second quarter of the 21st century? Absolutely hate it. My current longevity goal is to live long enough to see the war crimes trials of the current regime begin.
Why am I getting my panties in a wad over a typeface when, earlier today, the United States of America stole an oil tanker from Venezuela? I believe the polite term for that is piracy.
At this rate, I may get off the plane in Chuuk next week and apply for political asylum.
When Carlton and I wandered around the country for days on end, I always insisted that we could do anything for five days, then I needed a day off from “having fun.” In pre-Internet days, I’d say I needed to do laundry, get supplies, write postcards, and reorganize. I need that discipline more at 81 than I did at 41, but I tend to forget that reset days are still necessary.
So today was a reset day. Zoom yoga this morning, followed by some serious thinking about what to send home and what to schlep with me on the next phase of this Last Great Adventure, Maybe.
Last Great Adventure, Maybe. That’s how I tagged all the photos from this trip. When I started, I was thinking: “OK. This is it. Last time to spend six weeks in Kona, and last time to head off halfway around the world.”
But the longer I’m away from The Asylum, the more confident I am in my ability to keep going. I’ve already reserved this condo for next winter. Japan might be a different story — medical evacuation insurance will soon be impossible to buy — but we’ll see.
Gratitude
Grateful to Carlton, who insisted I move to The Asylum, where they worry more about me than I do. When I get back, they have to let me in, and I know everything will be “fine.”
Grateful to Billy and Monique. I know they’ll look after me. I don’t want them to need to take care of me, but it’s comforting to know they have my back.
Grateful that my elderly, increasingly unreliable body still makes the bell.
Nobody is Promised Tomorrow.
In Hawai’i, Kīlauea is the realm of Pele, creator, destroyer, and the heart of the islands. When she erupts, it isn’t just geology on display; it’s a reminder that the land is alive and constantly being renewed. People show her deep respect, whether actively erupting or resting quietly beneath the surface. Offerings, prayers, and pūʻolo bundles at the crater honor that presence.
PūʻoloWe saw one family bringing pūʻolo.
This offering – fruit, fish, maybe even a spam musubi – was wrapped in ti leaves and left some time ago.
Hawai‘i is more than an Instagram moment.
Don’t think I am the angelic type!
You can see that I am not exactly over worked these days. The view from the sofa. Not too shabby of a reading room.
Nice lazy day at home. And, yes, this is home. I am rather like a turtle. Home is wherever I happen to be.
And the stockings were hung on the kitchen window with care in hopes that St Nick etc etc.
This is what you do with your Christmas stockings when you have no chimney. Or even an exhaust fan. Works for me.
I knitted 60 seconds of volcano viewing. This is what it really looked like from Steaming Bluff / Wahinekapu Overlook.
We’re off to see Madam Pele. But watch the road, Billy!
A little more from yesterday’s excellent adventure.
We’d been on the road for about an hour when things started looking promising.
We can see lava!
At this point, we declare the trip a success. Never mind that we are still far from our destination.
Lava. And a spectacular sky.
Eventually, Volcanoes National Park. But first: traffic and parking.
In the Park. In the traffic.
We got a great parking spot – right next to where the Ranger was directing traffic. Made it super easy to get in and out of traffic.
First-ever view of lava fountaining.
Did I mention it was foggy and raining and cold? It’s always foggy and raining at this overlook. There are steam vents. They increase the fogginess. But, makes it warmer.
Bet my photo is just as good! Not.Monique and BillyThis is better. Chairs and Brunch.
We spent a lot of time watching the cloud through our binoculars.
As the afternoon moves on, I try shots that should never be attempted with a telephone.
Without binoculars, you really can’t see the structure of the plume. The USGS explains the “stuff” in the air:
Another hazard closer to the vent is fallout of Pele’s hair and other volcanic fragments from lava fountains. Pele’s hair is strands of volcanic glass often produced by lava fountaining activity and can be carried well over 10 miles from the vent. Other hot glassy volcanic fragments including Peleʻs hair, volcanic ash, pumice, scoria, and reticulite can fall on the ground within 1-2 miles of the eruptive vent(s) with the highest concentrations downwind of the vent(s). Pumice and other volcanic fragments have fallen on Highway 11 west of Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park depending on wind and eruption conditions.
Our faithful truck was covered in Pele’s hair and little bits of glassy tephra on the trip home — until the rain washed it all off. We didn’t get coated in “volcanic fragments” because the wind was in our favor.
The cloud was reported to be 35,000 feet.
Time to leave. As we walked back to the truck, we saw a woman rushing to the overlook, yelling, “We’re going to miss our plane!”
One last look while piling back in the truck.Back home in time for sunset at 5:30.
