Spent the morning packing for 11 pm checkout. I had to return the key to our AirBnB to the mail box in the lobby and discovered a free library shelf that I hadn’t noticed before. So I took C.J Box The Disappearance and P.D. James A Certain Justice. Not too excited about either of them, but oh well.
Mike: A very nice stay. Couple blocks to the super hotels and thru to the beach. Nice walks in both directions and high-end shopping everywhere. Streets were again thick with people, walking, window shopping, seeing and being seen. Very polite mostly Asian people having a nice time, often with children, often with parents and sometimes grandparents. Packed up and rearranged for camping dropped the KIA Soul and found a decent place to wait for our pickup. Coordination via cells working great and soon Lucas was here.
Susan: The Nuvi took us back to the airport, where we were going to be picked up by Luke, from Hawaii Surf Campers. As we drove back along the Nimitz highway, we passed numerous homeless encampments right along the freeway. We didn’t see them when we arrived because it was so dark and rainy. Sad to think of living under a tarp by a freeway, but I guess home is home.
He drove us up island to their home base in Wahiawa, which is in the center of the island, an old town that used to be where the plantation workers lived. Kind of a poor place with shabby buildings. Really wonder if agriculture is happening here now, or is it all tourism?
Mike: Chose the Ford Van because it’s a 2017 rather than an elderly VW rebuild by an unknown local guy. Had a nice chat with Lucas on the way to the shop which made me think perhaps the VW would be reliable but then we talked about the constant need for maintenance and many roadside repairs they have had to do on the VWs so it confirmed for Ford was the right choice. Not that I shirk a good challenge but this trip is for “forget about it all” and “get back to the Island.”
Susan: After a short tour of their workshop and filling out of paperwork, we were off to our first camping place with a short detour into Haleiwa to get groceries.
Haleiwa is a one-road town of food trucks, coffee shops, an Ace Hardware, a big drug store, and a grocery store. We bought a paper bag full of stuff and a Styrofoam cooler with more stuff in it as well as ice to supplement the tiny fridge. They do not allow plastic grocery bags here so we have been tripped up by that a couple of times. Mike: as in 9 bucks for a medium paper bag at an ABC store. Never going back but they have no reason to care making 8.95 off my bag purchase…. grrrr
After groceries, we drove to the camp, which is further down the coast right on Mokule’ia Beach. Nobody in the office, but we found our spot, requested the people who had moved into it to vacate, which they did right away and voluntarily, and set up our tiny tent, blew up the tiny air mattresses and prepped for sleep. Three and half pound tent is mostly mosquito netting with an allegedly great fly to keep the rain off. We thought it would provide better sleeping than in the van.
To end the day, we sat at our picnic table and ate grapes, Brie, and sushi, and watched the surf and the whales spouting offshore. Was pleasantly cool and breezy.
Mike: Van has a nice bed though small and the air flow is high in the roof like in a VW. We cooked in the van and moved into the backpacking tent right on the sand above a crashing surf beach under sky spangled with very bright stars. North star right out the door. The first time I’ve been sure which way was north since we got here! No rain of course, but a delightful breeze with the fly open at the doors. Even needed the thin blanket provided by the van folks in the middle of the night.
Mike: The surf here is Amazing! Had slept surfside in California on the beach and surf was soothing and regular. Here the surf is huge and continuous in its roar because of the various locations where it breaks and the height of the waves. Slept like a comforted baby. Probably the most sleep I’ve had since…. Well, I don’t know when, without being sick, I slept for 10 hours!
All in all a great day, but no one has been home at the campground office all day so we don’t have any wifi to send our travelogue.
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