Saturday, December 3, 2022

 Saturday, December 3, 2022

I called my Kia dealer first thing in the morning to find out if other Kias had the same problem John had with my car; the car accelerated above the limit set by cruise control. They said they knew nothing about it. I made an appointment to bring the car in on Wednesday morning for a check-up. I asked them to do a routine service while it was there.

  It was a wonderful day. We left at about 10 am for two steps to do some snorkeling. Our first stop was at Coffee Shack. I love to sit in the back room rather than the open lanai. The double-hung screenless windows frame the view over the sharp descent below to the expanse of the bay and the cliffs on the far side. When we got seated in the back room, there were no seats by the window. After we got our water, one of the two tables by the rear window became free. I leaped out of my seat to claim the table. I believe my friends were startled by my audacity. Some things are worth rudeness. The waitress told us to wait until she cleared the table. Then it was ours. The view is soul-satisfying, and the food is good. I had eggs Benedict, my usual.

  Christine is an artist. When I expressed pleasure in seeing windows framing a landscape, she suggested I hang a frame against my lanai screens. There is a cardboard frame with sticking tape on the back. I could move it around to change my slice of the view.

  We continued south to Two-Step. There's not much beach there. It's mostly a large rock jutting out into the water. We put our chairs on the little bit of sandy beach on the shallow side of the bay with a boat ramp.

 John and Carol went to the deep side to snorkel. The place is called Two-Step because nature cuts two steps into the rock. John and Carol had to get into the water right from the edge of the rock. It is one big rock, a cooled lava flow. Christine went to find a place to sit and paint.

      When Carol and John returned after half an hour or forty-five minutes, they reported seeing colorful fish. The coral is all bleached by now. Carol said getting in and out of the water was hard because the tide was high, and the two steps were covered.

   I sat in a beach chair, watching three children play in the sand. They were siblings, two to three years apart; the oldest couldn't have been more than eight. It was a wonderful show. Their mom was sitting right there.  

  I went snorkeling in the shallow water once John and Carol returned. The water was cold. I learned a mountain stream fed that section; the water was brackish. I remember enjoying the snorkeling there when John taught me how to on their last trip here. I went in the deep end that time. I enjoyed looking at the small details of the patterns in the sand and the occasional sand-colored fish swimming by. I didn't enjoy snorkeling in the deep water. While there were a few fish, there wasn't much else to look at. Besides, I was scared. I wasn't the swimmer I once was, and I get nauseous while snorkeling. Then, it took two men to haul me out of the water. I got sick again today. That was a signal to get out.

   When it was time to stand up and walk out of the water, I couldn't. I asked a passing child to help me. He was too small and too weak. Carol came out to help me.

   A man walked on the boat ramp, slipped, and fell hard. I went running to speak to him. Locals sitting on the beach said he was okay. I yelled, "Staph," they knew what I meant. I told the man to treat any abrasions. Lava rock is loaded with staph infection. It never dies here because it's the tropics.

  As I returned to my seat, the mother of the three children asked if the man was okay. She was Korean and spoke limited English. I struggled to explain that the concern was for a staph infection. People new to the island never think of it and might ignore an infection. She was from Korea and spoke limited English. I managed to get the idea across by miming it.

  After I sat down, the mother started packing up. She took her children into the water one at a time and washed off the sand. I videoed her and the children in the water. I showed her the video. I tried to send it to her phone. She didn't think texting would work. She tried to get into AirDrop, but that didn't connect. She typed her very long Korean telephone number into my phone, and I tried sending one of the four videos. She didn't receive it, but my phone didn't say it was undelivered. It could come through in a day or two. I put my name and phone number in her phone. I hoped someone could figure out how I could send her the videos. We could have used email. Of course, that was in Korean. How could I have entered it on my phone? When I got home, I texted all the videos. The first one may have gone through.

 We headed back to town via this paved one-lane road through the countryside. It was treacherous. There was no shoulder and as much as a two-foot drop off the edge of the road. As John pointed out, if a wheel went off the edge, there was no way you could get the car back on the road. John drove very carefully. The view was spectacular.

   The road rose and fell as all roads here do. The lava comes out like melted ice cream. When we were on a rise, the road in the distance looked narrower than where we were. Christine loved the perspective and asked John to stop so Carol could take a picture.

   Eventually, the road widened, and we drove through a small conclave of homes. As we went up the mountain, the houses became more luxurious. At some point, I recognized where I was. Ed and Mindy lived in a gated community off this road. Sure enough. We passed a gate with dolphins that I remembered. The road to Route 11 was winding but wide enough for two cars. It had a double line running down the middle.

  While we had driven down to Two-Step by Route 11 the whole way, the GPS and I recommended we take an alternate route on the way back, the Ali'i Road bypass. The view was better, and the driving was smoother. The GPS said it takes the same amount of time. The mileage is greater, but the speed limit is higher.

   The GPS recommended making a right on King Kamehameha III to return to route 11. We were well past the small towns at that point. I suggested continuing on Ali'i because of the sights, the water and the lovely waterfront homes along the way. We turned up before Ali'i St. flowed into Palani.

   When we got home, John, Carol, and I cleaned up from the beach and dressed for dinner at Huggos. I had been concerned there would be a long line and recommended we be there as early as five. We left the house at five-thirty. There was no line. That was great for us but left me concerned for the restaurant. We lost several favorites during the Covid pandemic. I wouldn't want to lose this one too.

  We sat right by the rail, overlooking the water and the sunset. The food was delicious, and I enjoyed everyone's company. Carol ordered a slice of key lime pie, which the other two didn't imbibe. We discovered they thought it was only for the two birthday girls, Carol and me. Christine asked where we could get ice cream. John checked GPS. It was 364 feet from the restaurant.

  We got on the long, slow-moving line at Gypsea Gelato. They were only letting in one group at a time. It must be a Covid precaution. The man of the couple behind us suggested he claim we were his grandparents so he could come in with us. We pretended offense. I was at least old enough to be his grandmother. With our sixty-year age difference, I was old enough to be Isaac's great-grandmother. I have no idea how gelato is different from ice cream. What I had was delicious, although way more than I needed after the lime pie dessert.

   I didn't make my 10,000 steps today. I was too tired. I headed to bed.