Day Tripping

Aloha Lāpule. Huakaʻi hele means to travel, a journey, to take a trip. Recently, I took a trip off island to O’ahu, Honolulu, for business. I’m was hesitant to take the journey because of all the restrictions the State has placed on travelers. Plus the airline travel isn’t as pleasant as it once was. It’s bad enough having to dump the contents of your pockets and take off your shoes, while the TSA (thousands standing around) treating passengers as terrorists. But the business trip had to be done. 

 

Hilo airport (ITO), also known as Lyman Field was once a single landing strip in 1929. It was opened just south of Hilo, which was then expanded over the years. At the onset of World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers took over the Hilo Airport and constructed military installations and expanded the facility for military use. In 1943, the airport was renamed General Lyman Field, in honor of Brigadier General Albert Kualii Brickwood Lyman, the first United States Army General of Hawaiian ancestry. There’s a monument to General Lyman in the Hilo Airport lobby. 

Of course, I’m taking Hawaiian Airlines for the interisland journey. Hilo Airport is a small quiet airport that is easy enough to get in and out quickly. It’s not like Honolulu Airport, also known as Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, is large, crowded, and always busy. At least Hawaiian airlines takes off and lands with a fairly good on-time service. 

It’s a nice day for flying. The weather is calm and sunny. Visibility is clear over 10 miles. A look back at Hilo bay where you can see the breakwater reef. The Hilo breakwater reef was built to dissipate wave energy and reduce wave action in the protected bay, providing calm water within the bay and protection for mooring and operating in the bay; it was not built as a tsunami protection barrier for Hilo. To the left is South Hilo, the airport, and Keaukaha Hawaiian Homelands. To the right heads to North Hilo, Wainaku, up to Onomea. 

 

Once the aircraft reaches above the clouds, you can see Mauna Loa on the left and Mauna Kea on the right. You can clearly see the observatories on Mauna Kea. The cloud cover is not too dense and you can see the topology of the east side of the Big Island pretty good. 

I brought my copy of American Marxism with me to read on the plane. I’ve got sticky notes on many of the pages with information I can reference and lookup. This book is a remarkable read. Very educational. 

After completing business, I raced to the Honolulu airport to get through security and stop by my favorite airport restaurant, “Stinger Reys”. The restaurant is completely different from what I remember. Once crowded with people where sometimes you had to wait for a table or a seat at the bar, this place was dead. I was one of three customers in the place. You order your food via an online menu and a server brings it out for you. I ordered the shrimp tacos. 

 

I was hoping to get my favorite snack, a Chicken Caesar Salad. I mentioned to the server how limited the menu was, and told her about my favorite salad, and she said they could make that for me. I had the time, and I was still hungry, so I ordered the Caesar salad, and I was exactly as I remembered, delicious, so ono! I gave the server a 40% tip for the effort, and then headed to my gate. While waiting for my boarding, I read another chapter in my book “American Marxism”. 

Oh Honolulu Harbor by Mary Pulaʻa Robins – Kaulana mai nei Honolulu Harbor. ʻO ka ipu kukui mālamalama. Famous is Honolulu Harbor. The shining beacon. Although I never resided there, I went there often in less stressful times. O’ahu is known as the “Gathering Place”. It is the capitol of the State and the heart of commerce. 

A birds eye view of Waikiki. At the near center of the picture, by the shoreline slightly to the left side is a Pink building. It is the Royal Hawaiian Resort where I used stay on overnight visits. The hotel offers beach access and spectacular views of Diamond Head. Behind the hotel, across the street is the “Top Of Waikiki”. The saucer shaped rotating restaurant with a 360 degree view of Honolulu city. One of my favorite restaurants pre pandemic. It has long since closed due to the draconian restrictions on businesses by a dictatorial city mayor and state governor. 

During some downtime waiting for the cab to take me to the airport, I was entertained by this visitor. I fed the little guy part of a saltine cracker. These little guys are not shy. Overall, I’m glad that I made this trip now than later. The direction the State is going is to impose another lockdown. I can see it coming. All the red flags are hoisted. The local Fake News Media and the government are increasing the Covid Panic Porn rhetoric. The stooge Lt. Gov Green has publicly said that of people are not going to follow their restrictions and get their vaccinations, then they will punish everyone, regardless. It’s becoming a scary time here in Hawai’i. Held hostage by a fascistic dictatorial government determined to destroy lives, businesses, and damaging the Aloha Spirit. 

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Today started with clear skies and few clouds and very blustery. No rain yet from tropical storm Linda’s remnants. Tradewinds are from the north at 10mph with gusts at 24mph. Cloud cover is 16%. Visibility is 10 miles. We got 1/8 inch  precipitation in the rain gauge overnight. Temperatures are in the low 80’s. Humidity is at 78%. Barometric pressure is 29.85 inches and dewpoint is 73 degrees. UV index is 13.

ʻAukake Iwakālua Kūmālua, 2021

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