KAUAI

KAUAI
I am a very fortunate man! How many fathers get to spend 24/7 with their three daughters in tropical Paradise? Not many.
I have a list of things that I would like to do before I check out from the world. High on this list was to re-visit Kauai where we lived for four and a half years, 50 years ago. Dan Canty, Vice President of Industrial Engineering for C. Brewer (one of Hawaii’s Big Five Factors) hired me to be Olokele sugar Company’s first Industrial Engineer.
While Marie and I had been back to Hawaii a couple of times since, I still had that longing to once again visit the spiritual beauty of Hawaii. But, at 91, I was realistic, and didn’t expect to do this. But, when Mary, Joan and Sue suggested that we all go over together, my wish took legs. I didn’t hesitate to accept their offer. We enjoyed anticipating our trip while making our plans.
Stan picked up all of us at Quail Creek on Wednesday morning, June 2. He was 15 minutes early for our 5:30 appointed time. Sue drove her truck over, and Katie will drive Tom over to pick it up. Michelle brought Joan and Mary over. I was sweating out room for all of our luggage, but no problem fitting it in Stan’s van. Heavy commute traffic, but it flowed smoothly at freeway speed. Having commuted from Vallejo to San Francisco for 14 years, I can relate to being tired from the wear and tear on the nervous system. Stan asked us if we would like to stop for a coffee. We declined.
We arrived at SFO at 6:45. Joan had printed out our boarding passes the day before, so this speeded up our check-in at the United Counter. Also, it gave a $2 discount on the $25 bag charge. No wonder everyone hauls huge bags aboard, rather than check them. Some passengers have to stand on the seat to jam them in the bin and retrieve them. As I observe them hassling with their luggage, I cant believe that the bags weigh 50 pounds or less!
The usual Security check-in. I couldn’t believe the long line - and this early in the morning. We hadn’t anymore got to the end of the line, when Security opened another station. So back to where we had just walked from. Security is pretty routine and organized now, after nine years of tweaking the system. We were cleared in about 30 minutes.
I can remember our first trip to Hawaii over 50 years ago. Back then, everyone wore their “Sunday Best”. Contrast that with today, when people are dressed down for travel. This morning I saw grandparents each carrying a boogie board for their two young grandsons!
We started boarding United Flight 41 for a direct flight from San Francisco to Lihue, at 8:30 - 30 minutes prior to departure. What a co-incidence! Our 9:00 scheduled departure today is the same exact time as it was back on January 15, 1958, when we first left the mainland on our move to Hawaii. Our plane is a Boeing 757-200 with a full passenger load of 182 people. It is a single aisle - three seats on each side configuration. Three of us took up one row, with Mary across the aisle from Joan.
We backed out from Gate 89 at exactly 9:00. Not much wind, and heavily loaded it took a 40 second take-off run before we were airborne. No free lunches anymore in “Economy”. United would sell us a sandwich for $9. We planned ahead and picked up one at the airport. The crew had a contest to estimate the time (Hawaii Daylight) when we would reach the mid-point. They gave time of departure, trip mileage, indicated air speed, and wind. I carefully worked it out to be 08:38. The actual time turned out to be 8:44. I can’t explain why I was so far off. I would guess that there was an error in the “givens”, or a change in the headwind. It’s a long ride westbound because we are bucking the high velocity jet stream. Before 9/11, one could walk up and down the aisle and stand in the galley. But because of security they discourage this now. I can’t imagine the fatigue on the long-non-stop flights to Australia and Japan. Joan picked up a tuna salad sandwich at SFO, and we shared this for lunch. It was very tasty. United did give us a glass of water.
We landed in Lihue at 11:14 - 30 minutes early. A lady, representing Hawaiian Holidays, greeted us inside \the terminal as we awaited to pick up our luggage at the carrousel. She presented each of us with a double- plumeria lei. The girls arranged them on the lanai, and they stayed nice almost as long as we were there.
(To be continued)