Pahoa or Bust: One

Pahoa Natural Groceries

Way back when, in the mid-80's, I went on a whirlwind trip to Hawaii, including Maui and Oahu.  I had an extra ticket, so, I took one of my buds with me...that was about the extent of the plan.  We had no hotel or other reservations and decided to "wing it".  I know it's hard to believe in the post 9/11 world, but, boarding an airplane was a much less intensive experience back then.  What I mean to say is, one of the items we used as luggage was a plastic 10 gallon gas can which we cut a door in, to be used as a prop when attempting to hitch rides in the Hawaiian hinterlands.  Yes, a red 10 gallon gas can was allowed on the plane with basically a little explanation and joking around as to its true purpose.

Me and the infamous gas can luggage

As I mentioned, we had no plans...once we touched down at the airport in Honolulu, we started walking to find someplace to hang our hats for the evening.  We proceeded down the road from the airport and we had our first success with the gas can.  A fellow in a white pickup truck asked us if we needed a lift.  We explained that, yes, we could use a lift to Honolulu, but the gas can was just a prop, yada, yada, yada.  He got a kick out of it and told us to hop in.  As it turned out, he was leaving the airport after checking on his plane, a Cessna type private aircraft.  He related that he was a school teacher in Honolulu and inquired if we had a place to crash for the night.  We explained that we had no place to stay and little plans for the entire trip.  He offered to let us stay at his apartment and then asked us if we wanted to fly to the north side of the island the next day...but we would have to wash his airplane.  A fortuitous beginning to our trip!