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Ellen Isaacs | |
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Travel Journal: Kauai & Oahu
Day 8: Saturday, June 9, 2001
Today we were flying over to Oahu for a two-day stay there. Our plan was to spend the morning traveling and then go visit the Pearl Harbor museum in the afternoon. Unfortunately, it was not to be. We didn't have reservations for the quick flight from Kauai to Oahu since they leave every half hour and we figured this way, we'd have the freedom to get there when it was most convenient. I gather that works most days, but not Saturdays, when lots of people are traveling back to the mainland via Oahu. We got up and out pretty efficiently. First I took a quick walk to the beach near our condo to grab some sand for our sand jar. I also snapped a picture of the Kintaro Japanese restaurant where we'd eaten two nights ago. Next we made a quick stop at the nearby t-shirt shop, since Walendo had discovered that the shirt he'd bought yesterday in Koloa was too small. Since we'd seen the same shirt nearby, we hoped they'd allow us to exchange it for the next size. I went in and asked, and the woman simply wouldn't do it. She didn't seem terribly apologetic about it either. She seemed like a drone who didn't want to take responsibility. Sigh. Now we had the dilemma of whether to go back to Koloa to exchange the shirt, which would cost about a half hour or so. First, though, I wanted to make a few quick stops to get some pictures I'd missed and I wanted to get some of the more orangy-red soil four our collection. We decided to go for the t-shirt. It took a while, and we even made a wrong turn at one point that slowed us down. Finally we got there, he dashed in and it turned out the XXL cost more than the other sizes, so he had to pay another $3. That doesn't seem fair when the sizes run small. I also noted how they don't seem to charge less for smalls and mediums, just more for larger sizes. Anyway, now we just drove back as quickly as we could. One nice thing was that, when we returned the car, the bill came to $101 for the entire week. I'd had a $50 credit plus a $15 coupon, so it was a great deal. We got to the Hawaiian Airlines gate and I noticed that there was a flight in about a half hour at 11:30 but then no more until 1pm. I hoped we'd be able to make the 11:30. It turned out it was full, and in fact, even the 1pm was full. She put us on the 1:30 but said we could go standby on the others, and if we made it they'd move our bags onto that flight. When we got to the gate, the attendant said that they couldn't move the bags. So we had our choice of waiting in the Kauai airport or in the Oahu airport. At this point, I gave up any hope of making the Pearl Harbor exhibit. As it turned out, we were able to get on the 11:30 flight, taking the last two seats. The attendant said they'd try to move our bags to the 1pm flight, rather than having to wait until 1:30.
Now it was time to get the rental car. We'd used Priceline to get a very good rate ($22 per day) and we had a reservation with Alamo. As we headed back to our locker, we noticed that no Alamo buses came even though we saw several of all the other companies' buses go by. We decided to find the rental car area at the main terminal. We found it but there was no Alamo booth. Everything else, but not Alamo. I asked and the woman said we had to pick up a phone across the way, which played a recording telling us to go outside and wait for a bus. Great. I waited while Walendo got our stuff from the lockers. Just then an Alamo bus appeared, but there was a long line of people who had been waiting for it. We didn't make that bus, but another one came by quickly and we crammed onto that one. We were regretting going with Alamo. After about a two-mile ride, the bus arrived at the Alamo station. We all piled off and I waited in a long line while Walendo waited with the bags outside. Despite the long line, there were only three clerks working, and after each customer finally finished, the clerk would walk away for a while before taking someone else. Another woman on line chatted with me, sharing her frustration as well. Finally it was my turn. We'd paid for three days since we'd expected to pick up the car much earlier, but by now we only needed it for two days. The woman told me she couldn't give me a refund, since we'd bought through Priceline. Grrr. She suggested taking it up with them. (Later, when we got back home, I did so and Priceline said, essentially, tough luck, if you ask for more days than you need, we pocket the money. So much for giving them our business again.) After all the travel frustrations piled up, I let it show with the Alamo woman, but then apologized, realizing it wasn't her fault. Instead of being gracious, she pointedly lectured me about how it isn't worth getting upset, you live longer if you let it go. Yes, true, thanks for pointing that out. The car was a bottom of the line 2-door Chevy Cavalier with no power anything. I guess you get what you pay for.
We meandered our way back, and along the way I noticed some little ukuleles and guitars and I wondered if Jeffrey might like one. What the hell, I got one. Walendo looked for a butterfly knife but couldn't find one. Apparently, they're illegal somehow. Eventually, we made it back to the room, marveling at the scene along the strip. It's a bit like a Hawaiian Las Vegas with crowds of people wearing all sorts of skimpy outfits. We watched a little TV in the room and went to bed. Despite the saggy mattress, we both slept okay.
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