The Cement Load

Even though the day dawned under a shroud of rain clouds, that didn't change the fact I had to make the 2-hour trip to Kahului, pick up a U-Haul truck, drive it to Home Depot, pick up a load of 90 bags of cement, drive it back home, wait for the bags to be unloaded, then return the truck to the U-Haul dealer.

Keith drove me into town, the car packed with stuff for us to car camp later that night. Picked up the truck: Check. Arrive at Home Depot and wait for them to load the cement: Check. Head home along Hana Highway: Check.

But that's where things went south.

There was a thunk as I drove along, but that's not unusual, given the loose rocks and fallen coconuts that festoon the pavement. However, I did subsequently notice that steering seemed kind of sluggish. And then, when I had to wait at a one-lane bridge for a line of cars to pass in the direction, I let a car behind me go ahead; and, as it passed, the passenger called, "Hey, Uncle! You've got a super flat tire!"

("Uncle" is the local term of respect for us kapuna, or senior folk.)

I pulled into the next turn-out and got out to check. Sure enough, the right front tire (right steer tire, in truck-drivin' parlance) was, if not flat, certainly very low.

But this put me in an awkward situation. There is no cell-phone service along that stretch of Hana Highway. So there was no way I could call for help, not from this location. Flat tire or not, I would have to keep driving.

I only went about a half-mile before I came upon one of Hana Highway's emergency phone boxes. There's always a turn-out by them, so I pulled in and opened the phone box.

It had an electronic dial, which had become infested with some kind of spider egg sacks.

Also, it didn't work.

I drove another half-mile to the next emergency phone box. When I opened its cover, a family of lizards leapt out. But, even with the tenants evicted, that phone didn't work, either.

And neither did the next one. And now the tire did look flat.

So, rather than continue to stop at each subsequent emergency phone box (which, if President Biden's infrastructure bill isn't blocked by Putin's Repubican puppets, will hopefully be soon repaired), I continued on—very carefully—to the town of Keane, home of the Halfway To Hana snack shop, and also a location where a weak but serviceable cell signal can be tapped.

I called U-Haul, and was promised a tire replacement in about two hours. So I chilled. I attempted to access the Internet from my phone, but the signal wouldn't accommodate that. It rained. A rainbow came out. Then it rained again. I ate a ham sandwich. I read from a book I have on my phone.

Finally, the guy showed up. It was still sprinkling but we both ignored that to check out the tire.

"Well," he said, "It's flat alright." But he had a ready-to-go replacement and I just watched, trying to dodge drops of rain, as he made short work of my dilemma.

Of course, this all put me way behind schedule. I had to call U-Haul again, and ask for a time extension to bring the truck back. But not at my expense, I was quick to remind him. After all, his truck had caused the delay. The guy agreed, and I made it to Serenity Slope without further ado.

Of course, by then it was too late to unload the truck. But we had to unload it very early in the morning, in order for me to return it to U-Haul on time. Zach amd the workers agreed.

So, instead of spending the night car camping with Keith, I spent it alone in our shed.

And so, this morning we were at it.

As soon as they were done, I hopped into the cab of the now empty truck to get it back on time. Alas, though, I had left at a bad time (around 11 AM) and had to face an unending parade of tourist's rental Jeeps heading the other way. Since tourists don't usually seem to know the meaning of a YIELD sign, on several occasions I had to wait while people backed up to a point where the road was wide enough for both of us to get by.

There were also full-stops on my side of the road. Yesterday's rains had brought down numerous tree branches; and there was a small landslide, all of which were being repaired by road crews.

But, eventually I got to Kahului's U-Haul and returned the truck. Keith met me and we will spend tonight car camping at Papalaua, as had been planned for the previous night.

And, if I'm lucky, this will be the last load I have to haul down Hana Highway in a truck for a very long while.