Chapter 11

Daydreaming about our honeymoon was interrupted by the pilot’s announcement.

“May I please have you attention? I would like everyone to return to your seats and put on your seatbelts. We will be entering an area of turbulence. Most likely, we may be in for a rough ride until we get through this portion of our flight. Thank you for your cooperation.”

“What does he mean?” Angie asked me. “I’ve never been on a plane before.”

“It means the plane will be going through a pocket of air that is unstable. The plane may bounce up and down for a while. It might be a little scary if you’ve never experienced it before.”

“What do you mean bounce up and down. Planes are supposed to fly smoothly through the air.”

“Sometimes there is a disturbance in the air, something like a wave. It may catch the plane’s wings and move them about. Sometimes it feels like the plane is dropping out of the sky.”

“I don’t like this,” Angie said.

Everyone did as the pilot requested. It wasn’t long before the plane began to shake. At first it was just a bumpy ride. Then ... it felt like the plane had just dropped out of the sky. Angie grabbed my arm. There was a short pause ... then it happened again. I had to admit, it was rather scary. I heard gasps from some of the other passengers after the second incident.

“Mommy, are we going to die,” one small child asked his parent.

“No honey, we’ll be just fine,” she answered. The quivering in her voice betrayed her own concern.

“Those wings are made to withstand one and a half times what they should ever come across in flight,” a man behind us said to the woman sitting next to him. “The wing tips can be flexed up to ninety degrees without damage. It’s that flexibility that keeps them from breaking.”

“Yes dear,” the woman said. “You tell me that every time we fly.”

“Is that true?” Angie asked me.

“I sure hope so,” I responded.

Just then we dropped again. It actually felt like I was lifted out of my seat.

“That was a bad one,” the man behind me said.

“Yes dear,” his wife calmly responded.

“Chase, I don’t want to be a statistic. I’m not ready to die,” Angie said.

“We’ll be Ok. I bet the worst is behind us.”

A short while later, the pilot’s voice came on over the loudspeaker.

“Thank you for your patience. That was a rough ride. That should be the end of the rough air. I expect the remainder of the flight to be fairly uneventful. Please keep your seatbelts on until I turn off the light.”

“Thank goodness,” Angie responded. “We haven’t even had the chance to make love yet. I don’t want to die before that happens.”

Why did she have to go and say that? I had been sitting there nicely, thinking about other things, and then she went and put that idea in my mind. And she did it at a time when I didn’t have anything else to concentrate on. I glanced down at her legs. She was wearing an attractive pair of shorts. They accentuated her lower extremities very well. Not only that, but her wonderful toes were peeking out of her sandals.

I glanced toward her chest; I noticed all the curves that any guy would want. My mind started racing. I felt a stirring in my swimsuit area. “Great!” I thought. “This is just great.”

Just then, Angie rubbed my leg. Things began to get worse.

“I want you really bad,” I stammered.

“Really,” she said. She tugged on her neckline, exposing some cleavage. “I didn’t mean to excite you.”

“I bet,” I said, feeling something begin to grow.

“It doesn’t take much with you, does it?” Angie asked.

“Not when you have a captive audience,” was my response.

“Can I have a glass of cold water, with lots of ice?” I asked the stewardess.

“What’s the matter? Things getting too hot for you,” Angie whispered.

“Yes they are,” I replied. “This old body has been patient long enough. Just wait until we get to our room tonight.”

I had never seen Angie tease me like that before. I glanced down at the article she was reading; “How to make your man happy.” A smile formed on my face. Good karma was coming my way.

Angie got really excited when she spotted the shoreline come into view through the window. My happiness echoed hers. Those seats were not made to hold a person of my size for a long period of time. I was beginning to get antsy. The thought of a blood clot forming had crossed my mind. It had been a long flight and I really needed to stretch my legs.

“Look, I can see the waves heading towards shore. Now I see patches of green. Look at the color of the water. It’s just beautiful,” Angie said.

I really enjoyed seeing the joy on her face. It made her look even more beautiful. It’s so rewarding to see the excitement that someone else is experiencing.

The pilot made an exceptionally smooth landing, and then taxied the plane up to the terminal. As soon as it stopped, most of the passenger stood up. I can never understand that. Where did they think they were going? We waited patiently until the line of people exiting the plane had slowed, and then finally stood up and grabbed our bags. Once we had stepped into the terminal, we knew we were no longer in Minnesota. I felt the warm ocean air blowing through the openings in the terminal. Several birds could be seen hopping about on the floor.

We made our way to the area where the shuttles stopped and found the one that would take us to our rental car.

“Would you like to purchase accident insurance with your rental?” the guy at the rental place asked us.

“I have coverage with my own insurance,” I responded. “I won’t need it.

“It’s only fair to warn you. Hawaii is different from the mainland. It takes longer for us to get parts for damaged cars. Daily charges for the time your rented car is out of service can accrue, and most insurance companies won’t cover those additional costs. You would be charged for those extra fees,” the guy behind the counter responded.

I felt my frustration begin to build. If there was one thing that got my dander up, it was injustice. There always seemed to be some gimmick with the car agencies. There was always some extra charge, or fee, that they tried to get out of me. I recalled the company in Ireland that tried to charge me for an accident that never happened. I felt my blood pressure begin to rise.

“We are here to have fun,” Angie reminded me. “Maybe you should just take out the extra insurance.”

“Ok, I’ll take it,” I finally said.

“Would you like to upgrade to a four-wheel drive vehicle?” the guy asked.

“Just give me my car,” I said, in a rather abrupt tone.

I was so relieved when we finally picked up our car and drove out of the lot. We stopped at a local store and picked up a few supplies. I was surprised at how high some of the prices were, but we had no other options. We bought what we needed to keep us going for the next few days, and then headed for the place we were going to stay.

The road that we followed, led us out of the city, and took us down along the coast. On the way, I spotted a truck alongside the road. It had a big picture of shrimp on the side.

“Are you hungry?” I asked Angie.

“Actually, I am,” she replied.

“Let’s have some shrimp. That truck looks just like the one on “Hawaii Five-O.”

I found a table where Angie could sit, and then took my place in line. Everything was cooked fresh, so I found myself waiting for quite a while. When my turn finally came, I ordered a meal of coconut shrimp, and one of the shrimp special. After paying, I walked over to the table and asked Angie which one she wanted.

“Let’s share,” she said. “I can’t believe we are here, eating shrimp by the ocean.”

And indeed, it was a bit surreal. We could see the big waves rolling in toward the shoreline. Palm trees shaded us from the sun. The white sandy beach extended under our table. Best of all, there was that smell in the air that told us we were close to the ocean.

“This is really good shrimp!” Angie exclaimed.

And indeed it was. Chalk one up for the tourist. I had chosen correctly.

After eating, we headed down toward the Hana Highway. We had reservations in a little cabin in the jungle, just north of the start to the “Road to Hana”. We had been warned that it would not be wise to attempt to navigate our way in the dark.