1 - The First Step
It is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. While this is mostly true (there are travelers in wheel chairs after all) how often do you ever think as you are leaving out your front door on a trip “This is my first step on the journey” ? Answer: “Not really...”. With all the packing, arranging, schlepping and checking that nothing is forgotten, it is rare that we focus on “The Journey” as we initially embark. Only later, after we are settled in, do we allow ourselves the luxury of examining that first step. In this instance it was aboard an aircraft after having passed the myriad of security checks and the boarding process. So what was found upon careful examination of that first step? Was it the culmination of many weeks of planning? The liberation of finally setting off on the adventure? The exultation of freedom from the normal life? No. It was none of those things. What it was....was lost in the shuffle of departure. Nothing special. No brass band. No ticker tape parade...just another step lost in the many to come, but without it...there could not come another.
Ok, enough with the philosophy already. What kind of way is that to start a blog? Dare I say...the first step? No...didn't think so.
That first step led to a few more to get to my buddy Leo's truck who was taking me to the train station. As I had putted around with last minute details we were running a bit late. Let the bumbles begin. Got to the station with five minutes to spare...I thought. Turns out the train was not a 5:52...but a 5:46! There went the five minutes to spare. In fact, as we arrived the parking lot the bells on the crossing gate started to ring! The train was coming as I dragged my gear to the ticket machine. Stuffed a $10 in the machine instead of trying to mess with a credit card. The train was now at the station and stopped. The machine cooperated and spat out a ticket to the large lower tray then proceeded to rain down 5 dollar coins which jumped and wiggled in the tray and then laid absolutely flat defying any attempts to pick them with by a hurried hand. “All Aboard!” was heard as the last of the elusive coins were rounded up and the bags dragged to the train which was waiting for me. Yes I was THAT person who was holding up the train. Apologies to those that were detained for the additional 30 seconds. Once aboard it was a short hop to Ft. Lauderdale where my brother, David was waiting with open arms. It was really nice to be met at the station by him. Think it will be the only time for the next few months that anyone will be waiting for my arrival with such a welcome. We went over to his place on the water where they had only recently put in new windows to good effect. After a swim and some chow it was off to bed to prepare for a 4:45 am wake up to to get to the airport in time for a 7am flight to Los Angles.
Woke up 15 minutes before the alarm. Packed up, had some Frosted Flakes (they were GREAT! (as Tony the tiger would say) along with some coffee to fire up the departure engine. Traffic to the airport was light at that hour. No problems checking in. South West Air has an open seating policy with no reserved seats but they DO board according to what group you are in. Having booked as soon as the 24 hour window of opportunity opened at 7am the previous day put me in group “B”. Found out there are 60 people in each group so a window seat was available and quickly taken by the your favorite bumbler. No one we in the middle seat...(yea!) The first leg of the trip was to Tampa where half of the full flight got off. Remained on the plane another 30 minutes then the group headed to LA boarded. Almost got the middle seat empty until a nice mom showed up. It was cold on the plane with no blankets available. Seems they removed them after the chicken pox epidemic. Shades of the trail of tears. As you recall that was when our government was “relocating” native American Indians to colder climes and generously provided free blankets. Only hitch was that they had been previously used by patients with small pox.
But I digress.
Seeing the lady was cold and had given her blanket to her kids it was only proper to offer to share my warm and toasty down jacket with her which she graciously accepted. Damsels in distress a specialty. Caught a few winks and before we knew it we were there ...a half hour early. Bless those tail winds. Now for a day of further adventure in Los Angles.
Took the “Super Shuttle” into downtown LA. $20...right to Tommy's work address...good deal. Met with Cousin Tommy at his office where he writes grants for arts and educational institutions. Nice office. We went to have lunch at the LA Flix cafe which is the downtown studios cafeteria. Pricey..but good 2 fish sandwiches and a couple of sodas for 27.00 .... From there he had to go back to work. I called up a union stage buddy, Mike Moore, who is in LA to set up and run the touring production of “Hamilton” which will be here for 7 weeks. Fortunately he had the day off so we met up at his apartment which, as luck would have it was not a very good one being right on the street. As I arrived he was just moving to a better one. He blamed the good luck on me. OK, I have broad shoulders...I can carry that blame. From there we headed out to adventure on the metro system which we took up to the Hollywood station. Getting out we were walking on all the stars inlaid in the sidewalk. Many of these evoked memories of personal experiences with them through a 50 year career. Many more from watching them on old TV shows. Cruised over to a coffee shop for a Machaito. They we $4 each...about what you'd expect. The classic part was when they came...there was only a quarter of a cup of coffee in each. I really wish that someone had filmed our reaction...we both did the same thing. Looked in the cup...looked at each other then looked at the guy then back to the cup, then the guy. We expressed our interest as to what had happened to the rest of the cup? The barista said “ that IS a double machiato” Of course we were quick to point out that when such a thing was ordered at a Starbucks, it came with the rest of the coffee in the cup. Perhaps if there had been only one of us he would have said “that's what you get” but faced with two grumpy old guys he relented with a shake of his head and filled them up the rest of the way with coffee. The resultant concoction was very tasty indeed and provided the much needed boost to our meanderings.
The next thing we found was another subway station which we took us back to “Little Tokyo” where we wandered around for a bit then said our farewells. It was good to see Mike and get to hang for a bit in a distant city from home. I must say that having a subway system in Los Angles makes it feels more like a real city. Not that it wasn't before..it was just never as “connected” and easy to get around as a tourist...or as a ”touristo” as a bumbler might be called.
Next mission was to find a Korean restaurant where Tommy and I were to have dinner. With just a little trail and error the Song Dong was found and a table procured. Nice little place of a dozen tables. Had the short rib soup with “glass” noodles while Tommy ordered the “Bim Bam Boondoggle” (made with real dog I suppose) or something like that served in a sizzling stone pot. He shared some and it was really good. One of those moments where you say ”Aw..that's what I should have ordered” yet when someone orders a favorite thing in an Asian restaurant it seems like a cop out to order the same thing. Variety the spice of life and all that. Still...it was good. The meal came with several side dishes gratis while the staff was most welcoming and pleasant. Even more pleasant was Tommy grabbing the check and apologizing for the expensive lunch. What a guy. It was really good to be able to spend a little time with him.
The legendary LA traffic was much more apparent on the airport run. Patience was rewarded by the eventual attainment of our goal...the International terminal. Hopped out and gave the Cuz a hug and a “fare thee well” and he was off into the thick of the traffic amidst blaring horns and waived fists. Inside the terminal a quick reconnoiter found an abandoned rolling luggage trolley which soon housed the gear while in search of the Air Tahiti Nui desk. It was really convenient as the rolling rig I had was a band-air repair to my fragile ego. Ok..I admit ..I wasn't entirely forthright previously when describing the dash for the train. There was a causality..and a failure. The rolling rig I had spent so much time trying to perfect did not work exactly as planned. In the current incarnation of the ideal travel system to the activity (in this case trekking the Milford sound trail of some 54 km) I would pack in many sub-compartmentalized units (one for sox, one for undies, one for shirts etc.) these would go into a real Osprey Ather 70liter backpack which had been used for the 4 month Colombian adventure a couple of years ago. Five pounds lighter than the old faithful 28” 75 liter Meridian which was my mainstay pack for the last five years. I had unfortunately made the huge mistake of returning the pack to Osprey for repair as it had worn out in the corners. They have the lifetime “No matter what” guarantee where you can exchage it for a new one if they can't repair it. This I had done months before. The new on arrived and had major design modifications. Used to be the good pack harness could be detached, presumably to give more room if one was not planing to carry the pack one one's back just roll it to the taxi I guess. I had used it to attach to the day pack to make said day pack into more of a real pack with a waist belt to distribute the weight better and make a few day excursions into the wilderness possible. The new model did away with such a possibility making the $380 pack useless to me. Instead...I had used the real backpack. Inserted into a duffel-like shell made for transport I found that it could be turned upside down and held by a really cool collapsible Samsonite rolling dolly. By putting a cutting board in the top of the pack, when inverted it would provide support for the rig. I had tried it in the house. It worked fine. When it was dumped out of the truck in a hurry to make the train..it was off center. The result was a pack that was dragged on concrete enough to make a hole in the dunffle AND the pack itself. Bummer dude. Required a bit o sewing at my Bro's house prior to transit. The real bummer was the failure of the rolling rig itself. Abandoned the luggage carrier at Dave's house. Now it was a carry only proposition. Oh well, can't “roll” with it so just gotta go with it. Don't have to like it...just have to do it.
Ok, so now we are back at the airport at ten at night getting ready for the 8 hour flight to Tahiti. Not missing the ability to roll just yet. Found the desk and checked in. No problems. Went through the security line a bit miffed that Southwest had not included my TSA approved known traveler number so I had to wait in the long “take off your shoes” line. Made it through with just a brief check on my summer sausage which was frought along to offset the cost of high priced meals in exotic destinations Case in point...the $15 cheeseburger I just ate while typing this...but more about his later...first we have the flight to take.
Getting on the plane was pretty good. Got the window seat. No one was sitting next to me so far. The hands on the clock ticked slowly by, all the while watching the aisle for that last passenger to board who was going to sit right next to me . Never happened. Thank you Jesus, thank you Lord. Had the extra seat to stretch out in for the rest of the flight. As long as one is comfortable in the condensed fetal position for hours on end it is possible to sleep on such a flight. Alas...it was not meant to be. Tossing and turning was the name of the game. Should have taken the Xanax...but just did not want to be all sleepy on arrival. Instead...I was just tired. Food was good for airline food. I guess anything to eat is a bonus these days, flights cost cutting being what it is.
Ok arrived at 5am. Went through immigration and the long line. Got the pack right away and headed to customs for inspection. The first of which was one for fruits and meats. Having seen signs for inspection of fruits, and meats, thought it prudent to render unto the customs dude my summer sausage. No really...I had brought a large summer sausage with me as I had previously on prior trips. The guy was real nice and smiled and put these bio-hazard stickers o n the products and waved me through with a smile. I had totally forgotten about the half of a ham turkey subway sandwich acquired in LA for emergency. Off I went to the baggage claim and on to the inspection of said bags. The customs man was having everyone submit their bags for a ride on the ole x-ray machine. Maybe he had seen me joking with the other guy but he pulled me out of the line and waved me right through without nary a glance at my pack. Note: to God and the saints “I Love you guys!”
Ok 5am. In Tahiti. Check in supposed to be at 2pm. Not in a hurry. Enjoyed the sun rising over the clouds with pink-ish hues and...ok...Paul Gaugan pastel colors lighting up the sky. Beautiful. Thanks again big guys. With time to kill tried to check out tourist info. As it happened....August 15 it the feast of the Ascension. A holiday. No buses running. At the airport. Taxi's $20 or more. Humm....went to airport info. Asked about other options. They said rent a car. While there, might as well check on rental cars. The main ones were costly. There was a place called Eco Car across the parking lot. Went there and they were pretty nice. Didn't really want to rent one then as a few days in town exploring would not require transport. They told me to just book it online when needed. Ok, swell. They said they had a guy going into town shortly and he would give me a lift. Waited 15 minutes then off we went. Driver seemed like a good guy. I had seen him working hard cleaning a car while waiting. He was kind of distracted and a little unhappy. Asked what the problem was...he said he had forgotten his $1000 for lunch ($10USD) and would have to skip it. Offered to lend him the money until I came back for the rental car in a couple of days. He said he didn't know me and it wouldn't be right. Further validation that he was a good guy. Said it would have cost me to take a cab in anyway so please take at least half of that...or $5, he relented and seemed relieved. He was a big fellow and would want some lunch. He was grateful. Dropped me off at Mahana Lodge where the bunk was booked right downtown Papeete.
At the hostel the lady seemed nice and showed me around. Very little English was in her vocabulary. My French was not so great but we were able to communicate enough to check me into a 12 bunk dorm. Needed to remover the boots before entering as did everyone else. Quiet place which was just fine to get over the jet lag. Pretty good kitchen facilities. Other than the lack of attention from the folks at the front desk who did not speak English it would do.
