It's almost over . . .
 

Aloha from Oahu.

We've been here for nearly two weeks and will be going home (sigh) tomorrow night.

Of the many and varied wonderful experiences we've had, I'll relate the most appropriate: Rental cars.

When we visited the Big Island (Hawai'i) everyone told us that there would be plenty of cars available, so we didn't plan ahead - big mistake. Next Saturday, the 16th, is the Kona Ironman, which means that the Big Island was literally flooded with triatheletes, and their loved ones, all of whom needed transportation. We tried several rental companies with no luck at all until we finally got a Chrysler 300, at nearly $400 for two days! We gladly paid the asking price, as we were scheduled to leave from Hilo, on the other side of the island.

Before leaving Hawai'i for Maui, we called ahead to make rental arrangements. We'd wanted a convertable of some kind, but were too late for that (duh). They had a mid-sized, the choices being either a Bonneville or a Maxima. Hey! Those are LARGE cars! I hate large cars! When I asked what they had in a small car, they listed Malibu or Grand Am. Bleh! I opted for the Malibu, thinking that if I was lucky (yeah, right) it might be a Maxx. You can imagine my surprise, yea my downright glee, when we picked up not a Grand Am, not a Malibu, but a Subaru Imprezza 2.5 RS! For less than $100 for two days we drove it up the 10,027 twisty vertical feet (about 38 linear miles) to the top of Maui on one day, and then the infamous Hana Highway (over 600 curves - 34 miles - typically nearly 3 hours including stops) on the next day. We only totalled around 300 miles, but it's a pretty small island. The car was nearly new, having only 4200 miles on it when we received it, and was the ideal car for those roads. Very tight. Smooth as butter. Sharon kept saying, "We're really not in a hurry. You don't need to take those corners so fast." But this car is great FUN!

It's been wonderful, but I'm anxious to get back to all my friends doing 10 to Life - NOT!

I am glad you thought of us. :) :)

You must run with a younger crowd. All my buddies are doing 25 to life.

Awesome story. Wish I was there to see you rallying the Imprezza RS up that steep highway! :p

-Chike

Have a safe trip back, Steve!