Trapped in Paradise

The good news is we're in Hawaii. The bad news? We are unable to find a flight home. I think I mentioned something in my last post about the fact that we are low on the priority scale for Space A military flights back to the mainland. We are priority 6 out of 6, and it turns out there are quite a few military types here on vacation or military troops who live here and have some time to catch a flight to the Continental US (CONUS) to see their families. I blithely said something about, "we'll worry about that later."

So now it's been almost a week. We've had an awesome time. You may have seen some of the pictures on my facebook page or on the Traveling Tubie site. I'll try to share some here as well, though I can't add any clever captions. I had plenty of amazing experiences. 

We rode on a refueling plane on the way here and got to see F-16s getting refueled several times over the Pacific.

This could be a recruitment poster.

F-16s are tubies too!

We took Grace to the Polynesian Cultural Center where you can learn all about the native people on the islands in the South Pacific (New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, and a couple more I can't think of right now). The presentation by the Samoans was a highlight because the guy was a comedian and made everyone laugh as he described how you harvest and eat coconuts. There was also a luau (with awesome roasted pig) and a show about Pacific island culture, complete with throwing fire around--Grace really liked that. They let me put all the great local food in my blender (I brought my Vitamix this time because I've had problems with the Blendtec) and they blended it up and brought it out to me.

I met Jesse Jones. This was my first time meeting another tubie in the flesh, so now I know I'm not so special after all. Jesse had throat cancer back in the 80s. He got more than 4 times the radiation I got to the same area as me (left side of head and neck). So he has remarkably similar symptoms to mine. He has very limited use of his left hand. Loss of feeling on the right side. He can't swallow anything. He has ringing in his ear. But his symptoms took years to show up and mine only happened after a year. He can only talk with a whisper. Also he requires oxygen 24 hours a day. This actually worried me quite a bit. If he is as bad as I am after getting 90 rads of radiation 25-30 years ago, then how long will it be before I require oxygen and only speak with a whisper even though I only got a paltry 20 rads? Hopefully that's a long ways off. 

I'm giving that sign because I'm Hawaiian now.

Anyway, Jesse doesn't let any of that get him down. He operates a website called drinkyourmeals.com where tubies (or anyone on a liquid diet) can get delicious meal recipes. He is biking 100 miles in September to raise money and awareness for cancer survivors. He rides 10-20 miles almost every day on his trike. It's a pretty awesome trike too. I have one but it doesn't have any of the features his has. Check out videos of him on youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcvEw_k54WA 

We've gone to the beach a bunch of times. Grace got to bury me in the sand. I think this was the best part of the trip for her because she's been talking about burying me since Tennessee (I'm really happy she's so eager to bury me). We built a bunch of sandcastles, only to watch them get demolished by the waves. Some people are really worried about protecting their tubes when they go in the water. I haven't had any problems though. I just let it hang out and took a shower after I got out.

Shortly before Betsy threw her in.

She liked burying my head even more.

We saw Waimea Falls today; a beautiful waterfall on the north shore of Oahu.

They used to have a show where they dive off cliffs into the pool, but they stopped doing that in 2003. Probably because some moron like me fell off and broke their neck.

We saw Dole Pineapple Plantation. Betsy and I came here several years ago and we wanted to bring Grace and let her try their maze (even bigger now).

Riding the Pineapple Express, kinda like the Polar Express, only with pineapples, and no santa, and we're in Hawaii...ok it's nothing like the Polar Express.

I did some snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. I was worried about snorkeling because I wasn't sure I could put my mouth around the snorkel tight enough to breathe. But, it worked out fine. Betsy and I saw fish, but Grace was a little worried about going out in the big waves. Hopefully we'll get her out there if we go again later this week.

Stunning scenery.

This brings us back to our problem. We are trapped here. The flight back to Tennessee left with very little notice (we missed it completely) on Friday. There was potentially a flight today to New Orleans, but they decided not to open up any seats. There will be a flight to Illinois on Tuesday, but I'm worried a lot of people with higher priorities than ours will also want to get on it. There are loads of flights to a base outside San Francisco, but those get filled pretty fast with people who are Priorities 1-3. Anyway, San Francisco is a long way from Tennessee if we want to rent a car or catch a one-way flight. Meanwhile, we are moving from one room to another on the island; basically any military lodging with an opening because staying anywhere else gets expensive. I'm worried that Hawaii's homeless population is made up entirely of retired military people still waiting for a flight back to the US.

Meanwhile little things about my traveling companions have started to grate on my nerves. For example, Grace can whistle. Grace is very proud of her ability to whistle. She believes that when she whistles, Hawaiian birds understand her. Not only can she whistle when she breathes out, but she can also whistle breathing in. Do you see what this means? She whistles All. The. Time. Nonstop. Without taking a breath. I'm living with a frickin' canary here.

I know what you're thinking. "Oh Boo Hoo, you have to spend more time in Hawaii while Tennessee is roasting in hot, humid, 90+ degree weather. Quit your whining and go lay in the sand."

Fine. I'll just go do that.

Went to watch the sunset right after I uploaded this post just so I can rub it in your faces. HA HA HA HAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!