Hawaii

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Follow in our footsteps: If you have a story about Hawaii, an anecdote about growing up in the
islands, a memory of a visit to the islands that surprised and delighted you, a recommended activity, an
island personality, or even a poem about Hawaii, send it in an e-mail to OleHawaii@cs.com so we can
include it here!

Spring, 2007
       My friend Toby likes to camp up in Kokee. It's pretty remote; cell phones don't
always work there. And it can rain. It can really rain.
       Toby was up there a while back, camping with his wife and two kids. A tourist
couple with their two kids set up a campsite nearby, so they became friendly. The
night before the tourists were supposed to leave, it rained and rained. It rained so
hard the former road became a muddy quagmire. Toby has four wheel drive, but the
tourist didn't. The next morning he was fretting about getting out.
       "It wouldn't really matter," he said, "since we have several more days here on
Kauai. We would really rather not leave today anyway, we're having so much fun. I'm
just worried about my friends, who are expecting us back today. If we don't show up
they will think something happened to us."
       "Why don't you call them?" Toby volunteered. "I have a cell phone."
       The tourist was stoked, but the cell phone was out of range. From past
experience, Toby knew that if he just hiked up to the ridge he would be able to make
contact. But the tourist was worried about leaving his kids.
       "It's OK," Toby told him, "we'll watch the kids. Just take the cell phone up to the
ridge and call your friends."
       So that's what the tourist and his wife did, and he was much relieved. Not only
did his friends know he was safe, but they could enjoy an extra day or two of camping
and leave when the road was dry again. However, upon reflection we was a little
bemused.
       "Isn't that just like Hawaii," he said. "The only place in the world where you can
leave your kids with strangers, with only a cell phone for collateral!"