Fall Camping in Michigan

 

We haven't had the rPod on the road since last year. We finally found some time when we did not have medical appointments (mostly the four different dentists of different types I need or at least pay) and the campgrounds have some openings. This is a great time of the year to travel up North with crisp temperatures and the leaves beginning to turn.

Getting things going always presents some challenges. The first barrier was tire pressure. Our car informs us when a tire is low and which tire is at fault. However, our car is getting along in years and some quirks are beginning to surface. Trying to get the tire pressure within an acceptable range might seem simple, but the auto sensors and my tire gauge do not provide consistent readings. It also takes some time for the sensors to adjust to adding air and the tires warm up as you drive. Cold days lower the pressure which changes when you drive. Too many things to figure out, but I am cautious about having a tire explode which did happen to me once when we lived in Grand Forks. When I get anxious about this problem, Cindy reminds we drove for many years with no clue what our tire pressure was and survived with no problems. I like to have something to worry about.

The State Campgrounds tend to have electrical, but not water hookups. This means you fill a large water tank in our camper when you arrive and use a pump within the vehicle rather than the pressure from a tap to pressure the system. The pump would run, but no water would come from the faucets. It took several hours to finally find the problem. When you winterwise a camper, you use a type of antifreeze to keep the plumbing from freezing. There is a hose provided that sucks antifreeze from a container into the system. The system includes a valve to switch the input from the water supply to the antifreeze hose and back. When the rPod was winterized by a dealer a year ago, the technician left the valve turned to the antifreeze setting and this turned out to be the problem. The water pump is under the bed and cramped quarters make removing the mattress and the wood panels underneath to get at the pump a challenge. YouTube provided a hint about the issue with camper water systems from a different camper and we made the leap. A frustrating issue, but a satisfying problem-solving experience for us. Hopefully, we have solved our problems for this trip.

Aloha

Last day with the opportunity to run a few errands. First, a haircut. Great barber with finishing touches using a straight razor and less expensive than Sports Clips back home. He would be my new barber but I doubt I could convince him to relocate.

Off to the hospital to get a CD with my MRI image and analysis for my doc back home. If I had a CD drive with an easy to access computer, I would be curious to see and share what is in my head. This is no longer the case and I am just thankful everything continues to work.

Waterfalls

With heavy rains come more spectacular waterfalls. There are some falls that run continuously and the rains only increase the volume of water. There should be photos of these falls elsewhere. A more interesting phenomenon is the appearance of falls that appear and then disappear in the mountains after heavy rain. I happen to see a good example and took these photos. Click to enlarge images.

Taro Ko Chips Factory

As we spend more and more time here, our exploration has moved toward the more unique. Today we drove the length of the island to visit an old, small, and slightly run-down wood building that looked even less kept up on the inside - the Taro Ko Chips Factory. Cindy had read about it online. It took us a little while to find it even knowing that it did not have an impressive appearance. We nearly entered someone’s home before we realized we were at the wrong address.

This story from Hawaii Magazine (https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/chips-and-dale-the-tasty-handmade-chips-of-kauais-taro-ko/) provides details I would not have been able to offer from our visit. The “factory” is really a couple of old guys making small batches of chips with very simple equipment. I don’t really like taking photos of people without speaking with them first and I was concerned that photography might be misinterpreted. I really thought I had one photo showing the inside of the location, but I must not have pressed the button on my phone after setting up the shot. 

The chips are really good. We have eaten various Hawaiian chips before, but the one bag of sweet potato chips we went through last night (the middle bag in the photo dusted with Li Hing Mui) [https://onolicioushawaii.com/li-hing-mui/] were thin and sweet. Yes, we ate the entire bag. I give the chips my highest rating and the experience of visiting the “factory” I will place in the category of “unique”.

Hawaiian Time

 There is an expression here - Hawaiian time - used to explain a number of experiences. The expression is used to describe a relaxed attitude toward time as in "when I said 2, I really meant maybe 2, but probably two-ish. It never means ten minutes before 2 as in I will be certain not to be late.

You experience this often in restaurants. Maybe because of the short-staff situation that seems to exist everywhere. You stand in line even though there are multiple open tables. You wait to be seated and often for someone to bring you a menu and take your order. The positive side of the experience is no one seems to want to speed you up to leave except maybe those in line glaring at your empty plates.

I have been dealing with Hawaiian time and the medical system. You may remember I explained my weird brain issue and the visit to the emergency room and MRI. Emergency room docs are not neurologists and I was requested to set up a televisit to seek further advice and discussion. A televisit was necessary because there are evidently no appropriate specialists on Kauai and this was the only way other than a flight to Oahu to seek advice. It took a while to get an appointment, but yesterday was the day.

I was waiting by my phone and laptop waiting for the link to connect. The designated time came and went. I waited twenty minutes or so and then called to see if I had done something wrote or maybe got the time for the appointment wrong. No, I had the time right, but they could not locate the doc. 

It is now a day later and still nothing. After the delay and the lack of any other symptoms at any time, I am not concerned and could have done without the appointment. I am not usually critical of physicians because they have to deal with a lot. Same here. However, it does seem weird there is such a casual attitude toward patients with expectations who are waiting and have made commitments on their end. It should have been obvious to someone that commitments could not be met for whatever reason and those individuals expecting something to be contacted. They just don't seem able to adopt this perspective. I guess it is another example of Hawaiian time.