Living in Hawaii is definitely paradise. No need for air conditioning or heating in our home. Our lanai with a view of Diamond Head is where we spent many an evening.
In the 1980’s we took full advantage of the fact that Honolulu, Waikiki, the beaches, Hanauma Bay and other attractions were not crowded with tourists so we spent a lot of time snorkelling and sightseeing.
We never had a problem seeing “USS Arizona” and “Punchbowl Cemetery” or climbing inside Diamond Head. ... no crowds.
But it was time to leave Paradise and return to Georgia. We arranged to ship our cars from Hawaii to Los Angeles, we would fly to LAX, pick up our cars, then take a lovely tour across the USA. Our route was planned, reservations made at various stops along the way with No Internet.
The 4th of July was incorporated in our departure plans…...what a sendoff!
All those fireworks in Hawaii that night before we took the Red-Eye to LAX.
The Hawaiians celebrate the 4th of July bigger and better than in any state in the Union. There is a pall of smoke over the islands for days because of all the fireworks that are set off. The long strings of fireworks hanging from trees rattling off hundreds of explosions at the same time would go on and on all night.
To add to the fireworks the Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island had just started to erupt too.
Aloha Hawaii Goodbye
Upon arrival in Los Angeles, we contacted the shipping company in Long Beach about picking up our cars. That’s when we learned that the Longshoremen’s Union members had to have two full days off for the 4th of July so we would not be able to get our cars until the 6th of July. Someone would call to let us know when we could get our cars.
That meant we had to stay in the Renaissance Hotel in Los Angeles another night and call all the hotels across the country to change our reservations.
Evidently other customers had complained so one Longshoreman was paid triple time to sit in the office while other non-union workers off-loaded the vehicles from the ship.
When we were told to pick up our cars on the 5th after all, we decided we would just stay another night at the Renaissance Hotel and not make any more long-distance calls to change things again.
In Los Angeles we found an electronic store where we bought a Walkie-Talkie Kit called “Help,” which we used to communicate with each other from car to car. This apparatus looked like large telephone handsets. “Help” was not very well known at the time, and it operated like a Citizens Band Radio on a special frequency via a magnetized antenna that stuck on the roof of the cars. No cell phones in 1982.
When I returned to our room from getting a newspaper I noticed my handbag was lighter - my wallet was gone.
Oh dear! How can I drive through all those different states with no driving license? I could be arrested if the police stopped me.
I called the Los Angeles Police Department to report the loss of my license.
First of all, the policeman asked me if I was married – what? Why?
I affirmed that I was married ……. then the policeman asked to talk to my husband!!!
We had to go to the Police Department, fill out the necessary forms, wait for them to file the report and send a copy to me before I would be legal to drive. It did not make any difference when we explained that we had to drive two cars across the country the next day.
Back at the hotel I called the California Highway Patrol, they got in touch with the LA Police department and told them to issue a copy of my report immediately!
We had to drive back to the LA Police department in LAX airport, which was under construction, through all the traffic again to get a copy of the report.
Now I had to cancel all my credit cards – more long-distance phone calls to Amex, Visa, Mastercard etc., and I had credit cards from department stores in both Hawaii and in Georgia.
The Renaissance Hotel did not offer any assistance or even sympathy and charged by the minute for all the calls (even 800 numbers) I had to make; local and long-distance – Hawaii calls were very expensive.
We were really upset with the hotel, so we decided to check out as soon as possible and drive across the desert at night on Interstate Highway 10.
We wheeled a trolley down to the lobby with all our stuff, gave the front desk a piece of our minds about criminals preying upon their guests and exorbitant charges for phone calls and we ‘stalked out.’
Charles took the bus provided by the hotel to the huge parking lot to bring the cars to the front of the hotel.
I stood there with all the luggage and waited and waited – no Charles.
Eventually I went back into the hotel to try to find out what happened to Charles. They sent the bus back to find him and he was able to get the hotel to provide a ‘jump’ to get the RX7 started – the battery in the ‘Wee Lamb’ had run down.
We finally started our journey at about 10:00 pm. We had not gone far when we realized we had not eaten anything all day. The first restaurant we saw which was a Jack-in-the Box chicken place. We had chicken dinners and they even made me a cup of hot tea!
In Tucson, when we pulled into the driveway at my Aunt and Uncle's house, my uncle Bill told us he did not allow Japanese cars on his property, so we had to park on the street.
My uncle had been a prisoner of war in Burma during World War II, had barely survived working on the railroads there and would not tolerate anything Japanese.
After touring the Red Canyons in the area the Grand Canyon was the next stop. This is the most impressive sight we have ever seen in all our travels.
From there we went to Oklahoma and were introduced to the Native American culture in more detail than we ever learned in Georgia or Florida.
Next stop was Hot Springs, Arkansas, which at that time was being revitalized with new money reopening spas and hotels with gambling venues.
From Arkansas it is another long drive, 462 miles to stay with Charles’ family in Lewisburg for a few days before heading on to Smyrna Georgia.
Charles’ job meant we would be coming back to Cobb County between assignments so in 1976 I bought a house and immediately left the country. I knew nothing about the house, the neighbourhood, the city of Smyrna, or how to get utilities turned on, but now we would have a home to return to.
Our house was empty but rental furniture had been delivered so all we had to do was get the utilities transferred to our name.
Easy – right?
Charles went to work, and I found the office for Georgia Power (no GPS). I did not have a driver’s license, so this made things awkward. I showed them my passport for I.D. Mmmm- not so good – no indication of where I lived.
I gave them the address of our house and was presented with the outstanding bill for electricity which our tenants had not paid.
When I tried to explain that we were not the occupants for the billing period they asked me to prove that. When I could not produce a utility bill from Hawaii they asked for Airline Tickets. Our tickets showed we had been in the country since the 5th of July, and it was now August – Georgia Power said we could have been in the house using the electricity.
I didn’t have the tickets or any receipts with me, so I had to go back to the house, get the paperwork from our luggage and go back to Georgia Power. They finally accepted the receipts (we really did drive to Georgia from Hawaii) from the hotels where we had stayed in California, Arizona, Oklahoma, and Arkansas as proof, and allowed us to pay a huge deposit to get the power turned on.
We had almost the same scenario with the water department; Yes we drove from (almost) Hawaii to Georgia and no I didn't have airline tickets to Atlanta and no the arrears were not mine. I produced my hotel receipts and paid the deposit and was told the water would be turned on.
The gas company was fairly easy, the gas would be turned on, it might be late, but definitely that day.
Since we were not staying in a hotel I had no access to a telephone to call Bell South to connect our phones, so I looked for a public phone – public phone?? No cell phones.
At a ‘Pay Phone,’ with dimes and quarters I called Bell South, traffic whizzing by, and argued with them when I was told it was not possible for me to own my own handset. I gave her the FCC number on the back of my phone but was told that it would not work in Georgia – what?
I wound up opening an account with Bell South and would pay a monthly fee for a telephone I did not use. My own flip-phone worked perfectly when connected. There were different charges for the different style of phone that could be rented – remember the Princess phones?
Everyone knows how long it is before expected services actually show up – so I waited and waited – afraid to leave to get food or groceries.
When Charles got home from work, the electricity was on, but not the water or gas. Charles had never seen the house before, as he wasn't with me when I bought it in 1976.
It was about 9:00 pm when the gas man arrived. He was in the backyard, in the dark, turning on the gas meter when we heard a scream, and the guy came tearing around to the front of the house yelling at us to call 911 – we had to go to the neighbours next door to get them to call for an ambulance.
What did our new neighbours think when strangers came banging on their door in the middle of the night asking to use the phone??
The meter man had stepped into a vast underground nest of yellowjackets
and had been stung dozens of times.
After Fire and Rescue left, the Police and Ambulance Sirens had faded, all the neighbours went home and all was quiet again we still had no water
so .... we would get a hotel room
BUT,
because of the Atlanta Bobbin Show
no hotels were available.
…..Welcome to Georgia.
Another good story, Dorothy~
OMG, now that was quite a journey! I’m glad you finally got situated. Gorgeous photos! <3