We were all set to go on holidays to Hawaii, as I had never been there.   We had first class seat arrangements for the flight and a week in Maui.   Ready, set, go.   The day before, I had a kidney stone attack, this being maybe the seventh or eighth attack, I understood the pain and what was going on.   Off to the emergency room.   My urologist was contacted and we had to make some decisions.

We found out that our reservations were use them or lose them on the island, and we had prepaid that part of our trip, so that we would have less of a shock when we returned to reality and had to pay for the trip.   They would not consider a hospital visit as grounds for a cancellation.  I asked my physician for his suggestion.  He said “You can be miserable for a week in Livonia, or you can be miserable for a week in Hawaii.   I would prefer to be miserable in Hawaii.”  So the decision was made and off we went.

We made the most of the trip, even though the medications said to avoid sunlight, rather difficult where we were.   We did see the island and made many day trips and had magnificent late lunches (as we decided because of my situation that it would be best to maintain “Detroit” time for the most part).   We also survived a wildfire.  We were returning from the north end as we were staying in the south and my Bride was driving.  We were on the outside lane of a two lane road around the mountain and she made mention of how much smoke must be generated from a cannery on the island.  I opined that I didn’t think that it was cannery smoke, then we were engulfed in smoke and we could not see the front of the car.  We changed the radio stations looking for a news report and I rolled down the window and stuck my head out and looked at the side of the car to see how close we were to the cliff side of the road.  We could not go backwards as the smoke was as thick behind us as it was in the front of us.  So we inched along with me gauging the road and the cliff side.  We were making very slow headway, when the smoke started to dissipate, and then there was an announcement on the radio that the mountain side was on fire and they were closing the road.  We were safe and thank God, because my medication was back in the room.   That evening you could look from our lanai and see the how the side of the mountain was all red.

On one of our day trips we made a trip to Tedeschi Vineyards on Maui.  We drove up a winding road, which I guess was on part of the mountain that the volcano was on and I remember our ears popping from the change of altitude.  We arrived at the winery, took a tour and sampled the wines offered that day.  There was a Plantation Red (I can’t remember if there was a Plantation White) wine made from grapes on the grounds and then there was Maui Blanc.  Maui Blanc was made from Pineapples and it had a very unique taste, it was not as sweet as I had envisioned it in my mind’s eye.   It was an enjoyable curiosity with a bite (from the alcohol).  It was pleasant on that warm day, and we ended up buying a case of it to give out as souvenirs from our trip.  Since the trip I occasionally see this wine in some of the wine shops and I smile and remember the trip.