By now, I’m confident ya’ll know we purchased a lot in Kihei, Maui (see previously posted blogs on the travails/mistakes/challenges). We held on through the bumps and abrupt turns and found ourselves in the Twilight Zone of house plan design, budgeting, and lot development work while our feet were still firmly planted in WA State. The time finally came for another Maui “work-cation” and Hawaiian Airlines transported us back to our ocean-lapping center of gravity… for one week.
We packed the graph paper sketches, HOA Construction Guidelines, Maui building permit forms, snorkel gear, and swimsuits. Check! And the lists were seemingly endless. Solar and HVAC companies, contractors, plumbers, roofing and lumber supply, but topping the To-Do list, Costco is always our first stop after renting the car. With our tight budget ever-present, we purchased a week’s worth of necessities then came time to enjoy a hotdog in the Costco open-air dining area (just tables, really- only calling it dining area for lack of better descriptives). Chickens wander and peck, tiny birds flit about, the fragrant breeze wafts through, and full shopping carts are paused for hotdog time-out. Then we have the parking lot dance to shift suitcases and strategically load groceries in every car cranny and hole. Check off the grocery stop!
The rental Studio unit is big enough to hold our sleepy heads and the cozy lanai roomy enough to hold two chairs and table, our plans, laptop, files, sketches, and two cups of coffee (insufficient space for the entire coffeepot). The lukewarm cups are perfect paperweights given the light breeze.
Rapid-fire phone calls, modified sketches, and coffee refills ticked the day away with milestone progress on focused local efforts. At the back of our minds and the bottom of the list sat the actual “work.” The Honuea lot needed attention. The weeds and bugs mocked as we sat with warm coffee. Certainly, we could buy a plastic storage bin and keep it at the farthest point on the lot. It would hold bug treatment, weed killer, a plethora of yard tools, sprinkler hoses, and fittings.
And there it is… number twelve on the To-Do list:
Find and haul fill dirt
Rent a backhoe or Skidsteer
Palm trees? Lemon tree! Coconut palm?
Mulch
Watering System
I’ve heard you can’t fish without a proper pole and bait, but our once-young daughter proved that wrong. One summer she stood at the small-but-swift creek by our front yard, with a limp weeping willow stick, recycled hook, craft string, and a kernel of corn. We had fish on the barbie that night. I have always said, Where there’s a will, there is a way. And we are solidly set in willing that way.
Work-cation day two: Time to visit the local hardware store. Sam had seen Community Classified Ads stacked neatly on a wire rack by the door. We scanned the PLANTS FOR SALE section while licking down a MacDonald’s ice cream cone. Areca palms for $2 a pot. Providential. Suddenly we had to have areca palm trees (at two bucks per pot, who wouldn’t?).
After a quick phone call and a tediously long and windy trip toward Hana, we packed the convertible with as many areca palms as the tiny backseat would accommodate. I swatted mosquitos in the front and held palm fronds back during the negotiation and payment. Those mosquito bites didn’t sway me from recognizing our great deal. Now… what to do with a carload of palms? Of course, we needed a backhoe or Skidsteer, dirt, mulch, tools, and water drip system and only a few days to get it all set before our return flight back to the mainland.
It was a special night… prearranged by our daughter months in advance. A fancy restaurant gift reservation and we were ready for a nice break. With the potted palms unloaded at the lot, we showered and dashed to our reservation, Community Classified’s in hand. The wine along with chicken and fish dishes were ordered. I scanned the flyer and discovered Free dirt, delivered for a fee. We needed dirt… and lots of it! I mean, we needed thirty truckloads of dirt (400 yards). Sam spent the time between ordering and table service on his cell phone. The server was visibly annoyed when the muted phone vibrated on the table, so Sam made his phone calls outside while I nervously sipped too much wine waiting for news on the free dirt delivery. In the morning trucks would make repeat trips to dump the free dirt on our lot and Sam set it all up while I sipped and enjoyed the ocean view from the fancy table. Why didn’t we pack garden gloves and boots? The next day’s dirt piled tasks required Herculean effort while sporting flip flops and sunglasses. Messy and Perfect!
