August 16th, Kaua’i, Hawaii, United States

Today was one of those days. On arrival in Lihu’e I headed to the rental car counter. I must have done this a hundred times before. But today was different for on this trip I didn’t bring my cell phone. Asked for a local address or phone number I cheerfully announced that I don't have either. I explained that I'm the ‘shoot from the hip' kind of guy. I'll figure it out. Maybe I'll camp. Maybe I'll check my phone messages this evening. Maybe I won't. I got back a frown. 'We can't rent you a vehicle unless we have a local contact'. I suggested he put a hold for the value of the car on my credit cards. Another frown. ‘We don’t do that’. A long phone call to the supervisor and lots of frantic typing on the computer and he had a solution. ‘I made a note on your reservation, you need to come back with a copy of your camping permits or call in with your hotel reservations’. I sighed and agreed. The irony of all this is that Kaua'i is barely larger than a postage stamp. There is one highway and it doesn't even go all the way around the island. There is no car ferry. Like where am I going go?
Compared to Oahu, Kaua'i is an island that time forgot. As I drove out of the airport I saw moas (local code name for wild chickens) along the road. My spirits lifted, this is more like my kind of place! But apparently I have not reached my quota of bureaucratic incompetency for the day. The lady at the camping permit counter in the county offices was the definition of indifference. Having established from her monosyllabic responses that the sites I’m interested in are on state property and a rough location of their offices I left. After wondering confused around the block for bit I stumbled into the right building and found the right clerk looking decidedly un-busy. She announced that I’ll have to come back tomorrow and pointed at a sign announcing that no camping permits will be issued after 3pm. It was almost 4pm. I made an off hand remark that I’ll come back tomorrow and get a permit for a county site for tonight. ‘They just closed' she announced. The frustration must have been obvious from my expression since she helpfully offered to look up local motels in the phone book. She wrote down four addresses and telephone numbers and then proceeded to inform me of limited availability in some of the campground locations I was interested in. As I glanced at the big ‘No exceptions!’ sign on her desk I couldn’t help but wonder if it wouldn’t have been quicker to just issue me the permit. But that would require her to make an exception. I stopped by the county offices again on the way back to my car in case the state clerk made a mistake but I found the counter window shuttered.
Apparently Lihu’e isn’t exactly a happening place. I could not locate the motels at the first three addresses (all incidentally listed by my copy of Microsoft Streets and Trips 2005 which helped me confirm that I was looking in the right place). The fourth was but the office was closed. One of a group of builders on a break who looked like they were ready to raze this place down also announced that the owner should be back in an hour or so. I looked around. I’ve stayed at cheap motels before but nothing in as sad a shape as this. Resigned I located an internet café and booked myself into a three star resort for the night blowing the budget for this day and the next...
I never did call the rental car company with my hotel reservation information.