Akaka Falls near downtown Hilo is one of the numerous sights within easy reach of KMC’s facilities.
paved road at the visitor center. Our auto
rental agreement did not permit us to proceed farther. It was probably just as well,
as breathing at that level was difficult.
The crest was another 5,000 feet.
Since we wanted to see the famed black
sand beaches, we scheduled one full day
for the 90-mile trip to Kailua-Kona, the
tourist haven of the Big Island. Major hotels, resorts and golf courses carved out
of the lava fields abound. This side of the
island is spectacular, with most of the
ride looking down on the Pacific and its
beautiful beaches.
We made a pit stop at Black Sand Beach
and could have stayed there for days. We
spent another day exploring the Chain of
Craters road, extending from the KMC
down the winding mountain to the blockade on the coast leading to the current flow.
All along the chain you can see the various
dormant craters from earlier eruptions.
One spectacular view is looking back up
to the cliffs stained black by the various
lava flows.
Where lava has destroyed acres and
acres of fertile land once teeming with
towering palms, half-buried coconuts are
now sprouting new growth. New greenery sprouts through cracks in the lava.
Late in the week, our friend Jack Lewis
returned from a writing assignment on
the mainland. Lewis, now in his 80s, is the
author of several hundred books, magazine articles and movie scripts.
On an island brimming with spectacular attractions, his home, which overlooks
the Pacific, nearly topped them all. “No
matter how hard the day,” he said, “ 30
minutes on the porch listening to the surf
pounding below will ease any problems
you might think you have!”
While we hated to leave the comfortable cool weather of our KMC retreat, we
also looked forward to the return adventure of our Space-A odyssey.
At Hickam AFB on a Monday, we could
not find any flights bound for the mainland. At MCB Kaneohe Bay, we were told
of a San Diego flight that was scheduled
for Thursday, so we called Kaneohe lodging and secured reservations for the next
three nights.
Since we had rented a car at the Hick-
am terminal, we decided to have lunch in
Waikiki Beach. Later we checked the
passenger terminal before settling into
lodging. The Thursday flight had now
been moved up to Wednesday. We called
North Island and found a flight with plenty
of seats leaving there Thursday morning
for NAS Jacksonville.
On Wednesday morning we found 16
seats available on a Navy C- 40 aircraft.
As there were nine of us, we all made the
flight. We were fortunate to get lodging
at North Island because the facility was
being used as an evacuation point for the
fires that were threatening homes near San
Diego. When we arrived at the passenger
terminal for the 0900 show time on Thursday, we found 121 seats available for the
flight to Jacksonville. Our dilemma then
was in getting from NAS Jacksonville to
our homes two hours south.
When you travel Space-Available, there
are no frills, no in-flight movie, generally
no snack or meal service and certainly no
flight attendants. The crews will do all they
can to make you comfortable, but if you
want food, you’ll have to bring your own.
Space-A flying is not for everybody.
Our initial flight from North Island to
Oahu was aboard a C- 17 cargo aircraft—
tactically brilliant but not very comfortable. Seats fold down along each side of
the aircraft, and availability depends on
the amount of cargo being carried. The
seats and seat backs offer about a half-inch of padding. While not recommended,
some Space-A passengers buy roll-up,
self-inflating mattresses and simply stretch
out on the deck.
Luggage weight also can determine
which aircraft you fly. On larger aircraft
you may be allowed two suitcases at 70
pounds each, plus a small carry-on. If
you can pack light, staying at 30 pounds
or less, you can often catch a hop on one
of the smaller executive jets.
Regardless of aircraft configuration, all
Space-A passengers agree on one thing:
The price cannot be beat! Bon voyage,
Marines!
Additional information on Space-Available flying, including the ability to sign up
for it, is offered at the following link: www
. pepperd.com/scgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi.
Editor’s note: Jack Paxton is a retired
Mustang captain who serves as the executive director of the United States Marine
Corps Combat Correspondents Association. He and his wife, Pat, reside in Wildwood, Fla.
