Screenshot from today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Last night, I drove for 3 hours and close to 70 miles all in the name of avoiding the unprecedented west-bound traffic gridlock that resulted from a freak accident involving a flatbed truck carrying a crane that struck a pedestrian overpass. The force of the impact took a sizable chunk out of the overpass, rendering it unsafe to pass beneath. It resulted in the complete closure of the H-1 freeway just before rush hour. Diverting all of rush hour traffic from the freeway to Kamehameha highway is like trying to funnel the flow from a firehose through a drinking straw. That’s probably only a slight exaggeration.

If not for Joyce, my good friend and trusty navigator, I probably would have opted to hang out at the office for a few hours and brave the traffic going west on Nimitz Highway — probably the worst route possible. My co-worker took the Nimitz highway route and reported taking 6 hours (SIX HOURS!!) to get from downtown to Pearl City, arriving home at the ungodly hour of 2:30 am. Instead, Joyce and I enjoyed a relaxing dinner at Gordon Biersch, Aloha Tower Marketplace, overlooking the harbor as the sun set over the ocean. We then took a quick run to Ala Moana Shopping Center to pick up an electronic Sudoku puzzle at Shirokiya for Joyce (and manju and anpan for me), then hit the road — the long way home.

Looking at the display on the dashboard, we noted that it was 8:28 pm when we left the parking lot. We entered the freeway, only briefly, to exit on the Pali Highway and proceeded on to Kahekili Highway where we drove through small towns that we rarely ever have reason to: Punalu’u, Hau’ula, Laie, Kahuku…

Honestly, the 3 hour drive didn’t seem that long to me. The good company made all the difference. We mused about aging rock stars from the 80’s (the good, the bad and the ugly), reminisced about when we first met at Okinawan dance class, and laughed hysterically about my noisy windshield wipers (you had to be there). What had the potential to be a truly terrible night ended up being an enjoyable and therapeutic time for the both of us.

After dropping off Joyce at home, I noticed the time: 11:42 pm. I lifted up a prayer of thanks to the Lord for a safe arrival and for the company of a wonderful friend on the eve of my birthday, even though it was spent taking the scenic route in the midst of the worst traffic snarl in Hawaii’s history.

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