Mopeds

We had a mission: Get to the north shore.

Our plan?  Rent mopeds early Sunday morning and beeline it to Sunset Beach.

Challenge accepted.

The week Kelsey's two friends Anna and Andy were here was the perfect time to put our plan into action.  We searched online for a moped renting shop, booked and paid for Sunday, and mapped out our plan of attack.  It was very intricate.

Sunday comes around and we walk to the moped shop right when it opens at 10 am.  Okay we were there at like 9:40 but we had places to go and were eager beavers!  We wait until ten for someone to show up.  Nada.  Looked into the window where all the mopeds were piled on top of each other, and it appeared to be a shop to fix up the bikes.  Fail.

We walk to the second store that was posted on the website, about a half hour walk.  We get into the second store, same deal, lights are off, nobody is in.  The second shop even looks like the first shop, it doesn't appear that you can rent mopeds from this place.  Sketch.

So we called them, but of course nobody answered because nobody was there.  So we called a third shop on the website.  Someone answers, but tells us they are not affiliated with the shop we rented from.... even though they have the same name.  Super sketch.

Turns out that shop was in Maui, not Oahu, so we accepted defeat and went to the beach for the day instead, determined to solve this problem and ride mopeds to the north shore before Anna and Andy had to leave.

We planned for the upcoming Friday after everyone got out of class.  But we postponed calling them and asking about our reservations and if we could switch them until Friday morning.  Whoops.

Anna called the place, ready for a battle with the guy who answered,  but he was really nice about it.  Actually he was like, "Oh shit!!  Man I'm sorry nobody was there on Sunday, m'bad".  But he said he didn't deal with reservations....?  So he took down the phone number and said the guy in charge of reservations would call us soon.  Little sketch.

The second guy called reasonably soon and basically said that he doesn't have mopeds to rent right now (or ever...? not sure about that whole deal) but he did say that he knows a buddy that rents out and we could rent from him.  Perfect.

The next thing this second guy says:
Yeah, his name is Jack, he can come pick you up and take you to his place in downtown Waikiki.  I'll give him your number.  Don't worry, he has a pickup truck.

Uhhhhh sketchiest thing I ever heard in my life!!!

But we did it anyway.  By the time Kelsey got out of class and Jack With The Pickup got us (who ended up being very nice and friendly) and went through the paperwork and tutorial on how to drive a moped (because none of us had ever done  this in our lives!) it was nearing 2:30 before we even left.

Our plan was to cut through the island and head straight to the north shore and then wind our way back  home down the east coast.

But we ran into a roadblock when we realized the road we wanted to take merged onto the freeway for a while, and our 35 mph mopeds weren't allowed to join all the grown-up vehicles on that road.

At this point, its quarter til 3, our plan is not working, and we didn't know what to do.  That's when we decided to just hang loose, go with the flow, drive down some roads and see where it takes us.

One of our best decisions on the island.  Best day ever!

We wound up  the east coast and saw Koko head, Hanauma Bay, Pele's Chair, Sandy Beach, and the most incredible views of the ocean.  It was absolutely breathtaking, I can't even describe the gorgeous scenery around me.

We strolled into Kaneohe at about 5 as the sky was getting cloudy and it started to rain.  We made a team decision to start working our way back once the rain had passed so we'd make it back to Waikiki before dark.

So we didn't make it up to the north shore, but we were okay with that.

On the way back, we got another spout of rain, and it kind of sucked because we were out in the open getting absolutely pelted by rain drops and there was nothing we could do about it.  But that subsided in time so we could once again enjoy the scenery.

Once we got back to the Waikiki area, we just drove around like hooligans racing each other and doing some probably illegal things, but it was the most fun ever.  We rode aimlessly around because it was so much fun, and we wanted to get our full 24 hours in that we rented them for.

Once it started to get dark, we went back to the apartment to grab sweatshirts and hit the road again for the rest of the night.  There was a tiny mishap as we were parking our 'peds when my leg brushed up against the muffler or whatever (something that was really hot.) Anway, it burned my leg all up.  But I didn't let that get me down!  It didn't stop me!  I went on like a champ.

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Yummy, right?

I threw hydrogen peroxide on there, bandaged it up, threw on my sweatshirt, then we went riding on into the night.

We got some good time in before the rain came back and forced us to retreat back to shelter.  By that time it was 11 anyway and we were zonked.

Another great perk about the whole experience was that it took me less than 3 dollars to fill the gas tank back to full when we returned the mopeds the next day.

An overall very satisfying experience, one that I must do again before leaving  this island.

Maybe we'll make it up to the north shore next time.

In any case, it will still be fun!  For only 30 dollars!  Can't beat that.

Anna, Janelle, Kelsey, and Andy

What a fun group!

Aloha!