BURT & LEOTA KARKALITS
Across the Fence
By Arvord Abernethy
Possibly no one knows the sweetness of retirement more than Burt and Leota
Karkalits. Burt recently retired after 31 years with the First National Bank, and the bank showed their appreciation of his faithful service by sending them to Hawaii for a vacation. Leota had also retired after 31 years with the Community Public Service Co., so they were both footloose and fancy free. To make things more enjoyable, their children Ken and Nancy Beazley went with them.
Theirs was a vacation trip to enjoy, not just sit on the sandy beaches and watch the rest of the world go by. They went to see the beautiful sights, and that is what they did.
They landed in Honolulu after an eight hour non-stop trip from Dallas. It did not take long to find their pre-arranged apartments which were in a condominium, and whose owner was away. These apartments served as only a stopover point.
The party had a car for their convenience, so each morning around eight o’clock they were all shined and ready for a day of sightseeing. Since Ken is a professional photographer, now serving as the photographer for the Baptist Radio and Television Commission, the most beautiful and interesting sights stood at the top of their list for them to see.
One of the interesting events they attended was the luau where roast pig is served. The pig is wrapped in banana leaves and then placed in a pit in the ground and surrounded with real hot rocks. This is covered with sand, and after several hours the pig is ready to serve. It was here that they got one of their chances to see native girls in native costumes doing the hulu.
There are highways encircling each island, so this made it easy for the Karkalits and Beazleys to see all the high points of beauty. One of the things that they, along with other Hawaii visitors, commented on most was the beauty of the flowers and vegetation. Many of the plants we often see here growing in pots in a home are growing wild there and to height of trees. Ken made some color prints of some of the flowers and they are very beautiful. He also made many color slides and he may give a showing of them later.
One of the very interesting places on the Island of Oahu is the Polynesian Culture Center. It is across the island from Honolulu and is composed of native villages that show the native life in Fiji, New Zealand, Tahiti, Somoa and other islands. Here you can see the natives in their dances and other entertainment. It is sponsored by the Mormon Church.
After three days on Oahu, they took a plane to the island of Kauai; the island where Captain Cook landed when he discovered the islands in 1778.
It was on a trip on this island that they visited Waimea Canyon which is often called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. One difference in this canyon and our Grand Canyon is that the walls are covered with trees and flowers.
Volcanic mountains make up most of the islands, so the rainfall is very heavy up on the mountain, some places running as high as 400 inches in a year. Just a few miles away, the rainfall may average around 20 inches. This causes many rivers and streams to flow to the sea, making irrigation water available for the pineapple and sugar plantations. They passed a Del Monte experiment station where new varieties of pineapple are produced. These rivers also provide many beautiful waterfalls. The party had ideal weather all the time they were there; a shower passed over one day as they were eating lunch.
After four days on Kauai, they flew back to Honolulu for their nonstop trip back to Dallas. The visit to the evergreen islands of the blue Pacific may have seemed short, but its impressions of beauty will forever be with them.
Speaking of some of the advantages of retirement years, one being grandchildren or the anticipation of them. Ask Bert or Leota about it.
Shared
by Roy Ables
