Thinking we were on our way to the hotel, we continued driving. However, at the intersection of Route 51 and Route 56,
we noticed the air pressure in the rear right tire was dropping. It turned out to be a flat tire.
Fortunately, there was a place nearby to stop our Nissan vehicle.
We made an emergency call to Lihue Hertz Rent-a-Car, requesting someone to fix the flat tire.
Our first call was around 4:30 in the evening. However, the staff couldn't locate where our car had broken down on Kauai Island.
Puzzled, we wondered where we were actually calling. Then it dawned on us that we were speaking with the mainland U.S. emergency staff. Despite their best efforts, they couldn’t pinpoint our location. We waited for an hour...
For our second attempt, we explained that we were near the Lihue Airport at the intersection of Routes 51 and 56,
but they still couldn't determine our location. Another hour passed.
The third time, we tried calling a number advertised as offering Japanese language support. The experience with the young interpreter was disappointing. Her English seemed at the level of a middle school student just beginning to learn the language.
This was frustrating in an emergency situation. Again, we waited for an hour.
Our fourth call involved providing precise latitude and longitude details. This time, the female staff member on the phone managed to
identify our location. She said they would find a mechanic and asked us to wait for 30 minutes. Another hour went by.
Finally, the mechanic arrived. He was very pleasant. We were surprised to see that a large nail had punctured the tire.
He efficiently swapped the spare tire with the flat one and advised us to get the car exchanged first thing in the morning,
as the spare tire wouldn’t last long.
Dinner plans were off the table, but being hungry, we ended up buying deli food from Safeway and having a modest anniversary celebration in our hotel, past 10 p.m.
It definitely turned into a memorable day."