A recent Honolulu Star Advertiser article places Hawaii as the seventh lowest state for auto insurance rates.  Massachussetts had the lowest rates and Louisiana had the highest rates.  The article gave some good insight on why Hawaii rates were low.  This has not always been the case.  In the early 1990′s, Hawaii had some of the highest rates in the nation.

Check out the Star Advertiser article for details. 

http://www.staradvertiser.com/business/20100617_Isle_car_insurance_pri ces_seventh_lowest.html

You’re probably familiar with the black box.  Airplanes have a black box installed to collect valuable information in case the airplane crashes.  But have you heard of the blue box?  Auto insurance companies have started using blue boxes to track their customers’ driving habits.

The blue box plugs into the on-board diagnostic port of a car, and then wirelessly sends data to the driver’s insurance company.  The box can track vehicle speed, distance driven, how often the brakes are used and the time of day the vehicle is used.  Insurance companies can use the data to provide discounts to drivers who drive safely.

Currently, the blue box is being used in 19 states.  Hawaii is not one of these states.  What do you think?  If it was available to you, would you use the blue box?  Or, is it too much of a “big brother” watching over you?

Last weekend, we experienced a tsunami warning in Hawaii.  The 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile was the cause of the warning.  The whole state of Hawaii went through the drill.  Some people stocked up on gas, groceries and water.  Others moved to higher ground to avoid the potential waves.

All in all, I thought everyone handled the situation well.  From the newsrooms to the tsunami warning center to the people of Hawaii, everyone stayed calm and informed.  I heeded the advice to stay home and prevent potential traffic jams.  I think it was extremely fortunate that the warning was on Saturday.  If I remember correctly, the last tsunami warning was on a weekday, and the traffic was horrendous.

The actual tsunami turned out to be nothing more than a 1-2 foot surge.  But what if a larger tsunami hit the islands?  Would your homeowner’s insurance policy cover losses from a tsunami?  Unfortunately, like earthquake losses, you would need to get separate coverage to cover flood (tsunami) losses.  Flood coverage is provided through the federal government under the National Flood Insurance Program.  Like earthquake insurance, flood insurance is very expensive.  For the most part, only homes close to the shoreline or close to a water source (river, stream or lake) are required to purchase flood insurance.

If you have any questions about flood insurance, feel free to ask me.

On Thanksgiving day, my daughters and I hiked the Hawaii Loa ridge trail.  I thought it would be a good way to get a little exercise before Thanksgiving dinner.  The trail is located at the top of Hawaii Loa ridge.  There’s a park/bar-b-q area at the end of the road.  Just past the park is the start of the trail.

The trail is relatively easy.  We can’t go on any difficult trails since my younger daughter is only 6 years old.  It’s a little steep in some areas, but my daughters had no problems going up.  Coming down was a little harder for them since the trail was a little slippery from the previous day’s rain. 

We hiked about an hour in, and then turned around.  I’m told that it takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours to hike to the top of the ridge.  Plus, it gets much steeper towards the top.  We’ll have to try the trail again when we have more time.

We’ve been hiking quite a bit over the last year or so.  We’ve done the Diamond Head trail, the Makapuu trail, the Pacific Palisades trail, the Mariner’s ridge trail and the Kamehame ridge trail.  On the Mariner’s ridge and Kamehame ridge trails, we were able to make it to the top.  It’s a nice view of the windward side from the top.  The Makapuu hike also provides a stunning view Makapuu beach and the Waimanalo coastline.

My daughters seem to enjoy the hiking, so I’m sure there will be more hikes in the future!  Please comment if you know of any other kid friendly trails.  I’ve hiked the Aiea loop trail in the past, so that might be our next hike.

I visited Las Vegas again from 09/18/09 to 09/21/09.  It was a quick visit mainly to check out the UNLV vs Hawaii football game.  There were 10 of us from Hawaii who went up.  We met with a friend who lives in Las Vegas and another friend who drove up from San Diego.

Although we went up to watch the game, there was plenty of time to gamble and shop as well!  I left Hawaii on Friday afternoon with a friend.  We arrived late Friday night and met up with everyone at the California Hotel in downtown Las Vegas.  We stayed in downtown all night (actually early morning).  I did well gambling wise, so it was a good start to my vacation.

On Saturday, we did a little shopping during the day.  We went to buy beef jerky from a shop in downtown Las Vegas.  We also made a Trader Joe’s run and bought some other stuff to bring home.  We all met at the California Hotel for a tailgate party before the game.  We had Hawaiian food and Hawaiian entertainment, then caught the bus to the game.  It was a great game.  Hawaii had their chances to win, but ended up losing by 1 point.  Oh well, at least they made the spread!  I put some money on Hawaii, so I was already up headed back to the casinos.  We ended up going to the Orleans Hotel after the game.  We gambled a bit, but we went back to our hotel around 3:00 am because we were pretty tired.

On Sunday, we did some major shopping during the day.  We visited a couple of outlet malls.  I bought some gifts for my daughters.  I bet with my friend who lives in Vegas on the Rams vs Redskins game.  I’m a Rams fan, but I didn’t have high hopes.  Unexpectedly, the Rams made the spread and I won dinner from my friend.  We ended up at the Red Rock Casino, which is a newer casino in northeast Vegas.  Although the dinner was free, the gambling was a losing proposition.  I ended up losing all the money I made in the first two nights.

I can’t complain, though.  It was a quick, fun vacation.  I broke even gambling.  I got my fill of shopping.  The only thing that would have made the vacation perfect was if the Warriors won the football game.

Aloha from Maui, Hawaii.

Antique map of Hawaii and Hawaiian islands.

Hawaiian family smiling from back of van.

Get auto insurance, car insurance and vehicle insurance from Reid Fukumoto.

Protect your loved ones – get auto insurance.