Kauai day 3

Monday, Monday--I bet this was the best Monday I have ever had! Again the chickens woke me up...and I enjoyed the quiet of the morning. We had a "get to know the island" by the time-share people. This was quit informative and we got a lot of great tips on where to eat and what to see. The best part was at the end they gave away coupons--Darlene was able to steel an answer from someone that had already won-- and we won a discount on a boat tour (details to be in day 5)!! This was the prize I wanted so I was super excited she could get it! We decided to get lunch at a place we were told to go and go to the North end of the island. For lunch we had rice some meat with a fried egg on top with gravy. It was really good! Different, but good. I think the meat was like a Salisbury steak.
We drove to Tunnels Beach


There was a guy that got in the ocean with his electric car key (and only electric). Darlene's Dad saved the day by driving him back to where he was staying so he could figure things out from there. (His wife and kids not so happy, but thankful for a kind stranger.)
We also got to see the Dry Cave

and the Wet Cave

Now one of these was from Raiders of the Lost Ark--when the giant rock is rolling after Harrison Ford!
This is the northern most accessible area of the island. Hikers can begin their hike of the Na Pali coast here. The guy at the timeshare said it was a 12 on a 1 to 10 scale. Needless to say not on our agenda.
While we were swimming in the ocean a group of people were staring our direction saying "look!". Now that is NOT something I want to hear when in the water...I looked for a shark fin (Remember Soul Surfer's shark attack was on this island.) and didn't see one, and then a guy said there was a sea turtle near us. That still kind of freaked me out, and then I looked for it and couldn't find it.
We went back to the timeshare and swam in the pool and sat in the HOT tub (110* at least!). We enjoyed a yummy Chinese salad from Costco. And then drove to a lookout spot for the sunset




Perfect ending to a perfect day!

Kauai day 2

Day two of Kauai was a Sunday. We didn't have church until 1 so we got to sleep in... meaning the chickens woke me up around 4 and it was then 7 AZ time.. but I slept on and off until 7:30ish I think. I was usually the first one up, which was fine with me. I would sit on the balcony, eat a yogurt, and just enjoy quiet time.
We had a lovely pancake breakfast and got ready. We did some sight-seeing. We saw a waterfall or two.


We went to Anini Beach

If you have seen Soul Surfer I really think there was a shot of this beach. It has a lot of trees up to it. We never did go back and swim there.. bummer. Another time.
And we also went to Kilauea Light House



We didn't get any closer to the light house because it cost and we didn't want to pay! But it was so lovely from there!
We stopped along the way and had a picnic lunch. Then it was time for church. I just love how in Hawaii you respond to "Aloha" when the person speaking says hello. Just so friendly. It rained some while we were in our meetings. Then my friend, Darlene, has some "cousins" (a distant relation) that we went to see. A family of 4 boys. A BEATUIFUL home that sits on the Wailua River. We had dinner with them. They are also close to the beach and a park so we took a stroll during sunset. The clouds had lifted some so we could see Mount Waialeale--which is the wettest spot on earth! It gets close to 500 inches of rain a year!!

This is a tourist pineapple tree. The fruit on it looks like it is a pineapple, but it really isn't. I suppose all of us "mainlanders" get confused a lot!
Another wonderful day in Kauai.

Kauai day 1

I guess now that I have been home 3 weeks I should tell a little about my trip to Hawaii. Darlene & I took a summer trip last year, so we of course had to do it again this year! Her parents have a time-share so we asked if we could use a week and they said YES!. I think we started planning in January of where we wanted to go. Since I was living in TX at the time we thought of going to Savannah, Georgia or the Houston, TX area. When I moved in May to AZ we thought of going to Sedona, AZ....but why go there when you can go to Hawaii?! So, we decided on Kauai. (Best decision!)
I flew out on Sat.--I arrived in Kauai about 1:15 in the afternoon so we basically had a half day. Darlene's Dad came with us because the car and time-share were in his name. Lihue is about 1 hr. from Princeville where we were staying so we started the trip with a slow drive of the island. Our first stop was ACE--now in the mainland ACE is for hardware, but not so in Hawaii. It has EVERYTHING! Darlene needed scrapbooking tape and that is where you get it!
The next stop was a MUST-- Ono Shaved Ice--seriously the best shaved ice on the island. For $3 you get a ginormous snow cone! I had tropical flavors, Darlene had a rootbeer float.

Then we drove on to our time-share. We were some of the first to get there so we were lucky enough to get beach mats, camping chairs, and a body board. They even had movies that were filmed on the island. We got Jurassic Park. This was the view from our balcony.

I had read on-line about a sand-castle making contest at Hanalei Bay so we decided to see if we could catch the end of it. We didn't but we did really enjoy the beach!


The musical "South Pacific" was filmed here. This was the beach where the girl sang, "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair". Fun!!! The water was warm. Just so beautiful!
To end the night we went to Kalypso. We had coconut shrimp (SO GOOD!) and I had fish tacos (Not the best I have ever eaten but so good!) And then we had some grasshopper icecream pie to end it all.
I was actually a little cool this night. Being used to 110+ heat I was so GRATEFUL for 80* weather. Ah... sounds so nice.
The island is beautiful. I couldn't get over how green everything was. I miss that color! The humidity didn't bother me too much. And the noises of the night were nice. A piece of heaven on earth!

Thirty!!

I made it to the LAST of my themed posts! YEAH for me!

A picture of the person you miss the most:

Did you really expect a different person? I sure miss my Mom. No one can take a mother's place. Sure, I have mother-like figures, but none of them compare to my own mother. I know I am blessed to be able to call her mother. I look forward to the day when I can be with her again. I know she looks out for me. And I am sure she still rolls her eyes at me. I try not to be envious of my friends who get to talk to their own mothers all the time-- or go on trips to see their moms...mothers and daughters have a special bond. Love you Mom!

Twenty-nine

Day 29 - A picture that can always make you smile

Any picture of my Dad growing up makes me smile. His glasses always crack me up...and then to see him have hair. I have known him to "always" have gray hair or no hair. I just love my Dad. He is a trooper and loves his kids!