Aloha from Kaua'i

Po'ipu Beach

  Welcome to Kaua'i- the home of about 67,000 people and an unknown number of chickens! The chicken story is a little long to relate here but…. hens,chicks and roosters are EVERYWHERE! And the roosters cock a doodle do all the time. As tourists we found it amusing but if we lived there Dave would be blasting away at them and we would be eating a lot of chicken.  Kaua'i is beautiful and much less developed and less "citified" than O'ahu. We stayed just north of the airport on the eastern side of the island. It was a pretty spot and the resort was set by itself.
   Our first day(Monday) we explored the southshore… Po'ipu was a nice cove to snorkel in. I saw lots of fish especially after a few snorklers fed the fish (which is frowned upon). I was glad they did because the fish really swarmed! The reef is pretty trampled on because it is shallow and stupid people stand on the coral.

Po'ipu

This photo got out of order- this is 'Opaeka'a  Falls on the east side.

Back to the south….. Spouting Horn Beach Park. We always knew when we were a a tourist destination because the big buses would be parked. And there would be stands to buy overpriced pineapples and souvenirs. The pineapple was good but $8 each???? My Costco pineapples are a bargain at $3!

Now we are back on the east side of the island in a laid back town called Kapa'a. It was probably my favorite town of the entire trip. Hippy town would describe it best. Coconuts for sale.

There was a 4 mile path along the coast in Kapa'a- lovely place to get our exercise.

Along our walk

   We ate at a "local color" cafe - Mermaid's Cafe. We ate at very few chain restaurants and depended on my Lonely Planet guide book to find good eats. I would highly recommend it- was very helpful in finding other sights to see also.

Dessert was Hawaiian shaved ice- can't go to Hawaii and not try this!

Many of the t'shirts, mugs, etc had the chicken theme.

Our second day(Tuesday). This is Ke'e Beach which is on the Northshore. It is the trailhead to a hike that Shane and Nikelle told us we should go on. It is called Kalalau Trail and you hike to Hanakapiai Falls and then on to Kalalau Beach. It traverses along the Na Pali coast. This is the western side of the island that you only see from this hike, the air , or a boat. We were all pumped to take this hike until we heard that the previous week 64 hikers were stranded overnight on this trail! Because it is winter there is more rain and the stream/river you cross a few times can become impassable. One woman drowned trying to cross it and the rest were rescued by helicopter the following day.  We hiked the trail the first 1/2 mile to a very windy lookout- a gorgeous spot! The trail was very wet and slippery so we were happy to head back!

Partway up- looking back to Ke'e Beach

The trail before it got steeper.

Na Pali coast- a view I would never get tired of!

My hiking buddy :)

Back at the beach

Every rooster looks like this one- all that interbreeding I guess!

The momma who stuffed 8 little chicks under her wings while she waited for some of my trail mix.

Another Lonely Planet suggestion- fish tacos at Pat's Taqueria food truck in Hanalei Bay 

Hanalei Bay. Voted one of the best beaches.

We figured out how the natives control the chicken population! They were very tasty!

Aloha from O'ahu

    Aloha! A little history about this trip…..
When we got married June 6, 1981, we took a driving trip to Colorado.  We had just graduated from college and money was tight.  We had a wonderful honeymoon trip and then both started our jobs.  We decided that on our 10 year anniversary we would go to Hawaii. But when we were married 10 years we had 2 adorable boys ages 3 and 6. I was only working part time, Dave had just graduated with his BS in Electrical Engineering, and we had just purchased our second house.  We didn't want to leave our boys or spend that much money.
  So after nearly 32 years of marriage our boys were grown, college educated AND supporting themselves.  We were living in CA (closer to Hawaii) and living in our third house. So off we went to the islands :)
   The first night we stayed with David Todd and LaVonne ( cousins) at their condo on their last night in Waikiki. Waikiki was fun to experience but after a few days we were tired of all the people. Too big of a city, mobs of tourists (can you imagine :)), and high end stores everywhere. Although I did love this store which I saw on all the islands and resisted temptation!

The view from the condo we stayed in the first night. A special thanks to our hosts! The next two nights we stayed in a hotel right across the street from the beach.

Cousins staying in the shade while their wives sat on the beach.  David Allen and David Todd are first cousins just 1 year apart who grew up together.

Waikiki Beach

Duke the famous surfer guy.

LaVonne

View of the beach and Diamond Head from Duke's at the Outrigger hotel

Yum! Fish tacos.

Lunch with our hosts before they flew back to cold and snowy Illinois.

Hula pie- one piece fed all 4 of us….mainly LaVonne and I.

Saw this native Hawaiian at the ABC store in Waikiki. Meant to be a dart board?!

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go to Pearl Harbor. A very touching and sobering place. As the daughter of a WWII veteran it was a "must see".

God's promise stretching over the USS Arizona memorial

All those who died aboard the USS Arizona. It sank in 9 minutes.

USS Arizona survivors who chose to be interred with their shipmates upon their death- 37 so far.

Oil still seeps from the ship

May we never forget the sacrifice of so many…..  

Past Events

So many events happened in such a short amount of time right before our kids' visit that I got a little behind…. And we leave on a very exciting VACATION soon so I will have new material to post. We are escaping to a warm, tropical place where Dave is going to get a complete break from work:) We are together all the time since he works from home but his work never ends. I wish I could help him with his work (not really) but I just help out by feeding him and packing his suitcase!
    We attended a 50th birthday party and a 70th birthday party for 2 of our Fallbrook friends.

3 "unicorns" at the party: Lena, Karissa, and Kenny

SURPRISE Marilyn! We invaded your home and decorated it ! Happy 50th Birthday!

Ready for the guests.

Marilyn has "help" blowing out the candles!

Sweet baby Claire. The youngest party guest.

Happy 70th Birthday Duane! Love the mustache! Also daughter Paula's birthday.

Duane and Verla- our close neighbors when they aren't in ND farming.

Carla, Claire and Jerry ( Verla's son)

Chet, Marilyn and Ross. Good friends and our All State agent.

Free tickets to the PGA at the famous Torrey Pines golf course overlooking the Pacific. Well…. we saw 3 golfers tee off before they finally cancelled for the day due to the coastal fog!

The 18th hole

A beautiful sunset in our neighborhood.