Au Revoir Rachy Poo!

Well, another visitor has come and gone. This time it was Rach. We had a nice 10 days together, and we kept pretty busy.
She got in late Thursday night so we picked her up and went almost straight to bed. The next day we did our mandatory shopping for necessities and finally on Saturday we were able to go see some sights. So we headed north. Our first stop was in Princeville to check out the condition of Queen's Bath, since we had such a great time there on her last visit. Well, being winter, the water was way different and we had to stop before reaching sea level. No visit this time! But it's a nice hike with a couple water falls along the way.

Our next stop was at Hanalei. We headed out the pier to see if we could see any surfers out on the big(ish) waves. Well, we could see them but not enough to get any good shots. We drove to the opposite side of the bay and ate our lunch, it was a beautiful day! Next we stopped at Tunnels Beach and once again - NO SURFERS! (maybe the guy lied when he told me that was Tunnels!) But I wanted to get some shots of Bali Hai from that vantage point anyway. I have to go back and shoot a sunset there some day! We kept meandering and finally came to the end of the road - Ke'e Beach and walked down the beach some there, to be able to see the Na Pali Coast. Our day was completed by a get-together on our lanai with all my friends from the congregation. It was a nice gathering with lots of interesting, good food. So much so that no one wanted to leave. Then someone mentioned the Kapaa Art walk and we were all off once again! We made a quick run around and got to listen a while to our favorite on-island band, "Quake" at the Eastside Grill. Rach and I left early 'cause we'd had a very long day!

We spent a windy day wandering along the coconut coast in Kapaa and Waipouli. Since she'd already seen all the sights on her last visit we were able to slow down a bit and just take it easier. So we spent time just meandering and had lunch at the Olympic Cafe. We went to a thrift store and found a new dining set for the folks, Rach's gift, then to Home Depot for some new rug runners to go with the new furniture. We got some great deals and the kitchen looks so pretty! We spent mom and dad's shopping day doing up the kitchen to surprise them after we had a mediocre breakfast with a GREAT view at the Beachwalk in Kapaa. We had to recover the pads on the chairs, paint the table base and cut and edge the runners. We got done and about 1/2 hour later the folks showed up, it was a great surprise!

Last year I treated myself to a whale watching trip and determined that anyone who comes during whale time also needs to do so. So Rach and I splurged on that. Due to the winds and rough surf they chose to take off from a location much closer to home, Nawiliwili Harbor. We had a great time on the boat, saw lots of whales and spinner dolphins (they jump and spin like cheerleaders!). The captain was a local guy and had a more aggressive style of whale watching than the guy who drove the boat last year but it was such a party atmosphere no one could complain. I swear every person on that boat was sarcastic! Rach really let her hair down (like when she goes to baseball games) and had a blast! I don't think anyone noticed when they failed to serve us our champagne at sunset, we all had so many Mai Tai's! Maybe they decided we all had had enough alcohol, we didn't need champagne!

We spent a day on the south and west side. Although this island is small it has enough traffic to make the drive to the other side a real job. So we got kind of an earlier start and headed to Poipu. We saw the Spouting Horn (meh) and the public section of the McBryde National tropical botanical garden. I discovered a pretty orchid and cactus garden in Poipu when I was out with Mary so I took Rach there. I also discovered the Kauai Coffee plantation with Mary and took Rach there. It's a great new addition to my Kauai tour. We ate our lunch on the beach again and analyzed the Tommy Bahama beach chairs that all the rich tourists were using. I'm gonna have to get me one of those! We stopped at Salt Pond park, walked a little. We went to Glass beach so she could collect some glass sand for a coworker and saw a seal sunbathing. In Old Town Hanapepe we found a little hole-in-the-wall shave ice vendor selling old style shave ice (no ice cream and in a styro cup) and while Rach cooled herself with that we walked through town enjoying the art galleries from the outside.

We had planned to do something else, besides the whale watching and that something ended up being bike riding! But it was a VERY windy day and we realized we were maybe only be out for 10 minutes. I had a goal, I wanted to get up close and personal with the old "pineapple dump" so we headed that direction first. There's a nice bike path being made that will eventually reach from Anahola to the airport in Lihue. So we headed toward the pineapple dump which was uphill but down wind. I wanted to get the harder uphill part done while we were still energetic and fresh. We rode up that hill with no effort and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The views were spectacular! Then we turned around and headed down hill. I wondered why the down hill riders were pedaling when we were going up and I found out. Gravity was no match for the wind - we had to nearly stand and pedal to go DOWNHILL! It was crazy! We got back to the bike rental place, grabbed a bite (fish tacos at Al Pastor taco truck) and a quick visit across the street to the Kauai Craft Fair and was gonna go back on the trail for as long as we could stand it but Rach got to a point not too far and said it wasn't fun any more. It was just too hard. So we turned around and, now going WITH the wind, we barely had to pedal! It was so fun! We wish we cold have gotten a ride in someone's truck to the far end of the trail and just coasted back the whole way!

The folks like  to take visitors out to Duke's for dinner on their last night on island so we had that planned and forgot that it was Valentine's Day! So Duke's and every other restaurant that takes reservations was booked solid. We had to find a nice, first come, first served type of place. We ended up in Hanalei at the Dolphin restaurant, right on the Hanalei River. It was very nice, we all had something different, Dad had chicken, Rach had fish, Mom had veggies and I had sushi. Because it was her last day here we had to go buy some pineapples for Shirley. She found out you can take a box of pineapples on the plane and check them FOR FREE. So we bought 10 beautiful Maui Golds and packed them up and took them and Rach to the airport around 10:30 for her midnight flight home. She posted on facebook a screenshot of her phone weather report when she got there - 34º! As much as I love the seasons I can't really say that I miss the freezing weather - except maybe the hot tub that goes along with it!

About Me

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After 2 unsuccessful marriages I spent 12 years as a divorcee, only to fall prey to another man's wiles. We had a fun 5 years together and then he decided he wanted more freedom so once again I'm single.

So I'm freshly divorced at 57 and have 5 great kids and now 7 grandkids. My kids are still a major part of my life but I'm busy helping my aging parents on Kauai.

I've lived in California, Hawaii and Oklahoma before finally settling here in Washington. I love Washington and come back to visit family, friends and take care of my garden often but will be temporarily a resident of Kauai.

I've moved 30 times in my life (no, my parents weren't in the service, at least not since I was about 2) and finally planted roots when I got my little house that I've owned since '91.

My family are Jehovah's Witnesses, I've been one since '72.