Day 6 – To the Other Side We Go

Today was our move day to the other sound of the island to our friend’s home on the North Shore. Time to spend a month here house sitting. We are very blessed to have house sitting/caretaker gigs going with friends here and in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

It was a typical morning for us, big breakfast with coffee. Today we enjoyed papaya boats with yogurt, granola and more fruit. This is my new favorite breakfast creation, can’t wait to add in some fresh mango!

Following breakfast it was time to pack up and head out of the Waimea House. Our first stop was the Kauai Coffee Company, now that we are further away, we wanted a few extra bags.

Our next stop was one of my favorite farmer’s markets, the one at the community college. We picked up some great veggies, fruit, jams, goat cheese and guess what, more coffee.

swiss chard!

Mike getting more coffee

the haul of fruits

We had one final stop in Lihue, Costco. Our big purchase was Kauai Shrimp.

On our way up to the house, we stopped at a road side stand to pick up eggs. We picked up the eggs, saw the price and put the eggs back down. I thought $12.00 a dozen was a little overpriced. Though they did have wonderful micro greens, so we did purchase a bag.

Finally we arrived at the house and were greeted by the largest papaya we’ve ever laid eyes on. Our friend left it for us as welcome back gift. Perfect for a very large smoothie tomorrow.

At this point we were starving, so back we headed to Hanalei/Princeville. We thought about Sushigirl Kauai, but her line was ever so long. Driving past Hanalei Dolphin the bar was empty so we decided after our brief stop at Foodland, we would return, have fish tacos and a beer. Returning to Hanalei there was no parking at the dolphin and the place was packed, guess rain showers drive the people off the beaches and into food places. We had high hopes that Sushigirl Kauai wouldn’t be packed because of the rain. She wasn’t that busy, so in we pulled and ordered.

Sushi Burrito

The Legend

While I waited for the order, Mike went to the house to drop off the groceries. On his way back his family from the midwest was attempting to facetime him from the family reunion. Cell service was spotty, so we had to wait until he picked me up and we landed back at the house. We face timed with Jenni, Chris, Matt J., Matt B., Mark, Nancy, Mary, Monica, John and Karen (they made me put in their names).

Once we showed the family around via the phone, we finally sat down to enjoy our lunch. The food was amazing, so fresh and flavorful. I have a feeling we’ll be regulars over the next month.

We rested, prepped all our veggies, chatted with neighbors and waited for sunset viewing hours.

It felt so natural to take the path to the beach, sort of being with an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time, just feels right to be together again.

The sunset wasn’t spectacular but we didn’t care because we were on our favorite beach to view the sunset, Tunnels.

But what was spectacular was the monk seal that swam by us. How is that to end the day? Perfect way to start living on the other side of the island.

July 1, 2017 0

Day 32 – Pacific Beauty

As our days become less and less, we realize we need to spend time at the ocean. The Atlantic ocean or rather long island sound doesn’t soothe the soul, like the wide expanse of the Pacific Blue.

We first ran to the post office to get packages out-of-the-way, then we drove to Cannons to catch the last bit of low tide.

As we strolled the beach rain showers moved in and we played hike and seek with them.

We had a little window where the rain stopped, so we strolled the tidal pools. Then the skies opened up.

Normally we would walk through a rain shower, but this was pelting rain that stings. I took shelter under tree roots. My view was amazing through the roots. I was just happy we practiced 3 and 5 minute squat holds at Crossfit, made it easier to stay in the shelter.

P1020487 — did a 3 minute squat hold under here

After the rain skirted away we returned to our car and landed at home. After a quick snack it was off to Tunnels to sun and swim.

Our favorite spot under the umbrella tree was empty, how strange. We enjoyed the solitude for a good hour.

P1020491 — not may people out there. thank you very much

Then about 1:30 the crowds started moving in. This is a sign for us to go do our swim and pack up. The current was so swift today, we flew down the beach on the water and were back at our beach spot in no time.

The voices were getting loud, the pouty lips of children done with a day in the sun and we knew it was time to head home for lunch and showers.

We as usual napped, read, caught up with the world and consumed dinner from 2:30 – 6:30.

Tonight was a night of story telling on the beach with our friend Meli. We enjoyed the sunset together and shared stories. She told us how the clouds form animals and head to Polihale to pass on. We spent the glow of the evening discovering various animals in the cloud fields.

Unfortunately our cameras could not capture the animals in the low light. Meli gave us an additional treat of a poster she made, telling of the legends of the North Shore.

We’ve been blessed to talk story with many a people. We will miss our sunset viewings and our evenings of story when we return home.

The time is running out for us here…

August 11, 2011 0

Day 24 – Stink Eye, Da Crack, Hiking and a Crab

So we had another early morning. We hit Java Kai in Hanalei for an Americano and an iced mocha (no whipped cream) at 6:45 a.m. I was secretly hoping Pierce would be there getting his early morning java, but no such luck.

We merrily rolled on down the highway towards Allerton Garden on the south side. We were going on the Ho’ike Tour, a behind the scenes tour of Allerton and McBryde Gardens.

As we neared the entrance to Allerton, we were going the posted speed limit of 25 mph when a man on a little bulldozer told, rather yelled at us, to slow down and stop speeding. We smiled as we knew we were going the posted limit (I even looked over at the speedometer and noted it was at 25). Mike pulled into the lot, I went up to the visitor center to check us in. In the background I could hear the tiny bulldozer coming into the lot.

Well Mike was confronted by a very angry man who proceeded to berate Mike for going to fast, etc. If you know Mike, he just takes it in and smiles. The man was hoping for a verbal confrontation, but none came from Mike.

As we were waiting for our tram, the guy came up in his machine to move more dirt and continued to give us the stink eye, all the while Mike and I just smiled at him. We let our tour guide know about this and he quipped, “Clarence has anger issues, he does that to a few people and please let management know.”

Honestly if we were first time visitors, I would have demanded my money back and no longer supported the gardens. Good thing, we’ve been before and had an excellent guide, David, today. He was great at talking story. It was fun going behind the scenes of the garden.

We stopped at the falls, the guide called it Queen Emma’s Falls.

We spent time in the green houses. Part of the house is hurricane proof.

smells like chocolate What makes each tour so unique is each guide has different stories to tell. This is the guest house of the Allertons and during the filming of Fantasy Island, Tattoo stood on the balcony and welcomed the guests. Tattoo stood on the balcony We saw many different varieties of Hala Trees. Hala Tree We visited the lotus garden. lotus We even walked paths that on the regular tours you are not shown. pathways The Allerton Gardens are a magical place. Dave, the guide, was outstanding and took away the evil stink eye of Clarence. After our tour, we lunched at Da Crack in Poipu. I had the special fish bowl and Mike had the veggie taco. Both are excellent. I’ve now had the fish taco, bowl and burrito. The fish taco is my favorite, followed by the bowl and then the burrito. Da Crack Fish Bowl Da Crack veggie taco After lunch we hike a small bit of the Mahaulepu Heritage Trail. I would suggest doing this hike in the morning. The afternoon sun was tough on me and we didn’t finish it. view from trail more views There was even a heiau on the trail. Anytime I can stop and look at a heaiu, I am filled with a deep reverence for the power of the ancient Hawaiians. heiau It is an easy, non demanding hike with beautiful ocean and golf course views. But in the afternoon sun of Hawaii, my body didn’t like it. Of course after this, we had to detour to the coffee plantation. Picked up a few more goodies. At home, we cleaned up, snacked, who needed dinner after that lunch? And then headed down to the beach for sunset. Once again we had a friend watch with us. just a little friend sunset reflections

August 3, 2011 0

Day 15 – Hanging out with Friends

Ahhh what a day. We had friends coming in from Oahu, so we started off by cleaning the house, I went to do laundry and returned to Mike, saying what a beautiful morning. Cleaning was put on hold and we headed out to Cannons beach to greet the day.

As usual I ask Pele for a gift from the sea. When I do this, I am always rewarded with an unusual find. This was today’s gift from her.

P1190259 — I have no clue what this sea creature is

After viewing him for a short time, we returned him to the sea, where he belonged.

I was chastised yesterday for not lifting some weight, so I grabbed some water logged driftwood and did a few deadlifts, overhead squats and back squats. Hopefully the logs won’t be out to see tomorrow and I can do them again.

We ran to Princeville afterwards to pick a few items at the Foodland. I was hoping to make banana macadamia nut muffins. But the small convention oven we use is not conducive to baking. So I made a giant mess of things.

We were meeting friends in Hanalei at 11:30, so off we trekked. We ate at Kalypso. I seem to be on a quest to find the best fish taco on the island. So of course I ordered the fish taco. Portions were good size, had a side dish of beans and rice. I would say this comes in a second to Da Crack. The flavor was good and the tacos fresh.

After lunch we all returned to our house and hit Tunnels Beach for a few hours of snorkeling and playing in the sand.

P1010413 — Mike and Nick playing in the surf

P1010422 — Paul and Nick smiling for the camera

We had a great afternoon just hanging together and catching up. Paul is a high school friend of mine, who is stationed in Oahu. We absolutely love his family and are so blessed they hopped over to Kauai for a few days.

They are staying on the south side, so they left late afternoon to check into their hotel. We are looking forward to Thursday, when we will spend more time together.

After a quick dinner of leftovers, catching up with the world, we headed to the beach for the night-time showing of mother nature.

Tonight we had a better show than the previous nights and we spent it chatting with island friends we’ve made over the past year. We also had the pleasure of watching bats flit over the ocean, catching bugs.

Another exceptional day spent hanging with a friend and his family from my youth and island friends. What joy will tomorrow bring?

July 25, 2011 0

Day 7 – Lazy Day

So we had a lazy Sunday day here in Kauai.

We slept in, had a breakfast of eggs, coffee and fresh fruit.

After breakfast we did a mile walk on the road and a 1.5 mile on the beach walk for time.

After the walk, we gathered up our stuff and went to our favorite spot on Tunnels to spend a few hours soaking up rays, reading and swimming.

After the swim, we dried off in the sun and had our first celebrity sighting of the trip. Down came Glenn F., founding member of the Eagles from his house to do a quick swim and dry off.

Glen F — Celebrity Glenn catches some rays

Off to the house we went to shower and go out to the Princeville Foodland to do this week’s grocery shopping. Yup, not staying in a resort, we are required to think of meals and shop for them..but that is ok.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, reading books and online stuff, catching up with world news.

Dinner is followed by our nightly showing of the sunset. Tonight’s sunset is brought to you by Mother Nature, who I believe was feeling a bit lazy herself tonight.

July 17, 2011 0

Day 6 – Saturday July 16

Our morning started off with rain showers,

but that means…..RAINBOWS

After the showers continued on, Mike went for a short beach walk, while I fussed about. Time to hit the Hanalei Farmer’s Market. Once again we divide and conquer, Mike to fruit, me to veggies.

After unloading all the goodies, it was time to load up on sunscreen and hit Tunnels for a bit of sunning and a swim.

Required Foot Photo — Instead of foot in the sand photo...

After this mid day picture-taking session, we returned to the house to get ready for our evening of the Allerton Estate Sunset Tour. We were told to be there at 4, so with an hour and 40 min. drive ahead of us, we hurried off.

The Allerton Estate is set in the Lawai Valley on the south side of Kauai. The Allerton Couple purchased it from Queen Emma in 1937 and made it into the beautiful gardens you see today. Unfortunately it faced two hurricanes which during one of them it destroyed the house. The tour brought us down into the valley,

where an excellent guide brought us around some of the gardens and talked story.

The thanksgiving room — The Thanksgiving Room

Ann stuck in roots — Do these trees look like a movie set?

We approached the house and the huge expanse of lawn and we were all transported to another era.

We were given permission to wander the grounds and beach while a light dinner was prepared for us.

After dinner of light fare, the guide led us to the beach and over the bridge. We learned that the latest Tsunami caused some minor damage to the beach, which in turned affected the nesting turtles. The beach lost about two feet of sand and created a bank that the turtles cannot climb, the turtles have had to re locate their nesting area to another part of the beach.

This was a wonderful experience and one I’m glad we participated in. The group was small, 12 people and the guide was excellent. We plan on returning and doing the behind the scene’s tour.

Another fun-filled day in Kauai.

July 17, 2011 0