BEAUTIFUL, ACTION, COMFORT

Beautiful....Waimea Canyon, Kauai

Action.....surfers, also in Kauai.

Comfort - a mother with her three children, comfort from mother to child and comfort from children to mother.  We were at one of our favorite parks, Huntley Meadows, a place I look forward to seeing now the warmer weather is here.

I am linking with Jesh and her lovely new meme, 

Seasons

I am also sharing this post with N.C. Sue at Worldess (on Tuesday) at Image-in-ing

18th day of our vacation - Last Day - 1-2-16

We have been home for two months now and it has taken me this long to get through my journal.  However, the last day in Kauai has arrived.  I do have more photos and I will post them intermittently.  There are many photographs I have shared already that were also taken by Gregg.  He and I had a great time documenting our vacation.   So, last day, here we go.

Saturday, January 2nd, 2016


10.04 p.m.  We are in the air and on our way to Denver, where we will catch our connecting flight to Washington-Dulles Airport.

We left the condo mid-morning with a tinge of sadness, but the excitement of seeing home again helped a lot.  I have always been a bit of a homing pigeon.  When I know we have to go I am ready to get on the plane (or in the car when we are nearer home), but hopefully we will see this place again one day.  We have talked about staying longer next time.  We'll have to wait and see.

Our flight wasn't until later on in the day but we checked out early, and drove inland to do one last day of sight-seeing before heading to the airport.  



On one of the roads we found a 'river' to drive through, not one of my favorite things I did this holiday.  "Number 3 Gregg, Number 3".  You'll have to check the original list of the travel code to understand.  Scroll down that page to check it out. It wasn't really a river but to me at the time it seemed like a fast moving torrent of water and that was enough.  However, it was only a few inches deep but still very much out of my comfort zone, and the pot holes were bigger than any pot holes I remember driving over.  

  

I was very relieved to get through it, but when we went further along the road and drove round the curve, it became very, very steep and as it was a dirt road and pretty muddy and slide-ey, and we didn't have a four-wheel drive, Gregg felt it wise to turn back.  Doing a three-point turn on that road was a challenge also, and I was glad Gregg was driving.  So there we were and once again we had to go through the 'river', one that I thought we had safely put behind us.  "No. 3 Gregg, No. 3".

Gregg had heard about a marina he wanted to see, so we drove past the airport to get there.  It was also in an area where not only the cruise ships docked, but all the containers from overseas came in, and there were lots of tall chain link fences with very large no trespassing signs.  We took a few photos but didn't get out of the car.

We saw an old sugar plantation building.  It was huge but now looked empty.

The next place we headed for was Shipwreck Beach.  We were looking for monk seals my sister-in-law had seen frequently, but there were none to be found.   

Above are condominiums, below we are looking across at the Grand Hyatt Hotel where we had the reception the day we attended our friends' beach ceremony.  The grounds inside the complex were incredible, and beautiful at night.

On many of the beaches there are volcanic rocks, which are very interesting to look at up close.

We did see these black crabs that were scurrying all over the rocks. They were fascinating to look at but.....

there were dozens of them, fairly good sized ones, fast, so very fast.   They are called Aama.  In ancient Hawaii it was a sacred food for priests.  

The surf crashed over the rocks and I thought for sure the crabs would have been swept back into the sea, but they all hung on and as soon as the water fell away from the rock, off they went again, scurrying, scurrying, totally mesmerising.  

As much as I was interested in them, truth be told I wouldn't want them scurrying over me.  As I sat there the thought made me move on, and decided to add "No sitting next to fast scurrying crabs" to the Traveler's Code

Silly, but it was the first time I had felt uncomfortable with them being so close.  



Earlier, before I had seen any of the black crabs, I had noticed what I thought was a dead one on a rock.  I learned that rather than it being a dead crab, it was in fact the shell of one that had molted.  These empty shells are paper thin with a slit in the back.  After  reabsorbing much of the calcium from the old shell, the crab backs out and abandons it.  The roomy new shell hardens soon after.

I took my photos while Gregg was exploring another part of the beach....

and as I was eager to move away from all those scurrying little legs, I caught up with him.  

We found another large tree trunk to sit on and like the one below our condo, it looked like it had washed up long ago.  I always love to sit on the beach looking out at the ocean, and this rather large piece of driftwood provided a relatively comfortable seat.

We made our way to the airport and returned the rental car.  The flight to Oahu was half an hour but we had a three hour wait.  

I wrote a few last minute postcards last night and wanted to mail them first thing, but I forgot to ask Gregg if we could go to a post office in Kauai.  My mind was on the journey home today.

In the Oahu airport there was a very nice gentleman who worked for the airline.  He said there should be a post office in the concourse.  It was a long way to our gate but we certainly had a lot of time to spare.  We looked and looked and one young lady in a shop said that there used to be a post office but it had been taken out.  Wind out of sails I gave up the search.  By this time I was concentrating on looking for our gate number, then suddenly Gregg spotted a US Postal Service sign in a small gift shop, and the young lady behind the counter gave us the correct stamps and took our postcards.  Thank you Gregg!  I always call him Hawkeye, as he is the greatest spotter for all things.  

1.14 a.m. and we have been in the air for nearly four hours.  Always feel very cramped and stiff at this point.  If we have the sardine can plane from Denver to Washington, it is going to be a bit of a challenge.

My clock on the iPad says it is now 6.15 a.m.  I am very confused with the time change.  I also haven't slept a wink.  We are on the last leg of our journey from Denver to Washington-Dulles, and we had a two-and-a-half hour wait at Denver.  These clouds look a bit like the snow we saw on the ground as we landed.  What a shock to see it, definitely came down to earth with a bit of a bump, figurative and physically.  




More time has passed and it seemed in no time at all we were landing at Washington-Dulles.  It felt good to be home after the long journey.  Our son met us at the baggage claim and what a welcome sight he was, already looking for our luggage, which was delivered quickly.  Way to go to those people I see loading and unloading all the suitcases when looking out of the plane window.  They do their job in all kinds of weather and I am always grateful to them, and everyone in between.

We were home in just over half an hour, not living too far from the airport and the traffic was light. Still in the early part of the afternoon, we did not have to deal with rush hour.  We chatted to our son all the way home.  He and Gregg took our baggage inside and he stayed for a good time after that.  When he left I made a quick tour of the house and everything looked great.  The lady who takes care of our house when we are gone did a wonderful job.  The mail was stacked neatly in a box which we enjoyed looking through later, especially the Christmas Cards.

And we were home.

It seemed surreal that only a short while ago we were on a small, beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific, and now I am sitting on the floor taking everything out of the suitcases.

Mahalo Hawaii, Aloha!  A hui hou kakou, until we meet again.

If you missed any of my daily journals and would like to catch up, I am sharing their links below.

Oahu

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Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10

Kauai

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GOOD FENCES

I am still sharing photos from our vacation.  

It is time for sharing with Good Fences.  Thank you for hosting Theresa.  

You can see more fences if you click on the button below.

16th and 17th day of our vacation - 12-31-15 and 1-1-16

7.04 a.m. and the birds are chirping noisily.  They are in the small tree just off the lanai on the left.  I see them hopping about but it is hard to identify them in this light, and I don't know enough about birds to identify their calls.  I am quite used to the  Pacific Plover, the Mynahs and the Cattle Egrets, as one or the other meanders across the grass frequently.   



There is a list of birds in a folder on the desk.  I thought it was very nice of the owners to leave it for their guests.

We are on the ground floor if I haven't mentioned it before.  Our studio room is bottom right on the above photo.  We have the curtains open, the sliding door is too (with the screen closed).  The sound of the surf is loud but it always lulls us to sleep at night, and in the morning we welcome it and makes a very pleasant alarm clock.  Actually we don't bother with the alarm clock.  No need for that on holiday.

We stepped outside and took photos of the sunrise. 

10.00 a.m. We decided to do some laundry and are taking our time getting out.  We don't have a washer and dryer in the condo, but the laundry room is only a short walk.  

Gregg just checked and he met a lady from Kansas. Her first time in Hawaii, she was having a wonderful time.  I remember my first vacation in Hawaii and what joy I felt being here, not quite believing it, as I do now.  

12.54 p.m. We are trying to find the Bank of Hawaii to get some cash for traveling, as tomorrow is our last full day on the island, and then we head home.

1.01 p.m. We found the bank thanks to the phone's GPS. The Bank Teller told us that she had just moved to Kauai and was from Albuquerque, New Mexico.  She was very nice and asked us how we were enjoying our vacation, what had we been doing.  She even made some suggestions of places we might like to check out. We have enjoyed meeting people while away. 



1.52 p.m. and we have spent a great time at Wailua Falls near Lihue.  It is located behind the Kalepa Mountain Forest Reserve in Hanama'ulu.  If you ever watched the old TV show Fantasy Island, the waterfall was used in the opening credits.

I have read this waterfall is 173 feet high, but one person said it is more like 80 feet.   I am not sure which is correct and I forgot to make a note of the website, but they say that state officials measured the waterfall at 80 feet high. It is a very short walk from the parking lot, so no hiking to speak of.  

Gregg took this photo of me trying to get the whole of that gorgeous scene in by tilting my cell phone this way and that way.

This is one of those that I took.  There was a very large tree trunk that was doing a balancing act at the edge of the falls.  I couldn't help but wonder how long it would be before it fell.

Legend has it that Hawaiian men, possibly royalty, would test their endurance by jumping from the top into the 30-foot pool, some of whom did not survive.

People are swimming and there is a rainbow!  

Typically for me I was more interested in the birds that were flying around.  

There were several of them, and I realized that these were the Tropicbirds I had first learned about at the lighthouse.  They were circling far below us and I noticed a few on the rock face near the waterfall.

Those long tails were distinctive and the very first bird I had ever seen in my life with those kind of tail feathers.  Very cool!

Later we had lunch in Kapa'a, in the Olympic Cafe. 

It is on the second floor of a building in the historical part of town, and there are no windows, all open to the outside with canvas shades that are drawn down when needed. 

Gregg had a Thai-style Chicken Wrap with Peanut Sauce.....

and I had a Kalua Pig Burrito with a Papaya Salsa. 

I can't remember what this drink was now but I am guessing a Lava Flow, this from the descriptions of their selection here.  It was good!

On the way down the stairs we enjoyed looking at several photos.  This one I enjoyed the most.

There were also paintings which I have already shared in a couple of other posts, and the surfboard.

We stopped at one of the stores and bought a few gifts.  

The gentleman who helped with our purchases was originally from Denver but moved to Virginia Beach, and then 30 years ago he made a final move to Kauai.  We were wondering if he had been in the navy, but by the time we thought of it we were out of the store.  He was really nice and friendly, very helpful without being at all pushy.

We have been back at the condo for a while now, another day over.  We're finding that we are winding down as we draw to the end of our holiday. 

~~~~~~

Friday, January 1st, 2016 and first day of the new year!

11.37 a.m.  Gregg and I got up early and have just returned from the beach in front of our condo.  It was a lovely walk and relatively quiet. 

There was a young man fishing....

a couple with two small children splashing in the water, a couple of young girls walking along in the surf and a paddle boarder, rising and falling with the slow motion of the sea.  

We sat on a large tree trunk, the largest piece of driftwood I have seen washed up on a beach.

It had been there for a long time, someone had used it to practice their carving.

We inspected the grain of the wood. The old trunk intrigued me and I started taking photos.

A very friendly couple from Alaska stopped to chat at some length.  They were from the Kenai Peninsula, a hundred miles south of Anchorage.  We also met another lady who said Happy New Year as we walked up to the water spicket to wash the sand off our feet.  She was from Arlington which is only a short drive down the freeway from where we live.  We have met three people from Virginia so far on this trip.



It is now 8.41 p.m.   We have had a lovely drive and took the back roads.  

At another beach we saw three men parasailing,  at great speed.

I was amazed at the wake they were creating...... 

  
often being pulled high out of the water.  

One man was a real acrobat and he must have gone as high as 30 feet, with several twists and turns that would have done a high wire act proud.  It was an impressive sight.  

There were also snorkelers.  From our vantage point they seemed a little bit too close to each other for comfort, but all seemed well as each enjoyed their own particular activity. 

We stopped off at Kapa'a for lunch, a place on Main Street.  Gregg ordered Fish Taco's 

and I had the  Caprese Salad.  

The Maitre'D was very nice, a lady who looked like she was wearing army boots.  They must have been comfortable with all the running around she was doing.  There were several people at the other tables, one a family of six who were watching a football game, and getting very excited about it.



It was quieter on the roads being a federal holiday (New Year's Day), and there was none of the slow moving traffic we have become used to.  We drove on.  However, one of the residents thought everyone needed a gentle reminder.

We took the north road to a little beyond the turnoff for the lighthouse, and drove by very interesting homes.  

I always enjoyed looking at the lush vegetation in the gardens, and also the different designs.

We came to another beach that looked very popular with the locals....

and at the end of the beach there was a very expensive looking home with tall gates, walls made from volcanic rock and lots of security cameras all over the property.  There were also warning signs not to trespass.

People value their privacy as many homes have no trespassing signs and are barricaded behind gates and walls.  


The road was a dirt track, very bumpy again, and there were of course chickens everywhere.  These chickens on the back roads were a little more skittish than the ones we find in the towns. 

We also drove by a single Nene Goose.  This one didn't have any bands on its legs.  Gregg stopped so that I could take photos.  I had the window down and didn't want to get out of the car to bother him or scare him away.  We were several feet away and I took my photos as he was picking at the grass.  He didn't like that very much as his head went down in a defensive posture and started running towards us.  It was time to move on and leave him in peace.

By the time we started back we were ready for a bite to eat again, so we stopped at a place that I have been curious about when driving by several times.  These pretty dogs looked hot and tired as they waited for their human in the parking lot.

It was mainly a general store for healthy, organic foods.  It is small but has an interesting variety of items and we helped ourselves to a small portion of a Thai Chicken dish from one of the hot urns inside.  

The front of the store had these pretty ginger plants outside.



Now we are back at the condo and ready to go to sleep.  The first day of a New Year is almost over.  It has been a wonderful vacation, one that has been incredibly enjoyable.  We have loved our time here, but now we know we will be heading back to Virginia tomorrow, we are looking forward to seeing home again.  

If you missed any of my daily journals and would like to catch up, I am sharing their links below.

Oahu

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Page 7
Page 8
Page 9
Page 10

Kauai

Page 11
Page 12

Page 13

Page 14
Page 15