Tired I was. So tired. In preparing for the Kauai trip, I found there
just wasn't time for sleep. So I stayed awake all evening getting ready.
And around 5:20AM, the van pulled up and Terry knocked on the door.
I was ready. Let the trip begin!
It was still dark outside. We loaded up my stuff and then went to pick
Misty up. She was all set to go. Next was the long drive to SFO. Traffic
wasn't bad. As things slowed down for me, I began to get drowsy. But
I didn't sleep yet. There would be plenty of time for that on the plane.
We checked our bags and waited for the plane get fueled up and find
out why the #2 and #3 engines kept making all those popping noises (kidding
- it was just engine #2). The plane pulled up and we left on it. I didn't
bother getting a drink this time. I knew I'd be sleeping just fine on
this flight. And besides, it was only 6:30 in the morning.
Flying over was nice. Misty was a sweetheart and let me have the aisle
seat, which I really, really enjoy. We landed in Honolulu, traded a
few passengers and then landed somewhere else. I forgot which isle.
But we got off the plane and boarded a smaller plane. This plane would
take us to the island of Kauai. Boy, it would seem like they were going
to lose our luggage since we were doing so much shifting around. Boy,
yeah, it sure would seem like that would happen. Yeah, it sure would.
Once we were on the smaller plane, we discovered that our seats were
far apart. Not wanting to be separated, Terry and Lesly told us to move
up closer and switch seats. Hmmm
well, I guess that wouldn't hurt
anything. We moved up. It would only be a problem if the plane was full.
Of course, the plane was full. Suddenly chaos slowly crept upon us.
At first it was no big deal, the people who needed the seats just found
nearby ones. Then everything gradually went to pieces, and people were
scampering left and right to find a way to seat down. Families were
separated. Children were lost. And two stewardesses had synchronized
nervous breakdowns. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad, but trust me, it
was bad.
If reminded me of the story where a man went back in time and did nothing
more than step on a butterfly. That small action caused a chain reaction
that altered the entire future. I don't think we altered anyone's future
much. But maybe a few people got their Kauai trip off to a somewhat
rocky start. Anyway, after everyone finally got seats, we left for Kauai.
Misty had the window so I didn't get to see the island from the plane
much. We touched down in Lihue airport. It was small but nice.
At the baggage claim, I noticed something very interesting - it was
outdoors. This was odd. It was covered with a roof, but there weren't
any solid walls. This was wild. The weather must be so nice that they
never worry about it getting too cold. Wow. That amazed me. You can
tell that I was going to be amazed by many things on this 'Garden Island'.
Around 20 minutes had passed since the baggage carousel had started
moving. Most people had gotten their bags and left. Not us. We were
among the unlucky. They lost the bags. Fortunately, I had counted on
something like this happening and I wore my special pants. The legs
zip off and they become shorts. If it got cold, I could zip the legs
back on again. My amazement for my special pants was long gone though.
It left a few weeks after Christmas did. However, if I was going to
be on an island with no luggage and only one pair of pants, THESE were
the pants I'd want! I was a happy camper. We filed a complaint and then
got the rental car. I got to drive it a little bit while Terry took
care of a few things. It was splendid. The sunroof was open as well
as the windows and the warm (but not hot) island breeze just blew by
me as I did circles around the airport parking lot. Never in my life
had I enjoyed airport parking lot circling so much.
We drove to the hotel. It was nice. The lobby was again OUTDOORS! Wahoo!
This island was wild indeed. The clerk gave us our key cards to our
rooms and we went to check them out. Terry and Lesly got a cool room
with a view of the tennis courts. Us? I guess we were a bit more fortunate.
Ours had an awesome view of the Pacific Ocean. Yeah, this was gonna
be great. Alas, it wasn't a perfect view though. In order to see the
ocean from one of the beds, you'd have to painstakingly turn your head
the direction of the sliding glass door. Agony, misery.
Since the luggage was still MIA, we trolled down to the beach. It wasn't
far away. The water was cool. I think I was expecting warm water everywhere,
but it was closer to just plain cool. Not cold, mild you, just cool.
And cool is easy to get used to. A swimming pool in early summer can
be cold. The ocean off Northern California is chilly. So, I could deal
with cool.
We took some pictures on the beach. And then we returned to the hotel.
Drat! Still no luggage. But hey, I had my cool special pants so I was
okay. We went down south to Lihue for dinner. The place was one that
my guidebook recommended. The place was an ONO recommendation. That
meant 'tasty'. And it was tasty all right. I had the mahimahi stuffed
fish with mashed potatoes. It also came with meso soup, a small salad,
and coffee. Not a bad deal. Too much for me to eat, but I didn't complain.
When dinner was completed, we returned to the hotel. Our luggage had
arrived and was eager to see us. I wasn't sure where my suitcase had
gone off to, but the important thing was, it came back to me. We then
decided to head to the spa (we, being, Terry, Misty and I - not me and
my suitcase).
The spa was great. It overlooked the ocean. But it was dark out now,
so it overlooked the dark. We enjoyed the hot spa and chatted with fellow
tourists around us. Over the next few days, we would visit that spa
many times. And I was pretty sure I was going to go home with permanent
wrinkles in my fingertips from all the soaking.
Soon, we became land creatures once again and Misty and I traveled
up north to visit a waterfall. This was 'Opaeka'a Falls. The challenge
of reaching it wasn't exactly at maximum. You drove up a 2 mile road
and parked the car. Voila. The falls. I did get some good pictures of
it though. Five minutes later, we were heading back again.
Our next pilgrimage was over to the bar. This too would become a nightly
meeting place for us. Heck, it was the only place open at night. Though
they stopped serving drinks around 9:30 - 10:30. We would meet in the
outside bar area and just kick back and relax. Those were some of the
best moments. No work, no computers, no worries. Just relaxation. After
that, we crashed for the evening. It was only around 9:30, but we were
dead tired. Kauai is noted for not having much nightlife, but for a
good reason -- everyone is wiped out by the time late evening rolls
around.
- Day 2 -