Travel Diary

We had left the curtain and sliding glass door open the night before. Security wasn't a problem since we were on the second floor. And the weather wasn't about to dip under low 70s. So, the sun happily greeted us around 6am. It rose rather early. And when I turned my head to see it around 6:20am, it was already a good deal up in the sky. Yup, to catch a sunrise, we'd need to awaken pretty darn early.

The weather was already close to (if not past) 80 degrees. We were ready for our first adventure. Mission Number 1 would be getting some food. Fine by me. I wasn't above eating. Terry, Misty, and I went out to look for food. Sad to say, McDonalds was the only thing we could find. We grabbed some food (?) and returned to the hotel to eat it. Along the way, we rented some snorkeling gear and boogie boards at the "Chris, the fun lady" store. We ate outside and enjoyed the fine morning air. Once breakfast was over, it was beach time. Lydgate Beach was the nearest one and it had the luxury of having a protective rock barrier around it which made it quite safe for swimming and snorkeling. The water was cool (but not cold). I had my first real snorkeling experience, and it was a blast. The fish were a bit accustomed to humans feeding them for they practically circled around you waiting for a handout. The water was a tad murky since the sand was so fine. But I was able to spot many fish swimming around. There weren't many schools of fish though. My guess was they were mostly home schooled.

Snorkeling lasted a little while, but the spa beckoned for us again, and who were we to deny it. Ahhhh! More relaxation. I truly felt like I was going to just melt away into the water.

We drove over to see the Wailua Falls. There wasn't any hiking involved. You just park the car and walk a short distance. The falls are nice, but the challenge just isn't there. Back in the car again, we traveled south. Along the way, we traveled through the Tree Tunnel. It's not very obvious. In fact, we didn't know we had passed through it until afterwards. At the south shore, we visited Spouting Horn. What is consists of is the waves crashing into the rocks, and the water shoots out through a hole in the ground which makes a large horn-like sound. It's really quite fun to watch. I got a few pictures down there and then back we came.

For dinner, we would head to Princeville. Steve was getting married up there and we were invited to the pre-wedding dinner. The drive took about 40 minutes, even though it was only 20 miles. There is essentially just one road around Kauai and it makes ticket writing a fairly simple sport. Many locals seem to drive the speed limit...or less.

Princeville turned out to be a nice place. The foliage on the north side of Kauai was a lot more lush and green. Yes, everything is green, but this was REALLY green. If you've ever wondered how many different shades of green there are, come to Kauai. Trust me, there are a LOT. And I'm partially colorblind so even I didn't see all of them. I think the others can vouch for the myriad of greens, but I don't know - they didn't seem to mention it much. However, Terry did mention about 18 times that Kauai's green unspoiled vegetation did remind him of Taiwan as a kid. By now, Kauai's green foliage reminds us that it reminds Terry of Taiwan as a kid.

The food at the dinner was great. Again, more fish, but I love fish. I ate until I stopped eating, which wasn't long after I started eating. I missed dessert. I think I was taking pictures of the sunset at the time. I was never able to get an ocean sunset at our hotel during our time there. We were just on the wrong side of the island. But I got many sunrise pictures, and I doubt anyone would know if I just labeled some of the sunrise pictures as "sunset" pictures. People may get suspicious of the setting looking the same though.

While the visit was nice, we couldn't stay long. Thus, we began our long drive back to the hotel. Once there, it was spa and bar time again. The spa was happy to see us. The bar was about deserted. And the tiki torches weren't lit. But the atmosphere was still awesome as usual. Before long, bedtime came.

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