Fern Grotto and Hanalei Bay

I gotta say for being 80 years old my folks are pretty tough! I think I get tired before they do! Either that or they are really good at hiding it, which I suspect is the case! While they are tucked safely inside their beautiful vacation home, Dan is at work preparing for Papaya's Community Appreciation Day. He has been going non stop since last Saturday. First, preparing for my folks visit and then being a tour guide while preparing for the bib Papaya's event. We have been having a great time with the folks as Phil and Simone have been fantastic taking care of the dogs since we're gone most of the day. Last night we got home at 9:30 and the dogs came running out of Simone's house, her trailing behind. She said they were all snuggled up on the couch after having eaten some Burger King! Talk about being spoiled! I'm grateful and Baxter has taken them in as protector! His kingdom now includes their house as well as ours and even past the panic! Today we will head over to Papaya's, they can see where Dan works and have a little fun. We'll have lunch at the Oasis before heading to the Kapaa beach park for the Coconut Coast Festival. From the website "Are you ready to immerse yourself in all things coconut? There is something for everyone at this year's festival: entertainment, cultural displays and experiences, shopping, history, games, cooking demonstrations, contests and food...did we mention the FOOD???" Mom will be stoked, she can't get enough coconut!! Tomorrow we are going to Oahu and hopefully meeting up with our friend Linda Holloway! So, here are some fun pictures of their stay so far.

We took the dogs to the beach

Mom still has it!

Dad loves watching him swim

Chickens everywhere!

 Mom being silly on the riverboat ride to the Fern Grotto

 They sang Hawaiian songs on the way there

 We walked on a beautiful, paved path through the rainforest

to the Fern grotto. Water trickled down from on high and sparkled in the sunlight.

You can see that water better here

before hurricane Iniki in 1992, the ferns covered the entire grotto

happy mom listening to the Hawaiian wedding song

Hawaiian wedding song player

Taro leaf

mega crazy huge vines

Ginger flower, if you squeeze it a liquid comes out that you can use as a soap, smelly great!

waiting

back on the boat

mom hits land

dad

 Tutu's Soup Hale

Curry Egg Salad on house made focaccia

Cashew basil Pate

me by a big tree

us under the big tree

mom and dad in the kitchen of their vacation home

mom getting her coconut on!

St. Regis Hotel

Looking at Hanalei Bay

Hanalei Bay

Hanalei Taro Fields

Coconut Shave Ice

Hanalei Town

Hanalei Bay

Mountains behind Hanalei Bay

Dad finds a coconut

20 foot faces this day!

Sunset begins

sunset over Hanalei Bay

Flying High in Kauai

Dan and I decided to celebrate our 11th anniversary with the outdoor adventure company Outfitters Kauai. We splurged on the Kipu Zip Line Safari, a full day with playtime in water, land and air. Shavonne, our guide, was a lively young lady who made our exploit safe and enjoyable.

After a paddle lesson, our group of 14 got into tandem kayaks and navigated a leisurely 2 miles up the smooth Hule’ia (pronounced hula ēya) river. Our kayaks huddled together, we paused in unity so Shavonne could “talk story” about the legendary Menehune; the Hawaiian leprechaun. The ancient Menehune Fishpond parallels the river and legend says the Menehune built it in one moonlit night about 1000 years ago. 

We hiked down a well worn sun dappled path about a half mile into the lush rain forest and were shown where Harrison Ford made his infamous run in the opening sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark. When we came upon a water hole, Shavonne  explained that next week Johnny Depp was going to be “walking on water” and, grabbing the rope, she swung out and moved her feet like she was walking on water. We all have to give it a try!

A tractor ride dropped us off at the thrilling 800ft. zip line, an introduction in flight. With post zip line smiles we ate a hearty lunch overlooking our next coup. Fortified, we excitedly lined up for the 1800ft. tandem zip line; an exhilarating 90 second ride over the forest canopy of 100ft. tall trees. Joyfully hiking and chatting; we’re all good friends now, we arrived at Blue Pool. Shrouded in green shadows the mountain stream-fed pool provided secluded swimming and a chance to cliff jump. After cooling off, a quick hike took us to the river where a motorized catamaran waited. 

The guides work hard to make your experience secure and memorable so please remember to tip; a couple bucks per person is adequate. These exciting excursions are worth every penny, making you feel spontaneous and alive; plus, you’ll get to see places locals don't get to. We highly recommend it!

They Love it!

Of course, right? If you've ever been to Kauai you know. They were troopers last night, up for almost 24 hours at age 80 and still managed to keep their spirits up. Mom, dad and I got emotional at the airport but the tears turned into smiles as we headed into the beautiful Kauai day. Dan and I remembered our first time here, stunned by the enomous beauty, so we drove. They had worn warm clothes for the plane ride over and needed something a lot lighter to wear. We took them straight to Hilo Hattie's for some aloha shirts before heading up to Princeville to meet up with Tom. We took them home after dinner at the Hanalei Dolphin. We only recommend going for lunch, sushi and to get fresh fish from their market - dinner is way too expensive for what you get, mom had a small mahimahi filet and fries for $30.

Puamana and I drove up to Princeville so she could give them a massage. Mom and dad were sitting on the front porch going over all the "what to do in Kauai" magazines I grabbed for them at the airport. They spent their morning on the lanai gazing at the towering mountains, ocean, birds and laughing at the chickens. Puamana went right up to them and gave them a kiss on each cheek and a big, warm hug. Local style only she does it the best, with genuine affection. They fell in love with her right away, as I did when I first met her. She is saturated in genuine aloha spirit and generous with her time and beautiful easy smile. The tension of travel was erased and mom said Puamana made her feel 20 years younger! Back in Kapaa, Puamana made us lunch local style; teriaki beef, Korean chicken, steamed rice, mac salad and a tomato salad. Dan whipped up some fresh coconut water and rum drinks and we sat outside under the lychee tree to eat. 

Shopping in town they bought T-shirts, flip-flops, dresses, post cards, taro chips, Red Dirt shirt, hat and groceries before we took them back home to Princeville. We had to rush home because I needed to get my article for next weeks MidWeek Kauai in.

Today is the Day!

Mount Wai'ale'ale is making an appearance again, for the last several months it has been shrouded in clouds.

First, I would like to thank my friends who offered support inspired by my last post. A yoga friend, wanting to get to the root of the problem (as yogis like to do) emailed me a tender letter with some links. I have checked out one so far, Byron Katie's website and it looks good. Several friends suggested I be more gentle with myself, offering their objective point of view; I am too hard on myself. This, I know to be true, so the links are going to be useful.

Dan and I were busy yesterday getting the treehouse ready for my folks visit. We drove into the city to get a new stove. Simone met us at Sears so we could use her truck to get it home. We also got a new screen door. She and I drove the jeep home with the door attached to the top while Dan drove her truck with the stove in it home. Simone and I made a pit stop so by the time we got home Dan and Phil had the old stove out.  We left the guys to their work and, taking Lucy with us, ran some errands. We brought some volcano burgers back from TNT Steak Burgers and enjoyed them outside in the shade of the large trees at Phil and Simone's home, with a beer. Dan had to head back to Home Depot because the screen door didn't fit. So, as he went to the store again I cleaned the house. It took him 5 hours to replace the screen door, the second being too large by 1/8 inch, he and Phil cut it down. We have the best neighbors! They are so kind, helpful and generous! We love and appreciate you Phil and Simone!

Man that stove really makes this place look nice! I'm so happy to have a full size stove again! Yippie!

I had to put a shot of the screen door in since it took so much work!

Anyway, today is the day my folks come. They are in the air right now, the plane lands here at 2pm. They left Colorado at 3:30am Hawaii time, so I'm sure they'll be pretty worn out once they get here. I'm thinking we'll take them to Tutu's Soup Hale in Kapaa. The food is comforting, the atmosphere is comforting and the owners are comforting. Light, delicious, made from scratch meals that can be eaten outside. Today is a beautiful day so why not? Then we'll take them up to Princeville where they are staying at a friends home. They will be house swapping as our friends here are also from Colorado and will be there when my folks are here. They can meet the owner, Tom and get the low down before turning in for an early night.

I scheduled a massage for mom tomorrow morning. Puamana is coming to their place so I will bring my work there. I can work on it while she and maybe dad get a lomi lomi  (pronounced low me low me) massage. We'll meet Dan at our house so Baxter and Lucy can see their grandparents. They are going to be totally stoked to see them! Then we'll head to the Oasis for lunch and shop around. We can take them to Papaya's so they can see where Dan works and get some groceries. I want to take mom to Kojima's, she'll be happy to see all the Kauai beef for really great prices. They even have lamb chops, ox tail and tongue - all things she likes! Depending on how they feel will dictate the rest of the day. 

Lucy took over my computer the other night!

Aloha everyone!