Prolog

As many trips start with a comedy of errors, so did this one. I prepared at a frantic pace to pick up Sue at 4:30 pm. I got out the monthly billing for March, got the taxes signed, did numerous other chores, headed out to drop of some work to Amy and then pick up Sue, and I forgot the itinerary, tickets, and all other pertinent information sitting on my desk. Fortunately I had left 20 minutes early so I was only a couple of minutes late picking up Sue.

So the journey finally began. We had been dreaming and anticipating for 6 weeks now. We meet our first character at the gas station in Dixon where an literate Quick Stop operator explained why the gas pump wouldn't pump more than a gallon at a time, how lightly you hold the nozzle and how you just barley squeeze the trigger. I had him show me. It shut of on him 11 times before be had pumped 6 gallons. We were quite amused and found it interesting  to see his struggle and that shuck and jive are still alive in California.

We had a room reserved at the Quality Inn in South San Francisco whose claim to fame was that they would keep your car for you while you were on your trip. They were only a little more expensive than the price of parking the car at the airport.

We were still early enough in San Francisco to enjoy a meal at the Franciscan on the Fisherman's Warf. We enjoyed a few culinary delights in a magnificently comfortable atmosphere. Sue had a cup of Clam Chowder and the Crab cakes. They looked quite strange and had a crispy 4in high hair like stuff on them Phyllo. I named them Hairy Crab Cakes. I had a bowl of Clam Chowder, a salad, an Orange Peel Ginger Ale float, and a Chocolate soufflé. I was so full I had to be rolled out on a hand truck. The food was so good that while writing about it my mouth started to water.

As we crawled into bed that night, Sue asked me to look at her face, her eye was driving her crazy. Sure enough she had a red welt by her eye and red splotches on her face. On with the Ice Pack and off I went to get some Benadril. We figured it might be a reaction to the shellfish.

The clerk at the hotel didn't know where a pharmacy was but she told me how to get to a liquor store she though might be open a 11 o'clock on a week night. Of course she was wrong. I still found one down on San Bruno, it was a very bad looking neighbor hood. Out front was a collage of automobiles, bikes, low riders and pimpmobiles. When I got inside it looked like your everyday liquor store, a middle eastern terrorist sleeper cell, in other words a mom and pop kind of place. I got the Benadril and as I left I was greeted by a brother dressed in a orange suit and a purple tie. He flashed me the piece sign as I passed while watching my back.

I got back and dispensed the Benidril with an explanation of why the antihistamine that I am  sure bored the hell out of her. Within 30 minutes she was felling better.

The airplane boarding and waiting were the usual mess with pathetic counter employees. I'll spare you my whining. So were finally off into the wild blue.

Day 1: We have arrived

The car rental place tried to sell me a $50.00 dollar per day insurance plan. Not me baby. We got a brand new blue Dodge Neon, only 6 miles on it and it even fits me!

Off to the Kauai Beach Home we go, ( I am going to refer to the house this way throughout this log in hopes that it will help with the linking of this site, so please forgive the redundancy)  but not before we had a world famous Ono Burger. She had a Local Girl and I had a Local Boy, that's a teriyaki, pineapple, cheddar cheese burger with probably the biggest onion rings I have ever had. It was good, but much more than we were supposed to eat.

Sue convinced me that we should visit the Kauai Beach Home before we stopped at the store. She was right, all the basics were in ample supply, salt, pepper, spices, towels, linen, silverware, and etc. the only thing we would need would be the main food we would eat.

We arrived and were greeted by Loke, a local, that is a caretaker for the property. Upon entering the house our mouths dropped open at the breathtaking view we beheld, a panorama of Moloaa Bay, blue ocean, blue sky, pristine sandy beach, green grassy hills to the left and lush green forest on the right.

We dumped the bags and out onto the beach we went for a stroll in the sand. There were lots of shells, driftwood, tide pools, coconuts and only a few people. It was like our own private beach! We hadn't changed into our suits - Duh !

So we decided to check out the house. It is truly comfortable with an open floor plan. Most of the rooms have an unobstructed view through picture windows and sliding doors. These views coupled with the high ceilings and the sound of the breaking waves nearby make you feel like you are outside. The sturdy furniture gave me that comfortable and homey feeling, the  "I don't have to worry about breaking anything feeling".

Floor plan (not to scale, but close)

After checking out the kitchen we decided to go the market and have our evening meal here on the deck.

The Safeway in Kapaa had a great selection of produce and some giant King Crab legs and claws. So we got one of each, grabbed some bacon and eggs and salad dressing. fruit, bottled water and a couple of bottles of Gran Spumante. We also stopped at the ABC store, a kind of mini Kmart type of store, and picked up a couple of snorkels and some reef walkers, a slipper that protect your feet when you are walking on the reefs, got more film and headed back to the Kauai Beach Home.

We took a brief nap, (what you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?) and then jumped into our suits and went snorkeling in Moloaa bay. We saw a blow fish, eel, and lots of smaller multi-colored fish. We learned later that the best snorkeling in the bay was on the east side at high tide. An hour was enough snorkeling for the first day.

I open up the Kauai Beach Home and put out the patio furniture, set the table and un-corked the Champaign. In nothing flat Sue had the crab, salad and vegetables ready. We ate on the deck as the sun set listening to the waves break 50ft away. This was one of the most romantic evenings of my life.

We conked out early, still on California time, and let the waves lull us to sleep (What you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?).

Day 2

Lured by hers soft kisses and warm body, Sue coxed me awake. It was too late for the sunrise. I had planned on catching it on film and video - oh well maybe tomorrow. Uh-oh I am already starting to sound Hawaiian.

I started video-taping the Kauai Beach Home, Moloaa Bay and horizon. Sue started fixing breakfast, Bacon and Eggs, fried potatoes and juice, absolutely fantastic. She is a great chef. We sat at the breakfast nook and enjoyed the view of Moloaa bay as we ate breakfast. Sue said she found it easy to fix everything with just the right pans, seasonings, and nicely laid out kitchen. We did a quick clean up and off to the Na Pali Coast for a hike.

We drove west for about 25 miles out past Kilauea and  Princeville, through farm land, sugar cane fields, cattle ranches, rain forest, across rivers, next to beaches and mountains. The drive by itself was a great pleasure. It is really easy to see why they call Kauai the garden Island.

We arrived at the trailhead about 8:30 am. There is a kiosk with a detailed map showing a 2 mile hike to the Hanakapi'ai beach and falls, so off we went.

The trail is very steep and quite difficult, large rocks, high angle of assent with only a very few flat spots for the first 1/4 mile or so. Oh, But it is so beautiful! You are walking on the edge of a close to shear cliff (the trail is wide so there is little fear of falling). You are looking out over a deep blue sea with turquoise estuaries and reefs. After the first 1/2 mile the trails roughness subside a little, but it is still up and down for about the first mile and a half.

On our fourth rest stop a man with his baby in a back pack walked past us at a brisk pace. Prior to seeing him I would have said don't bring anyone under about 12 on this hike. How about a little more weird, a guy with only a pair of cut offs walked by, no shoes, just bare feet and he wasn't going ouch, ugh, eek or any thing like I would have been. To me both of these characters seemed to be unexpected extremes and poor judgment. I guess if we all had good judgment the trail would not exist in the first place. I believe several people must have risked extreme danger to blaze this trail.

The heat was very overpowering for me, it was only about 85 degrees but with the exertion and my sun stroke a few years back I had reached my limit. We had already gone about a mile and a half and and climbed about 800 ft up and half of that back down because of the up and down elevations of the trail. We talked with a couple of hikers who had been down to the falls. They said we only had another  half mile to the beach but that the falls is another 2 miles up a river bed and another 800 ft of elevation. That would make the whole hike 8 miles with an elevation change of 3200. Not me this year.

On our way back Sue spotted a Humpback Whale and her Baby breaching out about a quarter mile. So out with the binoculars and we get to rest for 30 minutes while we enjoy their frolicking.

The trip back down was much faster, maybe we had the horse back to the barn syndrome or we had gotten our second wind. Any way it was much easier.

Back to the Kauai Beach Home, a BLT sandwich, a shower and a nap (what you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?). Then off to find a Luau.

Enter Smiths Tropical Paradise. They had a Luau starting at 5:00 pm with a tram leaving at 5:30 pm for a tour of the grounds. It was 4:30 pm and I was starved and they weren't serving food until 6:30 pm so were are off to the Hula Girl Restaurant for a Mahi Mahi sandwich and a Mai Tai. It was slow getting served but we still got back to Smith's in time for the tram ride.

They had beautiful grounds with lots of exotic plants and birds and chickens. Yes chickens, it seem to be the state bird and you see them everywhere on the island. The Imu ceremony was quite interesting. This is where they un-earth the pig that is cooked in the pit. The actual Luau left a lot to be desired with the quality of every piece of food lacking. Everything was bland with no spices or sauces available and every thing was only semi-warm and we were one of the first tables served.

The show was good and the dancers were both young and old and quite nimble. There were no bad seats, view wise, but the seats were hard and narrow. Not very comfortable for a big guy like me.

Well this was enough for one day. Back home and to bed. (what you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?).

Day 3

Up before dawn waiting for the sun to rise I got the camera out and both batteries are dead. Looks like i didn't get them plugged in right, fortunately the sun didn't peep out until 30 minutes later. Next a small cloud bank rolled in aND blocked the sun's accent from my view. I didn't get the huge ball that I expected but I still got a pretty got some pretty good shots.

Now to  photograph the Kauai Beach Home. Mission accomplished. I got a lot of good shots. Another great breakfast of Bacon and Eggs, and off for more fun and games.

We decided to drive into Lihue to find out what snorkel trip we wanted to go on and to go up to the Fern Grotto where I was going to propose. (She didn't know about the propose part). I had decided a few weeks back that we should be my life partners.

Smiths Tropical Paradise had a tour that went up the Wialua River to the Fern Grotto. The fern Grotto is a cave that is in the lush rain forest before the falls. The guide told us about the sites on the river and the vegetation and birds. While waiting to go into the grotto we were entertained by native singers.

When we got into the Grotto the singers sang the Hawaiian Wedding song. As soon as they we done I popped the question and she said "Yes, Id love to."  Of course we kissed and hugged and got our picture taken at the spot. It was very romantic.

On the trip back the guides sang and danced for us and taught us to Hula. We saw the spot where Indiana Jones ran out of the jungle to the plane in the river. The trip was short, but oh so sweet.

We found a helicopter place first. It was South Sea Helicopters. They had a 4:15 flight available that afternoon. So we made that reservation and called on of the boat tours for reservation for our snorkel trip for the next day.

We were hungry already so we asked the gal at the counter and she told us the Tip Top had great food and that it  was just across the street. Across we went, no cafe. We turned right and walked around the corner. Still no Tip Top Cafe. We decided we needed the walk so we just kept walking. We found a place called OKI. We walked in the front door. It was hot and there were a whole lot of unhappy looking people so we walked right back out again. We decided to walk around the block where the Tip Top was supposed to be.

We found it! It is a hole in the wall Motel and Cafe. What the heck, we walked in to what looked like a buffet but when we turned the corner it looked more like a fifties diner without the Jukebox. No tourists, all locals filled the place with only a few booths open.  They served Sushi! Sue is a Sushi nut, it appeared she may be in heaven. Charsashi was her choice, I have no clue what it was but she made cooing noises the whole time she was eating it. I had the local special called the Poly Molly it was weird. Two eggs on a hamburger patty on top of Rice and smothered in beef gravy. This is obviously the reason why Hawaiians are big people. I ate it and it grew on me. I probably wouldn't order it again. They had us out of there in 45 minutes, this is some kind of record for service on the islands. They also had lots of other selections that looked quite good on the menu.

We figured since we had a few hours to mess off before the Helicopter ride that we would see the "Grand Canyon"  of Kauai the Wiamea Canyon. Enter the first dumb mistake of the trip, half way up the canyon I notice we are running out of gas. We already paid for the Helicopter ride and the mobile phone isn't working up here so we got conservative and decided to turn around. We came across an area that was a smaller red dirt alluvial fan and had some interesting landscape features. We took some pictures. It was so different ,it is what I believe  Mars probably looks like minus the vegetation. This red dirt is the stuff they dye the t-shirts with. Sue walked out into it with her thongs on and it colored the bottom of her feet red even with then in the thongs.

We got back to South Sea Helicopters in time to take the shuttle to the airport.  Up we went! Sue was white knuckled for the first few minutes. She had never been up in  a chopper before. She got used to it pretty quick and livened up to her usual bubbly self. The flight was noisy but exciting, breathtaking, and most of all SPECTACULAR! We flew out over the Menehue Fishpond, next to shear cliffs, and across mountain peaks. The pilot showed us several waterfalls including the one used in the Jurassic Park movie. He took several sweeps so that we could get good pictures.

Next we flew on over the the Na Pali Coast. We got a view from the air where we had hiked the day before. It was absolutely unbelievable that we had been hiking on that cliff. Even form the air it looked totally inaccessible. I have posted lots of pictures on this site that we took from the Helicopter. 

A light came on on the dash as we approached the end of the Na Pali Coast. The pilot calmly said we have a warning light that just came on on the dash, does anybody mind if we land at the Princeville Airport? I looked at the dash and the "Engine Chip" light was on solid. He headed that direction and we landed in a about five minutes. It was a little scary but the pilot handled it very calmly and routinely. I guess you could call it an Emergency Landing. We sat at the bar and had the strongest Mai Tai I have ever tasted, about 1 shot of rum, one of something like kerosene and another of motor oil with a splash of fruit juice. I think I was soused for about an hour. It took South Sea tours about an hour to get us picked up another HOUR to get back to our car. They agreed to buy us dinner for our inconvenience.

We had asked the pilot earlier in the  evening where he thought the best food on the Island was and he recommended the Pacific Cafe, next door to the Safeway Market In Kapaa. He was right what an experience!

The food at the Pacific Cafe was unbelievable! I have attached a copy of the menu of the meal that we had to this log. That's right, everything that is on the tear sheet we ate. Three courses, of samplers, with 6 wines and everything was superb. The presentation was excellent, the service was excellent, and there was plenty of it. This is the only restaurant I have eaten at in years that the waiter made sure he had touched each of us at least once before the meal started. They know their business well and were one of the high points of the trip. We were never waiting and were extremely satisfied.

When we left their was a Weyland Gallery right across the foyer. This is the Weyland that does all the Dolphin and Whale sculptures and paintings. We were greeted by  a very helpful fellow by the name of Charles Joseph who knew his products thoroughly. It was a pleasure talking with him. One of the galleries show piece was a full size dining set that had swimming dolphins holding up a thick glass oval top. It was a limited edition. 300 pieces, that sold for $29000.00. It was the most beautiful functional art I have ever laid eyes on. The other items in the shop were just as extraordinary, this is defiantly a place not to miss wherever you find one of his galleries.

Late to bed, but oh what a day. (What you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?).

Day 4

Out of the rack at 5:15 AM, rush the shower and down the road we go. We stopped at McDonalds for a big breakfast and were early enough to take a few extra minutes to enjoy it. (There should be an oxymoron in there somewhere).

We arrived at Kauai Sea Tours and arranged to do the trip on the Catamaran instead of the Zodiac, I was worried that the Zodiac might be to rough for my back. We shipped out on the Lady Luck, a combination sailboat, catamaran, and power boat. She has a small sail, approximately 30x30, and two 450 horse diesel engines. the boat was really stable and could really move out.

Sue and I rode on the front end of the pontoons for a very good portion of the trip. There was a platform with strong rails that extends about three feet in front of the boat. When you are riding there your peripheral vision limits what you can see of the Lady Luck and it makes you feel like you are flying, kind of like superman. The captain was very  cautious and wouldn't let you ride up there if you couldn't follow some simple rules.

Riding out there we got the best view of the Dolphins and Whales that we encountered along the way. The dolphins would ride the bow wave and stay right at our feet for several minutes at a time. We must have seen at least 100 dolphins that day of all shapes and sizes. A one point we saw them working a school of fish, they looked like soldiers swimming in synchronized formations while they worked the school. All their heads and tails appeared on the surface at the same time and went back under the water at the same time. They were in parallel lines side by side. It was really cool.

We also got some pretty close views of whales and their babies breaching and rolling over in the surf. Out binoculars were a big help for a better view. The boats are prevented by law from getting within 1000 feet of these big mammals. They were truly magnificent animals.

The salt air and the warm sun just kind of melted us all day long. We were really laid back with no worries or cares all day long. Just kind of "Hey man what ca doing" kind of attitude. We were getting another view of the Na Pali Coast, just below where we had hiked. There were sea caves, waterfalls, and lots of interesting geological formations. About the only let down of the whole trip was the the snorkeling. The area where we snorkeled had only a couple of varieties of ugly fish, The snorkeling was better at the Kauai Beach Home on Moloaa bay. It was still fun just being in the water. They put a life guard in the water with us and even the less adventurous people on the boat had a good time and felt safe.

It was overall a great trip also and we would do it again with Kauai Sea Tours.

We were again at our limit so went went back to the Kauai Beach Home and took a nap.  (What you thought we weren't going to jump in the sack whenever possible?). After the nap we went snorkeling again and explored the nooks and crannies of the east side of the cove. The tide was in there were lots of fish and coral to explore.

A quiet supper, a bottle of Gran Spumante, and a beautiful woman. How much more satisfied can a man be?

Day 5

Clean up the house, take some more pictures and a last look at the Moloaa  Bay and off we go for a leisurely ride to the airport. We stopped in Kapaa and did some souvenir shopping and ogling the glass shops and art galleries. Then off we go into the wild blue. Yes, I missed my nap today because I wrote most of this log on the plane.