Day 7 - The Wild West of Kauai

No big activities planned today, and when we woke up...we were glad. We're still pretty bruised and sore from our surfing lesson so we decided to take it easy. We did some food shopping (it's still weird seeing surfboards in Costco) and such before starting our exploration day.

Since we had to to go to Old Koloa Town to pick our dive pictures CD anyway, we decided to do a drive to follow the highway as far west as it goes - which is the Navy's Pacific Missile Range Facility. There are gates to keep the public out.

Here are the highlights (and some cool pictures) from our little (all day) jaunt.

First - the stop in Old Koloa Town, which has become very familiar to us. It's hard to describe this little place, but it kind of feels like time is really torn between standing still to preserve and honor its history, but also knows it needs to find a future. It's a strange little town, but very cute. Our dive shop operator of choice is there...and they still weren't able to get the CD burned. ARGH! Ah, well...at least we got a cute picture or two.

I usually object to Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving...but who can resist this?

Well...onward then, to the west. Next, we drove through Kalaheo a very small village with a great pizza place..back to that later. Our next stop was in 'Ele 'ele, to find the port we are going to Saturday for our catamaran tour of the Na Pali coast line (Port Allen). We had lunch near the harbor and then checked out Glass Beach.

Described by some as "arguably the ugliest beach on Kauai" it is also somewhat fascinating. This beach is located behind the power generating station at 'Ele 'ele (they burn oil to generate electricity here...fascinating) down a dirt road. Glass Beach is so named because thousands of tiny pieces of glass are deposited on the dark sand from an old dump that was located nearby. The result...see for yourself.

Next off, we went to Salt Pond Park. There is a beach there (of course) and it's pretty (of course) but it...feels weird. Both Dianna and I felt a strange spiritual vibe there - a disturbance in the force, if you will - so we didn't stick around long.

We wound our way around the southwest corner of the island until we got to a turnoff onto a dirt road (and again, I use that term very loosely) for a little over 4 miles. It was rough road and made us glad we'd rented a Jeep. About a mile in, Di started having doubts - but manly man that I am, I coaxed her into hanging in there with me (mainly by refusing to stop the Jeep). We finally came to our landmark, a huge Monkeypod tree, turned left for few hundred yards, hairpin turn to the right and OH CRUD...we were in deep, soft sand and not sure which way to go so the worst possible thing that could happen, did...I stopped. We could not go forward and we could not go backward without spinning the tires. I didn't want to sink the tires too far in that fluff so I didn't push the accelerator. I calmly put it into 4WD (silently praying that I wasn't really THAT stuck) and put the Jeep in to D1, and eased ever so gently forward, then back and then presto...we moved through the "mini-dune of death" to a safe parking place.

This part of the beach is called Polihale State park. It's as far as you can go toward the Na Pali coast without a boat. It's also the far end of over 15 miles of uninterrupted sand beach. Unfortunately, you can't swim in the ocean here most of the time - it's too wild. They lost 4 tourists in a 36-hour period just a week and-a-half ago on this stretch because they were careless. The currents and surf are tricky, with rogue waves pulling people into the surf when they are foolish enough to stay on the wet sand. It is a favorite place for hardcore surfers, however, and we saw several braving the huge waves (15-20 ft., I'm guessing). Because it's so hard to get to, it is very unspoiled and absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

The lighting was a bit tricky and we didn't have "the big camera" with us so I apologize...the images really don't do it justice.




We headed back down to Kalaheo and had what is considered by many to be the finest pizza on the island. It is certainly one of, if not the best I've ever eaten. I've eaten pizza in Chicago, L.A. (pretending to be a Chicago pizzeria) and just about everywhere else west of the Mississpi. It was great pizza. Now, I know a couple of my east coast friends are going to contend that it can't compare with New York's pizza and I have to concede that I've never had pizza there so I'm not going to argue. It's the best I've ever eaten...I'm just sayin'.

Another mellow day planned for tomorrrow. A little more exploring, and possibly a trip to the medical clinic. I still can't seem to get the water out of my right ear from our dives, so we're going to have it checked out to make sure it doesn't get infected or anything awful.

Aloha!

Day 5 - Another first

So today marked another first for us. After sitting through the obligatory timeshare pitch (no, we didn't buy, but the program offered by Wyndham is actually pretty interesting) we went for our first surfing lesson. Part of the reason we decided to try it was that we got a steep discount for sitting through the sales presentation (one of two carrots...more on the other one Saturday).

Hawaiian Surfing Adventures did a quick presentation during our orientation breakfast last Friday and since they promised "safe, shallow, sandy beach" surfing, we decided to try it out. We got about a two-hour lesson from a 23-year young surfer dude, nicknamed Moose. Probably a play on his real name 'cuz physically he wasn't a moose kind of guy. His real name, unfortunately, was very difficult and I have no idea how to spell it, so we're sticking with Moose.

I have to tell you, I had no idea how physically demanding surfing would be. I am TIRED tonight, and we were only in the water for two hours. Paddle out, nose into the wave, and then when you're past the breakers, watch the 'line' and pick your wave (Moose did the picking) from about 30-40 yards out. Then you turn your board's nose to the shore and begin to paddle gently, then hard. When you feel the wave pushing you, paddle very hard, when the tail dips just a little, stand up and ride it in. Simple. Yeah.

To my credit, I did stand all the way up and ride a wave all the way in (once) and rode a second one almost all the way in. Two hours, 1 1/2 successful attempts. Many spills. And now I understand why board shorts are only sold with strings to tie the waist on. That's all I am going to say about that. Di did well too, getting up at least once, though she rode in on her knees (cheater). ;-)

My one successful ride in - not very graceful, but I made it!
Thank goodness Di was on shore to capture it.

Both of us have bruises on our ribs from laying on the board and very sore shoulders from all the paddling. I have the additional bonus of blisters on the top of most of my toes from the rubberized coating on the board and a bruise on my ribcage from getting my board sideways when a breaker came in hard right after I got up from a spill. The ocean doesn't always play nice, I notice.

Hanging loose with Dude Moose.

All in all, a very fun day. We're thinking seriously of renting boards again next week. We can get a board for a full day for only $15 if we rent from the same outfit. Hey...you only live once!

Tomorrow is another early morning for us as we are going on our 2nd (and last, at least for this trip) scuba trip with Fathom Five.

Aloha!

Day 4 - "Get Down" gets new meaning

First off, I apologize for the lack of pictures today. In my excitement and, I admit it, nervousness, about going out on our first real dive since certifying, I forgot to ask the dive shop about renting an underwater camera. So...no pictures today. We are diving again on Wednesday, so I am planning to call tomorrow to arrange to rent a camera, if one is available.

What an incredible day! We had to wake up early this morning (5:30'sh...or, "0'Dark-30"). Not something I would normally choose on a vacation day that also happens to be my birthday, given my penchant for sleeping in, but this was different - and worth it. Today, we got to participate in our first boat dive. If you've been keeping up with us, you know that one of the primary purposes for our trip was to scuba dive. We even got certified just so we would be allowed to do so this time. You may also know that when we went to Maui, 4 years ago, we'd scheduled an introductory dive (walking in from shore) only to have it canceled due to high surf. On a boat dive, your chances of getting canceled are much slimmer.

We signed up for a two-tank dive and boy, what a great decision that was. We loved the experience so much that we both felt that if we'd have done one tank and gone in we would have missed out on way too much fun. For my non-diving friends (that's most of you, I think), I should clarify. You only wear one tank at a time. So you dive until you're low on air (out is bad), which is about 1000 - 700 psi (we started with 3000 psi). When you come back on board the boat, you rest a while (called a surface interval) to let some of the nitrogen that gets built up in your blood release out of your blood (called off-gassing - and it has nothing to do with flatulence). After a decent surface interval (time is determined by a lot of factors, depth you dived to, length of time at depth, etc.) you strap on a fresh tank and go down again, but in a different spot.

It is surreal to be in a clear, blue expanse of water and to get to interact with creatures you've only seen on documentaries or Finding Nemo. We saw so many varieties of fish, including gray moray eel, yellow snapper, orangeband surgeonfish, yellow tang, butterfly fish, Moorish Idol, a couple of different types of hawk fish, a HUGE scorpion fish (biggest our dive master had ever seen in these waters), spiny lobster, and of course our personal favorite, the green sea turtles. That's a very small sample of a dizzying array of species we saw in our two dives today. I can hardly wait to 'get down' again with the citizens of the sea.

After coming home and cleaning up we took it pretty easy, and went to a nice place for dinner, Scotty's BBQ. I have never eaten such delicious BBQ. I've BBQ in Texas, Kansas and several points in between and Scotty's wins the prize. For dessert, a pastry concoction that I've seen or tasted nowhere else...Puffansada. Think of a cross between a really light, fluffy shortcake and sponge cake that is cut in half with a filling (I chose "Very Berry"), then encrust the whole thing in panko and deep-fried...drizzled with berry sauce/syrup with puffs of whipped cream on the side. UNBELIEVEABLY GOOD! All served with a with an open wall to the soft breeze and the ocean. I don't know if it can get any better than this...but I'm willing to continue the research! :)

To top it all off, Finding Nemo is playing right now on the Disney Channel - God surely loves me. I'll post again tomorrow.

Day 2 in Paradise

Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we headed to Old Koloa Town (k0e-loe-ah) to scout out the dive shop, Fathoms Five, we're scheduled to dive with next Monday and Wednesday. We discovered a cool, historic bit of Kauai - Old Koloa Town. This is a small village of shops mostly housed in buildings that were erected in the 1800's to support the sugar plantation. Each building has a plaque that describes the history associated with it. Very interesting and fun.

Next we headed to Poipu (poy-poo) Beach for a day of sunning, swimming, snorkeling and sunning some more. Ahhhhh... Beautiful stretch of golden sand protected from big surf by natural lava rock walls. THIS is why we came to Hawaii, and especially to Kauai. This is Saturday and the beach wasn't crowded at all. SWEET! The real unexpected bonus was that a Monk Seal was, sunning itself on the beach when we got there. Monk seals are one of only few species of seal living in warm waters. It is a rare (estimated population of 1200), endangered species. We'd left our phones and cameras locked up in the Jeep so we missed the opportunity to get a picture. (The only disappointment of the day...not a bad day.)

When hunger finally forced us to leave, we'd gone through all of our snacks and most of our water...and it was 2:30 in the afternoon. We did a quick bit of research in 'the blue book' to find a simple, good lunch place and were intrigued by the sound of Keoke's Paradise. Lunch was really good - we split a half-pound cheeseburger and a basket of fries and each had a cold, frosty beverage (okay, a beer...Di opted for the Kona Lavaman Lager, I had the Kona Lavaman Red Ale). The first pictures below are the 'inside' of the restaurant. I put that in quotes because although there is a roof and some posts to support the trusses, there are no real walls - only awnings to protect from the breezes.
We were sitting at a table next to this railing...with a stream. Don't see that much in Tri-Cities...

Or a waterfall, which feeds the stream (this was about 10 ft. behind our table.


















Sorry for the fuzzy picture of the bar area...I promise this not the effect of the ONE beer I had. Just shaky hands.


And what would a dining experience in Kauai be without a chicken or two roaming about? :)



















In case you're wondering (we certainly were, so we asked), no, nobody kills and eats the chickens. Evidently these chickens, freed by the hurricanes were brought by the Phillipine immigrants. The roosters are bred for fighting so they are lean, and the meat is reportedly very tough. One t-shirt we saw to day had instructions for cooking and eating a Kauai wild chicken.

Kill, pluck, and clean chicken.
Place in large pot of water.
Place over heat and put in a hot lava rock.
When the rock is tender, the chicken is ready to eat.

After our lunch, we drove a couple of miles to "Spouting Horn." Spouting Horn is so named because a lava tube under the rock shelf opens and, about every 20-30 seconds a spout of seawater spews up like a geyser. I got a couple of shots of part of a "spew" but couldn't seem to time the shutter click to get the whole thing.



















We ended the day with a sunset walk on the beach near our condo and a soak in the hot tub. Life is good.

En route!

This my first attempt at updating my blog using my iPhone and so far...it's been interesting. I was able to get a wifi connection here at SeaTac using the new attwifi service that is free for iPhone and at&t wireless card owners - a nice perk for the extra $ spent on the data plan. Di and I are en route to Kauai for two weeks of R&R.

We're getting ready board soon, so I'm keeping this short. We'll keep you posted during the week.

Back to Reality...Almost

Earlier this evening we returned from our annual anniversary vacation. This year we trekked over the mountains and through the woods to Seaside, Oregon. As the name implies it is a beach town. Of the Oregon beach towns with which I am familiar, it is perhaps the campiest - with fun family activities like bumper cars, bumper boats, go-karts and...you guessed it, helicopter rides. Yep, my wife of 20 years and I took our very first helicopter ride on this trip and WOW - was it FUN! Our pilot, Gary, took us on a "low and slow" aerial tour of Seaside over to the neighboring town of Cannon Beach. It was smooth and the visibility was unreal. We could see Mt. Rainier in the distance.

We felt so blessed in so many different ways on this trip. First, on our drive down, we were able to meet with some dear friends who were on their lunch break for a Streams 101 class they were teaching in Portland - what a treat. Hope the class went well y'all! I am sure it did as three of our best were doing their thing there.

Since our check-in time wasn't until 4:00 pm, we took detour (okay, a rather long detour) to Lincoln City and the Tanger Outlet Mall. Now, I have to admit, I am not so into the shopping thing. I am a hunter-gatherer. I like to know exactly what I am looking for, go in to the store, grab it, buy it, bag it and go home. My wife...not so much. So we spent some time (and money) cruising through some shops there. Fortunately, Di was anxious to get to the beach so we only cruised three stores before heading north to our destination.

But a funny thing happened on the way to Seaside. I realized, several miles out of Lincoln City that we were very low on gas and that I'd forgotten all about filling up in my haste to head north. A few miles...okay several miles south of Pacific City (and about 80+ miles away from Seaside), the warning light for our fuel tank came on. Hmmm. Di started studying the map in earnest, calculating how many miles we had in the tank versus how many miles it was to the nearest gas station, which would be Pacific City. I said nothing about it, but I was getting pretty concerned that I was going to be getting some unwanted exercise that night. Fortunately, God was smiling upon us and we pulled up to the gas station with 1/2 gallon of gas left in the tank. Thank you God!

The favor was just beginning. We decided to have dinner (supper for you Southerners) in a microbrewery/pub called the Pelican. We'd eaten there just last October when we'd come to Pacific City with our friends Sam & Diana so we knew this beach side pub offered good eats and really smooth Scottish Ale. So we went in to this normally packed establishment and were promptly seated on the beach side (which is all windows) and were treated to a gorgeous sunset while we nibbled on appetizers and awaited our meal.

Onward, with full tummies and very happy taste buds, we checked into our room around 9:00'ish. Oh, did I mention our room? No? Well, I must fix that now. We are owners of WorldMark, The Club. This is a vacation property club - not timeshare, but similar in some ways in that most of the properties are condominiums. Very nice condominiums. If you're curious, check out http://www.trendwest.com. If you get interested, let us refer you. You'll be glad you did and so will we. :) So, back to the room. We had reserved a space a year ago because we could and because we wanted something very specific...ocean side. Oh, yeah. Our living room and our bedroom had full ocean views. Actually, the other bedroom did too, but we didn't spend any time in there. SWEET!



That's the view at sunset last night. Di was standing at one end of our balcony, I was about in the middle. To my left, on the balcony is a gas grill on which were a couple of fine tenderloin steaks. It was a cool room with an absolutely stunning view. We were on the fourth floor.

Oh...did you happen to notice that I'm outside in a sweatshirt, no coat, in January? Oh yeah, the daytime highs were in the upper 50's to mid-60's and sunny. SUNNY! On the Oregon coast! In January for goodness sakes! WOO HOO! Favor...blessing...and we thanked God for it every hour of every day.

So, we're back home now, and I have one more day of vacation before I head back to work. We're almost back to reality. But I'm holding onto the sweet sound of ocean waves and the smell of fresh sea air as long as I can until we can get back for another fix.