mollyfied

Spent our first full day in Hanalei hiking the 8 mile round trip trail to Hanakapi'ai Falls. I very unwisely selected my Columbia sandals for this hike, thinking they would work best for getting across the small rivers. Um - No. You need hiking boots for this trail. And Kevlar. And a helmet. And lots of sunscreen. And a helicopter. It's no stroll through the park. It's a kick-your-butt, bring-your-machete-and-ropes sort of trail with ants, tree roots, lots of rocks, slippery streams and a narrow path that teases you into following the wrong way. After working our way up and down those monsterous crevices of the Napali Coast mountains, we made it to a rocky beach occupied by lots of other hikers and nice feral kitties. It was a beautiful and wild cove, too dangerous to ... read more

The beaches were closed due to the tsunami warning the night before, so we decided to take the coastal hike along Poipu, which curves around the Poipu Beach Golf Course. It was a gorgeous hike along scary cliffs, sand dunes and scrub brush. The golf course was beautiful and, interestingly, bordered sacred ancient Hawaiian grounds. We walked on the edge of the course as part of the hike with signs indicating that we should be watchful for golf balls. Ummm, thanks. The hike led to a secluded beach, but we didn't go all the way to the beach. We stopped for pictures and explored, so the round trip took about 3 and a half hours. Later in the afternoon, we swam at Poipu Beach and then went to Koloa grocery and picked up some nice Ahi ... read more

We had a pretty laid back day today - a "his" and "hers" day. Paul indulged me by going to a beautiful park, the Kauai Coffee Company plantation and then shopping. We stopped by a church craft fair that had lots of fun handmade stuff. When we got back to the condo, we made our own plate lunch with leftover terriyaki steak and rice. I enjoyed a nap while Paul puttered around getting ready for the game. At 2 p.m., the Huskers took over the rest of the afternoon ;-) Not much of a photo opp - just Paul yelling at the TV. Addendum: Paul took a "nap" at about 7 p.m. so I settled in for an evening with Bella, Edward and Jacob in "New Moon" and just when things were getting interesting (when Jacob ... read more

Another perfect day in paradise. We were so tired last night, we could hardly make it to 9 p.m., so by 6 a.m., I was ready to get moving. We walked and jogged a couple of miles, then I led a little yoga practice. My friend and yoga teacher Maria Pham would be proud :-) We drove to the airport for our sightseeing aerial tour with Wings Over Kauai. I wasn't sure what to expect and was hoping it would be worth the expense. While I love to travel, I hate to spend money - hence the first stop at Costco. I will eat a pbnj for lunch every day to save a few bucks. So even though this was a lot less expensive than the helicopter rides, it was still a chunk of change for ... read more

Our day started at 4:30 a.m. with just a few hours of sleep. I had planned on pulling out of the driveway by 6 a.m., but you know how it goes. There are chickens to be let out, a pony who needs more water, a million little things to remember, then forget when you find something else, then stand around like a dork trying to remember why you walked into that room in the first place. We made our escape by 6:20... then Paul remembered that he forgot to turn off the water hose leading to the horse trough, so we made a u-turn. God help us when we're in our 80s. We stopped at my mom's house to drop off our car and use her car to get to the airport. Traffic was crazy. Note ... read more