Kauai album part 1

I liken this year 2017 as a monumental year.  Our youngest turned 16 this year and is about to get his license.  Our eldest turned 18 and graduation is next month.  And in August we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary.  Monumental.

This is also the year that we got to take a trip to Kauai.  We don't often get to travel, even just a state away.  We've never taken a big family vacation.  So this one, this was special and you better believe that I know that.

Day 1:  drive to Grandma and Grandpa's house to drop off Charlie...I would've taken him with me and it was so hard to leave him but he got to stay with his daughter, Lily, and I know he was well cared for.  Our chickens got to go stay in the country with some friends' flock.

We stayed that night in a hotel near the airport.  We ordered in pizza, watched old Fresh Prince of Bel Air episodes, and Blake and I practiced a little mischief about the hotel (no pics so it didn't happen).

Day 2:  we boarded our flight to Lihue, Kauai.  It was a long flight, about six hours, but we landed in paradise and were taken back by the beauty of the place until the very moment we left.

 

 

We picked up our rental car and drove about 25 minutes to Poipu, on the south shore, where we stayed for the week.

Hawaii has wild chickens and it is one of the coolest things ever.  They are EVERYWHERE.  In trees, in grocery store parking lots, at the beach, in neighborhoods, on the mountains.  Everywhere.  They are smaller than your average back yard chicken and the roosters have glorious long tail feathers.  There were many hens with chicks, some had 6 and others just had 1.

 

 

 

The Tunnel of Trees is a mile stretch of Eucalyptus trees.  Sorry for the blurry picture.

I made Aaron drive me straight to the beach.  We were awkward and obvious in our jeans but I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and put my feet in that warm salt water.  It was like every beach I've ever seen in movies or magazines, beautiful people laying out in the sun, warm sand, blue water, palm trees.

 

And chickens...

So, like I mentioned, we stayed in a rental house with family.  The house is actually called Hale Ohana, which means "family house".  It was nice to have the privacy of our own house.  It was a little more "real life" as there was no maid service or complimentary breakfast.  We mostly ate cereal for breakfast and cooked a few dinners.  About the house, it was a concrete slab foundation and the outside walls were concrete blocks...this kept it mostly cool as there was no air conditioning.  The windows were always open and the breeze and birdsong blew through constantly.

That first afternoon, after getting into some shorts, it was back to the beach, feet in the water.

A seal pair, sunning themselves.  They were here at this beach for the whole week, in and out of the water.  It was mating season.

 

Sea turtle sunning!

 

That night we had brick oven pizza.  It was soooooo good.  I would venture to say it was the best I've ever had but it may have been the romance that is Kauai talking.

Kauai smells divine.  There are flowers everywhere and the air is just sweet and clean.  The hibiscus grow as shrubs in folks' yards.  It was the separating hedge between our back yard and the neighbor's.

 

My absolute favorite was the Plumeria.  It's petals are thick and waxy and the scent is warm and intoxicating.  I *think* the smell was *maybe* similar to the Jasmine I smelled in San Diego?  Either way, I was constantly stopping to smell the Plumeria.  They grow on a tree but the flowers were always being shed onto the ground.

 

I don't know what this one was...

 

 

Lots of lizards and geckos and birds and butterflies.

The backyard of Hale Ohana, lots of room for barefoot soccer.

 

Day 3:  To the beach.  Boogie boarding.  Turtle watching.  Sand castle building.  Body surfing.

Mid day we did some shopping and ate at Bubba's Burgers.  We also tried Shave Ice, a must when visiting Hawaii.

 

Apple bananas.  A sweet little treat that quickly became my favorite.  They are about half the size of a standard banana, taste pretty normal until the middle, when you bite into them you'll see pink and taste apple.  It's crazy good!  I've looked into having some shipped over here.  There is a company that will send me two pounds per month for the low-low price of $40.......per month.......for bananas.  I'm tempted.  They are that good.

 

That night we stayed in and grilled some steaks, pork chops, bacon wrapped shrimp, potatoes, and zucchini.

More from Kauai next time......