Points West of Poipu!

Hi, everyone!

Friday evening is Art Night in Hanapepe, a former sugar mill town west of where we’re staying.  That’s where we went last Friday night.There were art galleries and craft shops open, with Hawaiian musicians on the street and lots of food trucks and restaurants to supply supper.  The soup lady was still there in front of what used to be the Hanapepe Cafe, but the cafe has turned into a different restaurant.  Joe-san would love to work with some of the curly koa wood, but he can’t figure out how he’d get it home in his suitcase!  We watched a street vendor make malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts), then we bought some and took them back to Poipu for a late dessert!  They were yummy, even if we did get sugar all over our paws and hooves and fingers!

On Saturday morning, Joe-san, Nancy-san and Grandpa went to the big farmer’s market at the Community College.  I had friends I wanted to see there, but Grandma didn’t feel like going and Moose-san and I stayed with her.  Later, we all took a walk along the path to the Hyatt to visit the turtle cove again.  The surf was strong enough that the turtles were staying just outside the break line, not in the cove.  Moose-san and I did see a lot of crabs climbing around!  We went back to Kukui’ula to watch sunset.  The colors were really intense!

 

On Sunday, Nancy-san and Grandma and Moose-san and I decided to walk down to the beach to see what animals were there.  We had what Grandpa calls the “trifecta”!  First, we saw a whale jumping offshore.  Then we discovered that there were a monk seal AND a sea turtle  napping on the beach!  We made friends with the monk seal response team volunteers.  They’ve been very busy at Poipu beach while we’ve been here!

Sunday lunch was special for Moose-san and me.  We went to Puka Dogs!  There was a long line of people waiting to order, so I got to see how the buns are toasted and the lemonade is made.  The big sauce dispenser was running low on lemon garlic sauce and mustard, and I was in the right place in line to watch the refill process.  The sauces come in big plastic bags sealed up in pails, and refilling looks more like plumbing than cooking!

Moose-san and I knew just what we wanted on our Puka Dog, so when it was our turn to order we were speedy!  Our Polish sausage with mild lemon garlic sauce, mustard and mango relish was yummy, and so was our freshly made lemonade!

Sunday night we watched the sun set at Brennecke’s Beach.  There’s a rip current there this year that wasn’t there when Moose-san and I were here two years ago.  The waves reflect sideways and run into each other.  Grandma and Grandpa think the bottom of the shore might have changed shape during the last hurricane.

Grandpa said that Monday was going to be the best weather day of the week, so we should drive to Waimea and go up to Waimea Canyon and Koke’e State Parks.  So Monday morning, Moose-san and I got ready as fast as we could.  We even had time to help Nancy-san do her daily sudoku puzzle before we left!  We know that the clouds come into the Kalalau valley overlooks before lunchtime, so we went right past Waimea Canyon and on up the ridge to the Kalalau valley overlooks first thing! There are two places with railings to view the Kalalau valley and one stretch of unprotected edge.  Moose-san and I like to look from all three places, and that’s what we did.  I needed to make sure Moose-san didn’t fall off any railing or edge!  It was fun to meet people who were seeing these views for the first time and people who had seen them many times before.  We all agreed that this was an especially clear and beautiful day for sightseeing.  The clouds did start to come in shortly after 11 a.m., so we were especially glad Grandpa brought us all earlier!

We visited the two main Waimea Canyon overlooks on our way back down the long, twisty road.  Grandma pointed out Waipoo Falls and the hiking trail that leads right to it.  There were lots of folks from organized tours at the lower overlook, so we didn’t stay too long there.  We didn’t see any mountain goats, but we did meet a rooster in the parking lot!

Even though clouds were moving into the Na Pali valleys, Niihau, the “forbidden island”, was still clearly visible from the road down to the coastline.  Grandma asked Grandpa to stop at a beach so she could take a picture.  Then we went into Waimea town to Aunty Lilikoi’s.  We always stop there to buy sweet and spicy passion fruit products to mail back to Fairport.

Hanapepe is on the way back to Poipu from Waimea, so we had lunch at Midnight Bear Bakery.  Moose-san and I met the Midnight Bear, Ursa Swift.  She was just packing up her truck to take baked goods to a market, but her helper made yummy grilled cheese sandwiches for us after she left. We bought ciabatta for our leftover dinner and morning rolls to eat for dessert.

Today was supposed to be rainy all day, but it was sunny this morning.  Grandma and Nancy-san and Joe-san and Moose-san and I walked down to the beach again to look for animals.  We didn’t see any whales out in the breaking surf, but we did see another sea turtle and another monk seal.  Or are we already friends with this turtle and monk seal?  We’ve seen so many it’s hard to tell whether they’re all different or some repeaters.  The seal team volunteers would know!

It was still sunny at noon, so Grandma and Grandpa picked up lunch to go from Dim ‘N’ Den Sum food truck in Old Koloa town after they did grocery shopping.  Moose-san and I made friends with Lynelle-san.  She is very nice and her husband Yoshi-san makes yummy pork belly bao!

We had our takeout lunch on the lanai of our unit, and it began to sprinkle rain just as we finished eating.  Then heavier rainstorms and winds came sweeping in from the ocean.  Grandpa looked at the radar and thinks it will rain all night.  No sunset tonight, most likely!  We probably won’t get to see the lunar eclipse of the blue moon, but Moose-san and I might get up in the middle of the night to check!

Love,

Lion-san