Hi, everyone!
In Hawaiian, aloha is the word for both coming and going! As our visit to Kauai was ending, we had lots of “goodbye” alohas! On Friday, I helped Grandma cut up the last pineapple we would need on this trip! Then, in mid-morning, we decided to take James and Thomas to see Waimea Canyon. There were some clouds to the west, but we hoped the weather over the canyon would be clear! We drove through some showers on the way to Waimea, but it stopped raining when we got to the main canyon overlook! One overlook was enough scenery for James and Thomas! Grandma said the clouds would already be in the Kalalau valley, anyway!
We stopped at Midnight Bear Bakery in Hanapepe for lunch! Thomas had an “everything” croissant, James had a turkey sandwich, and everybody shared the grilled cheese and pesto sandwich. James decided it was the best day ever when he got a cinnamon sugar croissant stick all to himself. Thomas got one, too!
Friday afternoon, we all went back to Poipu Beach. There was a sea turtle nestled up against a sand castle! There was another sea turtle resting on the spit. Thomas decided to build a sand mound over his own legs. Thomas and James were tired and went to bed after dinner, but Grandma and Grandpa and I watched sunset from Brennecke’s beach.
On Saturday morning, Aunt Kara and I helped Thomas sort his beach treasures. He had to decide which ones to keep! We walked down to the beach to look for marine wildlife and found a sea turtle.
Then we all went back to Kamalani Playground in Wailua. We had a rain shower, but James and Thomas still had fun! James followed the directions for playing familiar songs on the chimes. He and I looked at the profiles of the Hawaiian Islands. The monkey handles looked like fun, so I tried them, too! While James and Thomas were on the swings, Aunt Kara and I fed tortilla crumbs to the Hawaiian cardinals.
Saturday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa and I walked to Makahuena Point but didn’t see any whale spouts. At Poipu Beach, we saw two groups setting up for wedding celebrations. Thomas took the boogie board to the beach and used it for floating in the shallow water.
Uncle Steven and Aunt Kara went out to dinner by themselves. Grandma made an early dinner for James and Thomas, then took them to watch sunset at Brennecke’s Beach. James and Thomas really liked climbing around on the lava rocks at the shore!
On Sunday, Aunt Kara rented a snorkel set at the beach. James and Thomas both got a chance to try it while they floated around on the boogie board. They saw some interesting fish! Thomas found another sea cucumber to spend time with him on the beach.
Uncle Steven helped Thomas bury his legs in the sand! Guess what? Grandma and I spotted a monk seal swimming toward Poipu Beach! Aunt Kara and James and Thomas saw the seal looking for a place to rest on the children’s section of the beach, but it was too crowded!
Late Sunday afternoon, Uncle Steven’s family all went whale-watching on a zodiac (a kind of inflated boat). Thomas saw twelve whales, but James only saw three! While they were on their cruise, Grandma and Grandpa and I walked to the turtle cove. Grandma counted six turtles in the water there! Then we walked to Makahuena Point. I think we saw some of the same whales James and Thomas saw! Grandma saw one spinner dolphin, too. There was another rain shower that passed over Poipu Beach just before sunset, so sunset was very pretty!
On Monday, it was time for Uncle Steven’s family to start home. I helped Thomas pack up his snorkel set to return to the rental shop.
We took Uncle Steven’s family back to the airport to catch a flight to Los Angeles. All their luggage had to go through agricultural inspection as well as airport security so they didn’t take any harmful insects home. On our way back to the resort, Grandpa and Grandma and I stopped to get lunch at Dim’N’Den Sum. I told Lynell-san I’d see her again in two years! While the food was cooking, I visited the statue that tells the history of the Koloa sugar plantation — the first on Kauai. We took lunch back to our condo to eat on the lanai, and it was yummy!
When we went to the beach, we saw a sea turtle coming onshore. We saw dolphins playing as we walked to Makahuena Point and whale spouts when we got there. If you count the monk seal we saw yesterday, we had a marine wildlife quadfecta!
Monday evening we went back to E Kanikapila Kakou to say aloha to Hawaiian music. The performers, NUE, were all playing ukuleles, so the ukulele circle lesson was very popular! NUE’s music style reminded me of jazz. They invited two very experienced hula dancers to join them on stage for some of their more traditional songs.
On Tuesday morning, it was our turn to start home! I helped pack our bags, then it was time to have our last breakfast on the lanai. It will be several months before we can have breakfast on the porch at Sodus! We were going to walk to the beach to check for turtles and seals, but there was a rain shower. So I looked for a rainbow, instead!
Thomas left a beach treasure behind, so I made sure it got a good home. Then we drove to the beach to recycle our cans, bottles and paper. There was a sea turtle on the spit, so I said aloha from a distance. Then I said aloha to Poipu Beach and Makahuena Point.
We had some leftover food, so we took it over to my church friends to use. They will be on Kauai for another two weeks. After lunch in Lihue, we visited Akuhini Landing near the airport. That’s the last place we went with Joe-san and Nancy-san and Moose-san four years ago before we went home. After our flight to San Francisco took off, we flew over Oahu to join the flight path back to the mainland. I could see Molokini and Maui and the volcanoes on the Big Island!
It was dark by the time we got to San Francisco! Between the time change and the distance, it was Wednesday morning when we arrived at Dulles airport in Washington DC. There were a LOT of clouds as we approached Rochester! We spiraled down and down through the layers of clouds before we finally saw the ground!
When I got home there was a big surprise! I had a family reunion! Katie’s Junglie Lion decided not to move to Kentucky with her and came back to stay with us! We’ll have to figure out how to share adventures!
Love,
Lion-san
Glad you are home safely after a fun vacation, Lion-san. You surely saw a lot of turtles.
Is it snowing in Rochester now? How much snow is on the ground there now, Thursday. Heard there was to be a ton of lake effect snow in Syracuse today. Did it get to Fairport?
Great Aunt Betsy, it was above freezing when we got back and the streets were wet but free of snow. Today it was 26 degrees and we got about two inches of snow in Fairport. We had a lot of wind, too! Last night the weatherman said that Sodus was likely to get six to ten inches of snow.
It looks like you had a good time in Kauai. You saw lots of turtles, whale spots, monk seals and dolphins. The NUE must have been good. I’m glad you got to hear them. You even got to see Waimea Canyon twice, and Midnight Bear three times. That should do you good.