Favorite Places

Hi, everyone!

I have a lot to tell you about! Uncle Steven’s family was here for ten days, then, the day they left, Joe-san came to stay with us! So I got to go to some of my favorite places more than once!

Two Sundays ago, Grandma and Grandpa and I took Uncle Steven’s family to Waimea. We always go right to the end of the road at the Kalalau Overlook first, before the clouds move in.

The overlooks for the Waimea Canyon are back down the road and on the other side. The clouds from the ocean don’t get there, so the view stays the same all day. It was windy, so James made sure I didn’t blow away! Some years it is so dry there is no water in Waipo’o Falls. I was happy to see lots of water in the falls this year!

After we got back from Waimea, I went to the beach to look for my endangered friends. There was a monk seal and a traffic jam of sea turtles at the edge of the water.

I helped Grandpa grill steaks for dinner. Thomas went down to the beach with us to watch sunset. There weren’t many clouds, but the sky color was pretty!

On Monday, Thomas found another coconut and opened it. Grandma and I walked to the Koloa Fruit Stand to buy more lettuce. The owner is from a part of Thailand that Grandma and I have visited! In our resort, a section of the carport across from our unit collapsed! The front beam fell down and took the supports and the bougainvillea with it! The work crew had to cut away the beams and the vines. I got to watch on my way to visit the sea turtles at the beach.

On Tuesday, Uncle Steven’s family had a zipline adventure. Wednesday, we all went to Kilauea Point Wildlife Refuge. We had lovely, sunny weather! Our church friends asked me to tell their brick hello, so I did that first. There were red-footed boobies and red-tailed tropic birds soaring on the breeze. I made friends with two nenes who were on the lawn around the lighthouse building.

I made friends with the giant albatross statue in the information building and learned more about the history of the lighthouse. Then I watched the surf in the cove. On our way out, we went to the gift shop. Grandma bought a jigsaw puzzle and Thomas got a turtle.

When we got back from Kilauea Point, Uncle Steven and James and Thomas went boogie boarding at Brennecke’s Beach. Aunt Kara and I watched. Then I went over to Poipu Beach to see the sea turtles and their admirers.

We all had dinner at Keoki’s Paradise! James and Thomas got activity books with their special menu on the back. There was even a scavenger hunt for items within the restaurant! The special dessert at Keoki’s is hula pie. The slices are VERY big! James and Grandma and Grandpa ate one and Thomas and Aunt Kara and Uncle Steven ate another one.

After such a busy day on Wednesday, Thomas needed some quiet time on Thursday. That gave me a chance to make friends with his new salamander and turtle. Blub and I were already friends!

Grandma and I took another walk to the native village site. I was hoping to see the tikis that cast shadows in the observatory back in place. They were still stacked, but some of the wrappings were gone. It looked like some more brush clearing had happened, too.

When we went to the farmers market to get Thomas’ second coconut, Aunt Kara saw an avocado tree nearby. She picked up some avocados that had fallen on the sidewalk. They were ripe enough by Thursday for Aunt Kara to make guacamole with them. So we had sidewalk guac for afternoon snack! There was another pretty sunset that we watched from our lanai.

Last Friday was Uncle Steven’s family’s last day on Kauai! Grandma made another batch of sticky buns for breakfast. Thomas wanted to find some more coconuts to open, so we took a walk to Makahuena Point. He watched some turtles in the turtle cove, then he found a whole pile of coconuts beside a fence! He managed to carry three of them back to our resort unit, but he ran out of time to get them open!

Just before dinner, Grandpa went to the airport to pick up Joe-san. After dinner and sunset, it was time for Uncle Steven’s family to go back to the airport. James gave me a goodbye hug before he left!

Saturday morning, it was time to take Joe-san to the farmers market in Lihue! There were lots and lots of bananas! Someone was selling fresh taro roots. I made more flower friends! We came home with bananas, a pineapple and a tangelo. Grandma found a pineapple corer in one of the kitchen drawers. She and Joe-san tried using it to cut up the pineapple!

On Sunday, Joe-san and I watched our home church service on delayed streaming. Then we all took a walk to Makahuena Point to watch for whales. It was windy with lots of waves and whitecaps, so we couldn’t spot any whales. Those were good conditions for going to Spouting Horn before dinner. Grandpa and Joe-san did spot some whales there!

Monday morning, we headed back to Waimea! Even though we got there at our usual time, the mist was already in the valley! Some of it blew out while we watched, but I was glad Joe-san and I had been there other years when it was clear!

As usual, the view of Waimea Canyon on the trip back downhill was much clearer. We even had patches of sunshine lighting up the canyon walls!

We had lunch at the Shrimp Station in Waimea, then we went to the Waimea pier. I liked learning about the pier’s history! We stopped at Aunty Lilikoi’s to see my friend Lynn-san and buy passion fruit products to mail home. Joe-san hadn’t seen a monk seal yet, but we saw one on Brennecke’s Beach when we got back to the resort.

Monday was a busy day, because we went to E Kanikapila Kakou in the evening! The program was Hawaiian music written in English, mostly in the ’50s and ’60s to entertain tourists on Oahu. Grandma and Grandpa recognized some of the tunes! I made friends with this week’s raffle ukulele, made out of mango wood. The person who won it was very happy to have it!

Tuesday there was another crowd of sea turtles on Poipu Beach and a two-year old monk seal! I don’t think he was used to sand on his face, because he kept wiping his head with his flipper! Grandma and Joe-san started making the jigsaw puzzle Grandma bought at Kilauea last week.

Wednesday, we went back to Kilauea Point again! We had heavy rain in places on the way to Kilauea and on the way back, but there was blue sky over the lighthouse while we were there. I made more nene friends, but I couldn’t tell whether they were new friends or reacquaintances!

We never know which birds we’ll see flying around at Kilauea Point. There are always red-footed boobies, because they nest on the cliff beside the cove. This time we saw a laysan albatross on the other side of the lighthouse point and a frigate bird flying overhead. When we got back to Poipu beach, there was another crowd of sea turtles and admirers. Grandma and Joe-san and I saw a monk seal and a whale, too!

Today is Leap Day, and our last full day on Kauai. The collapsed carport has been completely cleared. Grandma and Joe finished the jigsaw puzzle last night. The weather back in Rochester has been crazy, alternating between 60 degree F. days and 20 degree F. snow and wind storms. I hope it settles down before we get back!

Love,

Lion-san