9/30/19

Monday

Gaaah! my arms lol, they feel like wet noodles from surfing. All that paddling out. I think I need to work on my upper body strength. I’ll go body boarding instead today. Kalapaki Beach in Lihue is supposed to be good for waves and also surfing if I feel like it.

Breakfast at the Lava Lava Beach Club. Which by the way is Huggo’s on the Rocks. Like the restaurant I went to on the Big Island.

Seated right next to the beach.

Delicious 😁

It literally poured down rain last night. I don’t think there aren’t any gutters because the water rolled off the roof in sheets. No thunder😁. I’m kinda liking the whole rain at night thing. Oregon could stand to learn a thing or two lol.

Nope, no gutters. I guess that way you wouldnt have to clean them out.

So besides having manual windows and door locks and no backup camera my awesome rental has an ant colony living in it. They are super fast and the run around like they are on fire. They are also really tiny so when one runs across your legs you can’t smash it. At first I thought Krystal was in the car with me and her stray hairs were blowing on me lol. Nope. Ants. I don’t know if I’m going to call tomorrow on it or not. Then I would have to drive it back to the rental company and I’m leaving in three days. Is it worth it? Maybe if it were spiders lol.

See those white spots? They were moving their eggs.

Went to Kalapaki Beach. No waves but still played in the water for a couple hours. Laid out on the beach. I was getting hot and just about to get in the water when a rainstorm hit. Ahh. I like that kind of rain. Took the body board out. Spoiler alert. You still need to use your arms to use it lol.

Traveled down to Poipu Beach. No waves there either. Floated around. Got a little burned even though I put sunscreen on.

Crazy beach hair.

It’s 80 degrees and pouring. I like it!

9/29/19

Sunday

Today is surf day Sunday 😁 so excited. Booked a class at Poipu Beach Surf School. The class was 10-12 pm. I carried my board down to the beach on my head😁. We were in the water for an hour and a half! The instructor gave you a push when he saw a wave coming. I stood up the first time and fell off. Then I caught my own wave and rode it into the beach. It’s a lot of work for a ten second ride but its totally worth it. I want to go back and rent a board for the day but I think my arms will be screaming tomorrow. I will take the gopro and camera to get some pics.

Lunch at the Lava Lava Beach Club. This time I get a big table. Lol. The waitress was trying to make small talk. Her: Are you here on business? Me: No. I’m here for fun. Her: By yourself? Me: Yes. I went surfing this morning. She ran out of questions 😂

Kris thought I should eat something green so I ordered the garlic shrimp salad. I sent a picture of it to Krystal and she was surprised that I was eating kale and quinoa lol. I told her it came with the shrimp😂

It was really good but I couldn’t eat all that green stuff lol.

So I’ve been down to the beach in front of the hotel a bunch of times and there is never anyone swimming. I found this sign today 😳 I guess a 25 minute drive to Poipu Beach really isn’t that bad lol.

I think this sign covers all but sharks lol.

Krystal read that nine to fourteen days after a full moon the jellyfish come into shore. I guess that wasn’t fake news lol.

9/28/19

Saturday

Yogurt and coffee on the balcony. Went down to the beach in front of the hotel. So relaxing watching the waves roll in and listening to the surf crash.

Too bad I don’t know yoga. They have a free class every morning on the beach.

Went swimming in the pool. The water was nice. There is also a hot tub. Lol don’t know why I’d want to be any hotter.

Drove to Poipu Beach to check it out. Nice waves.

I didn’t really think ahead and wear my swimsuit lol. Oh well I will be back there for a surf lesson. It will be interesting to see if it’s much different than wake surfing behind the boat.

Drove up the beach to the Spouting Horn.

Cats?!? I love cats lol.

I didn’t see any cats but I did see a bunch of chickens. The Spouting Horn reminded me of the blow hole at Depoe Bay.

Stopped off at Starbucks lol. That was for Kasey, Liz and Camden. Which by the way took me forever to find. It was in an outdoor mall and Maps said I arrived while I was still on the street. I am hating on Maps. I always turn too soon and have to backtrack. Ugh. So annoying.

Back to the hotel for dinner. Seated at the same table. As we were walking to my table the hostess said she admired me for eating alone. I told her it was either that or starve…😂 the look on her face was priceless. I know. I’m terrible 😁 I ordered a Lava Lava Mai Tai that comes in a giant bamboo glass. Probably nine inches tall. You get to keep the glass. So I will take one for the team. Team foxpartyofone lol. I ordered the Mahi chowder with a side of rice. Still hungry so I ordered the key lime pie.

P.S.

I only drank a quarter of that Mai Tai.

9/27/19

Friday.

Leaving Honolulu 😢

Me. Packed last night. Krystal, Kasey, Randy and Liz…..today at 9:10am still packing 😂. Leaving at 10am.

I squeezed my stuff in my suitcase and carry-on but there is no way I will be able to do it for the flight home. My bag weighed 39 lbs. The limit is 50 lbs. so I was good there but nothing else is going to fit.

Landed after a twenty minute flight. They served us free juice lol. Found the baggage claim area. It’s a super small airport. Made it to the car rental place. I got a two door Jeep Wrangler. Manual key, locks and windows lol. Barbaric 😂 and it’s white. Like all the other rentals. How will I find it in the parking lot? I took a picture of the license plate lol. The temperature reads in Celsius. It says 32 degrees. Isn’t that 100 degrees Fahrenheit? I don’t know. Its super hot and humid. It kind of reminds me of Rio.

Kauai Shores Hotel.

Booked through Costco Travel. Hotel and rental car included. I upgraded my room to overlook the pool so after the resort fee and the upgrade it was an additional $300. That’s still not bad. My room is average. I’m not staying at a four star hotel lol. Two queen beds, air conditioning, fridge, coffee maker, nice TV and balcony. There are free bicycle rentals and yoga on the beach.

Looked at Maps. Safeway is right down the road. Decided to get some food for breakfast and lunches. Omg. It was bumper to bumper all the way there. It’s not at all like Honolulu. These are rural roads I am driving on. Like highway 99. And it’s 330 in the afternoon.

I got a bunch of healthy stuff. Yogurt, bananas, hard boiled eggs, meat and cheese, water and granola.

And so it begins. Fox party of one at the Lava Lava Beach Club restaurant. Strange looks. Really? You want to sit at a table by yourself and not at the the bar? She seated me all the way at the end of the building. Lol. Well at least I am facing out so I can practice people watching.

I’m starving. I want a cheeseburger. I know. I could get one of those at home lol. I’m just not very adventurous when it comes to food. I don’t want to order something and then hate it after the first bite. The restaurant is right on the beach. Maybe fifty feet to the water. Toes in the sand and live music. Very relaxing.

9/26/19

Thursday.

Last day in paradise…well for some of us.

It’s not raining so we decided to go back to the North Shore and jump off a big rock.

We stopped at Banzai Bowls for an acia bowl. It was my first and delicious!

Waimea Bay Beach Park. We got to use the boogie board. The waves were crashing hard and the surf would suck you back out. All of my pockets in my shorts and swimsuit were full of sand lol.

I climbed up the big rock with Randy. We got to the top of the rock and he jumped off. I went down to the lower jump spot but I couldn’t make myself do it.

My only fear lol. Heights with nothing to hold onto. I was proud of myself for climbing up there and standing on the edge. Really I’m surprised I didn’t fall off.

Rolled around in the surf. I could stay there all day but Liz was getting fried lol and I think rain was on its way.

Stopped at Ted’s Bakery. I wasn’t really that hungry so I didn’t get anything. Plus I wanted to not eat gluten that early in the day. The kids got pie.

It started to downpour and along with that came lightning and thunder😳and the roads flooded immediately.

We went back to the house for showers. Seriously I don’t know if I will ever get all the sand out of my hair.

Kasey, Liz and I went to a seafood buffet at 100 Sails Restaurant. It was good. Kasey ate Sashimi, raw fish! Krystal, Randy and Camden went to Dave and Busters to eat and then we met them in the arcade. Kasey, Liz and I walked back to meet them. 1.25 miles after dinner. Burned off all that we ate lol. Well maybe. I ate a lot of crab😁

This was a compromise for Camden. We didn’t have enough time to get back north for a character dinner. He was fine with gaming. Yes! He is my grandson😁😂❤️

9/25/19

Started off the day with a hike. Pu’u Pia trail. 2.5 miles it took about an hour 37 minutes round trip. It had just rained so the trail was muddy and a little slippery. I did a bit of sliding around but I didn’t fall down. The trail was like walking through a tunnel of trees and bushes with vines hanging down. The tree roots were exposed, making an staircase like path.

Camden took a ride up and back.

We made it to the top and the view was spectacular. Canopies of trees in the valley and all over the hillside.

On a side note. The bugs here love me. I got bit four more times even with bug spray. Although it is deet free…hmm maybe I should get something stronger.

Randy, Kasey, Liz and I decided to go to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Camden took a nap. We went on the tour of the USS Arizona Memorial first. First you watched a film that explained why the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and what happened after that. It was amazing to see the actual film coverage from 1941. I have to admit I learned something today.

Even after 78 years, fuel is still leaking from the wreckage. One to nine quarts per day seep out and contaminate the water in Pearl Harbor.

We decided to go on a tour of the Battleship USS Missouri. We only had 30 minutes until it closed so we basically ran end to end and up three stories and back. I got lost and had to backtrack but I made it back off the ship.

..

Dinner at Kona Brewing Company.

9/24/19

Manoa Chocolate Factory tasting. My favorite was the breakfast bar. Dark chocolate with little crunchy bits of cacao nibs and shells in them. A lot like chewing on roasted coffee beans. I also liked the brewing chocolate. A mild flavor of cacao brewed like coffee. Delicious.

Walked around Kailua. Very cute little town. Guess what!?! We found Salvation Army and Goodwill lol so shopped a bit but also told ourselves we have to be able to it it into our suitcases on the way home lol.

Went down to Kailua Beach Park. The water was beautiful and warm. No waves to catch but floated around and laid out in the sun. Camden could have stayed in the water the whole time . I think he takes after me 🙂

Had some fun with Mr. Uncooperative 😂 Say cheese Camden!

9/23/19

We did it! Krystal, Kasey, Liz and I conquered Koko Head Crater and made it to the top😁. Camden and Randy stayed at the house and watched some shows.

It’s about 3/4 of a mile one way, 1308 ft in elevation and 1048 railroad tie steps to the top. During World War II there were bunkers at the top of the mountain so they built a railway to transport things up there.

The lower quarter of the hike wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t until we got to the part where the railroad ties went over a bridge did it get challenging. you had to step on the ties only or fall through about ten feet. I just kept my eyes on the wood lol. That was only around 50 feet of the hike and then it went back to normal.

I have to say, i did not trip one time. Probably because we were going so slow. You couldn’t just step, left foot right foot onto each tie, they were too far apart. It took about 55 minutes for us to reach the top. I was sweating buckets. Good thing I brought water. We heard that a lot of people get stranded up at the top and have to be airlifted out. That translates to free helicopter ride lol.

The trip down went a little bit faster. I took the detour around the train bridge section, I don’t think I would have made it across without falling through. Krystal beat us to the top and the bottom. All in all it took us an hour and 45 minutes to complete it. I want to do it again and see if I can beat my time.

We went downtown for some shopping and then went to Dave and Buster’s for dinner. My favorite of all times.

times.

Camden got his first grape drink with worms and I think he liked it lol.

I got 4th high score on the worlds largest Pac-Man game!

Camden got some cool prizes.

9/22/19

Green World Coffee Farms. Surprise! Coffee tasting. Camden found some cute baby chicks❤️

Then on to the Dole Plantation. We took the train ride tour of the Plantation. I got bit by some bugs🙄so I put my fashion bracelet on lol.

My hula boy.

There were some trees that looked like they should be in Oregon.

Kasey was obsessing on Giovanni s Shrimp Truck so we stopped for lunch. The line was so long so I went to Zane’s Shrimp Truck where there was no line. I know, it had the potential of being bad but I chanced it and won😁 plus I didn’t have to peel my shrimp lol. It was delicious.

Headed for the North Shore and Laniakea Turtle Beach. Saw a bunch of turtles rolling in the surf and one on the beach.

Went to the Bonzai Pipeline and watched some surfers on the big waves.

Finished off the day with Leonard’s Bakery and malasados. Lots of gluten but totally worth it😁

9/21/19

I woke up at 3:30am which was 6:30am in my head. Went back to sleep until 6:30/9:30 until I heard a tiny knock on my door. Camden checking to see if I was awake lol.

Headed for the KCC Farmer’s Market.

It was a zoo there and yes I got lost lol.

Found my jello coffee😁 delicious!

Decided to go to downtown Waikiki. Parked by Ilikai Marina and walked around. Did some shopping. Shocker lol. I think Kasey went into every Starbucks that we came across 😂

Camden found some swimsuit bottoms in his size😂

We found some local Oregon products.

And then Krystal and I got some shave ice. Mine had mochi and some little jelly balls that popped in your mouth. Camden loved them lol. Me, not so much. They kind of reminded me of fish bait.

We went for a swim at Duke Paoa Kahanamoku lagoon. They drain the water and refill it every night. The water is actually colder than the ocean water.

Dinner at Hard Rock Cafe and then stopped at Bubbies ice cream for mochi😁

We did a lot of walking today. Total of 21781 steps which translates into nine miles! I got a blister and had to buy socks to make it the rest of the day.