Travel

Kaua’i is cool

Dear Reader, we arrived in Kaua’i Island this morning and will stay for three days.  We really appreciate my brother and sister-in-law putting up with us for the past week while we lounged around their house and neighborhood.  Kaua’i is meant to feel more like a vacation.  We’re staying at the Aloha Beach Resort in Kaap’a, a town north of Lihue, Kaua’i’s largest city.  Tomorrow we plan to drive along the north shore of the island, and on Friday we will drive south to Port Allen and take a catamaran cruise along the Na Pali (western) Coast of the island.  Some of the best scenery on Kaua’i Island is located along the Na Pali Coast, and it’s inaccessible by car.  I really wanted to visit Ni’ihau Island, the forbidden island off the west coast of Kaua’i, but we won’t have time to take a cruise there on this trip.  On Saturday, we will end our trip to Kaua’i by visiting Waimea Canyon, the most famous attraction on the island.  
 
We haven’t seen much of the island, but my initial impression is that it feels more rural and secluded than O’ahu, Maui, or the Big Island.  It’s also much cooler here in eastern Kaua’i than on O’ahu, perhaps because this is the windward (rainy) side of the island, and the island features the wettest spot on earth.  It certainly is lush, but believe it or not, my Hawai’ian shirts and sandals just aren’t warm enough to keep me warm.  Excuse me while I leave this breezy outdoor lounge and head to my warm room!  

For the shutterbugs

Dear Reader, I haven’t had much time to blog while on vacation in Hawaí’i.  It has to do with having wireless access for my laptop in the guest bedroom.  Í haven’t spent much time there, so I haven’t been online very much.  That’s OK–I’m on vacation.  I have however found time to take photos, organize them, and shrink them for the Web.  I posted four new photo albums for you viewing pleasure.  Three are from goodbye parties–The Nunchuks’ farewell concert on January 21, our son’s goodbye party on January 27, and our Noraebang Night on the evening of January 27.  I also posted about four dozen photos from our recent trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center on O’ahu Island, Hawai’i.  Enjoy!
 
Blog Note:  Bob, thanks for reminding me I still have a blog reader.  Sorry, we won’t be back in Virginia until March; we’re on the road throughout February.  See you in March (I hope)!  Also, Dear Reader, I wanted to give you a public service message–15 power sunscreen is not enough for a day on the beach!  Try 45.  My face is very red.  In addition to my Hawai’ian shirts, I now look like a tourist more than ever! 

Aloha, Hawai’i

Dear Reader, we made it to Hawai’i after a long, arduous packout and move.  We arrived yesterday and still have not quite adjusted to the time difference (+4 hours).  Jetlag hit us less than it would have if we had flown directly to the Continental U.S.  Hopefully by stopping halfway in Hawai’i we will ease into the time transition.  Well, so here we are…in paradise.  The weather isn’t so good here right now with rain and high wind warnings, but it feels good to me.  While the locals bundle up, we’re dressing in shorts and cheesy tropical, floral Hawai’ian shirts.  Some homes on the Windward side of O’ahu Island lost their roof, but otherwise, things don’t seem too out of the ordinary to me.  A large palm frond landed in the green space outside my brother’s apartment, but fortunately no one was hurt.  I’ll take bad weather in paradise anyday over a nice winter day in Korea any day.
 
What a difference two years makes.  Two years ago we arrived here for a week’s vacation on our way to Korea for a two-year tour.  Two years ago, we arrived sick and with bad memories of Delta Airlines (check the February 2005 archives to read about our ordeal).  Two years later, we feel much best and have a lifetime of memories from Korea.  People say that returning from a multi-year assignment can feel like a dream–you lived it, but the memories leave you feeling like you were never there.  It’s especially true returning to the same place you left just two years ago.  Korea is quickly becoming like a dream; a good and bad dream, but a dream nonetheless.  And it’s only been two days since we left!