Trip Report - Day 5 & 6

Day 5  - June 5th

Woke up today at 7:30 this morning, not in a real hurry to get moving. DH of course is already up and on his 2nd cup of coffee. We don't have to be anywhere until 12:30. Today is ziplining with Just Live.  We browse around on the computer, email, Facebook, etc. and I jumped in the shower and got ready. The girls came down and had breakfast and then retreated back upstairs. Since I was ready with time to kill (a rare occurrence) I grabbed my book and read. For some reason this morning everybody seemed to be in a funk. DH suggested maybe it was side effects from the motion sickness medicine from the day before...maybe. Also the girls woke up with bites all over their legs, they look like mosquito bites but I haven't seen anything that I thought was a mosquito. I'm guessing its from our tour at the botanical gardens the day before.

 Anyhow we loaded up the car with all of the snorkel gear, towels and bathing suits with the intent of going to Lydgate after zipling.  We headed out knowing what direction we were going but again we were searching for a mile marker...great!! Luckily it was pretty easy to spot. They have a guide meet you at the locked gate and direct you inside to the parking area. The area is pretty much all jungle with very tall trees. We were excited about ziplining since we had done it in Branson. We filled out the paperwork and were fitted with a harness and helmet. There were 10 people in our group, the 4 of us, an older couple from Temecula, CA, and a group of 4 girls, 1 set of twins and 2 other sisters, from Tennessee. We went through the safety procedures and we were off to start our 1st of 3 ziplines. I don't mind the zipline part, but I'm not a big fan of heights. The weather was mostly cloudy and sometimes the sun would peek out, but not for very long. Of course the higher up we went the colder the wind got, that really didn't help everyone's mood. We made it through our 3 ziplines and headed back to "base camp". Our guides were very nice and helpful and everybody had fun despite the wind. We took a group photo and had snacks that they provided, which was good since we were way overdue for lunch. DH decided to climb their rock climbing wall, since he used to rock climb years ago. He had fun and we said our goodbyes and headed to the Coconut Marketplace for lunch.

We stopped by Eggberts 1st but the girls weren't too thrilled with their menu. We ended up at TC grill, the food was ok and probably the cheapest meal we've had, besides Taco Bell. After we were done we wandered around the shops for a while, most of them seem to have the exact same thing, but we did end up with a few souvenirs. The whole area was really deserted, hardly anyone around. Tired of the shops we decided that Lapperts would be just the ticket, it helped a little but still the funk remained. Since it was cloudy and cold we decided that hanging out at the beach was out. We headed north with no real destination in mind. We debated going to Wailua falls or contininuing North to the lighthouse. We made the decision to go to the Lighthouse. We stopped along the way at some of the "craft fairs" to browse. Nothing really interested the girls and again they all pretty much have the same thing. We got to the lighthouse about 6pm, not realizing it closes at 4pm, oops didn't know that!!! We continued North to Hanalei, it's a cute little town. We went to the pier and wandered around a little. Again it was really windy & cold. It was close to 7 by now and the sun was close to setting but nobody wanted to stay long enough to watch it and the clouds were moving in so we jumped back in the car and headed back into Hanalei. We stopped by Ching Young village and wandered a little, but most of the stores were closed or closing. Since nobody was really hungry yet we were back in the car & headed home. We stopped at Kukui'ula market for some water and snacks, about 10 mins. before they closed.
Once we got home the girls retreated upstairs to watch a movie, DH and I got our books and read until we couldn't stay awake. Not one of our best days, but we still have more.

Aloha!!!!



Day 6 - June 6th

Half way through our trip. I'm hoping the funk from yesterday washed away with the rain this morning.

Today I crawled out of bed noticing now that I have a couple of mosquito bites. Urrr!!! Of course DH is up already. Today we don't have any scheduled activity. DH and I decided today we would head up to Wailua falls and then lunch at Sushi Bushido and hang out at Lydgate to snorkel & relax on the beach. The clouds are pretty thick but it's warm. We eat breakfast and I jump in the shower. Since we aren't in a hurry I decided today would be a good day to straighten my hair, no point in looking like Shirley Temple gone crazy for the whole trip. DH also shaves for the 1st time since arriving here, that was nice. We both look ready & refreshed. I noticed that DH has disappeared, he finally comes back. He had been across the road talking to the neighbors. They are from Missouri and have been coming to Kauai for the last 16 years. The best part is they think they have a charger that will charge our Nikon battery. The girls finally get up and I nag them to start getting ready. It's 12pm and DH comments about how we are still at home at 12 (a big pet peeve with him).

Time to get moving!! First stop is to get gas, the girls & I grab some cold drinks and we head out. I can already tell the funk from yesterday is gone, yay!! We head through the tree tunnel, I just love driving through there. We get to Wailua Falls, geesh talk about cramming cars into a tiny parking area. DH drops us off and he finds a place to squeeze the car in. He joins us and we start taking pictures. The falls are very pretty and I love listening to the sound they make. We are used to seeing the falls in Yosemite where you can get a lot closer. Since we see people down at the bottom we discuss planning a time to hike down there. (Later after reading about the difficulty of the hike we quickly change our minds). After taking our share of pictures we head out. Everybody is getting hungry and our oldest daughter is very much looking forward to sushi. We find a parking spot right in front of Sushi Bushido. Funny thing is, it looks closed. DH gets out and looks and sure enough it says its open from 11:30 - 1:00 and then reopens at 5 for dinner. What the heck!!!! I checked their website before we left just to be sure. So either I read it wrong or the website is wrong. Plan B....we walked across the street to Olympic Cafe. DH and our oldest daughter order wraps, youngest daughter orders a carnitas burrito and I got the shrimp & chips. My daughters burrito was probably one of the biggest burritos I have ever seen. We're from So Cal where Mexican food is the norm and this thing was huge. Everybody was very satisfied with their food, Olympic cafe ended up being a good choice. When we were done we hit up some of the clothing shops in the area (some TA recommendations) and the girls found some items they were happy with.

So now we are ready for the beach, the only problem is that now its overcast. To bad we are going anyhow. Get to Lydgate and get out and look around. It's amazing all of the driftwood washed up on shore from the last storm. With the wind blowing and the clouds getting thicker it was very clear we we're not staying.  We jump back in the car and decide we might as well go see Opaekka falls. It's amazing the difference in the size of this parking lot compared to the one at Wailua falls. After taking a sufficient amount of pictures we are back on the road. By now everyone agrees it's time to head home. We stopped by Big Save and pick up some food for dinner and DH goes over to the Koloa fish market for his poke'.

Once we got home DH & I walked over to the neighbors, they were able to charge the battery for our camera, woohoo!!! We stood and talked to them for quite a while about places to go or any other recommendations they had. They did tell us that the turtles come over to the rocks to eat usually before it gets dark. We got the girls and walked down to the rocks to watch the turtles. There were a couple and it was fun to watch them roll around in the waves. By now it was time to start dinner. It was the first real meal we've cooked since we have been here. You can't go wrong with spaghetti, it's easy and the whole family loves it. After cleaning up the girls headed upstairs and DH & I  grabbed our books until we couldn't stay awake. Bedtime..

Aloha!!!!