I Love You, California!

To change things up a little bit, we decided to spend some time at Queen's Beach along Waikiki, a little way down from Kaimana where we usually go. This beach is popular for boogie boarding so we took our boards down and paddled around. Unfortunately the beach was pretty rocky and in order to catch the waves you really need flippers (which we don't have), so Will paddled for a little while and we relaxed on the beach. Later we came home to BBQ out on our lanai. It was a beautiful day for it. It was fun to check out Queen's, but we always find ourselves wishing we were at Kaimana! Will is out there in the middle!

The Friends of the Foster Botanical Gardens were hosting a plant sale and free admission day to the gardens so Will and I got up and going to get some plants! We thought we were getting there early at 9:30, but as we were walking toward the gardens lots of people were walking away, arms full of plants. But fortunately there was still plenty of selection for us. After making the rounds we decided on one of these plants below; the Blue Hawaii. I love the shape of the flowers. There were so many pretty flowers! We picked out an orange day lily as well. After we checked out we put our plants in the holding area and walked around the garden. It was a beautiful morning! Cannon ball tree. Watch your head! We had a busy day following the visit to the garden. We were off to the Grom Surf Competition, where Will's colleague's 11 year old daughter took first place in her heat and won first place overall on Sunday! We relaxed at the beach with s...

During our time here on Kaua`i we really enjoyed our morning routine of coffee, fruit, and yogurt on the lanai with a peak - a -boo ocean view. It was so peaceful. We had a great little condo that we will definitely return to one day I'm sure! Today we had planned to go on a hike to Makauahi Cave in Koloa. But by the time we got down there, we just didn't have enough time left to go on the four mile round trip hike. Plus, I don't think we were well equipped for the hike this time either. I was picturing more of a walk to the caves, but it really was a trail hike! We stopped at the trail head so we know where it is for next time, and in the meantime enjoyed the beautiful stretch of beach just down the hill. We even saw an eel in a tide pool! The stream from the mountains that leads out to the ocean! Our next plan was to go to Kaua`i Brewery one last time, but when we arrived it was closed! So we went down to the Kalapaki Beach area to have...

Angie left early Saturday morning, but we figured as long as we were on Kaua`i we might as well stay until Sunday! We slept in and had a lazy morning before we hit the beach at Hanalei Bay. After soaking up some very strong sun we headed to Hanalei town for lunch at Bouchon's. The fish tacos and wrap were alright, but I wasn't thrilled with it either. Next we headed to Waikoko Beach, a decidedly locals beach. Here, the sand was so hot you had to run across! The surf was pretty strong, so it wasn't great for swimming, either. So we just posted up our chairs under the shad of the trees, read our books, and enjoyed the scenery. Around 4 o'clock we packed up and headed back to our condo. We took a little time to enjoy the scenery, too. A beautiful lo`i (taro patch) After we cleaned up we walked down to the St. Regis for dinner at the Terrace. I was glad Will could have an evening off from driving all over the island! We enjoyed another beautiful ...

A few months ago we got an email from our college friend, Angie, who lives in San Diego. She was going to be on Kaua`i for a wedding, and was wondering if we'd happen to be there during that time. We thought about it a little, and of course we could go over! Why not? So Will made it into a little work trip for Thursday morning, and I used a little vacation time and headed over Thursday afternoon. I even managed to grab an earlier flight since I got to the airport a little early and there was room on the flight before mine. Will picked me up from the airport in a sporty silver convertible and we headed over to Kauai Beer Company for a drink, nibble, and to decompress about our days before we drove up to the North Shore. Once we got up there we found our condo then went to meet Angie and her friends for dinner at Dolphin Sushi. We had a couple really delicious rolls. After a little night cap we said goodnight, stopped at the grocery store for breakfast goodies, and Friday morning...