AndyO Blog

I woke up to the drumming of rain outside. The TV said that there were flash floods all over the island. There was so much rain that the famous Kauai red mud was now bleeding into the ocean from the Waimea River. Here's a picture:

Brenda and I decided to go out for a bit without the kids. She really wanted to go to Wal-Mart. On the way, we stopped at Lydgate State Park, one of our favorite snorkeling spots from our previous visit to Kauai. We'd heard from Snorkel Bob's that the storm that had blasted the island a week or two before had filled Lydgate with debris and dead animals. When we arrived, we saw a deserted beach and signs posted not to swim.

The lifeguard who was on duty said it would be a month before the beach reopened. He said they had to let the ocean clean out the lagoon. It certainly looked like a mess.

Next, we drove to Wal-Mart. I've got to say that I'm not a big fan of Wal-Mart, but they do have a lot of stuff. We were mostly there to buy food, but I had to buy a Hawaiian shirt for the dinner we were going to for Thanksgiving. We also bought Lego car kits for the boys.

When we came outside, the rain had stopped and the air was muggy. Of course I started sweating right away.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Gaylord's

For Thanksgiving Dinner, my parents took us out to Gaylord's at Kilohana, a large plantation on the Kaumualii Highway, in Lihue. We sat in a covered area outside.

We brought the Lego cars for the kids to put together, but that only kept them occupied for 40 minutes.

Before long, the boys were running around on the grass. I gave Cameron the camera and he started documenting all the birds they were chasing.

We all ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, except Brenda and Drew. I started with a wonderful Kabocha Pumpkin Bisque and salad with arugula with Kunana chevre. Brenda had a "fabulous" fish dinner (I think it was halibut), and Drew had chocolate cake. (You read the correctly: chocolate cake.)

After dinner, which took nearly two hours to eat due to slow service, we walked around the grounds of the plantation. (I noticed that it wasn't just Gaylord's that had slow service on Kauai; I just think the pace is slower on the island, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It just becomes a more difficult thing when you have two kids and one of them is four.)

Cameron and Drew especially loved this truck in the parking lot:

Waimea Falls

After dinner we drove to Waimea Falls, the location that was used at the beginning of the 70s show Fantasy Island. Along the way, we saw a wild boar dart from the side of the road into the brush. My Dad, who was wearing his boar's tooth necklace, was pretty excited.

The falls themselves were spectacular, especially given the amount of rain that had come down that day. But we didn't stay too long since it started raining again. 

Labels: Hawaii 2009, Kauai, Travels, Vacation

Today, Drew woke up and wanted to be wrapped like a mummy. Brenda, who's the most resourceful person I know, made Drew's wish come true. All it took was a little toilet paper.

Cameron's wish, on the other hand, was to get his favorite breakfast in Hawaii -- biscuits and gravy. Brenda bought all the ingredients at Safeway on Monday, and she threw together a delicious big breakfast. My Mom and Dad were equally impressed with Brenda's culinary skills.

After we were fed, all of us headed out in the 6-seat minivan to tour the north part of Kauai. On our drive up highway 56 we ran into road maintenance, which meant one-lane roads and lots of waiting. But none of us seemed to care too much. After a few wrong turns, we made it to Anini Beach.

I'd read about a high-surf warning around Kauai the night before, and the waves were crashing all around Anini Beach. Snorkeling on a day like this would be impossible due to the high surf and the murky brown water (my Dad also told us sharks like to attack in water like this).

Before we left, Cameron gave us all a tap-dancing demonstration on one of the picnic benches.

Princeville

After the murky water and crashing waves, we drove a few more miles to Princeville. My parents have another timeshare in Princeville, and we'd never seen it before. This place is referred to as "The Cliffs," because the condos sit on top of a cliff with an amazing view of the ocean. On this day, the surf below was even bigger than at Anini Beach. Here's a panorama shot I took:

After that, we checked out the Princeville pool, which my Mom said had been remodeled since they'd last stayed there. There's something really inviting about pools with lava rock and waterfalls. It was a little too inviting for Drew, who decided to jump into the water sprayers.

Hanalei

We left Princeville and headed to our final destination north, Hanalei. We were all pretty hungry after seeing all that high surf, so we stopped in Ching Young Village and ate at the Polynesia Cafe. This spot ended up being ideal, as they had a lot of different types of food (chicken teriyaki, chili, toasted cheese sandwiches, and fish 'n' chips), and Cameron and Drew could run around in the Village if they got bored (they never did, thanks to all the birds flying around the tables).

After lunch, we drove to Hanalei Bay so we could watch all the surfers from the pier. There were definitely two levels of surfers here: those near the shore, and those out in the Big Waves, assisted by jet skis. Cameron looked at all the kids trying to surf and longed to get out there himself.

We left Hanalei and drove straight back to Kapa'a, which took about half the time as driving up (no construction). We stopped at a Farmers' Market and Brenda found the boys coconuts! The farmer cut a hole in the chilled coconuts so the boys could drink the coconut juice (not to be confused with coconut milk). It was pretty refreshing in afternoon heat, but no one could finish theirs.

The farmer cut out the coconut meat for us, and my Dad also bought the biggest avocado any of us had ever seen (I forgot to take a picture).

All in all, a pretty good day on Kauai.

Labels: Hawaii 2009, Kauai, Travels, Vacation

In the late morning, everyone except my Mom (who wasn't feeling well) piled in the Dodge minivan and drove to Poipu, which is on the south side of Kauai.

Poipu has one of the best beaches for snorkeling, especially for kids, because the water is shallow and  the fish are plentiful. A few years before, I'd had a transcendent experience snorkeling on this beach where I'd finally gotten the hang of floating around with fish and the ocean.

Once we arrived at the beach and got our base camp set up, Brenda, Cam, and my Dad went snorkeling while I sat on the beach with Drew. (It turned out that Drew didn't want to go in the water -- no matter what.) So, that meant we'd be taking turns with him.

On this particular day, there was a huge monk seal lying on the beach, and the beach patrol had roped off the area so no one would bother him. I'd seen seals basking on a dock or rocks before, but never on the beach like this. 

After a while, my Dad came out of the water and offered to watch Drew while I went snorkeling. I grabbed my gear and walked down to the water. As usual, the water felt cold when I sat down in it -- which is due to the air being so warm -- but after a few minutes I was used to it.

Like my experience before, I floated over the rocks and saw schools of brightly-colored fish. This time, Cameron was snorkeling right next to me, occasionally giving me the thumbs-up under water when we saw an especially interesting fish.

After about 30 minutes, I was ready to stop snorkeling. The salt kept building up in my snorkel leaving an awful taste, and the shallow depth made it somewhat difficult to maneuver effectively. I knew I was ready for more advanced snorkeling.

Plus, I knew it was time to go to Puka Dog.

My Puka Dog journey is finally complete

A few years ago I was watching a Travel Chanel show about hot dogs. On their list of the best hot dog places in the U.S. was Puka Dog (pronounced "pooka") in Kauai. The difference with these dogs was that they were stuffed into a small loaf of Hawaiian bread. Then they filled them with exotic Hawaiian relishes. At the time I was watching this show, I'd just returned from Kauai and I was disappointed I'd missed this place.

But that was about to change.

Since we'd arrived on Kauai, I'd worked up the entire family (except Brenda, who doesn't eat hot dogs) for a visit to Puka Dog. We parked at the shopping center where Puka Dog is located and started standing in line with everyone else.

It took a while, but we finally were sitting down and eating our Puka Dogs. Cameron had ordered his with just ketchup and mustard. I'd ordered mine with mango relish, I think. And when I sunk my teeth into that dog, I have to say I was disappointed. It was just too sweet for me. The relish was more like syrup than, say, a real hot dog relish. I like a more savory hot dog, I guess, and thought that the next time I'd order a dog like Cameron's -- with just ketchup and mustard.

My Dad enjoyed his Puka Dog, but he'd ordered it extra spicy -- and it wasn't spicy enough for him. So, he was a little disappointed too.

But how could I not be disappointed? I'd built up my expectations for literally years. There was no way Puka Dog could live up to these type of expectations.

I'll return on my next trip and try one of these dogs without all the syrupy relish.

Labels: Hawaii 2009, Kauai, Travels, Vacation

I woke up at 6:30 a.m., and I found Brenda working on her computer in the kitchen. The boys were snoring on the hide-a-way bed. My parents were asleep in their bedroom. She mentioned that sunrise was going to be amazing. I looked out the bedroom window and saw a dramatic band of orange and red on the horizon. I put on my clothes, gathered my camera gear, and went down to the beach.

A sunrise on a Hawaiian island is a primal, magical experience. Here's what it looked like:

Labels: Hawaii 2009, Kauai, Travels, Vacation

We arrived at Seattle-Tacoma airport two hours early for our flight to Kauai. On this particular Sunday before Thanksgiving, the crowds were thin. It was still good to have plenty of time with so much luggage and two kids.

We took the subway to the N concourse, the same place I'd started my three-week vacation to Europe 10 years ago. Both boys were so excited, they were asking questions about everything. And Brenda's plan of having the boys pull their own luggage was working. They were also both wearing red sweat suits (which we thought would help with tracking them--and, no, I don't think Brenda has seen The Royal Tenenbaums).

When we got to the gate, passengers were disembarking from the sleek Boeing 737-800. Drew walked up to the window and stared out at the airplane. A little later, we ended up meeting the co-pilot for our flight, who was sitting next to us in the waiting area. He invited Cameron and Drew into the cockpit during boarding.

Sure enough, when we got on board, the pilot and co-pilot welcomed the boys into the cockpit. They even let Cameron sit in the co-pilot's seat!

One interesting thing the co-pilot told me was that the winglets (those tails on the end of wings) on the 737-800 help with fuel efficiency. Evidently, just having those 8-foot winglets reduces vortex drag (those little tornados you sometimes see coming off the wings of airplanes).

I asked if he could tell the difference when flying an aircraft with winglets and one without. He said the ones with winglets take longer to slow down and "want to stay up in the air."

The pilots offered to let Cameron or Drew talk on the microphone, but they were too shy. Then they offered to answer any questions. Finally, they gave them airplane cards. (Thanks to the Alaska Airlines crew who made this visit to the cockpit possible. It meant a lot to the boys.)

After that, we took our seats and waited to take off. Brenda, Drew, and Cameron sat on one side of the plane, and I sat across the aisle.

Labels: Hawaii 2009, Kauai, Travels, Vacation