Where is the Loo!?

Ever go into a bar or restuarant? Then you probably have had to ask the question! "Where is the restroom? The answers are usually simple & the doors leading to them are pretty mundane.....or are they?! Here are a few I found amusing!

This "SEA" inspired pair can be found at the "Tahitian Bar" at the Sheraton Waipouli in Kapa'a Kauai!

Aww, Classic Americana....this was found in downtown Sonoma, Ca at "The Girl & the Fig" restuarant.

Ken & Barbie

So don't hold out on me, if you have some funny ones to share, send them my way...I think I've just started a strange collection!

Where ELSE Does The Money Go?!

Happy faces eating Gelato in Poipu!

These costs are based on a family of 5 eating for a week. This is where we spent the most money, even though we tried being good about it! We did have friends host us for dinner at their timeshare on one night & we returned the favor & hosted for them also.

*Safeway food $38.47 Breakfast items
*Safeway food for pool/hotel day $39.36
*Safeway food to go for Kayak Day $35.74
*Safeway, groceries for dinner + 3 guests $79.97
* Dinner $33.33 (w/plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day!), Panda Express
* Dinner $85.00, Poipu Tropical Burger in Poipu
* Dinner in Hanalei, Bubba Burgers $25
* Dinner in Kapa’a $147.00, Coconut Island Grill

Jordan's Salmon Meal at Coconut Island Grill in Kapa'a

*Dinner at Tahitian Bar & Grill, at our resort, $70
* Lunch $76.00 (& not very good!) Kalapaki Joes
*Lunch $60 (Excellent!), The Lodge at Kokee
*Lunch inside Coconut Market place, the pizza stand, $27 for one lg. pizza & water bottles
*Lunch at Tahitian bar & Grill, 2 tapas plates & 2 drinks $35
*Lunch at Sueoka Snack shop in Koloa Town, YUMMY! $23
*Lunch at Harvey’s inside Coconut Market Place, very inexpensive chicken skewers! $1.50 each!
*Dessert at Lapperts in Koloa Town, $20 (I had the Island Sensation & was not disappointed!
*Dessert at Papalani Gelato in Poipu, $18
*Bar Tab at our hotel was $70 (& we even brought our own stuff from home!)
*Airport food on the way home, $38.06
*Drive thru on the way home from the airport at 11:00pm was $22.75 but it was In-and Out so it was PRICELESS!!

Spiders in Kauai?! Now this is where I have to share a funny story!

Our eldest daughter is very frightened of spiders and freaks when she even sees a web! Walking thru our resort, we noticed a web above our heads leading into our building. The web was huge but we never saw the spider who owned it. She walked the long way around it each day! In our parking lot, we noticed a similar web in some of the flower bushes. Upon closer inspection, we saw a very large ugly spider sitting right In the middle of it. The spider was unique in that it seemed to spin a “zig-zag” stitch about 1-2 inches on either side of it’s resting spot within the web. The spider itself was about 3-4 inches from leg to leg, brown and white with a large fuzzy body that looked like it could be the center of a flower, with bits of yellow on it. I zoomed in & took my “Nat-geo” pic!

A few days later, while kayaking on Hanalei River, our friend noted that she enjoyed hiking on Kauai so much because it lacked snakes & she never saw spiders. It was at this time that we had pulled our kayaks into the shade of the banks near the Hanalei Bridge. My husband had asked me to gently tie our rope to a twig so we wouldn’t drift off. I did that as we were having this conversation & I told her I had a very good picture of a spider that she would never want to see up close anywhere! I pulled out the camera and began to search for the shot. In the meantime, I hadn’t noticed that my kayak had become untied & we were drifting ever so slowly closer to the banks & the hanging plants. For some reason, I happened to look up & found myself literally inches away, eye level from one of those huge, ugly spiders!!!

What was the spider from Hell doing in Kauai anyway??

The Kayak was leading me right to it! You have never seen a full grown person flatten themselves down so quickly, all while I was screaming my head off, spoiling the peace & quiet for any other kayakers nearby. The rest of my group was laughing hysterically while my husband tried in vain to pull us away from the shore as I had become helpless & thrown my paddle into the water and was literally trying to slither my flattened body off of our kayak & onto my children’s kayak! After that, I insisted we stay in the center of the river, no more shade stops for us! I only wish someone had their video camera going because I know it would have made the cut on America’s funniest videos! Aww. vacation memories, gotta love them, even if the laugh is on you!

My Personal List of favorites on Kauai!

Make sure to visit this Bubba Burgers in Hanalei, their shakes and hot dogs are cheap AND good!

Favorite Drink: Tahitian tai Chi at Tahitian Bar & Grill, Outrigger Waipouli in Kapa’a
Favorite Beach: Hanalei Bay
Favorite Lunch: Chicken Skewers at Harvey’s In Coconut market Place, Kapa’a
Favorite Dinner: (For Service) Coconuts in Kapa’a (for view) Tahitian Bar & Grill, Outrigger Waipouli In Kapa’a
Favorite place for Dessert: Lappert’s Ice cream in Koloa Town
Favorite hot dog place: Bubba Burgers in Hanalei
Favorite Hearty meal: Koke’e Lodge
Favorite place for jewelry shopping: South China Trading Co. in Kapa’a (Local Sea Glass!)
Favorite surf shops: All of them in Hanalei
Favorite cheap trinket shop: ABC In the safeway shopping center, Kapa’a
Best advice received: To go past mile marker 18 on the Road to Waimea until the very end!
Best advice I didn’t listen to: to take only ½ of what I pack, I always thing I will adhere but don’t & end up wearing way less than I brought!
Traffic: The volume of it was not an issue for us as we live in So. Cal but the speed of it (or lack there of) was something else! Either people were going super slow or they were going super fast, we never could quite catch the rhythm!
Bugs: Never saw any biting us , used bug spray but we definitely had little bites here and there…nothing more than we would get here at home on a summer night outdoors.

Everyone can do it!

They at least looked good trying to paddle together!

We came up to the North shore again to go kayaking on Hanalei River. We called in advance but were told no reservations would be required. We rented 2 triple kayaks & 1 double kayak for our group of 8. The Kayak shop we used is the first one after the Hanalei Bridge, next to the “Blue Dolphin Restaurant”. It was $64 for a triple kayak that you could take up the river or down to the bay, just not OUT of the bay! (Also, they had great bikini's here for unbeleivable prices & our teen daughters ended up buying two for under $25 TOTAL!) We got on the water by 10:30am & it wasn’t crowded at all. There were other people on the river but not too many. This is an excursion that is definitely fun for all ages so I would consider it for yourself if you haven’t done so already! The views were stunning with overgrown banks of lush vegitation, not to mention the water was clear & warm!

View from the front of our Kayak!


We had our two teen daughters & their friend on one triple Kayak, John, myself & Paige on the 2nd triple Kayak and our friends Ruth & Jay on a double. Even without any previous experience, we all seemed to handle the meandering Hanalei River quite easily...well, except for that whole directional thing with our paddle!! Thank goodness for strong men at this juncture, lol! Seriously, it made for some great fun to watch the girls try to paddle in unison and not run into the banks or other kayakers & I was just thankful that John was compensating for any of my own mistakes! We did have one very memorable "incident" while kayaking, but it's so good, it deserves it's own special post in a day or two!

Heaven On Earth in Hanalei!

North Shore & Hanalei: (Otherswise known as Heaven on Earth!)

Kilauea Lighthouse was one of the first stops we made on the north shore. We felt that it was a waste of $20 bucks for our family as we only spent about 15 minutes there tops. Yes it’s pretty but there are so many other prettier places on Kauai & they are FREE!!

So much for a cultural experience, it's all about the boobies!

We had way more fun for FREE at Queen’s Bath in Princeville! Each of us loved the short hike through the “jungle”…it was shady & cool and had a small stream with water fall too. It was such a treat to see the incredible views from the lava rocks at the end of the hike. We also were in luck as there were 4-5 sea turtles swimming close to shore. I would definitely recommend good water shoes for the slippery rocks here.

The trail to Queen's bath is narrow & steep so wear good shoes!

The walk over the lave rocks was fun & the "Bath" was warm, Jordan jumped right in!

We went to Hanalei Bay 3 times during our 7 day stay (& that was even with the threat of sharks that week!). We just absolutely fell in love with that little slice of paradise. I can’t put it into words that could do that place justice, it’s just magical!

Hanalei Valley Lookout was breathtaking!

It was never crowded, each person we encountered, local or otherwise was super friendly, and the water was warm and calm.

Taylor & Jordan at Hanalei, with the pier in the background

We met lots of families with dogs that we played with In the water. Our two favorites were “Koby” a full grown Great Dane who is a recent cancer survivor & had a front leg amputated. This dog didn’t miss a step and was playing as happily as the kids were. What an inspiration!

Our friend Jay with Koby, the happiest dog on Kauai!

The other was a VERY hairy black/white Australian Sheppard who seemed as though it lived on or near the beach. We never met the owner but the dog seemed to be waiting a lot under a truck, perhaps for an owner who was at work on one of the boats giving tours. Anyway, when we brought the Paddle ball set out, this dog ran over and watched the game, moving it’s head to follow the serve of the ball diligently!

This shaggy dog never took its eyes off the ball as we played on the beach!

The girls wanted to jump off the sides of the pier like so many of the local kids that were like 5 yrs old! After they got rid of their fear of Hammer head sharks possibly lurking in the atwer, they decided to try it. The water was crystal clear & you could see schools andschools of fish...but thankfully, no sharks!

Here's Jordan & Kayla enjoying their jumps!

To the End of the Road we go!

The clouds cleared just in time for us to receive this magnificant view of the falls at Waimea Canyon.

Waimea Canyon: We went up early, getting to the end of the trail by about 10:30am. By “end of the trail”, I mean past mile marker 18 to “Pu’u o Kila Lookout. It’s definitely worth the extra few turns to go all the way to the end! Past the lookout, there are some trail options that I wish we would have been more prepared to do at least some of…we ventured about ¾ of a mile down the trail before our common sense that we had nothing on us & the rain was getting heavier turned us around! Even though it was an early morning and the kids felt like the turns were getting to them in the back, in the end, they said it was one of our more memorable & fun road trips on Kauai! I was surprised by this because let’s face it…it’s all about scenery and 2 out of 3 of my girls are teenagers!

Our 3 goof balls, making the most of the scenic drive!

This is the "treat" past mike marker 18! There is a trail here that brings you to the coast.

Here's John about to embark down the trail a bit. The weather changes quickly here & the rain turned him around!

The Lodge at Koke’e & the meadow it sits in was so inviting on our way back since it really began to rain hard…so we stopped! We’re so glad we did as their menu was just what we needed for an early lunch or late breakfast, they were flexible! The Banana cake was one of the yummiest we have ever had anywhere. The service was very welcoming & the shop had some different tourist trinkets that we hadn’t seen yet. The one thing that surprised me here was that this was the only place we came across that sold chicken feed to feed the chickens! We couldn’t resist & bought a bag…which we proceeded to throw on our children’s bodies and hair as they got surrounded by 50-100 hungry chickens..in the pouring rain!! We all had a good laugh about it but no more then the warm dry bodies in the Lodge watching our crazy family as they ate their meals!

This place was such a "scenic' surprise! No one imagines Pine trees and meadows in the tropics!

We had one of our best meals here & the staff was very welcoming. I had a local tell me that the chickens are allowed to be fed here in Koke'e as they are considered sacred..so I guess that means the beach front chickens arent?!

Koloa Town Kauai

Koloa's quaint downtown area

Koloa Town: Definitely stop here for a lunch at Sueoka’s Snack shop (Teri burger was the big hit for us!) next to the market . Lunch had to be followed by dessert at Lappert’s Ice Cream (I had the” Island Sensation”, which was vanilla ice cream, brownie bits, & small bits of macadamia shortbread!)

Taylor & Jordan enjoying their lunch from Sueoka's snack shop, which is near the corner of Koloa Rd. & Po'ipu Rd.

Not your typical tourist spot, we also visited the Kauai Humane Society in Lihue. We love animals & the building & surrounding park looked so inviting we had to stop in! We’re so glad we did! We were so impressed with it’s cleanliness & obvious love for nurturing homeless critters! We gave as much love as we could w/o packing one or two in our suitcases! To help support the society visit www.kauaihumane.org or be sure to stop in when driving between Lihue & the Po'ipu area. It's located on the main highway 50, not far from mile marker 3.

Here's Jordan with one of the many cats we encountered!

Fun times in Kauai

We’ve been back for a while now & I was really hoping to have this up much sooner…but life at home got hectic w/ summer colds, summer camps, & a return to work! I plan on writing this in batches, so here are the first two areas we visited! I also have info. on where we ate, costs etc... for those who are really looking to keep track of their spending.

EXCURSIONS:

Lydgate: We enjoyed this beach enough to visit twice! The snorkeling on both visits was really good & plentiful. The walking bath leading further west from here was really a nice walk under shade trees. There were plenty of picnic tables area too in case people wanted to eat off the sand. There are lifeguards at Lydgate so if this is important to you,
Lydgate is a sure bet. There were other families here but the beach was large enough that it never felt crowded.

Poipu Beaches: We first went to Shipwreck beach in front of the Hyatt. It was a pretty beach…to look at…but not to swim! I guess if I was staying at the Hyatt & had use of their beautiful pool area, that would be ok…but we wanted to be able to get in the water so we packed up & headed to Brennecke’s by the Marriott. There were more people on this beach than any other beach we visited in all of Kauai. If serenity, solitude, and quiet strolls on the beach are your thing, this is not the place! Our family had a fun time here..lots of other people around to mingle with & the boogie boarding & snorkeling was fun.

911 Memorial in Grapevine Texas

I wanted to share this with you.... When my dad worked for Consolidated Freightways (CF Trucking), they donated the shipping costs related to transporting steel beams from the World Trade Center. They were being shipped to Rancho Cucamonga where a local artist was creating sculptures for various memorials across the US, part of a program called "Freedoms Flame". Unfortunately, during this time, CF filed bankruptcy and tons of their trucks were still loaded with products from different companies that now were being abandoned. Most of the steel beams had already been delivered thankfully!

At CF, my father's last tasks included organizing the auctions to move all that merchandise & CF property. It was during this time that he discovered one remaining Steel beam from the World Trade Center. No one at CF wanted it. He was afraid it would end up in the dump so he brought it home in a very large crate box. He contacted the artist's representatives and was told that they had more than they needed. It sat in his garage a little longer. When we would go visit my parents, we would marvel at the crate box and get little sneek peeks thru the grooves at the steel beam within.

After a couple years, they relocated to Texas and they moved the beam with them, still not sure what to do with it but knowing that they definitely had to give it back in some way. My parents live in Lake Worth in a tight knit community, where they met a local city official. My father mentioned the beam & shared the story with him. He offered it to the community for any future memorials. I guess some time passed and he didn't hear anything so he forgot about it again. A few months later, he finally got the call he had been waiting for! A memorial was being built in Grapevine Texas. This memorial was going to include a garden and would be visible from the flight paths at Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport. The steel beam finally had a resting place!

The dedication was on the 4th of July. You can see what they've done with the steel beam. My mom told me they will be placing a note card in front of it letting people know how it was obtained & my dad's name will be included. Kinda cool huh? So if you are ever in Grapevine Texas, be sure to visit the 911 memorial garden!

Newbie on the loose!

Watch out, I've entered the "Blog" world! Now I just need to figure it all out, so have patience with me while I do! My goal is to be able to post our pics & our thoughts about our trips. Our next vacation begins in 9 short days ! Your feedback is appreciated so let me know if something is not coming across well!

Happy Travels! Tan