Kauai October 7-28, 2003

--writing with Apple laptop--

--Becky writes unless noted by Marilou--

--Marilou takes most of the photos--

This is our 4th trip to the island.

October 10, 2003

Aloha,

It's always a very long day getting here and this Tuesday was no different. Both our Delta flights were on time. The Hawaiian flight from Honolulu to Lihue usually runs late. (Time here IS different!) Still we didn't take any chances getting from the Delta gate in the Honolulu International airport to the Hawaiian gate at the next door Domestic airport, which is a good 20 minute walk. Our Hawaiian flight was the last for the day and we would have to stay in Honolulu the night if we missed it. (Oh dreadful) We made the flight with time to spare. Thank goodness for the option of checking our bags all the way through to Lihue.

Even though our flight from the mainland is a domestic flight, we still arrive at the International airport. Probably due to the size of the runway the bigger planes need.

We arrived in Lihue on Kauai just at sundown on Tuesday, October 7, got our rental car and headed north to our rental house. On this visit to Kauai we are staying in the Kilauea (kil-a-whey-a) area which is on the north shore of the island as opposed to our usual timeshare on the south shore. Stopping briefly at a grocery store for a few necessaries, we continued on north to find the house and dragged ourselves into it and soon went to sleep.

Our timeshare that we own in Poipu is 2 weeks every other year. So, since we were just here in January, we are renting a house this time. We are realizing that possibly the timeshare plan isn't going to be enough to satisfy our growing desire to be on Kauai.

The next morning, BEFORE daybreak, the famous chickens of Kauai ... well, to be more specific, the roosters woke us with their crowing. They were in the yard and woods right around the house! For those of you who may not know, when hurricane Iniki came through here in 1992, most of the chicken coops were blown apart and the chickens have been free ever since. Now they roam the island. Everywhere.

Even though it was 6:30a here, our body clocks said it was 1:30p and diffidently time to get up. So, without being too upset at the roosters we got up and had coffee on the porch. The hens were feeding in the yard with their chicks running around watching for mama to uncover breakfast. We took in the view for the first time since arriving the night before. The only house in sight is across the river's steep valley. Our house is built on the side of a river and the ocean that the river runs to is in sight from the porch. Banana trees grow on the slope towards the river at the freshly cut lawn's edge. An African Tulip tree with its large bright orange blooms stands taller behind the banana grove. All around the house are many bushes, various trees, palms, and Ti (tee) trees which is a plant that looks like a slightly smaller leafed, more colorful and graceful version of a corn plant (houseplant in North America). Local legend says the Ti tree protects the property it grows on.

This house, while not big, is very well appointed. Just about anything and everything one might need in living here is here, right down to two coffee brewers. This has come in handy because these days Marilou drinks decaf and I like regular. Most all the windows are glass jalousie and the overhangs are deep so the windows can stay open even when it rains. The window placements allow the island breeze to flow through the house all the time. Plus there are ceiling fans in every room. There is no AC. Except for the humidity, the breeze takes care of cooling us. About the hottest it gets here is 83ª F. This past January, when we here, the humidity was very low and that's about the main difference winter has from summer.

We've been here several days now as I write this and we've done our usual "making ourselves at home", which means we arrange/rearrange things to suit us. We haven't moved the living room furniture, YET! Thinking about it, though.

Our house is about 600 yards from the ocean and sits up high overlooking a small river, which I don't know the name of at this time. The beach at the river's mouth and the bay it forms is big and the public access road for this beach is right next to our house. That's nice and convenient.

We went down to check the beach out just before sunset the first day. There was one guy parachute surfing and maybe 4 other people on the beach or on surf boards. That's all. Most of them left as the sun's light faded. We sat and watched the sunset which was happening behind the ridge above us.

There's been a trend in the weather since the day we arrived that has increased the trade winds and thus picked up the wave action. Good surfing, not good snorkeling. We don't surf. It's fun to watch those who do. The forecast says this trend should calm around Monday. We're waiting to snorkel then.

The first day, Wednesday, after coffee, Marilou came up with a brilliant idea ... she has them every so often ... to see if we could set up an email account here for a month. That way we wouldn't have to call long distance to get on line. The local company here, which is Verizon, said "no problem" and so we now have unlimited access for $23. We would've paid many times over that for long distance dial-up in 3 weeks! Great.

We went out for lunch in Princeville, a bit more west from where we're staying. Some scattered showers greeted us. We ARE on the north side. And "scattered" really means scattered .... wait 5 minutes and it's over ... drive a mile and it's clear. Then there was the mandatory trip to Wally World in Lihue to stock up on this and that. And then to Hilo Hattie's to see the latest selection of Hawaiian shirts. We also called the real-estate agent that we'd contacted from the mainland and made an appointment the next morning. Dinner happened sometime around sunset, 6:00, at Lemongrass in Wailua.

Returning home that evening, we were tired from not much of anything other than the body clock having not yet changed to Hawaiian time AND having been awoken before dawn by the roosters.

Thursday morning the roosters had moved further away from our house, thank goodness. We slept a little later. Though we still had to get up "early", 7:00, in order to make our meeting at 10:00 with the agent in Lihue, about a 30 minute drive. I, yes, I fixed breakfast. Well, the boiled eggs were fixed by Marilou the day before. I really only cooked bacon. --grin-- Even with what seemed like plenty of time that morning we still ran "late" ... island time is infectious. The agent wasn't bothered when we called to say we would be about 20 minutes late. (Not that it's okay, just not a big deal in most cases.)

We are considering purchasing a house here, though diffidently not this trip. We're just getting the scope of things. The agent gave us a list to go see in person that would keep us busy for the next few days. Most of Thursday we drove around the north side of the island looking at properties. Then we had supper at Postcards in Hanalei. Nice restaurant.

We are going to many places we've never been during our times on the island. Having done the "have tos" on the prior trips, we now want to do other things. Of course, we'll still drive up to Waimea Canyon and to each end of the main road, eat at Gaylord's and the Beach House, and other familiar stuff. After all, this is a small place and some things are just worth doing over and over.

Friday morning was rainy and good to sleep to with the windows open. The roosters seem to be to staying down the road ever since the first day we arrived. The hens with their chicks still scratch in the yard and that's okay. We watch their antics as we have our morning coffee on the porch, along with all the other birds that live here on the north shore. This is much different from the south shore. There's so much more rain. Things grow exponentially.

Later that morning we went out to look at more properties. Then lunch at Bubba's in Kapa'a. Bubba's is "famous" for its hamburgers. They are good, and of course we had them bunless. We're staying on the Atkins food plan well and some waitpeople recognize our requests to hold the high carb foods. Thank goodness seafood is also part of the plan. Here on the island, as one might expect, are great seafood selections.

After finishing that day's list of property in the early afternoon, we stopped by a fair that is held in Kapa'a. The banner for it said it is a "local products fair". Well, some of it was and the majority of it was imports. The main thing that came from that venture was that Marilou got to talk with a local photographer about the filters he uses.

Marilou has taken on learning more about the nice digital camera we have in regards to its manual operations. She is taking a photography course on-line and is snapping pictures left and right. Her subjects range from the geckos in and around the house to, of course, the scenery of the island. It's a shame this place doesn't provide any worthwhile things to point a camera at. --grin--

After the fair we went to the grocery store and then home for supper. Marilou grilled some of HER "famous" hamburgers, asparagus, and whole onions on the gas grill outside. I worked on this travelog and watched some TV and went to bed around 10:00. Marilou stayed up studying her photography course stuff until about midnight.

Saturday morning now and I've finished this and Marilou is waiting for me to get off the computer so she can fiddle with her pictures. I can see it now, next trip we may need 2 computers! LOL

Becky & Marilou

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October 16, 2003

Aloha,

Saturday, Oct. 11, we went to a Pow Wow. Yes, a Native American Pow Wow in Kauai. I believe there's been five before this one. It was held in Kapa'a. We heard some nice flute playing, saw some fancy dancers, and listened to a great story of how the flute came to be among humans.

This is the short version. A man and a woman were in love. The man had to go away on a trip (hunting or something). The woman was walking in the forest one day when a woodpecker saw her and fell in love with her. Now this was back when animals could turn themselves in to humans and so the woodpecker sang a song that enchanted the woman to fall in love with him and then turned himself into a human.

The first man came home to find his love with another man and vowed to follow them until he could get the new man alone so that he could beat him up and convince him to give back the woman he had stolen.

That day finally came and the jealous man picked up a stick to hit the second man and when he ran at him the second man turned back into a woodpecker which surprised the jealous man. The jealous man stopped. The woodpecker flew up into a tree. The jealous man regained his determination and threw the stick at the woodpecker. The stick hit the woodpecker. The woodpecker and the stick fell to the ground.

The jealous man approached the woodpecker, picked up the stick to hit the woodpecker again and the woodpecker spoke to the man which surprised him again and so he paused. The woodpecker proceeded to beg for its life and said that he just had not been able to stop himself from wanting the woman to be his because of her great beauty. The woodpecker said to the man that he would let the jealous man have her again if his life was spared and that he would give the jealous man something that would break the spell he had put on her. The jealous man said okay.

The woodpecker picked up the stick, made a flute out of it and told the man that he should wait until a moonlit night to play the flute for the woman and the spell would be broken and she would be his again. The man did this and they lived happily ever after.

And to this day the woodpeckers still have no song because it was given to man.

Sweet, huh.

At the Pow Wow were some local Hawaiian artisans, too. One whom we had met back in January. A new one we talked to is actually from Tonga. He is a carver/sculptor. So, this Pow Wow really was a gathering of many tribes.

After the Pow Wow we ran a few errands in Lihue and then went to Gaylord's for supper. Our waitperson was very accommodating to our diet and had the kitchen fix us some strawberries with whipped cream for dessert. Nice. Yes, whipped cream IS carb-friendly.

Back at home, we watched "Catch Me If You Can". Good movie, light humor, based on an amazing and true story.

Sunday, we slept until 9:00. Our body clocks are adjusting to this time zone. One rooster found its way back into our yard and around 8:30 insisted we get up.

We sat out on the porch for a really long time, had coffee, did some reading, picture taking, and bird watching. Saw a new bird; Nutmeg Mannikin. It's so nice to be in a house instead of the timeshare condo. The timeshare IS in a beautiful location and IS very well appointed ... it just isn't a home, though. Here no one is walking around on "our" grounds, the grill is just feet away from the back door, and we park in our own carport. It might be hard going back to the condo. Well, not really, because it is a great place and it's paid for! AND it is on Kauai.

About 1:30 we went out to Hanalei for lunch and then to the Kilauea Lighthouse that's very near where we are staying. It's on a peninsular that is the northern most point of Kauai. The area around the point is a wildlife refuge. There are lots of big ocean birds that nest on the cliffs. In the winter, Albatross live here, too. The waters off this shore are one of two areas that protect whales when they calve here each winter.

After the lighthouse area closed at 4:00 we stopped at an old Japanese cemetery on our way off the peninsular. It is on the side of a gently sloping gorgeously green hill with a view of the mountains and of Hanalei Bay. Rain showers were moving over the mountains several miles away as the sun lowered itself in the west sky behind those clouds.

We drove back to Hanalei Bay for the sunset. On the ridge just southeast of the bay, we found a good spot to park and take pictures. In fact, it was right by one of the properties we've looked at and have become quite fond of. The whole ridge is one of the most beautiful spots on the north side, in our opinion.

On the drive home there was a heavy downpour for a few miles. At home, Marilou grilled salmon. We watched some TV as rain came and went several times. The breeze was very cool. The geckos talked a lot. It rained off and on for most of the night, I think. Good sleeping weather.

Monday, 10:30, we had an appointment to see some properties. So, after coffee on the porch and breakfast we went to Kilauea town to meet our agent. We saw some impressive places. Then had a late lunch in Kapa'a. After lunch we went to an open house that is right on the beach. One of those little beach houses built on stilts with all the living space upstairs. The ocean was maybe 30 feet away from the house.

After that we came home because Marilou wanted to put some ice on her toe. Yesterday she stubbed it on the leg of a piece of furniture. It's swollen, though we're pretty sure it's not broken or jammed ... just strained, which is bad enough. She's walking alright on it. That's good.

Just before sunset we went down to the beach to go for a walk. On the beach, we ran into Bruce and Cindy, who own the house we are renting. They live just up the road from us and were out walking to get ready for a snow skiing trip to the Rockies. Well, I guess we all have to go somewhere else for something. lol

Tuesday, was another beautiful morning as we sat on the porch swing watching a rain shower pass by out on the ocean and a black cat in our yard eyeing the chicks with their mamas. The hens headed for thicker bush with the chicks scurrying to keep up and the cat left after a while.

Then we headed south to look at some more properties in the Kapa'a. and Poipu areas. We're having a lot fun seeing places we've never seen on the island. We've gone up and down roads perhaps otherwise we'd never travel. It's also interesting to see the insides of some of the homes on Kauai.

Going to the south shore the first time this trip brought back memories of our visits in the past. And after getting used to the north shore's lushness, the south shore's mix of cactus and palms is actually an odd scene to my eyes now.

We stopped by a grocery store in Koloa town for some supper fixings and came on home just as the sun was setting over the big mountain. When we got home there was still some good color in the clouds out over the ocean that we could see from our porch. And then Marilou grilled a couple of T-bones.

Aloha,

Becky & Marilou

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October 20, 2003

Aloha,

Wednesday, Oct. 15, we got up around 8:00, sat out on the porch with the boring view, watched the boring scattered white puffy clouds blow by, could see the boring whitecaps on the ocean, and wondered if we were having fun yet ... NOT! --grin--

By 11:30 we were at another open house checking it out. Then headed south past Lihue to Kalaheo for lunch in a place we've been to on past visits and after that we looked at two more houses in that area. You may be thinking, "now, that's boring". Well, please bear in mind that just driving from point A to point B, C, or D is very beautifully entertaining here on Kauai. Really. No kidding. It's amazing.

While in Lawa'i (near Kalaheo) we stopped at the store where, in January, we had bought some Ni'ihau shell necklaces, because just hours before this, the Ni'ihau necklace Marilou was wearing got one of its tiny shells broken by the seatbelt. The store is going to fix it, no charge.

Late in the afternoon, we were driving back north towards home and pulled off the road to watch the surfers riding the waves at Kealia Beach, which is just north of Kapa'a. Then we drove on up to Hanalei for supper. There were showers here and there all day.

Thursday, started off with the phone ringing at 5:30a. It was our cell phone and the caller was from our home area (10:30a) and a wrong number. So, we are awake and now the roosters are forefront in our ears. Having gotten used to the roosters starting up when I'm asleep and being able to sleep right though them doesn't help when I'm awake and they start crowing. :-\

Once we got up, later that morning, we noticed the air was different. It was dryer and the sky was bluer. The mountain tops, usually covered by clouds, were showing more of themselves. We had no plans to look at any properties this day.

At lunch in Hanalei, we met a couple of artists who were eating at the same place as us. We must have talked for 3 hours. One of the artists lives here and the other is visiting. We enjoyed talking with them and learned where to buy fresh fish in Hanalei. Important info.

We had planned to walk part of the trail at the end of the road on the north shore at Ke'e State Park. Because we talked so long after lunch we decided to go to the fish market instead and then we drove by our favorite property near Hanalei to take some more pictures.

Arriving home earlier than usual on Thursday, we got to see our view where we are staying with different light on it. That was nice.

On Friday, we met Martie, our agent, at some more houses in the Wailua area. There are 4 houses for sale along the river ridge rim that all have very nice views of the Wailua River valley. One even had a great view of a waterfall that fell about 50 yards straight down into the valley. This particular house almost became our #1 house on our list of likes. The house itself is a very well designed and appointed, probably top dog in its neighborhood.

Then we had lunch with Martie and talked more seriously about the rental possibilities for our 2 favorite houses. We are kicking around the possibility of putting whatever we purchase into a vacation rental program so as to have some income when we aren't using it. As we talked we learned that the north shore rents much better than any other place on the island, 80-85% compared to the east shore at 60-65%. So, that took us back to the house on the north shore that we have liked the best all along.

This house is a so-so house as far as its roadside appeal goes, though its views are some of the MOST spectacular. (This property is not on ocean front. It does have a bit of an ocean view.) We figure the house can be altered and the view of these Kauai lava mountains is the real value of the place. Even thought the house is on the flat-line side of excitement, it is still a well built house. It's on 2.03 acres, in agricultural, limited residential zoning. There are a few banana trees, some pineapple plants, several kind of palms, and then grass everywhere else on the piece. There is a nice no-paint white fence all the way around the property. Plenty of room for our self expression here! If you aren't guessing by now, we REALLY like this property and are finding it harder and harder to think of this as "just looking". (Mark C. you may be right!)

Friday evening we drove to Hanapepe. There is a street in the old part of town that has a lot of art galleries. Every Friday night they all stay open late into the evening. We ate, for the first time, at the Hanapepe Coffee Shop on this street. We really enjoyed it, too. They serve a gourmet meal on Friday nights. Very good.

Saturday, we were going to go to the Aloha Festival Parade in Lihue which started at 10:00 am. After being out later than usual the night before we decided to sleep in a little and then go snorkeling. The wind seemed to be calmer and yet when we got to Tunnels Beach, a good snorkel spot on the north shore, the surf was up and snorkeling was out of the picture.

We parked at the county park beach near Tunnels and walked the beach for about 3/4 mile. The waves were crashing. The sand was soft. There were lots of bits of coral at the wash line on the beach. It was humid and sunny. We about wore ourselves out, not being used to sand walking. Enjoyed it greatly, though. With all the numbers crunching we've been doing the past few days over the property looking, we needed to do something like that. Hopefully, the old Koloa boat harbor down in Po'ipu will be better for snorkeling when we can get there this coming week. Actually, the snorkeling is usually best on the south shore this time of year anyway, we just wanted to not have to drive all that way since we'd been on the south shore several days already this week.

We came home from the walk and Marilou grilled Onaga (red snapper), a wonderful fish. I steamed some broccoli and cauliflower to go with the fish.

Sunday morning, after crunching some more numbers, found us calling Martie, the real estate agent, and making an offer on the house we like. Now we will see how low the seller will come down. The game is on.

Then we went for lunch at Bubba's Burgers in Hanalei and on to the Limahuli Garden which is almost at the end of the road at Ke'e State Park on the north shore. Limahuli Garden is a small, steep sided valley where Hawaiians lived in ancient times. It's carved from the shore up into the mountains. Now the area has been restored to much of it's original look. The speciality in this garden is using only native to the island plants and ones introduced long ago by the original Polynesians, nothing modern. Most of the lower area has the original lava stone walled terraces growing taro as it was grow for thousands of years. It was quite a walk up and down the path though the Garden. Absolutely beautiful. The mosquitoes were pretty bad in the forest parts, though. Up on the high ground we watched mesmerized as the big curling waves ran to the shore below. Their thunderous sound reverbrated up the hill as a delayed explosion each time one broke on the beach.

The afternoon was getting late and we headed back home, stopping at the grocery store in Hanalei for a few items.

Monday morning we were up early to talk business back to the mainland about buying the house we like. Then we went out to the house to meet it's agent, though he was just leaving when we pulled up, due to an emergency. He left us with the house and we stayed for several hours, planning the changes we want to make, looking into all the nooks and crannies, taking pictures, and envisioning our future visits there. Wow. This is really happening. :-D

Well, we haven't agreed on the price, yet. ... patience.

Becky & Marilou

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October 27, 2003

Aloha,

Tuesday, October 21, was a laid back day. We went into Kapa'a. to meet Julian for lunch at Mermaids. Julian is a software writer that I met online after buying a program (iClock) from him and we have conversed via email for almost a year. I never knew where he lived until about 6 months ago. From some info in his program, I guessed he lived on Kauai and more specifically, Kapa'a. He confirmed my guess.

So, when Marilou & I began to plan to look at houses on this trip to the island, I asked Julian to recommend an agent for us to work with on the island. He did. Finally, after being here for 2 weeks and not being able to get our available days to match up, we got things worked out and met Julian for the first time face to face. This was a real treat. He is a very nice guy.

After lunch we went to a couple of furniture stores, just to get a sense of what's available on the island. We aren't sure how much furniture is going to be left in the house. We've been told what we see is what we get. There is a bare-bones amount of furnishing left by the current owner after he moved back to California.

Later that afternoon we came home to wait for the call from our agent to inform us of the owner's reply to our offer. Finally the call came. The owner had countered our offer and said it was firm. We had met in the middle. We are happy with that. The price has come down considerably. We have until Saturday to reply. The actual closing won't happen until late December. Oh, rats, we'll have to come back at that time. --grin--

Marilou grilled some great T-bones for supper.

Wednesday, we got up early to make a date at Na'Aine Kai Botanical Gardens right up the road from where we are staying. They only offer guided tours of the place (can't walk around by ourselves), so we signed up for the 2.5 hours tour that goes though most all of it, right down to the shore. This property is the estate of a wealthy couple who have created a wonderful collection of plants, bronze sculptures, and water features. So many folks wanted to come see this place that they finally began to offer public tours.

Our guide that morning was Peter who himself is a story. His great grandfather was the first and only doctor, of non Hawaiian origin, on the island way back when.

So, Peter showed us, along with a group of six other folks, the gardens. From the koi pond (actually a small lake) with over 400 koi, to a large maze, to hundreds of differing palms, bushes, cactus, flowering things of all shapes and sizes, to the sandy shore of the ocean, we walked through a wonderland.

Periodically there would be a life size and usually whimsical bronze sculpture placed in an opportune place, like a lady sitting in a swing under a great (real) Monkeypod tree and two children launching their toy sail boats at the (real) edge of the koi pond.

It was a humid day and in the forest areas the mosquitoes were out by the hundreds. We had already spayed ourselves down before we started and were glad we had more spay with us. Those moszies were incredibly persistent. The other folks with us were glad we had the spray, too.

For lunch we stopped at Ono Burgers, a local favorite Martie told us about. Ono is Hawaiian for good. And they were.

On into Lihue we went to pick up our counter contract on the house and then to Hilo Hattie's again. The last time we'd been in Hilo Hattie's, a week or so ago, there had been a whole boat load of cruisers, that is, a cruise ship was in port, and we had to get out of there to save our sanity. This time it was much less crowded and we had a much better time of it.

Another stop at Wally World for this and that and then home.

Thursday, 23rd, we went to the 1st Hawaiian Bank in Lihue to talk to Sharon, whom Martie, our agent, had recommended, for our loan. This went well.

Then we went by the real estate office and signed the final contract. Martie was able to get the blue prints of the house and we got copies made so we'd have something to work from for our remodeling schemes while back in Georgia. When we returned the originals to Martie, her dad was there. Her dad, Curtis, just happens to be a well respected contractor/builder on the island. We've already had him out to the house to talk about changing some things. We are looking forward to working with him.

On Friday we were going to go snorkeling and instead decided to spend the morning checking with some other banks and loan companies to make sure Sharon was giving us the best deal. This proved to be not a concern, as the other loan folks couldn't touch what Sharon had offered. That's good to know.

Friday afternoon, we spent at the house with the blue prints, going over everything we could see that was different from the prints. Houses don't always get built exactly like the plans are drawn. And with some tracing paper, we began to draw out the first ideas of changes we want to happen.

That evening we ate at Dolphins in Hanalei. It's right on the Hanalei River. The shrimp and filet were very good.

Saturday morning we finally went snorkeling. At Anini Beach which is near the new house and from the water we see the same mountains we see from the house. Also, the lighthouse can be seen from this beach. It's a great place to swim because the reef is about 200 yards out which causes the waves to break way out there creating a large calm area along the shore. The problem is that there isn't much to look at under the water, as in fish.

After snorkeling, and then lunch, we went to a place where there are ancient carvings on some large boulders near the Wailua River. The main figure appears to be a human with two half circles over it's head. A lot of people call it the Rainbow Man. It could also be a person with a helmet on ... as in spacesuit. Who knows??!!! ;-)

From there we drove out Kapa'a, back in the hills towards the big mountains where farms makes one soon forget about tourists and such things. Some of the land there reminded us of Virginia. Except for the occasional palm tree, of course.

On the way home we saw a black dog near the road where we are staying. We saw this same dog in our rental house yard the other day. Up near the house we are buying is a sign on the roadside announcing a black dog has been lost. Just to make sure, we drove up to the sign and called the number on it. No, the dog we've seen isn't the one they lost. The dog we've seen probably lives around here. It has a collar. (Later found out that the black dog we've seen belongs to the folks who own our rental house.)

Today, Sunday, we went south to Po'ipu to snorkel. We would've gone in at Koloa Landing if the sea had not been so rough. So we went to Lawa'i Beach. This little beach continues to be one of the best spots for calmer water and lots of fish no matter what time of year or weather. The fish there actually expect to be fed. They'll come right up to you. Many folks do feed them frozen early peas. We've done so in the past, too. Forgot to get some peas this time. Just as we were getting out and showering off (many of the popular beaches have showers/baths) a rain cloud worked its way from the ocean to overhead. Good timing.

Stopped by Wally World to put our underwater cameras in for film developing. There were some cool cars at the outer edges of the parking lot. The local hotroders were meeting and showing off their stuff.

Arriving back at home, Bruce, our "landlord", was here installing a DVD player. We had asked if he had one to spare the first week and now it's two days before we leave and he comes up with one. LOL Sounds about the speed of Fannin County. Not that Bruce hasn't been attentive with other things. I'm just poking fun.

We'll be leaving tomorrow evening. Today and tomorrow we are planning on packing, getting a sample of the flooring we want to put in the house, this and that other things. Tonight we're having a sunset dinner at Bali Hai Restaurant that overlooks Hanalei Bay, near the Frenchman's home location in South Pacific.

Becky & Marilou

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October 29, 2003

Arrived back home in Georgia on the the 29th after leaving Honolulu at 10:20 pm on the 28th. Our flight went through San Francisco so the fires in the LA area wasn't a factor for us. Still, all together it takes a long time to get home even with tail winds after we left San Fran. Once we got to our home in Fannin County, around 6:00 pm, we crashed and slept until about 2:00 am and got up for a few hours of TV and then crashed again until about 3:30 pm the afternoon of the 30th. A day or so of vacation after the vacation is always a good thing to plan on. ;-)

Our last two days on the island were spent packing a couple of boxes with stuff to mail home, opening a PO Box in Princeville on the north shore of Kauai, meeting Martie for some more paper work towards the house purchase, meeting with Curtis the contractor/builder to talk some more about the changes we want to make to the house, and then waiting for our plane in the small Lihue airport (love those small airports!).

We went to Kauai on this trip with the plan of just looking at properties, just to see what's available. We found a place that had been on the market for over 6 months and negotiated a price all could live with and ended up purchasing a home. Sometimes things work in amazing ways.

We have already booked our flight back to Kauai on December 28th.

More then.

Becky & Marilou