Sunday Dec 25 2011

Well we are on our way and that's OK. The car is turned in and bags are checked, so we have to say good by to the island of Kauai with great fondness and look forward to the next time when ever it happens next.

We arrived in Seattle at 7:30 looking forward to being in the Board room to change and have a drink and snack but  nope it was closed for Christmas surprise surprise surprise. Oh well life carries on, and the Alaska was still open so not all was lost. I noticed not much was open but a few stores were so that was good. 

We arrived in Victoria just before midnight a bless her heart Linette was waiting for us, what a sweat warm welcome home. 

This is pretty much the end of our holiday for this one so the next one is in February to the Caribbean I have a few things to finish up booking on that one but the major parts are done see you then.

Sat Dec 24 2011

We ended up in the light house mall for a pizza lunch to have the best pizza on the island that we have tried, although the Brick Oven is almost the same only a single IC (Iron Chef) point between them. I then picked up a couple of last minuet gifts. Then to  Hanalei for last minuet shopping for my personal favorite Mac Nut Liquor.

We got back to our unit mid afternoon in time for a long soak in the sun and hot tub and to chat with some replacement holidayers. Even tough it was fun warm and beautiful I am missing the dogs and won't mind getting home to our house and friends and get a refill hopefully by the new years weekend. Oh we go tomorrow guess I better pack for the Transportation Steal Agency and make sure we have every thing.

Friday Dec 23 2011

Here it is Friday  already can hardly believe it. The weather has been unsettled to say the least mostly dry but a lot of wind and some rain, it has also been the same almost all over the island so there has been not much winning that battle.
            I have been stewing about something that happened last Sunday on our way to Kauai from Maui. Of coarse you have to send your bags through TSA for inspection well I got my bag inspected and I forgot to remove the taxi money to get home from the airport home in Victoria and yup it was gone when we got to Kauai. I figure that since this is the fourth or fifth time I have been ripped off that the special XRAY equipment is there to make it easier and faster for TSA to find and STEAL what ever they want. Oh and by the way they  leave you a note telling you that they stole something, it is the official TSA form but they are so secretive there is no indication who it was that checked your dirty shorts. They also make it impossible to report it after trying for half an hour to contact them on there web site I gave up in frustration. So lesson learnt don't leave anything you want to keep in your checked baggage.

Tuesday Dec 20

4 Amigos return from death defying flight

Today was an awesome day for sightseeing. Laura and I Got up early and headed to Poipu to pick up Linette and Mark, then carry on to Port Allen airport to experience the island by open door helicopter. We left the room about 8:00  and got to Port Allen about 9:40 in plenty of time to get started. After the usual FAA stuff it was off to the skies in a Hughes 400 quite a nice helicopter and I think very new.

Port Allen

One of many waterfalls

 We toured the whole island as best we could as the wind chased clouds around and our pilot kept ahead of them, except for a couple of quick duck in and duck out of a rain.  Saw a full circle rainbow, many waterfalls, and valleys, mountain peaks hawaiian sacred sites, beaches, turtles, and lots of clouds.

Napali Coast

Hanalei Bay

Sunday Dec 18

Alex

Sunday Dec 18

Today is a travel day for Joanna and Harry and us. Joanna and Harry have to say good bye to paradise and return home to Victoria and Laura and I are heading to Kauai for another week. We were too early to say good by to the parrots in the lobby but I am sure they have lots of folks  to entertain and be-friend

I discovered today that I forgot the USB cable for the cell phone so I don't have pictures of the parrots. I will try to procure one on Kauai and get the pictures off the phone.





We are expecting to meet Mark and Linette for lunch at the Dukes in the Marriot Hotel kind of a swanky place, realy good view of the bay and  good food. Then up to the north to our usual place in the Bali Hai and the rest of the day just bummin about getting settled for the week

Saturday Dec 17

After a morning walk down the boardwalk for coffee at the castaway cafe and tanning by the pool we decided to head out to the windward side of the island, and the little town of Paia which is stuck in the 70's I say this because of the sign at the start of town "Don't Feed The Hippies".  First a walk around town, after a good rainstorm, and then into a little gelato store for some treats.  Mango, Lime and Cheesecake were chosen by Aaron, Harry and Joanna.  Laura tried all three!

There are a lot of arts and crafts in this town.  overlooking the gelato store is a fabulous Koa wood giraffe.  A short drive out on the road to Hana was in order and we passed by great surf at some of the beaches. Didn't do the side trip to the town of Haiku, but maybe another time. 

Koa Giraffe in Paia

Quickly we headed  back to Lahaina to enjoy our last Maui sunset with great friends,  drinks, pupus and desert on a deck overlooking the harbor.  The mai tai's get special mention for taste and presentation,  fresh orchids on top take these one's over the top in our opinion.

Time to pack up, tomorrow is a travel day for all of us.

Friday

Harry and Joanna went to Molikini snorkeling so Laura and I have had a lazy morning and I am getting caught up on the blogs. I thought I would catch up on news at home but I forgot it was Miracle on Broad St so not too much to hear.

An old friend of mine in Victoria worked with a fellow that owns a pizza place in Hawaii  Called Paradisio Pizza and guess what , yup its across the street from us, so we are trying it tonight for dinner. we are all ready for a low brow type of dinner, good for me or not.

Mark and Linette left for Kauai this morning and we will meet up with them on Sunday at Dukes for lunch, looking forward to Kauai again

We are sitting pool side in the shade in a gentle breeze scented with the herbs from the chefs herb garden. What more could you ask for as a day in paradise.  

Thursday

After the long and tiring day yesterday it was time for a chill day. So we went for a drive to Keihei to show Harry and Joanna the beaches and other stuff down there and to have lunch at Fred's Mexican Restaurant, it was indeed as good as I remembered. then back to the room for pool side time.

Wednesday

Sunrise on Haleakala Road

 Today was our day to go to Haleakala for sunset which meant getting up at the obscene time of 3:15 to be out on the road by 4 to get to the top of the mountain by 6:15-30. All 6 of us got going and got the last two parking spots at the lower parking lot. It was about 34 degrees F and very windy and cloudy, thank heaven the gift shop was open so every one could rotate at getting warm and out of the wind.

Waking up

Silver Sword at top of mountain

Science City

Linette,Joanna,Harry,and Mark, burrrrrr

Monday

Today was quite a neet day.  Started with a get up and checkout the e-mail in the lobby then catchup with Mark and Linette.

We were going to have a breakfast in our hotel but when we got there it was over and the other s hadn't opened up yet, one of the wait staff suggested that across the street at the Java Jazz, have to admit not the place I would have gone on my own but it was very good and reasonably priced. We will probably go there again in the next couple of days.

Once on the road we went and had Harry added as a driver of the car, some shopping and a trip through the aquarium, very well done and educational. by the end of all that it was time for my nap drinks and dinner with the 6 of us and finally a hot tub and bed time.

Maui in December

Well we made it to Maui yesterday and were greeted with heavy rain and high winds, not what I expected  but thats ok too.  Mark and Linnet were on the same plane as us so we had fun in the airports.

Once settled Laura and I tried to get a hold of them but the storm took out the phones in the area so no luck. We were just about to go looking for them when they arrived at the front desk. We decided to take a run into Lahainia for snacks and a drink. The rain had stopped and the wind wasn't blowing so it was a nice evening after all. We stopped at the Pioneer Inn, one of the oldest inn s in Hawaii, and had our snacks then wandered around town, with good friends and each other.

After getting back to the room Laura and I had a short nap then a quick hot tub and went to the airport to get Joanna and Harry. We arrived just as they got in so less than 15 min we were heading back to Ka'anapali. and to a well deserved sleep.

Lexington KY didn't happen  this year so we decided to go to a flyball tournament in Longview WA instead. It was a good time and the dogs had a good time too placing first on Sat then well lets say not as well on Sunday. It was nice to go for a short holiday with them anyway. I don't have any pictures of the tournament or getting there as it is old hat to us to go through Washington State and run at a tournament. It was a great time with great friends and team mates.

The next holiday is to Hawaii in December. A week on Maui then  week on Kauai places we have been many times but still enjoy the time we spend there. We are traveling with four other long time friends, two are going for a week on Maui and the other two will stay on for another four days on Kauai.Should be a really good time for all of us. 

I have also made arrangements to go to San Juan Puerto Rico in February then do a southern Caribbean cruise after a few days in old town San Juan. We have only spent a single day there and looking forward to a return trip to get to see more of the country. Thats what the first cruise was all about, to find a place we wanted to return to. San Juan really fits that bill for us.

The Cruise is a 7 day cruise that takes us to 5 countries including St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; St. John's, Antigua; Castries, St. Lucia; Bridgetown, Barbados. Keep tuned for the travels of the Hughes'. ( oh its 136 days away ).

A final wrap up

Well its been a couple of weeks since we got back from Cabo. As an epilogue all I can say is it was a lot of fun, thanks to Dr Dougi I had a reasonable amount of energy which allowed me to do lots of things.

The most fun was the Zip line tour quite different to the one we did in Hawaii a couple of years ago. We had a wonderful time visiting with our cousin and it was certainly the high point of our trip.

We are not sure when the next trip will be. We might be in Kentucky in September not sure yet, but for sure December 11 to the 25th in Hawaii all the reservations are made.

The last day blues.

Here it is our last night in Cabo. Being Sunday night alot shuts down early in the evening so the town is very quiet. After dinner we tried to print the boarding passes but was unable due to printer problem. Probably someone had finger trouble and did something and let the smoke out ( electronics is all smoke, let the smoke out and it doesn't work anymore), easy to do since the letters on the keyboard were gone and the menus are in Spanish. We will have to try again in the morning.

Some final pictures of the Cabo area that we found to be interesting and would like to share.

Marlin Statue on the Malecon

Some one has too much Money ( Note Helo on back of boat)

Del Sol is gone sniff sniff.

Playa Grande Penthouse Suits

Dolphin Pool

ATV Ride area

A night with family and other things

Last night Laura and I had the most delightful night. Laura has a cousin that lives in San Juan Del Cabo and after three days ao trying we finally connected with Geoff. The long and the short is we had dinner at their place just outside town, we met Geoffs wife Claudia and there 4 month old baby, Jack, what a lovely family. I just hope that we can return their hospitality sometime soon since they are such nice people.

I have discovered that there is something in Mexico that causes my skin to turn red then flake off, don't know what it is but I will have to make another trip to further my research. Probably in a couple of years so I can do some research into the causes before I come back.

Since today is our last full day I am not sure what we will be doing. All I need is some real Tequila (100% Agave Azul) so I will have to spend some time looking for it, other than that not much planned.

I have noticed a new fashion trend down here, first there are a lot of MJ Thriller style hats and they seem to be everywhere, secondly and more scary is the fashion of running around with the top button of their shorts undone and the zippy more than half undone. At first I thought it was because the ladies had their bathing suits on but no that was not the case. Unfortunately I know what happens when I don't do up my belt,button and zipper, not a pretty sight I will leave it at that image. They must be using double sided sticky tape to keep them up, how scary is that, especially when it is usually the ones that shouldn't if you get my drift.