The Island of Kauai

Ho, boy!  We are really, really here!

It's like 10 o'clock at night, and we let this traveler company chose our lodging again.  They want us to see it before a contract is signed, so they put us up in a hotel for the first night.  Good thing - we are POOPED! 

The sun comes up and we hit the ground running.  John has to have the respirator mask test, and they require him to shave his beard.  Wait a minute.  He's had that beard since the first vacation we ever went on after we got married.  I haven't seen his naked face in 25 years!  I don't know if I'm ready for this... 

And what do you mean, no rent car?  How can we manage without a rent car, especially for the first few days?  We have to buy bedding and groceries and run the errands the company requires of John... 

Ok, we'll take a taxi, but I'm not picking up the tab.  (Later I find out the Hawaiian hospitals won't cover the cost of the rent car because they want everyone to use public transportation.  John and I don't even know HOW to use public transportation because we's farmers you see.  The only public transportation around us is the school bus - and we've been outta school for a long, long time.)

The lodging looks good, brand new in fact.  It's what we call in Texas an upstairs garage apartment.  FULL kitchen this time, thank you very much.  Cable TV, king size bed, no sheets, no bath linens, no kitchen towels or hot pads ... I could go on, but suffice it to say, hauling all of that stuff home on the bus would be a joke.  No laundry.  Mmmm.  I ain't gonna haul MY dirty laundry around town on a bus! I do a lil' pillow-talking, and John agrees to our covering the cost of a rent car for the four weeks we'll be in Hawaiii.  The traveler company finds a place they call rent-a-wreck, and we make a deal with a really nice guy.  The company also agrees to inch up our per diem to help cover the car.  Acceptable.

So, we're set.  It's July and the sun doesn't go down until late, John gets off at 4:00, by 4:30 we are headed to a beach - every day and all day on Saturdays!  There's one main road on Kauai, and the town, Lihue, is half-way between "east" and "west/north."  About an hour-and-a-half west takes us to what looks like west Texas where we take a right turn and head up into the mountains.  About an hour-and-a-half east takes us to the most spectacular beaches on the island. 

In 1993, Hurricane Iniki hit the island and blew away a whole bunch of stuff - including chicken ranches.  The chickens (those that survived) were literally scattered all over the island.  Kauaians decided to just leave them alone to remind everyone daily of the hurricane, and to let them roam, and so they do.  The Wal-Mart parking lot has them as does Costco and K-Mart and the mall and every ocean overlook and scenic view.  Even the hospital has them moseying around the entrances and parking lots.

Virtually everywhere you go there is a momma hen with 3 or 8 baby chicks trailing around behind her.  It dawns on me that every other species of bird in the world has birds that all look like each other - except for chickens.  They come in every size and shape and coloring. Interesting.

And so we are anchored in paradise.  So much to share with you, and so little time and space to do it!