Dear gentle readers and loyal followers,

I know it’s been a long time since I have blogged but I thought I would do a little writing since I am inspired by my beautiful surroundings. It was a busy summer with house projects taking up our time but now we are on a special trip with friends. We are in Kauai, also known as paradise! It is the first time I have been to Kauai. Previous visits to Hawaii included the Big Island and Maui, but now we find ourselves on the Garden Isle. We arrived yesterday after an uneventful flight from San Diego. Alaska Airlines had a direct flight and all those Delta miles I acquired from our trip to Africa last year got us a couple of free tickets. I have a big birthday coming up in December and I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate it than by lounging in paradise with dear friends. Hence, we find ourselves here.

As usual I did lots of research while planning this trip and settled on the following itinerary. We spend the first 3 nights in Poipu on the South shore in a 2 bedroom, 2 bath vacation rental at the Poipu Plantation Inn. Then we move to a house in Hanalei on the North shore for 8 nights. We have close friends with us for the entire trip and another couple also joining us for 5 nights in Hanalei. It should be a merry time!

Michael and I arrived yesterday in early afternoon and zoomed through arrival and bag retrieval. I had researched various car rental options and ended up choosing Budget with a USAA rate. Though this was slightly more than the cheapest Thrifty or Dollar rates through discounthawaiicarrental.com, I had heard horror stories about long lines and poor service at those two and wanted the better vehicle model that Budget offered. It worked out perfectly! There was virtually no line and we ended up with a slightly bigger vehicle than I had reserved – something that will actually be useful. The vehicle is clean and quiet and newer than ours. Michael and I headed straight to Poipu to check in to our rental. Even though it was only just after 3pm, the office personnel were gone and had left us an envelope with keys and instructions. Our unit is just about what I expected. It is not the most modern or plush in the area but it is perfectly sufficient, clean, and has everything we need.

After dropping our bags and changing into shorts and t-shirt, we walked down to the beach which is only a short way from our digs. You can see the water from the lanai.

Though there were sprinkles of rain we walked along the beach and enjoyed the sea air, warm temperatures and rainbows!

Soon we felt the need of a frosty beverage and found our way to Brennecke’s Beach Bar & Grill. Mai Tai’s and pupus are a great way to slide into vacation mode! The sunset, though not the most spectacular we’ve seen, was nothing to sneer at.

Later that evening we went back to the airport to fetch our friends. They were pretty tired, as were we, but we managed a celebratory drink back at the condo before fallling into bed.

This morning we took our coffee down to the beach, opted for a breakfast burrito, and took a nice long walk along the beach and coast. We saw Hawaiian monk seals napping on the beach and sea turtles – my favorite!

Breakfast

Now we are lounging on the lanai and about to start a game a dominoes.

Aloha!