K is for Kauai

Way back in 2004, Hubby decided that we should celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Hawaii. Who am I to argue with that?


We were married in May, but since May is a pretty month in Ohio, we decided to go in February. (No one in their right mind wants to be in Ohio in February! brrrr)


The trip took about 12 hours, about three plane changes, and when we arrived, we had gained five hours. 


We were in our rented jeep, looking for our hotel at six o'clock p.m. (which was 11:00 p.m. for us) At 6:00, dusk is setting, and it doesn't take long for dusk to turn into dark.


This was a few years before the GPS became a common traveling companion. We had a map, however. Since Hubby is the driver, I am the map reader (unfortunately, for Hubby.) 


There are two problems with me being the map reader. First, I can never read the teeny tiny print that they use for the maps. I have to dig around in my purse to find my reading glasses, and, even though I KNOW they are in there, I can't find them. The second and more important reason is that I'm not the best map reader. Hubby thinks I should be able to find our location on the map in two seconds, just because he can. He ususally ends up driving and navigating.


But, a new problem arose. I felt like I was in a foreign country. They do not have streets with sensible names, like Oak, Main, First, Second, or Fifth. Oh, no. Let's try: Makaamoamo or Makaainana. How about Laauhuahua or Laulaunui?


We had been up for almost 18 hours, it was nearly midnight according to my body, it was dark, we didn't know where we were. I might have been a little cranky. I couldn't see the street signs to read the name until I was right under them, and since I couldn't pronounce the names, I was trying to match up the letters from the map. 


It was not going well. 


You know how you can NEVER get a red light when you want one? We were just sailing through those green lights like no body's business.


But, somehow, we managed to find our hotel room, and it was beautiful.


We took a moment to admire the room, then, even though it was only 7:00 Hawaii time, we left our luggage in a pile and crawled into bed, exhausted.


It took us about four days to get adjusted to the time change. We just went to bed when we were tired, and then got up at 4:00 in the morning!


We had a wonderful time. Kauai is a beautiful island. 
Here are some sights from Kauai.

Our lovely room

Every evening at sunset, these fine fellows ran through the
streets, lighting the tiki lamps, and blowing on their horns.

View from our room

Palm trees and mountains

Remember "Fantasy Island"?
These are the waterfalls that were shown
at the beginning of the show.

Another waterfall

Sunrise

One of my favorite pictures

Lighthouse 

We drove through a corn field to find this beach.
We saw a sign that said "Beach" with an arrow.
You would not believe the journey we took to
arrive at this beach. It was wild!
I'm glad we were driving a jeep!

The water was so beautiful!

People were surfing on these waves that were
crashing into that very large rock. 

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