EARLY MORNING RAIN

Aloha! Jackie and I have enjoyed a very peaceful day. The morning was spent talking story with Cory and listening to the rain hammer in the down spouts. Why is it that the sound of rain is so peaceful...especially when you know you can just sit where you are and not have to go out in it? The rain stopped around 9 but the skies have remained overcast. Not a good day for the beach but an excellent day to work in the garden. I worked on our tomato cages getting the bottoms tidied up and Jackie pulled a few weeds. I must say Jackie has her little garden looking real nice and I have really enjoyed the fresh vegetables. As a matter of fact Jackie is slicing up a couple of the cucumbers we harvested this morning. They are very good with a little fresh squeezed lemon on them. I thought you might enjoy seeing the eagle ray again so I posted a short clip. When Jackie and I watch the clips on the blog a lot of times we will increase the zoom at the bottom of the page to either 125 or 150.

YOU HAVE TO LOVE HAWAII

Aloha! Have Jackie and I mentioned lately how much we love it here in paradise? This is the most awesome place! Tonight while watching the local weather Tootsie our weather guy was going on about how cold it was last night and how we set an all time record low for this date in Lihue of 59 degrees! I never imagined I would ever live in a place where 59 degrees would be a record low for any date let alone a day in April! Today was absolutely gorgeous...temps in the low 80's with lite trades. Too bad Jackie and I spent the majority of it indoors playing on our computers! This stupid farming game on Facebook is very addictive
and I can't really say why it is! Guess it might be because I'm trying to out do Jackie but I'm not having much success. I had a two day headstart and she has already caught me. By tomorrow she will have left me in the dust! The photos I posted today were taken in the early 70's. I know the calendar will tell you that is over 35 years ago but when I look back it sure doesn't feel like it was that many years ago. Guess thats how it is when you get old!

NICE WEEKEND

Aloha! Jackie and I have had a very nice weekend. The weather has been perfect...highs in the 80's with light trades. We finished the lawn last week and our garden is looking pretty good at the moment so Jackie and I have been free to enjoy this weekend doing what we like best...relaxing at the beach! On Saturday we got a nice surprise. While we were at Anini soaking up the sun we ran in to our old neighbors Ryan and Tiffany. Jackie and I had just been saying that we needed to call Tiffany to see how she is feeling as she is expecting their first child in late May. We had a very nice visit with them and were relieved to hear that the pregnancy has been going real smooth and that Tiffany has even been able to remain working. I think that this is probably a wise thing to do as it keeps her busy and gives her less time to worry. This morning I watched the race while Jackie played with her farm on Facebook. It was a good race and was filled with some spectacular wrecks. The one with Carl Edwards flying into the catch fence at the end was very reminiscent of when Richard Petty cartwheeled down the fence at Daytona quite a few years ago! After the race we enjoyed a lite lunch then headed to Anini to get back in the water. After our swim I napped in my chair while Jackie talked story with a couple of very nice ladies who are here visiting...one from Denver, the other from San Diego.

A DAY OF FIRSTS

Aloha! It is very nice on Kauai at the moment. The heavy rains they were predicting hit to the south...mainly on Maui and the Big Island leaving us with awesome beach weather. Our snorkel this morning was very nice. The water was much improved and we saw the smallest honu Jackie and I have come across. This little guy was out close to the buoy and I think he might have been a hawksbill turtle. These guys are uncommon in Hawaii but Jackie and I had a pretty good look at him and to us it looked like his face was a little more hawk like and his shell looked a little serrated which is how you can tell the difference between the hawksbill and the more common green sea turtle. I was trying to get in the front of him so you could get a better look at his face but all I was able to do was to spook him! We didn't want to stress him any so we let him go on about his business and we went on with ours. In the same area we also came across a large school of unicornfish. There must have been close to 20 of these guys and almost all of them were at least 18 to 20 inches long. This is the first time we have encountered a group of unicorns this large. We normally see them either in pairs or maybe in a small group of 4 or 5. To continue with our day of firsts we also encountered a small humu. This guy was maybe 3 or 4 inches long but marked just the same as an adult.

CLOUDY DAY

Aloha! It has been overcast on Kauai today...at least it has been on the north shore. The weathermen where predicting heavy rains for this afternoon even going so far as issuing a flashflood warning for the entire state but so far all we have seen are the clouds. It was nice enough this morning for Jackie and I to go snorkeling. The water conditions weren't the greatest as the visiblty was a little lacking but we have gone out in much worse! We did manage to get a pretty good snorkel in as we ventured well out beyond the buoy. The fish weren't real cooperative on this snorkel with about the most exciting thing being a short glimpse of a snowflake eel and a brief swim with a small honu! I went back thru some of our old photos for todays post as todays snorkel pics weren't real hot and the only other thing I had to take a picture of would have been Jackie playing on her computer!

NEW COMPUTER

Aloha! Jackie and I have enjoyed a real mixed bag of weather since our last post. We have seen periods of heavy rain followed by a day of mixed rain and sunshine. Then we have today which has been beautiful. Temps in the low 80's with light trades...a perfect day for the beach! Only problem was the lawn needed mowing so we thought it best to get that chore out of the way while we can. Tootsie, our weather guy has been warning everyone that we have the real possibilty of heavy rains starting tomorrow afternoon and continuing thru Friday. If he is correct and he usually is, we are going to try and sneak a snorkel in early tomorrow and beat the rain. Yesterday Jackie and I did something that we probably needed to do a long time ago...we bought Jackie a computer. Now Jackie can work on the checkbook or email whenever she wants and she doesn't have to wait for me to get thru with the computer. Of course so far about all I have seen her do is play with her farm on facebook! I can understand why as this little game is kind of addictive and I spend a good deal of time on my farm as well !

WE BEAT THE RAIN

Aloha! It was beautiful on Kauai this morning...at least it was at our house on the north shore. Jackie and I have been following the weather forecast and they are predicting scattered showers with the trades ramping up today so when we saw the nice weather outside our sliding door this morning we figured we had best take advantage and head to the beach. Good thing we hurried because when we arrived at the beach you could see a pretty good storm brewing on the horizon. The water was still flat at Anini and the winds hadn't picked up so Jackie and I were fairly confident we had time to get in a snorkel...at least a short one. We snorkeled all the way out to chicken skin crack. From there we could see that the storm front was still advancing and the water was getting a little choppy so we figured we had gone far enough out and should probably start back in. On our way back in we came across an orangespine unicornfish. He was in one of the spots out near the buoy that we like to visit. We have seen him here before but he is normally very shy and will duck under the coral when he sees us coming. Today he must have been trying to keep his territory safe because he was acting much more aggressively and he would chase off any fish that swam too close. We were able to capture a couple of nice videos and some stills as well of this guy. He is very colorful and about 18 inches long. I think you will like him a bunch...I know jackie and I sure do but we like almost every fish we see! Jackie and I had no more than made it back to shore when it started to sprinkle. We toweled off real fast and headed for the car cause you could see the heavy stuff was on its way! Sure enough by the time we got old blue packed up we had to drive home with the wipers on high. I talked Jackie into fixing homemade soup for dinner tonight so we are both sitting here now enjoying the aroma of the soup cooking and watching it rain!

FUN IN THE SUN

Aloha! The beach was awesome this morning! I don't know how you could have any better conditions than what Jackie and I have had for the last day or two. The ocean is flat and clear, the trades are blowing just hard enough to keep the sweat off and the temps are in the low 80's. The only thing that could make it better is if all of you were here to enjoy it with us! Jackie and I had a great snorkel. We went all the way out to chicken skin crack, checking all our normal spots on the way. We saw a lot of fish with about the only thing missing being the eagle ray. It was so nice today that Jackie and I went back out after spending an hour or so resting up. We went all the way out past the buoy again. This is more of a work-out than these two old farts are used to and we are having a hard time keeping our eyes open now! If you look in the underwater video you should see some nice shadow effects, especially with the turtle.

PEREFECT CONDITIONS

Aloha! It has been beautiful on Kauai today. Temps in the low 80's with a gentle breeze...the kind of day that makes us realize just how blessed Jackie and I are to live in this awesome place! We started our day with a breakfast of scrambled eggs, fresh garden tomatoes, biscuits and white country gravy. Old Mill Farms makes the best gravy mix we have every tasted but we were unable to find it on Kauai so we order ours from The Gravy Store located in Rome, GA. We had tried a few other places and they either wouldn't ship to Hawaii or the shipping costs were outrageous...70 bucks or more to ship just one case. Then Jackie came across the web site for The Gravy Store. We tried to order it online but ran into the now familiar problem of them not wanting to ship to Hawaii. This site has an 800 number so Jackie figured why not call and see if there was something they could do to help us out. Wow she got in touch with the nicest lady! We told her of the problem we had been having and she told us not to worry. She would be happy to put the gravy in a flat rate box from the post office and send it to us. She had to remove the packages from the old case so it would fit but even with all that bother she never charged us a dime extra! Like I said...a very nice lady and if you are ever in the need of some awesome gravy I would definitely recommend talking to her! As wonderful as our breakfast was it still wasn't the highlite of the day. That would have to be our snorkel at Anini. The conditions were perfect...ocean as flat as a lake, just enough cloud cover to make the visibility great and temps in the 80's. Wish we could have had a few days like this when Mike and Cindi were here! We snorkeled out past the buoy. We even gutted up and snorkeled into the crevasse that gives me chicken skin. This crevasse goes almost all the way to the breakers only stopping about 20 yards short. We saw a nice school of ulua out here and swam with a honu as well. On the way back to shore we found the large stripebelly puffer in the same area as he was in last time. He was very cooperative today and let me get some good pics as well as video. After our snorkel we sat on the beach and enjoyed a cup of coffee while watching the keikis play in the sand...a very nice day! PS Our new thermos works great...thanks again Mike and Cindi. We now own the coolest looking thermos on the beach! If I remember I will post a picture of it on our next blog so as to make you all jealous!

NEW COFFEE POT

Aloha! Last night Jackie and I had a little problem with our coffee maker. Jackie made a pot of coffee for us to enjoy after dinner just like she always does and I was enjoying my first cup while Jackie was tidying up from dinner. Things were going great until I got about 3/4 of my coffee drank and noticed that it was starting to taste a little funny. Of course, being the big dummy I am, I took another large sip just to make sure. Well this mouthfull tasted a lot funny as it was full of grit! I just assumed it was coffee grounds and went ahead and swallowed. Turns out it wasn't grounds but some mineral deposits that had built up inside our coffee pot. After I saw the remaining dregs in the bottom of my cup I really did feel a little green! Jackie examined her cup and found junk in hers also so we poured that pot out and figured we might as well try and run a little vinegar thru this pot to see if we might be able to clean it up before we bought a new one. Big mistake! After it got about 1/2 way thru its brewing cycle the pot started to leak so now we have this hot vinegar and water solution pouring out the bottom of our coffee pot! Jackie is running around with towels trying to keep it contained on our nightstand while I'm trying to get past her so I can unplug the pot and take it outside. We finally coordinate our efforts and get the pot outside with out making too bad a mess. The worse part of this is I was pretty certain from the start that even if we would have been sucessful in our attempts to clean the pot I would have had to buy a new one anyway because I would have sworn the coffee tasted like the dregs in the bottom of my cup whether it did or not! So consequently our day started early with a trip to Walmart. After our trip into town and a late breakfast we headed to the beach. The winds have abated a little so the conditions for our snorkel were pretty good. We swam with 2 different honus and ran into a stripebelly puffer as well. No eagle ray today but I put a short clip of him at the end of our video anyway.

NOT AS WINDY

Aloha! The weather on Kauai has definitely improved! It was nice enough this morning for Jackie and I to get back in the water. We headed to Anini around 10 and it was close to 1 before we returned home. The wind was still blowing a bit more than we like but we managed to find a spot that offered a little protection and snorkeled anyway. We had a good snorkel...nothing as spectacular as what we found on Monday but you can't expect to have days like that every time! We did run across a gurnard and a stripebelly puffer along with all our other friends. We spent the majority of our time out near the buoy. This is where we ran across the ray on Monday and we were hoping to do the same today but no such luck. It was fun looking anyway and we did swim with what must have been 20 cornetfish. These guys are almost always out near the buoy and it is kind of cool swimming with them all around you. They don't seem to be worried about us at all and will let you swim pretty close before they move out of the way. The weather this evening is great. The winds have died down to almost nothing and our weather guys say we can expect the same for at least a day or two. Jackie and I are barbequing tonight as well as watching the Mariners put a hurting on the Angels. Ichiro just hit a grandslam to put an exclamation point on an inning that saw Junior homer as well! The score is now 11 to 3 with the Angels batting in the 8th. I think it will be safe fo me to start the grill but it is the Mariners we are talking about...

WINDY

Aloha! Jackie and I have spent the biggest share of our day inside. Our evening rain shower lasted well into the morning finally stopping around 10. Of course this seemed like forever to Jackie and I as we really wanted to get back in the water with the hope of finding our snorkeling partner again. It was such a thrill to swim with that ray yesterday and we had high hopes of doing it again today but seems mother nature had other plans. First it was the rain, then when we finally made the beach it was the wind. We waited in the car for a little while hopng it would abate but no such luck...if anything it just got stronger! We gave the beach up as a lost cause and headed back home. We were both feeling a little down and we were complaining about our lousy weather but that changed as soon as I turned the computer on and saw where it was snowing in Ephrata. Wow, here it is middle of April and a lot of my family are looking out their windows at snow! That really made Jackie's and my complaints about not being able to snorkel because of a little bit of wind sound pretty lame! I will post a short clip of our garden with the hope that it will warm you guys up!

VIDEO TEST

Aloha wanted to see if we could make the eagle ray a little better

SNORKEL WITH AN EAGLE RAY

Aloha! Jackie and I were lucky enough to have this awesome eagle ray for a snorkeling partner this morning! Here's what our book says about the eagle ray. Spotted Eagle Ray...Eagle rays are "flyers" with pointed triangular wings. Although they feed on the bottom, they do rest there but always soar back into the blue. All are deep-bodied animals with a prominent head which protrudes well forward of the wings. The gill slits and eyes are on the side of the head, unlike those of other rays. A long slender tail often greatly exceeds the length of the body. Most eagle rays have one or more venomous spines on the tail, but snorkelers and divers are unlikely to get close enough to be wounded. Out of about 10 Indo-Pacific eagle ray species, one is in our area. Some authorities also include manta rays, devil rays and cownose rays in the family Myliobatidae. These magnificent rays can attain 6 ft. or more from wingtip to wingtip. Their back, light brown, gray or black, is beautifully spotted with white. The underside is mostly white, often with a faint mazelike pattern under the wings. The long slender tail can equal three times the width of the body (if not broken or bitten off), and bears 1-5 venomous spines at the base. Under the large protruding head is a wide fleshy lobe somewhat resembling a "duck bill" which helps the ray dig for molluscs and other organisms. When not foraging, Spotted Eagle Rays swim well off the bottom, sometimes in small groups. One of the most beautiful of all underwater sights is a formation of Spotted Eagle Rays flying together in synchrony. In some parts of the world schools of 50 or more have been reported, but such behavior is certainly not common in Hawaiian waters. Occasionally Spotted Eagle Rays will leap from the sea, either dolphin style or by cartwheeling with wings outspread. Leaping by pregnant females is said to facilitate the birth of young. Spotted eagle Rays occur in warm seas around the world and have long been considered a single species. Recent research, however, reveals that the eastern Pacific and Indian ocean populations host different species of tape worms in their gut. Spot patterns and body proportions also differ between various geographic populations. All this suggests that what we now call Aetobatus narinari is actually a complex of at least four similar species, but the the details have yet to be sorted out. The Hawaiian word hihimanu means "lavish, magnificent, elegant." In ancient times these powerful animals, which weigh up to 500 lbs. , were forbidden to women as food. This information is from "Hawaii's Fishes...A Guide for Snorkelers and Divers" by John P. Hoover.

A LATE SNORKEL

Aloha! It has been an interesting day for Jackie and I. This morning after breakfast we thought we might go to Anini and get a little snorkeling in before it got too windy. It was a good idea but we were a little too slow. By the time we arrived at the beach the wind had also. We did find a spot that was somewhat protected from the wind and enjoyed a cup of coffee while making plans for the rest of the morning. We decided that a trip to town was in order as we needed to pickup a few garden supplies along with a few things from Costco. It was a very wet trip and I must have turned my wipers on at least 15 times! We would drive into a downpour and two minutes later drive out...this is very typical for Kauai. Jackie found the flowers she was looking for at Home Depot and we got almost everything that was on the list for Costco including a new scratch on Old Blue's bumper! We had just backed out of our parking spot and were heading forward when an older gentleman in a Ford Explorer backed into us. He put a scratch about a foot long in Blue's bumper but as we already had a couple of other scratches near by we thought one more would just add a little more character so I shook the old guys hand and told him not to fret about the scratch and to have a good day. This is something I would never have been able to do a few years ago and it felt pretty good. Of course Old Blue wears the scratch much better than either my Lincoln or the Jetta could! As soon as we got home Jackie put the groceries away then headed out to the garden to plant her flowers. I on the other hand had a much harder job as I watched a little baseball on tv and napped. We both finished around four and decided that we had time to give Anini another chance. We normally don't go out this late but figured why not try and get a short snorkel in before dark. It was actually pretty good. The wind had died down and the beach was almost empty. There wasn't much of a current and the tide was all the way in. It seemed to us that the fish were more active than normal...especially the goatfish. We stayed pretty close to shore as neither Jackie or I wanted to be where we couldn't get out if it started to get dark. Most shark attacks happen at dusk or dawn or when the water is murky
.

IMPROVED CONDITIONS FOR OUR SNORKEL

Aloha! Jackie and I have enjoyed another great day here in paradise. Our snorkel this morning was very nice. The water was a lot better than yesterday so we were able to get a full snorkel in. We saw a lot of fish and probably more important for us old fools we got a good workout! After our snorkel we came home so we could wash the salt off and get ready for a trip to the store. It is not unusual to see people wearing their swimsuits while shopping but if they happen to be shopping at Foodland in Princeville and their suits just happen to be a little damp you can bet that they are freezing their okoles off! This has to be the coldest store in all of Hawaii. It is very easy to spot the gals who have shopped here before...they will be the ones wearing the sweaters!

A SHORT SNORKEL

Aloha! Jackie and I went snorkeling this morning at Anini. The conditions weren't the best but better than what was forecast. The water clarity was not as good as it has been and the current was fairly strong for Anini so Jackie and I didn't stay out long. We were out long enough to check out turtle rock and a couple of other spots close in but retreated to our beach chairs after about a half an hour. We had a nice spot on the beach that was shielded from the wind and we sat there drinking our coffee and talking story with a nice lady and her two sons. She and her husband are visiting from California. This afternoon I convinced Jackie that she should call home and see how things are going in Washington. I always love to hear from home but there's not too many things I hate worse than talking on the phone so I turf that job to Jackie as often as I can. Jaynee was saying how nice the weather has been for the last couple of days and how they are going to barbeque tonight. Brian was telling us about the boys and their baseball practices. Tyler even got on the phone for a minute so he could explain all the finer points of baseball to Grandma...how you hit the ball and run like the dickens to first base! Jackie also called and wished Tommie a happy birthday. She is doing very well, especially for a gal as old as she is! I think she was getting ready to head to Belinda's for cake. Tommie also said she is going to California Thursday so she can hug her newest grandson Kyle. I would imagine she will have a few hugs for Ryan and his mom and dad as well! The video I posted today was taken at Anini last Friday when the conditions were a lot better. I was trying to give you a glimpse of what it feels like and how the fish just go about their business with out worrying about you.

MOWING DAY

Aloha! Jackie and I got the lawn mowing out of the way today so now if we can just get mother nature to cooperate we can get in the water tomorrow. Getting mother nature to play along could be a pretty tall order though as the weather men are predicting wind and rain. I will post some more of the video I took on Friday. This one shows the stripebelly puffer and a barred filefish.

NASCAR AND THE GARDEN

Aloha! It has been a very relaxing day for Jackie and I. We started it off this morning with a little Nascar. The race was going just the way we like with Greg and the other Roush Fords dominating early. We were really hoping that Jimmy Johnson and the rest of the Hendrick Chevys would struggle just a little and at first that is what happened. As you have probably guessed Jimmy and the rest of the Hendrick teams aren't my favorites but you really need to tip your hat to them. They can start a race looking like mid-pack cars and after a few changes in the pits they become a lot more competitive. Seems a lot of the other teams go in the other direction and take dominating cars and run mid-pack after their stops. Greg finished the race in 3rd and moved up a few spots in the points so it was a much better race than the last few for him. After the race was over Jackie and I thought we would take advantage of the cool overcast conditions and work in the garden. We pulled a few weeds and I pulled out a row of carrots. Seems we had let them get just a little too mature. It is really a shame that we had to throw them away but nobody we know have any animals close by. I posted some more of our snorkel from Friday. This clip shows a panther flounder...this guy is about the size of a dinner plate. We see a lot of these at Anini but we have never been able to get a good video of one as they blend into the sand so well. We also captured some video of a baby hogfish. This guy was about an inch and a half long and very colorful.

COSTCO WALMART

Aloha! It was raining this morning so Jackie and I thought it would be a good time to get our shopping out of the way. We try to limit our trips in to town with our goal being one trip a month into Costco and Walmart and maybe two trips into Princeville. So far in the 3 years of living here I can't recall ever reaching our goal! I'm sure that this month will be no different as I just remembered we need to change the oil in the car. Of course we drove right by the place twice today and you would have thought that little nagging voice in my head would have said something but I guess Jackie forgot about it also! The video I posted today is of a great barracuda. We shot this on Friday...this guy was about 15 feet from shore in water about knee deep. This spot is where a lot of people wade and let their keiki play in the water as it is one of the few places at Anini where the sand extends out and you don't have to worry about stepping on a lot of rocks. I guess all you need to worry about is a barracuda swimming between your legs!

A GOOD DAY SNORKELING

Aloha! Jackie and I have enjoyed another awesome day here on Kauai! The trades are still blowing a bit stronger than we like and that makes it feel a little chilly, especially when you first get out of the water but the snorkeling more than made up for our slight discomfort. We had a great snorkel...the fish were very cooperative and I got a lot of really good video. We saw the largest stripebelly puffer we had ever seen! This guy must have been close to 2 feet long and very fat. He was out by the buoy and he had two cleaner wrasses working on him. Jackie was the first to spot him. She was swimming along behind me while I was filming a barred filefish and swam over the place where he was getting his cleaning. I must have made a lot of noise because this guy swam out to see what the fuss was and Jackie was able to spy him. I know it sounds kind of strange but a lot of the time the person swimming behind will see the most fish as they will duck into their holes when they sense the first snorkeler and come out in front of the second snorkeler. We also got some video of a juvenile hawaiian hog fish. This guy was about an inch and a half long and very colorful. We also were able to video a panther flounder. We see a lot of these but they blend into the sand so well normally the video doesn't show much. This time I think I got one that you might be able to see on the blog. We also swam with Mr. Honu for a while and saw a ton of other fish to boot but the highlight of our snorkel came near the end. We were maybe 15 feet from shore when we swam upon a great barracuda. This guy was about 2 or 3 feet long and swimming in water that was maybe 15 inches deep! He wasn't the least bit concerned with us and I was able to get a pretty good video. I put all of todays snorkel into one little movie. It is about 10 minutes long so it will be way too large to post. I think I will break it into 3 short clips and post them in the next few days. Our weather guys are predicting rain this weekend so that should be a good time to post these clips. Today's post is one I put together when Mike and Cindi were here. I will also try and post a close up of a tako that I tried to post yesterday but it got lost in the ozone somewhere!

TAKO THURSDAY

Aloha! Jackie and I had an interesting snorkel this morning. We ran across two different takos. These guys were both fairly large...I would guess them to be close to 2 feet long. Neither tako was very cooperative about being videoed while swimming as they both just swam a short distance before finding a place where they thought they were hidden

.We also ran across a longspine porcupinefish. Now this guy had no problem at all about being videoed! He swam along in front of us and we were able to capture a nice video of him. I think the weather is slowly getting better. It seems like we have had a bit more sun today and a little less wind then we had while Mike and Cindi were here.

SCRAWLED FILEFISH

MORE VIDEO

APRILS FOOLS OR IS IT OLD FOOLS DAY

Aloha! Jackie and I are missing our snorkeling partners already! This morning Jackie and I said goodby to Carol and her family as they needed to get back to the cold and wind of Washington. Sure wish their visit could have lasted longer as we sure had fun while they were here. I will try to get you caught up on what we have been up to since our last post. Most of Monday was reserved for the luau although Mike, Jackie and I did get a nice snorkel in at Tunnels. We saw a lot of fish and I even managed to see a tako (Hawaiian for octopus). By the time I could get Mike and Jackie's attention he had already found a hole to duck back into. While we were snorkeling Cindi and the rest of the gang did a little more shopping in Hanalei. After our snorkel we gave Mike a brief glimpse of Ke'e beach. It is located at the end of the road on the north shore and only a short distance from Tunnels. After this we all met back at Mike and Cindi's so we could get ready for the luau. On the way to the luau we made a side trip to Opaeka'a Falls. It is located just a short distance from the luau site and well worth the drive. The Smith family puts on a very nice luau and Jackie and I feel it is one of the things you should do if you visit Kauai. The luau is located on 30 acres of very well maintained grounds with enough ponds and flowers to make the before dinner stroll a must do. On Tuesday Jackie and I took Carol on a tour of the island's Coconut Coast. We drove down Papa'a Road so Carol could catch a glimpse of the Hole in the Mountain. Then it was down Aliomanu Road so we could show her the shore line from there. Our next stop was a brief glimpse of Anahola Beach Park, then it was on to Wailua Falls. Our next stop was at Kilohana with a side trip up a little road that goes past the Lutheran Church on the way. After we left Kilohana we gave Carol a tour of the Marriott located at Nawiliwili Harbor. This is a very pretty place and I wish we could have given Carol the full tour but she is just a little bit like her mother and would not let us get her a wheelchair so by the time we arrived here she was pretty tired from all the walking. We did manage to show her the koi ponds and even had a chance to sit on a bench and talk a little story. After we left the Marriott we drove her thru Lydgate Park then it was back to the house with a trip down Kealia Road on the way. We have a short video of our adventures and I will post it later along with a video I promised the other day.