Home • USA Aloha! • Hawaii • '09 Apr: Kauai

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	April 15 I arrived in KAUAI a little late last night and Sharon was there to pick me up with Bob and Sharon from Idaho too. Lucky me! We've got a three hour time change so I woke up early to be greeted by the dawn. If you've seen any of my other Kauai trips you know something pretty big is going on around here.
	It's a complete remodel of this wonderful house on the Wailua river. Here we have the architect and his girlfriend the decorator planning out their day, island style, on the new furniture in the newly screened in and completely rebuilt lanai. I'll do more pictures of the house as time allows but there are still workmen all day long. Also the furnishings are at least a week late in arriving so we are making do, quite nicely I would say.
	After a full morning of shopping for the house we spent the afternoon lolling on the beach. How good is this? We watched the people and the clouds and the sea and the surf and...
	...the local birds stopped by to check out if there might perhaps be a picnic nearby...our favorite, The Dude.
	And everyone who visits Kauai becomes well acquainted with the local splendid Red Jungle Fowl. Everyone knows them because they are everywhere and they are noisy. They are protected in theory but there are also so many of them we hear that they do get 'disappeared' from time to time. Then we shopped for groceries, made some dinner, watched it get dark, and now we want to go to bed!
	April 16 What, one might reasonably ask oneself, is going on outside my bedroom window. I'll tell you. They are building a 9 hole miniature golf course in the back lawn, that's what.
	We left early again this morning as workmen started arriving at 7am, for which we are glad. Come! WORK!! First we did the great walk along the new-ish bike path.
	It is one of the great walks.
	Then we did the necessary stop at the historic Kilauea Lighthouse, then some touring around on side streets, then lunch, then Bob and Sharon...pictures forthcoming.
	Back at the house the neighbor's cat came calling.
	Sunset at the river.
	And facing away.
	Bob and Sharon are going back to Idaho tonight after a seven week stay in Kauai so we spent the evening together and the neighbors came by too for a particularly lively soiree. From the left: Sharon, Kenny, Bob, Koa, Camas, Kathy, Michael, Sharon, me.
	April 17 First, a few pictures from previous days that I haven't got to yet. Remember the Spirit House from visits past? Now he's sitting out there feeling all strange and displaced. Where is my home? asks the Spirit House. Just hang on, it'll be Great.
	Sharon from one of our walks, this at the very cool bike path that I'm so crazy about.
	Sharon, Bob, Sharon. Bob says, as if one Sharon wasn't enough...
	The kitchen counters are all made of this granite with a soft matte finish and amazingly fabulous fossils. Wow.
	A quiet morning gives us a chance for reflect-o.
	Can there be too many pictures of this bridge? Apparently not. I'm standing on the dock, then you see the bridge, then the sand, then the surf, then the sea.
	We decided to hit a few falls for an outing today. This one is Wailua Falls...
	...and this one is Opaeka'a Falls. I have both from prior trips. Check out Opaeka'a the year of the big storms.
	April 18 The new tatami dining room. Wow. The windows are facing out to the river and many times a day long outriggers come rowing by looking very much like those monkeys rowing on the wall. It was a serendipitous find, what happens when you go shopping for hours every day as the design folks do.
	Mighty fantabulosis. Notice what is probably a mosquito bite on my leg. It is the only one and it doesn't itch. I'm in Kauai without itching mosquito bites and, get this, I'm not even hot! It's True!! The temperature has been so moderate I have not begged to turn on the a/c in the bedroom and tonight is the first night I've even put on the fan. Yikes!
	Splendid Red Jungle Fowl. Mom tending to the kids while dad is out all puffed up and cock-a-doodle-dooing.
	Waimea Canyon. It's the longest outing on the island so we thought to take advantage of the nice day. And anyway all the everything was going to be delivered Monday...not...we just learned. What?! No one here is surprised though, so ya gotta just hang loose. Now it's set for Tuesday. Right.
	The outside shower has had quite a makeover. These doors now lead from the downstairs bathroom to the outside space with a big Japanese soaking tub and two of those waterfall shower heads. Delicious!
	Progress on the golf course. This is about the middle one quarter.
	Another quarter. It's going to be the real deal for sure.
	April 19 Today we had no workers, rain off and on, plenty of groceries in the house, so we sat around the lovely lanai and read books. I didn't take a shot. But Sharon has been taking pictures of ME and here are a couple of me, trying to soften up the glaring white stripe that is my upper arm. sp.
	April 20 Is this not Hawai'i or what?! We went this morning to one of the drier, sunnier shores on Kauai, at Poipu, for a visit and some lunch.
	One of our favorite spots there is the Grand Hyatt Hotel with the cool birds...
	...and the great walks. You could walk for miles just around all the beautiful grounds and on their paths to the sea.
	Then, heading back, it started to drizzle and by the time we were around to our side of the island it was pouring and continued to pour until about 5pm. Everyone's got fingers crossed for tomorrow since it's meant to be Delivery Day. Fingers crossed! The monkeys rowing on the wall.
	The stairs are all changed too, completely rebuilt to code, but you can only tell because all the risers are the same height now. Also there used to be a wall right at the end of the stairs. We had to give up my treasured medallion but it all works so much better now.
	Yes, it's the master bath.
	And the bridge from the master bedroom because as we have already determined, there cannot be too many pictures of this bridge.
	April 21 and 22 Aloha!
	Yesterday, the 21st, was the big moving day when all the furniture and household goods came back from storage. At one point there were at least 40 guys working - I stopped trying to count - including the carpenters, electricians, landscape guys, and designers who are usually around; the staff to do the actual moving, the cleaning crew pictured here...
	...and the 10-15 guys working on laying the sod.
	Today, the 22nd, we did a few chores in our pretty darn good Ford automobile...
	...and walked the whole length of Lydgate Park, a journey we always enjoy so much.
	Another part of the park. We're supposed to have thunder storms arriving any hour now with possible flash floods so we might be having an inside day tomorrow...
	...so in anticipation, we drove out in search of roads we'd never ridden on before and came across some fabulous aloha sights. This is one of my favorite set of peaks. It reminds me of a sci-fi city skyline.
	Lastly we went to a pizza joint down the road for what I can say without equivocation was the most delicious pizza I remember eating ever. We'll have to eat it again for sure, just to confirm its utter perfection. This is a clip from one of the many too-cool murals painted on the walls.
	April 23 Hi everybody! It's me in the mirror of the master bedroom, out to take a few where-are-we-now shots.
	As we all know in the big world of big projects, home improvement projects have a life of their own and we are mere witnesses as endless done-done due-dates slip away. Tomorrow is to be the most current done-done date but ya know, I'm kind'a thinkin'...
	...it's not gonna happen.
	Some progress on the miniature golf course.
	More.
	The down stairs bedrooms are near done (wall hangings, window coverings not yet in, some rugs are in the plan). This is Sharon's favorite with a river view and new floor to ceiling sliding gorgeous handmade doors for added joy.
	The other down stairs bedroom which has probably seen the greatest improvement over its previous state. Now it too has floor to ceiling doors and they open onto the new patio and lounging area for the golf course.
	Sharon says she'll know we're near the real done-done when the porta-potty goes away!
	April 24 Good Morning! Yes, it's the bridge (again), and that's the sky reflected in the river.
	Ahh, a still, silent, meditative morning except for all the demanding...
	...demanding that its picture be taken. It woke me up. 'Get out here and take my picture!'
	The house from the dock. There is plenty of landscaping yet to be finished. The roof is all new too. Previously it was a heavy shake and now it's that slick metal which really changes the feel entirely. Here's what the roof looked like before.
	And then this paddler came along churning up the water which never calmed down again, and bye-bye reflections.
	One highlight of our day today was a walk along the section of bike path we had missed before. We think we've tried out the whole thing now and it is faaabulous.
	Another highlight was an evening out with Camas...
	...and the kids! That's Camas's son Koa and Koa's inseparable friend Kamaili. It was maybe 70 degrees out this evening and the little island keiki were freezing. I'm in Honolulu now, and Sharon is going to take a few pictures of the house just before she leaves, for our last look.