June 18, 2009 – The Last of the “OLD Folks Running Amuck”
We depart paradise today. It has been two wonderful weeks of doing, seeing and enjoying so much. We thought it only fitting to end our blog reports with our Top 10 of 40 years to Paradise:
1. The Hana Road Drive/Resort, Maui
2. The door-less scenic helicopter flight over Kaua’i
3. Mountain Tubing – irrigation canal on Kaiu’i
4. Snorkel/sunset cruise of the Na Poli Coast, Kaua’i
5. Waimea Canyon and 4 wheel drive tour, Kaua’i
6. Sunrise on Haleakala, Maui
7. Big Island – Volcano Tour
8. South Pacific Dinner Show, Kaua’i
9. Ue lena Hawaiian Review, Maui
10. The view from room 221 at the Kaha Lana Resort, Kaua’i
What an incredible way to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Think we might try this kind of vacation again sometime/somewhere.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009 Day 14
We got up early to another beautiful sunrise form our lanai (50 yards from the surf). Mike went to play golf at Wailua Municipal Golf Course, home to some world class tournaments and only $32 for visitors. Karen stayed at the Kaha Lani Resort for some me time. As soon as Mike got back we headed out for another helicopter adventure. This time with NO DOORS. It was an incredible scenic flight around the island. This really is the garden island. After the flight we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Plantation for some free tasting, Very, very good. We arrived back at our room at 4:10 for a quick change and were off for our final night adventure by 4:30. We were heading to a dinner show of South Pacific. It was a very good production and dinner was good too. What a fabulous way to end our Hawaiian adventure.

Tuesday – June 16, 2009 Day # 13
Wow what an incredible anniversary celebration we have had. Today we spent some time posting our blog, doing some laundry and actually taking some time to relax, read and enjoy our time in paradise.
Enough of the sedentary time! We were off to join the Kauai Back Country Adventures for mountain tubing run. We were outfitted with lighted helmets, gloves and big ol’ inner tubes. After a drive through a very scenic back country road in the Lihue Sugar Cane Plantation we reached the irrigation ditch that flows from Mt. Wai’aleale (the wettest place on earth, it rains almost every day -400 +inches a year). With a quick plop and splash we were on our way twisting, twirling and bumping down the channels, flumes and tunnels. Through the 5 tunnels (1/2 mile or longer each) we turned on our head lamps and saw the handiwork of the labors and iridescent lichen on the surface of the walls and ceiling. Out in the open we were surrounded by lush growth along the waterways. 45 minutes later we were at the end of our ride – what a hoot! We ended our trip with a nice lunch at a pretty little swimming-hole.
Another day, another adventure!! Kauai has been wonderful.

Kauai, June 15, 2009
We left the hotel at 8 AM and drove to Waimea Canyon. This canyon is considered the grand canyon of the Hawaiian Islands. It was really beautiful even though there were few waterfalls due to a lower than average rainfall. The canyon is a wide variety of reds, browns and greens. When we got to the last look-out we found ourselves in the clouds. On the way down we side tracked five miles down a dirt and erosion rutted road to the coast and cliffs for a magnificent view. After 4-wheeling back to the main road we made it back to the hotel by 5PM.

Kauai, June 14, 2009
We started our Anniversary by cooking a cheese omelet, with a grain toast, pineapple and POG, a good fruit juice. We drove south to a golf course located in a county park that was donated by the McBryde family. Golf fees were $9 for 9 holes, $9 for club rental and $9 for cart rental. I played pretty good, Karen drove and took pictures. We then drove to Port Allan for lunch and a sunset snorkel, dinner, sunset cruise, a great way to end our anniversary.

Kauai, June 11-12, 2009

Kauai, June 13, 2009

An easy day in paradise. We signed up yesterday to listen to a “timeshare” presentation. This morning was our appointment – remind us not to do that again….. We earned $330 credit toward some tours for sitting through their Sales Pitch – can you say “arm twist”? for 3 hours! They make it sound too good to pass up. But, we did; took the $$ and ran.

We drove to the end of the road on the north coast to Ke'e Beach, and stopped for a good lunch at Hanalei. Saw some beautiful beaches and incredible scenery along the way. Kilauea Point is the farthest point north in the Hawaiian Islands where there is an old light house and a National Wildlife Refuge. We saw many interesting birds and a couple of monk seals in this area

Tomorrow we play golf and take a snorkel/sunset cruise. Aloha

Kauai, June 11-12, 2009

Kauai, June11-12
Well we left the busy island of Maui and came to the Kaha Lani resort near Lihue, on the Island of Kauai. It is beautiful and much more relaxing than the Papakia Resort, though not as relaxing as our favorite Hotel Hana-Maui. The first night we relaxed and bar-b-qued Ahi tuna and turned in early.
Friday morning we were awoken early by numerous roosters that live in the area (the 1st greeting was about 3:15a). Actually, Kauai is over-run with foul, very rural. We drove south in our jeep and went to the National Tropical Botanical Garden. We toured the Alperton Gardens, a very beautiful landscape, and viewed the Spouting Horn, a lava tube wave feature. We drove back, stopping for a very incredible chocolate lava ice cream at Lappert’s in Old Koloa Town. A quick stop for some provisions and we headed back to enjoy the resort. Outside of the ever present Safeway was an activities booth where we signed up for another helicopter ride and a sunset/snorkel sail of the NW coast. The fun just keeps on coming.

Maui June 10, 2009

Maui, June 10, 2009

Up early again to catch a helicopter tour of the Island. This was amazing. We flew around Mt. Haleakala for beautiful views of waterfalls, cinder cones, lava flows and the coast line. This was truly a beautiful sight. It was a clear day with no wind. Many of the places we had seen from the ground had a new and different look from the air. The pilot covered most of the island in an hour and it included sights that we could have never seen from the surface, including Wailuku Valley where they shot the opening scenes of Jurassic Park. We had lunch at the Hula Grill on the Kaanapoli Beach. The Afternoon was nap time and laundry. In the evening we went to a fabulous show The Ulalena Show followed by a late dinner in Laihaina. Another day in paradise.

The Big Island June 9, 2009

Hawaii, (Big Island), June9, 2009
We got up early, AGAIN, and headed for the airport at Kahului. This was a day trip to the Island of Hawaii to see the volcanoes. We landed in Hilo and went first to Coconut Island, part of a large city park. A palm tree marked the depth of several tsunamis. Then we drove up to Volcano National Park where we could look into the crater and saw a lot of smoke vents, including one very large one, and walked through a lava tube.
Our guide was a local boy and drove us through several housing areas, explaining that the neighborhoods were still fairly segregated by nationalities. We then drove out to where there is still a lava flow going on and where in the early 2000 a village is was destroyed. The amazing thing is that as soon as the lava cools the people begin building their houses again, right on top of the flow.
We drove as close as we could to the lava and saw where it was going into the sea and causing massive steam clouds. If our departure could have been later we might have seen the red glow after dark.
That was our day #6. A longer visit to this island is in the future.

Road from Hana (part 2) June 8, 2009

Road to Hana (Day 2) June 8, 2009
Monday morning we awoke to a magnificent sunrise out on our lanai. What a great way to start the day coffee, fresh fruit and the one you love! We enjoyed the grounds, walked around the small town of Hana and readied to leave our piece of paradise. WE WILL RETURN!! We headed the car back to complete the road to Hana (going west). This part of the road was not quite as twisty, but definitely more narrow and sections of it were very rough and unimproved. Along the route we saw many miles of beautiful coast line, great waterfalls, and a lot of old lava flows. We made a stop at the grave of Charles Lindberg, he was buried there in 1974 because he loved the ocean and he had been living in Maui for some time His grave was in a little old cemetery next to a small old quaint church overlooking the magnificent Pacific Ocean. We continued along the incredibly “noodly” road, stopping several times to walk down and see the beautiful black sand beaches and azure waters. We arrived back at the Papkea Hotel about 4:30pm, ready to rest and ready ourselves for tomorrow’s adventures.

Road to Hana (Part 1) June 7, 2009

The road to Hana and back again (Day 1) June 7, 2009

Sunday morning we packed up our bags and headed out on the road to Hana. It is a 55 mile trip, 36 miles of very winding, narrow roads and many one lane bridges that we crossed on our way. We stopped for a very nice lunch at Mama’s Fish House, well know restaurant, one we were told not to miss while in Maui. The recommendations were spot-on! Top down, cruising along the road we went through many miles of beautiful rain forest, unparalleled views, waterfalls and amazing landscape. The drive was wonderful, and our stop for the night; Hotel Hana – Maui was FANTASTIC. The hotel greeted us with juice and damp towels to clean up with and then a bellman drove us out to our room. Beautiful room, gorgeous setting and the feeling like we might be the only people there was simply the best –“no ka ‘oi “ think we have found our “Happy Place” We Enjoyed a relaxing evening in the lounge eating, drinking and listening to some very nice authentic Hawaiian music.