Before I Get Started...

Before I start posting the good stuff from our trip to Kauai, I have some comments and questions.

Although we live in southern California, the only truly "major" airport is in Los Angeles. LAX is about 60 miles (and three traffic jams) from our house. Every time I have to go there, I'm reminded of how much of a zoo it is. They also have the surliest and most rude TSA employees I've seen. It's like they are prohibited from EVER cracking a smile. How about shoes? If you must take them off (which I understand,) why don't they at least carpet the floor? Also, how about giving you a place to sit down, to put them back on?

If Hawaiian Airlines is ever an option in your travels, you won't be sorry if you choose them. Well, you may be sorry if you are taking any luggage. A single suitcase will cost you $25. A second one is $30. I guess this is pretty much standard these days.

Okay, the airline is great, but why does airline food suck?  I guess that question can be expanded to "why does airline, airport and hospital food suck? So seriously, what the heck is this thing? They said it was a ham and egg sandwich! Yeah right! It looked like a souffle gone bad, served on a soggy roll. Of course, if you want better food, you can always upgrade to first class. They have much better food. I know they do, because since the FAA made the airlines take down all the curtains between first class and cattle class, you can clearly see what they are eating!

The service was good and the flights were great, the plane even had a wing. It might even have had two, but I'm not sure because I could only see this one.  I guess the crappy food was a good trade-off for having such great and smooth flights.

We had to change planes on Oahu. The main city, Honolulu is just like a big city. I guess that's because it IS a big city. To me it seems like a more tropical San Diego (complete with suburbs). I've spent some time here and it's a great place, but I wonder why the airport has very little air conditioning? Maybe the local folks are acclimated to the humidity, but many of the people just passing through looked they were going to pass out.  Still, Oahu is a fantastic vacation destination in it's own right. We wanted something smaller and more remote, so it was on to a smaller plane, destined to a smaller and more remote island. An island that has legislated against development, crowds, and in some cases progress. A place with more wild chickens than people.  Just our kind of place!

I promise you, this was the main road that took us away from the airport.

and led us to this road,

and finally to this spot...

Although we did spent quite a bit of time relaxing on this very spot (the chair is off of our patio), we did some exploring and had some adventures. Photos (better ones) and stories relating to them, will follow...

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