Okay, this is getting scary! How in the world can the days be flying by so quickly? It felt like our visit from Ray and Jean had just gotten started, when all of a sudden they were leaving! Yikes! How do we slow this down?!!!

Guess I should back up a little bit to say we are now on the "Garden Isle" of Kaua'i. We left Poka'i Bay on O'ahu on the afternoon of the 19th and sailed throughout the night to arrive at Nawiliwili Harbor on the morning of the 20th. The winds were a little stronger than predicted for our crossing of the channel between the two islands, but we were able to sail the entire way without too much turmoil. We chose to do a night crossing so we would arrive during daylight and because that is when the winds are usually the lightest. Neither of us got much sleep with the heavy swell hitting the boat beam on and healing us first port, then starboard, but after getting anchored and a couple hours of napping, we were ready to go. Glen's nephew, Myles, and his family live on Kaua'i and he came down to the harbor to welcome us. It was so wonderful to see him again (although he looks way too grown up now!) and meet his darling, little boy, Kanale. He showed us around the area and the nearest town, called Lihu'e. It will be so nice to get to spend time with he and his family while we're here.

Our arrival here was planned to correspond with Ray and Jean's visit to Kaua'i. It was so great to see them walk up - we almost feel like we're home! They traded one of their time shares in Mexico for a week here and graciously invited us to stay in their extra bedroom. We didn't feel comfortable with the anchorage (we had heard the bottom wasn't the greatest and we were on anchor amidst a bunch of boats on mooring balls) and the winds were still blowing pretty good, so we weren't able to take them up on it their first night here, but the next day the winds had died down and we were feeling a little better about leaving. They came and picked us up and we spent the day sight seeing on the southwest side of the island. It seems this entire island is beautiful, but the Waimea Canyon area is absolutely stunning - pictures soon, I promise! The main road follows the coastline, and the beach views are all so pretty. We saw the Spouting Horn, a big blowhole, and then drove along Poipu Beach. Our drive out was through the famed tree tunnel that is so lovely. Ray and Jean's timeshare unit was out in Princeville on the north side of the island (we are kind of in the southeast corner) and the scenery up that way is absolutely gorgeous. It rains a lot more there, but it sure makes everything green and lush. It felt a bit odd to be away from "home," but it was wonderful to get to spend the week with Ray and Jean and their huge 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo was great.

Ray was a sweetie and brought us back to Lihu'e so we could check in with the harbor master's office and see if we could get into the state owned marina. We were in luck - one of the permanent tenants had just left for a few months. We got The Dorothy Marie all settled into her new berth and then felt much easier about being away from her. We didn't even ask to come back and check on her the rest of the week! We're sure if asked, one of the highlights of their trip will be taking us to the VA Clinic for Glen's doctor's appointment - NOT! We felt so bad when what we had hoped would be a short visit turned into over two hours - we're sure it wasn't exactly the way they wanted to spend their time in paradise, but thanks again guys for being so gracious about it! :) We don't have the results from the lab work yet, but feel good that Glen was able to be seen and get the process of new prescriptions started. The doctor lectured us about letting so much time go by (28 months) without having any lab work done, and gave us lots of suggestions for our next cruise (hmmm, we're liking the sound of that!!!).

The rest of the week was spent on fun sightseeing drives. The road beyond Princeville leads to beautiful Hanalei Bay and then on to the Maniniholo Dry Cave and the Waikapala'e Wet Cave. The whole area is lovely, and dripping with waterfalls - we can see why Puff would love to live there! Heading the other direction, we saw the double Wailua Falls, the lighthouse and wildlife refuge at Kilauea Point (including several red footed boobies!), and the gorgeous beach at Anini. It may be fun to go back sometime and take a kite boarding lesson - a perfect little cove with gentle breezes. The funky little town of Hanapepe is home to Myles' mom, Jacqueline, and her boutique, Jacqueline's on Kaua'i. It was great for me to finally get to meet her (she is the ex-wife of Glen's late brother, Stanley) and we all had a great lunch together in Port Allen. Ray, Jean, Glen, and I went for what is supposed to be the best sunset on the island - sipping cocktails on the balcony of the St. Regis Resort. The company and surroundings were quite splendid, but unfortunately our sunset got a bit rained out. Oh well, we're getting it... no rain, no rainbows! I guess with recalling all we did, its no wonder the week went by so quickly! It was sad to say goodbye, but knowing we will see them again in about two months made it easier. They are now over on O'ahu visiting with Joyce and Shirley, of sea cave bathroom and wonderful dinners, fame!

The week on shore was a nice break, but as they say, there's no place like home - and ours is definitely on the boat. We immediately fell back into our routine of afternoon card games, catching up on e-mail, and watching a movie with dinner. We chose Six Days and Seven Nights last night because a lot of it was filmed here on Kaua'i! We're now looking forward to spending lots of time with Myles and family, a visit in April from Paula and Jerry (from Hilo), then having Pete come in and join us to make final readiness for the crossing back to San Diego. Our thoughts are to leave around May 8th or so, but as always, its up to the weather. If we can leave at that time, we should be back around the first of June - wow! :)