A Visit With Paula and Jerry!
07 April 2010 | Nawiliwili Harbor, Kaua'i
Sally
Kaua'i sure is beautiful and it's been so nice to get to see so much of it with friends and family. When Ray and Jean left, Myles, Glen's nephew who lives here on Kaua'i, became our official tour guide. He comes and picks us up after he gets off work and has been showing us all around. It's been nice to get to know him better and meet his lovely partner, Vina. They have an adorable two and a half year old little boy named Kanale, which means Stanley in Hawaiian (Glen's late brother's name). We've also been able to spend a little time with Jacqueline, Myles' mom, who owns her own boutique in a funky little town called Hanapepe. We look forward to spending even more time with them over the next month, or so (our plan is to leave around the 8th of May).
On April 1st, our new friends from Hilo (on the big island), Jerry and Paula, flew over to share a few days of much needed vacation. It was great to see them again and we were so surprised how well Jerry was getting around on his new knee. He had just had a total knee replacement done in January, yet he was up and down the ladder on the boat with no problems at all! They were gracious about sharing their rental car with us to go sightseeing, grocery shopping (we haven't quite gotten the bus figured out here, yet!), and an emergency visit to the chiropractor (I'll get into that later!). Jerry had spent several months on the island while doing a big green house construction job, so knew where the best beaches were. It felt wonderful to do nothing but lay around and read in such beautiful surroundings for a couple of days. Unfortunately, the weather was not the nicest during their visit and we got a bit of free derma-brasion from the sand and heavy winds! It has also been raining almost every day - thankfully not for too long, but when it does, it really dumps.
This picture was taken at the Fern Grotto. We took the Wailua River Cruise, a boat ride that putts 2 1/2 miles up the beautiful Wailua River to the grotto. We had both been there before (long ago and in different lives!) and were shocked at how much it had changed. For anyone who has been there before 2006, you'll remember you used to be able to walk up and into the cave which had a much broader opening. The area also used to be completely covered with the beautiful hanging sword ferns and delicate maiden hair ferns. We were sad to learn that the ferns are now struggling to survive both after being ravaged by hurricane Iniki in 1992 (another awful 9-11 event!) and because of the drought conditions caused when the sugar cane plantation atop the cliff went out of production and ended its irrigation. The actual cave has been "condemned" (found to be unsafe for visitors) after a 40 day and 40 night rain in 2006 caused massive landsides. You can see in the picture there is now a very small opening. Mother Nature hasn't stopped the Smith family from running its tours up to the grotto, however, but we're thinking they are going to have to find another business or put on a much better show for $20. a head!
When Glen was last here in the early 80's visiting Stanley, he remembered hanging out at a place called the Little Oar House. It is now the Nawiliwili Tavern and the four of us just had to check it out. There are signs proclaiming it to be the furthest tavern in the west, being at 159 degrees west. We're not sure that's true, but we did have a great time with their happy hour prices and some fun kareoke with the locals.
Jerry and Paula had us over to their home for Christmas dinner and it was nice to be able to reciprocate with Easter dinner on the boat. The weather didn't cooperate for our traditional lamb dinner to be bbq'd on the grill, but we made due in the oven. We sure wish all of our friends and family could have been here to share it with us, but hope everyone had a wonderful celebration of their own. It's exciting to know that the next set of holidays, we'll be in San Diego and can share them with so many more.
It seemed they had just gotten here, but Monday morning came and it was time for Jerry and Paula to head back to their own beautiful island. We had a fun visit and hope they will be able to get away some time to visit us again on the mainland. Thanks you two for everything!
Somehow while scrubbing and oiling the cabin sole (parquet wood floor inside the boat), I pulled something in my neck and shoulder. It started out as a stiff neck, but after a few days I could barely lift my head and was in major pain. Thankfully when Paula and Jerry got here, they suggested I go get some help. We found Dr. Oda in the yellow pages, but he turned out to be wonderful. He got me right in, did a long examination and said I tore something (didn't think to ask if it was a muscle, or what?!!) and went right into fixing me up. It took two visits, but between the electrical stimulation to relax the muscles, pressure to relieve the pitched nerve (I had a numb right arm and the side of my face), several adjustments, and then lots of ice and anti-inflammatories, I am finally able to move around again. Still not raising my right arm much, or sleeping on my favorite right side, but feeling much better - hey, I'm finally sitting down to type, so I must be better! :)
A quick mention about April Fool's Day... as most of you know, we love playing pranks on this fun day, and were trying to do just that while playing with our marital status on facebook. We had no idea that every change gets broadcast to everyone, so the joke was on us when we were awakened with a call of congratulations! Oops! Please know that when we do finally set a date for our celebration, all of you will not only be notified, but required to be in attendance! (By the way, does anyone know how we delete ourselves from Facebook?!!!) Big hugs!