Island life

We leave in approximately 94 hours, and I have a rough week of spa treatment and packing ahead of me. This blog will be serving the place of postcards home about our many adventures over the next month. We'll be posting pictures and stories as often as we can, so I hope this makes it seem like we haven't dropped off the face of the earth (even though there is a good possibility that we have).

Dog in caring hands? Check!
Plants set to be watered? Check!
Tivo(s) mostly cleared? Check!
Checked-in for spacious exit-row seats? Check!
Ridiculous number of small techie devices? Check!
Sarongs? Check!
Harry Potter 7 to read on the plane? Check!
11 LBS. of alternate reading material? Check!
Two cameras? Check!
Not nearly enough shoes? Check!

On the plane first thing in the morning? Priceless!

We arrived, and just about everything has gone wrong since then. Our luggage has completely disappeared (tough news in the era of no-liquids-on-the-plane) and we ran into trouble with our car rental. It was a Seinfeldian take-the-reservation/hold-the-reservation problem: all our paperwork was ready to go, but when we got to the lot, there were no cars. Eventually they showed up with two of the model we rented, but one had a dangerously broken passenger seat-- and the other they gave to someone else. So we're driving around in a tiny, rough-riding Jeep until they figure out something else. We're basically just sitting in our hotel room (we don't get into the house until tomorrow) waiting for someone to call us about our clothes or our car.

But it is lovely here!

Well, things just got a little better! Picture yourself checking into a hotel. You tell the staff that your luggage is lost and will hopefully be delivered later. They make a joke about your luggage going on its own vacation, so you know they understand the situation. Now imagine it is four hours later and you still haven't heard from the airline and you can't get anyone on the phone there. You call your hotel front desk to see if they have any other suggestions, based on their vast experience. And lo and behold, they have your luggage, just sitting there. Apparently it never occurred to them that you might want them to bring your luggage to your room.

I am now hugging my clothes and a bottle of shampoo.

Today we had to kill time until we could check into the house. We thought that would give us a great opportunity to swap our rattle-trap Jeep for something more sensible, but apparently there are NO OTHER VEHICLES on the entire island. I spent a bit of time on the phone today with the manager, and I think he understood that I would not give up and be happy with my Jeep. We got a discount and our REAL car should be delivered to us first thing in the morning. Cross your fingers!

Whoo! This is a long one...

What is a blog without photos? Well, here you go, not the best photo, but one of the first ones taken on the trip.

It was on the plane (hence the poor quality) just before we landed in Kauai. Today looks pretty nice so far, so perhaps we'll post some fish photos later today. Did I mention the wild roosters have been crowing since about 3am? ... gotta love island life.

Chris and Brooke called today, they were in San Fran with a 2 hour delay in their flight to Honolulu. That would be okay except flights to Lihue from Honolulu stop around 8pm. We talked a bit about it and then Danika and I went to the beach. When we got back, there was a message from Brooke, they switched to a United flight (versus NWA) and got a direct flight to Lihue getting in about the same time as they were originally scheduled for, so I guess "Traveling woes" may not be the best title, but who is interested in reading something titled "Everything is going according to plan... sorta".

While it might look to you all like we're about to be blown away, Kauai is doing pretty well and we're safe and fine. The surf is up a bit, the wind is blowing, and we have clouds rolling through and 15 seconds of torrential downpour every few hours, but things are okay. Our dinner (booze) cruise for tonight was canceled, but we rescheduled for later in the week, so our vacation is still on track.

Yesterday, we headed around to the south end of the island to spend some time in Waimea Canyon. It was lovely, but it was a lot of driving and all of my navigators were sleepy or woozy from the switchback turns.

Today marks the halfway point on our trip. We had to send Chris and Brooke home yesterday, and it is really quiet around here with just the two of us. In two weeks I've almost gotten used to the geckoes at night and chicken noise in the morning. I do wish my back would stop hurting so I would feel more enthusiastic about getting out and doing things. Maybe some more yoga this week will help.

It has been said that week 4 of your vacation is the week you decide not to come back, but that's not what I've found. Call me selfish and ungrateful, but week 4 is the week where I want to go home. I miss dry air, dry skin, dry pages in the book I'm reading, you people, curly hair, television, going to bed late, sleeping late, the lack of chickens, lizards outside only, beaches where you don't go in the water because it's not sensible, clouds, blankets, water pressure, reasonably priced food, my car, my dog, my yoga mat, my bed, Green Lake, crisp air, cold rivers, good hard cider, socks, sleeves, salmon, apples, constructive activity, and many, many other things.

I haven't been posting much lately, but here's what's new:
• I don't get scared when snorkeling anymore. Last trip it took a week, this time it took a month, so that's probably not progress.
• I can read a book in a day, if pressed. Reinforcements were sought from the only decent bookstore on the island.
• Chilly and muggy is much better than hot and muggy.
• I don't know how to cook. (Well, that's not really new, is it?)
• I gravitate towards large, cheap jewelry.

Today has been nice and quiet (aside from the shark attack). Not a lot left to do but pack it in and head home. A few odds and ends.

I never got around to posting pictures of the inside of the house, but I have some and I'll describe it at length when I get home.

In response to questions about my jewelry predilections, here is a photo of the giant-est of the giant pendants. Amy's going to help me make it into something fabulous!

Tomorrow, we fly!

We are all packed and ready to go. We were planning to leave by 9am. It is 7:50am, so I guess we didn't need to get up so early. Good-bye Kauai. See you in Seattle.

--Matt

Despite a few delays, we made it home safe and sound tonight. My body-clock is all messed up from not doing anything but travel all day, so I'm wide awake. But I'm wearing a sarong and wrapped in a blanket, so life doesn't get much better than this.