Aloha

Hanalei Bay at sunset


Wailua Falls



Spouting Horn


Kalalau Overlook



Waimea Canyon

Hanalei Bay

Alison & I just returned from paradise--a week's stay with our generous host friends, Dick & Betty Schweickert, in their new condo overlooking Hanalei Bay in Kauai.

This was our first time visiting Hawaii, and we often hear people say Kauai is the island to visit. We soon learned why.

The spectacular sheer cliffs of the Na Pali coast and the Kalalau valley, the Waimea Canyon (Hawaii's own "Grand Canyon") and the idyllic Hanalei Bay on the north shore are surreal.

Snorkeling several days in the reef about 50 feet from the beach, we encountered the famous Humuhumunukunukuapuaa, also known as the triggerfish, and I swam further out in the reef where I coasted along with four-foot long sea turtles! We figured we had seen at least 30 different varieties of fish in the reef.

Dining was superb everywhere we went, from the casual to the fine.

But most of all, it was just a relaxing place to be--80 degrees air and water temperature with gentle trade winds blowing, the occasional shower passing through and providing a great canvas for sunsets, and the vast sky of twinkling orbs and the Milky Way at night.

We also dodged the chickens that roam freely on the island, an always amusing sight.

Great to be home, though, after a week away.

Until next time...

Rick