Aloha

We just arrived back in Minnesota. Glad to be back under the circumstances. No snow. Hope all is well with everyone who followed these posts and we are soon through the threat from this disease. 

Swinging bridge

There are not that many communities on Kauai and I assume all rely heavily on tourists dollars. To attract visitors, you need an attraction. Food works, but there is good food everywhere. You need something like the largest ball of twine or Paul Bunyan and the babe's statues. Hanapepe has a swinging bridge.

This was not like I might imagine a swinging bridge. There was not actual danger of falling between boards that made up the deck of the bridge and it was not held together with ropes. However, it did swing as you walked across it and that sensation was enough to give you a thrill; a small thrill. I amused myself by following Cindy and trying to keep in step and use my opposite foot to see see if I could reduce the sway. Sometimes, you just need to create your own challenges.

Trying to blend in

I had this view while sitting on the lanai a few days ago. Cindy brought her iphone and captured the image.

This seems the type of photo that might be the subject of a contest of some sort - "label this photo". I told Cindy I would call it "one of these is not like the other", but she thought this was too predictable and I could do better. She thought there must be a message in there somewhere. I did come up with an alternative, but I am not certain my alternative has a deeper meaning.

Given recent world events perhaps "we are all in this together" would be good.

Coronavirus

I shouldn’t continue to ignore our situation. We are well aware of the spread of the coronavirus and are trying to decide what to do. Our age puts us at risk and Cindy has the added issue of mild diabetes. As of today, we are scheduled to stay in Hawaii for a couple more weeks. The plane trip back to the states is an issue. We would rather not fly through Seattle, but the present cost of a change would be $500. The lower quality of medical care here is a consideration. There are confirmed cases both on the island and in Minnesota. The likelihood of infection in either location is unknown, but we do have to consider the possibility plane travel could be shut down and we would be searching for a place to stay should we get stranded. So many issues to consider. 

Rescue

We stay around the corner from an area called Queen's Bath  The location is at the end of a popular hike, but is often off limits because novices frequently endanger themselves when the surf is high. 

The arrow in the satellite map below points to an area to the left of the bath. It also gets tourists in trouble.  

The last time we were here we witnessed the rescue of someone who could got down the cliff, but could not get back up. A helicopter lowered someone with a basket and brought the man up. I took pictures. 

Today may have been a repeat. No basket, but I could see someone being lowered on a line. 

Hamura Saimin

When you don't know what you are doing, look for the best whatever lists. We are fans of Saimin and yesterday went searching for Hamura Saimin. Hard to describe this noodle soup type dish. Poke and Saimin would be things I would eat no matter where I found them.

Mine was regular size. There was also a sumo option, but I am working on controlling my appetite. 

Credit card fraud

We received a fraud alert last night when we were out. Cindy called and found out someone had tried to charge $2700 on our card. The strange thing is the charges were to cover three insurance plans. 

My immediate reaction was one of puzzlement. Of all the things you could use a stolen credit card to purchase, why would anyone use it to pay for insurance? When the charges were denied wouldn’t it be immediately evident who was responsible?  Why three different policies?

I now have no credit card. I have a cash card and my Starbucks card. Cindy does have another card, but not everyone takes American Express. I can’t get another card until I get home so I expect multiple monthly subscriptions to be looking for their money. 

Plate lunch

This is another food post with a cultural angle. The plate lunch is a thing here. Those establishments offering this option advertise it as such. The cultural association with the plate lunch taps into Kauai's multicultural background. As I understand the origin, field workers used to bring food to their work site and at lunch time share with each other. We midwesterners might describe this as pot luck. The mix of backgrounds present in the fields led to some very interesting food combinations. Foodies might describe this as fusion. At least this how I as a nonfoodie and a midwesterner would attempt to explain the phenomenon. I see that a bento box is an alternate description, but bento box has a different meaning to me.

I am not certain if the quality of the food is a cultural thing, but a couple might try ordering one plate and maybe an app until they have visited a given establishment a few times. Our experience was with a plate lunch forward establishment called Bobbie's. You can find lists of best plate lunch eateries online and Bobbies was #2.

My plate is at the bottom of the photo - rice, fried seimen, beef, chicken, mushrooms. Everything seems to have been marinated or sauced.

Kauai Coffee

We returned to Kauai Coffee to take their tour. You pay for this one, but they take you into the fields to see the massive operation.

This massive farm has 4 million coffee trees and harvests from 3 million each year. The farm is on the dry side of the island, but canals bring water from the mountains where it rains more than 400 inches per year. This water is filtered by running the water through sand filters and then sent out to the plants using drip irrigation. Thin plastic tubing run down each row. The final photo is of the recycling effort which generates compost. The trees would grow tall without constant pruning necessary to refresh the plant for more active growth and to keep the trees to a height suited for mechanical picking. Green matter and the residue from the harvest are composted.

Probably the thing I learned this year that disputed an existing view was that all coffee cherries were red. The most common variety on this farm is a yellow variety.

We finished the outing by planting some coffee beans - Blue Mountain. It takes at least 5 years to get these new plants to the point they will produce.