Waimea Canyon Start Park

 Waimea Canyon is one of our "everyone must see this" visits for all visitors. The view from the top down to the sea is one of those views available only on the occasion of a clear day. We were in luck on this trip.

Poipu Beach

 I have no idea how such decisions are made, but Poipu Beach is supposedly the best beach in the United States. I like it because it has great picnic tables under cover and turtles.

Since I am commenting on best of xx, the iPhone camera is hard to beat when it comes to actually taking photos. I have several thousand dollars invested in cameras and lenses, but if I had to take a photo I would likely opt for my iPhone and perhaps a tripod. There are so many options and great automatic features. The panorama capability works well and I used it frequently for vistas I want to save. It is nearly always available when the time to take a photo presents itself. 

Here are some Poipu turtle photos with one panorama.

Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge

We visit the Kilauea Point Refuge with each set of folks who visit us. It gives a chance to use our National Parks admit these old folks card and to try to take photos of the birds. I bring my camera with the telephoto lens. Trying to capture a usable image while birds are in flight is difficult. First you have to find them through the view finder and then try to capture an image while following. Focus in a challenge. My camera will try to focus automatically but that takes a second. If you focus on the horizon and then try to get a photo it works reasonable well if the bird is far away. If you have ever tried pass shooting ducks, you might have a feel for what skills are involved. The refuge folks would likely be shocked that I used this comparison. 

Great Frigate Bird

Red Footed Booby

Hillside with nesting birds - this is as close as visitors are allowed

Special fencing surrounding the refuge with a fine mesh to prevent cats and hogs from getting at the nesting birds. The fence is dug into the ground and the surrounding vegetation must constantly be cut to prevent the use of the vegetation to scale the fence (see previous posts about biomass).

Sign that must be funny to birders

Does Hawaii have seasons

I have spent most of my life living in the North of the U.S. and with the North you get seasons. The weather here does change, a lot, but the temperature range is small. I consulted the National Weather Service on the matter, and the official claim is that Hawaii has two seasons - winter and summer. Winter lasts from October to April and the rest is summer.

I started thinking about this topic because of Plumeria. I think of Plumeria as the flower commonly used in leis. The connection with seasons is that this time of year the Plumeria looks like a Minnesota deciduous tree - it looks dead. Everything else is green and flowers are everywhere, but this one type of tree is bare.

Then gradually a flower or two appear and maybe a couple of leaves. It seems weird to see a tree with one flower, but this is the type of thing I notice on my walk. I watch carefully when I spot a tree like this to see if someone has picked the flower to put behind their ear. Gradually, more flowers and leaves emerge over a month or so. 

Hawaiians could have a Spring if the would agree that the time flowers appeared on a Plumeria tree was the beginning of Spring. 

Road Maintenance

 I have mentioned earlier that the vegetation here is thick and continually growing. Cutting back the vegetation among the roads is the Kauai version of filling potholes. Despite the number of individuals spending day after day working the job never seems to be finished. You get to the end and it is time to go back to the beginning and start again,

Sticker People

 I have joined the sticker people. After a year or so of careful analysis. I think I have it figured out. There seem to be two major decisions to be made. First, what will you put your stickers on, and then what topic will your stickers address? Stickers probably evolved from bumper stickers and possibly reflect the decline in reading ability caused by too much screen time. I will have to work on my history of sticky things as a means of self-expression a little more, but I am going with bumper stickers begat stickers for now.

As to locations, I see lots of stickers on rear view windows of pickups, water bottles, backpacks, and computers. Pickup owners like human silhouettes, deer heads, dog heads, and guns. There is a clear male versus female difference here, How many silhouettes of voluptuous women have you ever seen on the driver's side rear window. I am guessing women go with dogs. Teens plaster their water bottles with band and athletic team symbols. The one I think is funny is that giant tongue. That band's average age makes me look like a youngster. Really young sticker lovers like unicorns for their backpacks. 

Then there is me. After careful study, I have decided to tastefully decorate the protective cover of my iPad with coffee shop stickers. 

Big Wave Day

 Surf warnings are part of weather shows here and everyone was put on notice to beware today and tomorrow. I have yet to figure out exactly what conditions create huge waves but this knowledge must be part of what you learn here to qualify as a meteorologist. You could tell that a front went through last night as it was colder and very windy. Wind must be part of what is predictive, but it is no longer windy today and the waves arrived as predicted. We drove to several different places to get some photos.

The following was my best shot. You can see this photo full screen by clicking on it. 

A couple of videos. 

The pros were out as well, Photoshops always have big wave photos. This guy had quite the gear. He was using some kind of filter. I wonder what it was for. 

One more with a different camera. 

An expert explains ocean waves. 

Costco Dining Menu Update

Costco provides a unique service in the islands as an alternative to the higher cost of pretty much everything. Gas is probably the most obvious example and a reason most local residents purchase a membership. 

The in-house food service is also popular with large lines pretty much any time we have visited. They have the same $1.50 giant hot dog and a soda that is a mainstay of Costcos everywhere. I remember regional options involving acai from previous visits, but this is no longer on the menu. What they do have is the giant hot chocolate chunk cookies that are a big hit on social media. The cost is $2.49, but the heavy dose of chocolate was large enough to give me a sugar rush. Be aware that one cookie has 750 calories. You could have a second hot dog, save money, and keep your youthful figure. Maybe split a cookie with a friend if you go for the hot dog and coke. So, you are now warned and you make your own decision. 

Wow, the cove is very quiet tonight. Big waves are on the way.

Local Beach

 There is a beach that can be reached only from our housing complex. We are positioned on a cliff that overlooks the ocean and the path makes its way down to the beach. The path according to my watch is only 1/4 mile in length, but it is extremely steep making both the descent and the ascent a challenge. We find ourselves in better shape this year and capable of making the trip.

The view from the beach is quite impressive. 

There is a warning you receive here from the time you leave your plane - Don't turn your back on the ocean. Some pay attention more carefully than others.

This was potentially a story that would become part of family lore for generations. Unfortunately, I saw the second wave coming and already having gotten my shoes wet from the first wave instinctively headed for higher ground. Cindy had her back to the ocean.

Limahuli Tropical Garden

There are multiple gardens we have visited multiple times on Kauai. As has been shared in multiple posts, Kauai has a great variety of native plants and many are unique to those of us visiting from the lower 48. You see beautiful plants everywhere, but a Garden offers the advantage of tagging many of the plants and often emphasizing native plants one would seldom see while doing more traditional tourist things. Most of these gardens require an access fee necessary to maintain the grounds and pay the staff. Limahuli is one of several designated National Tropical Gardens with one of the others also located on Kauai. 

You explore the Limahuli grounds by following a trail that is ¾ miles long. The distance is not great but there is a 700 foot change in elevation which might present a barrier for some visitors. The elevation change is related to the educational message of the garden and we must have been in better shape this year than last because Cindy said we did much better negotiating the path.

The walk is organized as a series of gardens - Medicine garden, Plantation garden, Treatened garden, Invasive garden, etc. Many of plants are associated with a tag and there is a very informative guide book that comes with your entrance fee.

Popup Library

 Next to coffee shops, libraries are one of my favorite places to hang out. Both locations provide an atmosphere I think encourages me to be productive. I think others feel the same way even though some places are more isolated and quiet.

As soon as we returned to Princeville we noticed that large plastic barrier around the library and several outbuildings consistent with a major remodeling project. No library time on this trip. 

The library is on the path I take when I walk home and I noticed this small trailer outside the fence. I investigated and saw the sign indicating the building was a pop-up library. The building was locked, but today it was open and I spent a little time inside talking with the librarian. I told her it reminded me of the bookmobile I grew up with. I thought maybe you could leave a request and they would track down a book inside and save it for a future visit. Not the case. Books are rotated through from other regional libraries. I thought the two computer stations were an interesting choice in such a small space, but I guess many depend on library computers to meet personal needs.

Late afternoon walk

 Light is supposed to be the best this time of day. A few photos from my walk.

Aflac lives

 Snow geese do not live in Kauai. They don't migrate through here. Still, Kauai does have at least one snow goose. He/she is called Aflac (after the insurance company goose) and we have spotted him/her the past two years. 

Cindy was concerned when we did not spot the goose during the first few days we were here and I suggested that geese probably don't live that long and sooner or later there would be no snow goose in Kauai. She was not happy with this reality.

Yesterday, I spotted Aflac while we drove past the golf course where the goose likes to hang out. Today, we got a picture. 

The other geese in the photo are NeNe. This bird is native to Hawaii and supposedly endangered. There seem to be many NeNe despite the protection and they march past our residence daily. Aflac has made friends with NeNe and hangs out among them.

Modern beer pub

 Kauai is a very rural island, but when there is a way to stand out and make money innovation has a way of finding even remote places.

I have a beer from time to time depending on the meal and encountered something new in beer vending. It is a self-serve beer service that offers many options and charges your credit card by the ounce. The storage area for this many kegs must be impressive.

I have recently focused on reds and continue to avoid those sour hoppy varieties.

Our kids are coming this year and just in case they were worried about the beer options I can confirm that Bud Light is available.

Filling your glass does take some skill, but with a little practice I got much better. That button on the glass is how the system identifies who bought what.