St. Rey in the Islands

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Originally uploaded by craighaarmeyer

Hello, all!

Let it be known that Rey, Kelly and Marian had another great visit to Kauai'.

The Tropical storm Felicia threatened to bother our plans but after a few words with the Gods she was down graded to a Tropical Depression. None the less, the day of our arrival was gray and wet. Nothing too bad to ground the planes but 6 inches of rain is nothing to sniff at. We drove the Jeep to the North Shore, unloaded our shit and headed straight for the Tahiti Nui (aka Tehui Nui ;) for Mai Tais and pizza. Christian, the owner was there to greet us and recognize our status as Region IV ODP VIPs.

Marian was not pleased with the heat and humidity but after we woke the next morning Kelly and I enjoyed the climate and had a nice run to the Haena state Park as the storm cleared a bit. Unable to ford the stream that crosses the highway just before the dry cave (due to high run-off) we headed back and retreated to the beach for some swimming and a little sun. Then it was off to Tahiti Nui again for Thursday night live Hawaiian music. More pizza and smoked pork ribs and the dinner was even comped by some kind stranger!

Friday we ran in the morning again. This time up to Waineha Market but they were closed, so afterwords we drove into town to get dinner makings and sun tan lotion. Then we all proceeded to get over cooked by the tropical sun but not before swimming with several sea turtles. I think I BBQed beef short ribs that night but I will need to see the camera footage to verify as I was quite plowed in by an army of rum drinks.

Aside from running too hard Saturday morning and getting a stress fracture to one of my right metatarsals I remember nothing. Must have been a good day....more time at the beach, I can assure you!

Sunday was a "down day", meaning that there was no running or driving or planning. It was a beach day and we ended it with another dinner at Tahiti Nui. This time Marian had the ribs (huge rack), Kelly had a huge plate of scallops and I had a giant rib-eye with mushrooms and mashed potatoes. What? Is this the island or Long Island?

Monday was my birthday (44th) and we spent it doing something I love: Hiking! Yeah! It would have been a forced march for Marian and Kelly but our friends from Oakland were there to join us and we had a great time hiking and talking and getting to know each other better. Eating, climbing and taking photos and so on (and watching frogs git-it-on). We followed that up by swimming and snorkeling together at our home beach, Tunnels, and then me and my ladies went to dinner. Great cocktails and wine, food and port and dessert.

Tuesday was our last day and the last day usually depresses me but this time we did so many fun things that it was a perfect ending. We shopped in town, had a burger at Bubba's, went to the beach again where the weather was perfect....lots of turtles and beautiful distant storm clouds....my beautiful girls, cooling but humid breezes and the stunning Na Pali. Then we went back to, yes, the Tahiti Nui for more Mai Tais and a large ham, pineapple and jalapeno pizza. On the way back we played a little game of pick-up soccer with a family from New York on the wonderful fields there in Hanalei. That night the stars came out and we pondered the meaning (absurdity) of existence before going to bed for a quiet and restful sleep. By our last day Marian was wishing that the moist air and constant temp were going to last us all the way to California. All I can say is, "Sorry, sweet hart. Get used to the dry heat!"

I hope you all can make it to Kauai' with us sometime because if you don't I will force you to ski with me in a blizzard. The choice is yours.

Mahalo!