A little while back Franks and I got a very enticing invitation to join Jesse and Evelyn on a weeklong vacation in Kauai which we rather smartly took them up on. It was the first long trip we'd made in a while and I'd been hankering for something tropical with all the freezing rain going on here. I wish we'd stayed longer, it went way too fast even with all the time we spent just lounging about. I didn't end up doing half the things I'd meant to, though that doesn't really bother me for once---sometimes its good just to cool the heels for a bit. That said I did make everyone go on an 8-mile hike that nearly broke both Evelyn's ankles. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We stayed down the road from these kind of neat 60's style condos I kept referring to as the Seal Lodge. Sort of reminded me of the Salk Institute.

Every night we made the best meals, I don't know why we don't do it all the time at home. The nearby market had great fish for super cheap and I ate more spam in a week than in all the years of my life combined. Fresh made tuna poke for $2.50? So unbelievable (especially considering the price of everthing else).

Lots of clouds overhead, but at 75 degrees I didn't really care. The funny thing was how fast they moved.

Everywhere we went there were chickens wandering about.

Took a good hike up along a mountain ridge and looked down at Hanalei Bay.

So many awesome plants.

Rain makes for slippery trails and lots of mud.

Walked down to the Queen's Bath but found it was no place for a dip, at least not in the winter.

Made for some really neat tide pools, though.

Evelyn knew of a secret pocket beach near our place and it turned out to be amazing. No one around and totally lovely.

Somebody took advantage of the seclusion to get naked a lot.

Drove through Anahola one day and stopped for tastiness at Duane's Ono Char-Burger.

And shave ice in Hanalei.

Coconut shave ice over macadamia nut ice cream and halo-halo. So good I made myself sick.

I never quite got over how lush and green everything was.

Went and checked out some giant caves near Ha'ena. Legend has it that Manini-holo, chief fisherman of the Menehune, dug this particular cave in search of a supernatural beast who was stealing their fish.