Thursday, February 24 – Kapaa

I’m tired this morning people! The hikes of the last two days (especially yesterday’s) wore me out. (and I have not yet taken a day off on this trip, despite Kait’s blessing!) I did over 20k steps on Tuesday and a little over 30k yesterday.

So I think I’m going to take it slow today. But not so slow that I’m going to skip sunrise yoga. I’m on that!

After class I spent the morning relaxing and beginning the draft of my next journal entry.

Travel Note 1: I just noticed that there is no telephone in my room. I guess that kind of makes sense, right? I just don’t recall ever staying in a rather large hotel complex like this one and being in a room without a phone.

Travel Note 2: Since the onset of Covid, hotels have been cutting back big time on housekeeping services. The hotels I’ve stayed at on this trip will only provide towel change outs and trash removal upon request. I did convince them to do a full room clean at my hotel in Waikiki after I’d been there for over a week. I can understand how this policy was put in place during the height of the pandemic, but I’m curious to see how this will play out as things subside. I have a feeling there will never be a return to daily room cleaning (at least at hotels not at a four or five star level).

I was ready to get out a little bit this afternoon, so I grabbed a bike and took off on the path along the waterfront. A posted a bunch of pictures from my last ride, but here’s a new one from today…

On the way back to the hotel I made a little detour to roam around the cute shopping/dining district here in Kapaa. It’s a little touristy, but not terrible.

Fuel Price Check: …

Sidenote: I didn’t use my rental car at all today. For the amount I’m paying for it, I feel a little guilty (stupid?) for leaving sit idle. Oh well…

Friday, February 25 – Kapaa

What did I do this morning at sunrise? Anybody? That’s right! Yoga!

That got me a little motivated, but I still didn’t get out the door until about 11am. I think one more day of light activity is needed.

Travelnote: There are a lot of roosters here in Kauai. A lot. And my hotel doesn’t have air conditioning. That’s really not a problem though, because I just leave the balcony door wide open and the breeze off the ocean feels great. (Would I do that if I was on the ground floor? Mmmm…I digress) Well, actually it is a problem, because the roosters start cock-a-doodle-doing very early in the morning! And they’re loud, especially with the door wide open! Fortunately though I have earplugs. And not just any earplugs; I had these babies custom-fit to my ear canals. They’re amazing. One of my more deft purchases! (along with the ’93 Nissan, haha)

I’m traveling north again today to the town of Hanalei. It’s touted as representing “Old-World” Hawaii, and it even has a cute one-lane bridge just as you enter the town. I think it’s a little on the touristy side though. (I let you be the judge after viewing the following photos…)

Sidenote: Can you believe that my anti-touristy ethos has been defied on two consecutive days? Me neither. Just goes to show you how dangerous fatigue can be!

Anybody remember the song Puff The Magic Dragon? Well, it includes the following lyrics:

Puff the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee

Local folklore claims that Hanalei (Honah Lee) was the inspiration for the song. Sadly, some party-poopers at a local newspaper (of all places!) have since debunked this legend. Booo I say!

The drive from my hotel to Hanalei took about 40 minutes (yay! my rental car is back in use!)

It was a fun little road trip!

Price Check: There’s a McDonald’s close to my hotel, so I couldn’t resist – I had to get a cone! And the price was surprisingly low: $1.87. I was expecting something closer to the $2+ I found in Waikiki.