Airplanes and automobiles and earthquakes

Friday was another travel day. We went snorkeling on the beach across from our condo, although Jenn got tossed around a bit by the surf and didn’t swim out to where the coral reef was. That was too bad, because I saw another sea turtle and a bunch of fish, even though the visibility was not the best..

After snorkeling we went out to see about shipping Jenn’s orchids. I also returned my snorkel gear. We stopped by a shipping store, but they were pretty clueless about what needed to be done for shipping the orchids. We also stopped by the post office where we found a phone number for the USDA and Jenn found out that she could have the plants inspected at the airport for shipment back to the mainland.

I guess let me explain a bit, Hawaii is quarantined for most plant life, meaning you can’t bring in fresh fruits or vegetables, and any plants or fruit and vegetables leaving Hawaii have to be inspected and certified for export.

We get back to the condo , finish packing, and Jenn gets her orchids ready to ship. We headed to the airport, at which point I realize we are running a bit late. I had to stop to fill up the tank and drop off the rental car. By the time I got back from the rental car return, it was already too late to make our flight, but the lady at the airline waived the fee to move us to the next later flight.

When we got to Kauai, we tried to find the post office, but got a bit lost, and eventually found a UPS store, where Jenn was able to find a box for the orchids and we went back to the airport where the USDA inspection station was, and Jenn was able to get her orchids certified for export.

Saturday was arguably the worst weather we’ve had on this trip. It rained all day. We did go shopping though, and hit the Kauai fair. I got a few presents for people. We also shopped a bit in the Coconut Marketplace, which is adjacent to our hotel.

We have gone out the previous two nights to Tradewinds, which is a bar in the Coconut Marketplace, within easy walking distance. We’ve met some interesting people there. And Some of them, courtesy of Jenn, have bought our drinks. Keoki, who we met Friday, chatted up Jenn, my “cousin”, and payed off Jenn’s tab, which included my drinks. Jenn also met Jeremy, who seems like a nice guy.

I've got a few words to say about our rental car here on Kauai. It kind of sucks. It's a Chevy HHR, and between that and a Cobalt, I guess it's the better choice. Not much better, but the one we have is kind of beat on already. When I did the walkaround to document the damage, there were a lot of dings and scratches. Plus it has kind of a funky scent inside. It's been a bit better since we were driving around today with the windows down. On the plus side, it was a AUX jack for my iPod and a sunroof. Still doens't handle like my Suby though.

Anyways, on to today's events... we drove up to Waimea Canyon. On the way there we stopped at Wailua Falls, which were really flowing because of all the rain we had yesterday. Very cool, and apparently these are the falls from the title sequence of Fantasy Island. After the falls, we drove to Waimea, stopping to take pictures of a Chinese temple and also stoping for lunch at Barefoot Burger.

Following lunch, we drove up the canyon to several lookouts. It was still rather misty so the pictures I took weren't that great, and can't really convey how majestic and "grand" the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" is. It's beautiful. On our way back down we started to get a bit better weather and were treated to a nice view of Niihau, an island populated almost entirely by native Hawaiians, and where they make shell leis that are classified as gems.

We also stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company plantation. We bought some coffee and walked around a bit. Jenn had to lend me some money, as I am running short on cash.

This brings me to the earthquake situation.

1. The earthquake hit off the coast of Hawaii, the big island.
2. Oahu and consequently Honolulu, home of most Hawaiian banking, is without power.
3. Power should be back at least partially to Oahu, allowing full service of the airport.
4. Because most banks around here are based in Oahu, as are many of the credit card services, even though we have power here, I can't go to the ATM or charge things at many stores.
5. Luckily the earthquake was not volcano originated nor was it strong enough to cause a Tsunami.

So, we are safe, have power and should be able to fly home reasonably on time. Damn. About the flying home. Not the safe part.

We also went to Po'Ipu Beach and swam for a bit, and caught a nice sunset.

Tomorrow, Jenn's going scuba diving. She has to be at the place at like 6:30, so, she's already in bed. I on the hand, decided to stay up a little longer to work on this update.

BTW, a thorough photo tour will be posted when I get home, because it's too hard to try to get everything all organized and labeled on this computer.

Really, I think Jenn and I will have a lot of stories to tell when we get home. It's been really awesome so far, and I'm not looking forward to going back to work and the cold weather.