Nature
Weekend at the Oregon Coast
Last weekend, on the spur of the moment, I drove to the Oregon Coast. It’s just under an hour and half drive from home. I booked a hotel with an oceanfront view, which is the best way to go because you can spend half the time in your hotel room and still feel that the trip was well worth it.
I sat on the beach, eating clam chowder and a shrimp sandwich; later, relaxing in my room and listening to the sound of the ocean, I watched the waves. In the morning, as I walked on the beach, a flock of sandpipers busily dodged the surf. These creatures, with their spindly little legs, are very cool to watch, and they definitely work as a team!
Hotel room window
Lunch on the beach…seagulls keeping watch for any food donations…
Walking on the beach in the morning…looking like a monk with my hood on. 🙂
On the beach in the morning, wearing my hoodie…looking and feeling like a monk.
An awesome flock of sandpipers!
Enjoying the waves from my hotel room window.
Run for the Stronghold
From the Thunderheart soundtrack. A great film.
Hanalei & Poipu [POY-poo]
Since the Royal Coconut Coast (the East side of Kauai) is midway between the lush North Shore area and the drier South Shore, it is easy to take day trips in either direction.
The Hanalei Bay area boasts a beach with a famous pier and the community of Princeville; the mountain backdrop with long white waterfalls is magnificent. The North receives more rain than either the East or South sides and is extremely lush!
Poipu Beach, voted America’s Best Beach by The Travel Channel, is situated on the drier South Shore. If you want to splurge, stay at the Grand Hyatt Resort and Spa in Poipu, where the lobby looks straight out onto the ocean. A great place for a honeymoon! Room prices range from around $500 to $1000 a night with the Presidential Suites ranging from $2500 to $5000 a night.
On route to the South Shore, we drove on a section of highway with large trees on either side that curved over the top to form an arch and a tunnel. Kauai’s natural surroundings can be awe inspiring! Poipu Beach is next to Old Koala, which is “a charming town rooted in its plantation past.”
Below are some photos from the Hanalei Bay area and Poipu Beach. Mahalo nui loa!
Hanalei Bay Area
Hanalei Bay Area
Hanalei Bay Area
Mom and Pop, Hanalei Bay Area
Coconut Tree
Coconut Tree
Hanalei Bay Area
Hanalei Bay Area
Beautiful flower
Poipu Beach
Poipu Beach
Paul at Poipu Beach
Poipu Beach
Mom and Po at at Poipu Beach soaking in the sun
Paul and Pop at Poipu Beach
Paul at Poipu Beach
Royal Coconut Coast — Kauai, Hawaii
In mid-September, I took my parents on a Hawaiian vacation. Last December, we went to Oahu and stayed a block from Waikiki, so we decided on a less touristic Hawaiian experience and chose Kauai, the Garden Isle. We booked a resort condo on the Royal Coconut Coast for eight days; however, due to Tropical Storm Olivia heading directly for Maui at the very hour we were set to land and connect to Kauai, we postponed our flight for two days until the storm had passed. It was a wise decision. Hawaiian Airlines was very helpful and accommodating in changing our flights.
We were greeted at the airport with a Lei placed around our necks and kisses on our cheeks (although I paid for that, it’s a lei greeting service), and thus started the beginning of a week of relaxation and enjoyment in paradise.
We stayed at the Waipouli Resort, booked through Kauai Calls, where we had an ocean front, two bedroom condo. The unit had a gorgeous, large kitchen; three bathrooms, two showers, and a very large jacuzzi bathtub and another regular size one as well. Waipouli is just next to the interesting, old town of Kapaa.
The resort has its own beach with a resident endangered Hawaiian monk seal. It also has an elaborate, winding, river-like, swimming pool with water-slides, grotto, and three sand-bottomed hot tubs. Next to the pool area is a good restaurant and bar called the Oasis on the Beach. The weather was always around 85 degrees during the day and just under 80 at night. I loved sleeping with my lanai window open and listening to the soothing sound of the waves.
Below are photos from beautiful Kauai, “the Garden Isle.” I also have a lot of video footage of this trip that I might post later. We visited Hanalei Bay in the North and Poipu Beach in the South, which I will cover in my next post. After my Hawaii posts, I will begin telling you about my 5 week European adventure. Kauai was definitely the most relaxing part of my six week travel. Yes, the island chain is the 50th U.S. state, but it has its own unique culture and way of life and that special Aloha spirit. I would like to return. Mahalo to all the nice and welcoming people that we met!
Arriving at the Kauai Airport
Paul on the resort beach
Living room view
Rooster at the Kauai Airport…They are all over the island…most say they proliferated across the island after Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
View from bedroom
Mom on one of the Lanais soaking up the morning sun with a continental breakfast….what a life!
Resort beach
Kauai sunrise
resident endangered Monk seal
Arriving at Kauai airport — Pop and Paul
resident endangered Monk seal
View from bedroom
Sunrise from bedroom
Kauai flower…the whole island is one amazing botanical garden
an interesting tree encountered on an evening walk
Frog at the resorts Koi pond
Kauai sunrise
Kauai sunrise
Beach with another restaurant across the little canal
Kauai sunrise
Pool
Pool area
pool
Relaxing by the pool
Two delicious shaved ice deserts…A must have!!!! Absolutely great!
Enjoying a smaller shaved ice (which is so much more than shaved ice– it has ice cream and fresh tropical fruit called a Hawaiian sunrise — so delicious, a must have!!). My Mom and I both had a normal sized one (which is huge) but I had to try the flavor she had, so I got a smaller one for a second.
Roof of the Oasis on the Beach restaurant and bar
Mom walking to the beach on the front lawn
Monk seal sign
View from bedroom
Koi Fish
View from condo
Mom ready for the pool.
View from condo
Flying over Maui, where we connected flights
