Hawaii
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Once we got into Kauai, we went with Steve's sister, Tammy, to Hamura's Saimin for lunch. The dish was top ramen with spam and veggies, not one of my favorites. Hamura Saimin is a long time local spot on Kauai. Been around for ages. I recommend going and checking it out if your ever on Kauai. Just go in through one of the two screen doors and find an empty stool. The menu is up on the wall and they'll come get your order. I recommend the chicken sticks and any bowl of saimin is good. The purpose for our trip was Tammy's high school graduation celebration. All four kids have had parties thrown for them for one thing or another. For me it was when i was leaving for the Air Force, and for Byron .... hmmm i don't think there was a party for Byron - Oh oh - i think there were only 3 parties then. But Byron and his wife Mila are having a Baby so i'm sure the baby will have enough parties to make up for Byron's missed one. It's the first baby of all the kids - My mom and Dad's first Grandchild - The tree continues to grow - good job Byron. Tracy had a HUGE one when she left for college, and then theirs this one for Tammy which was a pretty easy one - thanks to mom catering it :-) Never need do to much work for this one. Funny thing about parties with the Kapali family (and most likely with other Hawaiian families that are close), the parties are never just one day. The main event may be just one day but there is the pre-party where all the family and friends who've driven or flown in from far away get together; and then there's the pre-party to the pre-party where the local family prepares for the extended family and friends to come. Then after the main event happens, there's the post-party where the family hangs out and eats leftovers from the main event. And finally comes the post-post-party which is the clean up time and say goodbye to extended family time. So that is what we did for the first half of the trip. We ate and hung out and did our assigned tasks, then ate and hung out some more. Ohh we ate sooo much. I loved it. If there's anything i miss most about home - it's the food. Steve's uncle Cornell gave me some kava root to try and it made my mouth so numb that I began drooling and didn't even know it. Tim, who lives next door, had gone free diving for some fish and brought over something big with really big eyes. I don't know what it was but it sure tasted good.The fish was called Mempachi. Tim taught Steve how to skin and fillet the fish and I was very proud of his newly acquired skill. Yeah - this was the first time i really met Tim and his wife Rose. They were super cool and Tim is a pretty good diver. Uncle Cornel made a hint that some Kala (unicorn fish) would be good, So time and his friend went to Hanalei to go try get some. They never get any Kala but they came back with some big Uhu's (Parrot fish). Mom cooked it up and it was good. So many good eats. Plus Tim and Rose took Natasha and I out to diner at this sushi place called Wasabi's down in old Kapaa town. Man! that was some good sushi. The chef hooked us up with all kind stuff. He cooked up the cheek of the hamachi (hamachi kama) and that was good too. The last half of the trip we did more of the touristy thing. We usually do at least one new thing each time we go back. This time we took a catamaran trip along the NaPali Coast, which is only accessible by boat or hiking trail. the Na Pali coast is so special to me. It's probably my favorite place on the island. I've only hiked to the first valley of Hanakapiai and up to the falls. I've been doing that since i was a kid (yup - I'm 30 now). But there are a couple other Valleys to go to, with Kalalau being the last and famous one. So this time with the boat is the first time i've got to see a good portion of the Napali coastand Kalalau. Ive already made up my mind that i'm gonna explore that area more. Just the presence of all that mana in that area is unreal - feels good.
Around the boat were swarms of spinner dolphins. They loved playing in the boat's wake. The NaPali Coast is made up of these sheer cliffs that just drop straight down into the ocean. Really magnificent. I can't really describe how powerful the landscape felt. It was kind of like that feeling I got seeing Yosemite for the first time. You just feel so small in comparison. We also hiked to the top of Sleeping Giant mountain which provided a great view of the east side of the island. we hiked up the back trail from Wailua homesteads - a much eaier hike than from the front of the mountain. Dad says the trail is on ancient trail used by the hawaiians to cross over the mountain. From the top you can see some of the heiau's (hawaiian place of worship) along the Wailua river. Pretty cool feeling of history. Before we knew it it was time to go. I was excited to be getting back to the van and get the roadtrip started but I was also a little sad for Steve, who had been so homesick for so long, had to now say his goodbyes once again. But because of the 15 hour flight delay on the way in, we have flight vouchers to use toward another Hawaii trip. That is possibly where our roadtrip will end. Next to Santa Barbara