Arriving on Kauai

 Aloha!

Well we arrived on Kauai safe and sound late Friday evening (January 7, 2022).  The flight and procedures (covid protocols) were not unreasonable given the current worldwide situation and the biggest effect we felt was a less than half full aircraft!  We had arranged for a rental car for our first 3 days on island.  As my Scottish blood surged through my veins, I opted for "Rent-a-Wreck" (substantially lower prices than the big guys)!  I found dealing with Adele (the franchise owner) and Peter to be very easy and amicable.  Peter had provided clear and concise instructions for the after hour pick up.  So after collecting our bags and hailing a cab, we arrived at Rent-a-Wreck, about a 3 minute ride. 

Our little white Toyota 2 door Echo was there patiently waiting for us to jump in and head to Kapaa.  Now this little Echo has seen a bunch of miles and showed it, but it was mechanically sound and great on gas!

After a 15 minute drive we arrived at the Pono Kai in Kapaa!  The gals at the front desk were awesome!  Checking in was efficient and painless, and in no time we were unpacking in our new home for the next 2 weeks, E105.  (on a side bar, our decision to come to the Pono Kai was kind a last minute thing and as a result, we will have to move units a few times!  But as we are just moving to different units within the Pono Kai, the mild inconvenience isn't really a big deal!)

You know how long days of travel and flights can take a toll on you, especially as you age, well we were not immune and were grateful for a good night's sleep.  The best part of our first night, was our first morning!  What a place to wake up to! 

The sound of the ocean, the sun coming up over the horizon filtering through the palm trees, and of course the roosters crowing! 

They started crowing with the first hint of sunrise, around 6am!  We had a coffee on our patio and the chicken greeting committee wasted no time coming by to say hi and see if we were the gallus gallus domesticus friendly types, but alas, we had nothing to offer as we had yet to get our supplies!  I think one of the roosters gave us a pretty dirty look as he strutted off!  

We spent the morning unpacking and settling in, then hopped into the Echo and headed off to Lihue for a Costco, Walmart, run.  When it comes to shopping, Munchie is the pro and I'm the cart pilot.  I tell you, Munchie knows her way around a grocery store.  She knows her prices and is always looking for the best bang for the buck.  Shopping completed for the day, back to the Pono Kai! 

Munchie set up her kitchen and prepared our first "happy hour"!  We sat out on the patio and soaked up the serenity and beauty of this place! 

I like to cycle.  Those who know me know this.  So I decided to get a bicycle!  Again, my Scottish heritage influence kicked in and I ended up finding a suitable bike just a few minutes away from our location.  The Echo had no trouble accommodating the transport of the bike back "home".

   I had brought along my basic bicycle tools and spent some time cleaning up the bike.  It took a bit of scrubbing, cleaning and rust mitigation (the spokes were red instead of silver!) but the drive train was in good shape.  A bit of tweeking, and my Infinity Boss 3 7 speed 700c hybrid was ready to roll!  

As I opened with, we got here on Friday, January 7.  Tomorrow we will have been here a week.  We have settled into a bit of a pleasant routine.  We get up in the morning, sometimes courtesy of the roosters, sometimes not.  We head out for a walk along the awesome shore path for about an hour and a bit (about 4 miles round trip).  Upon return we sit out on the patio, have homemade muffins and coffee and play cards, or have a game of yahtzee or dominoes. 

After breakfast, we will then make the 1 minute walk to our beach and spent an

hour or so relaxing on the sand soaking up the sun.  I take this opportunity to have a dip in the ocean!  

We have seen a pod of dolphins just off the point in the picture a few times this week.  Have only seen whales a couple of time, so far haven't seen any turtles or monk seals.  I'm sure we will sooner or later.  

We went for a walk downtown on Thursday and stopped at a little spot along the shore pathway about a 15 minute walk from our place called Jimmy's.  We had some appy's, and a beer, Munchie had a Modelo on ice and I had a Red Stripe! 

Last time I had a Red Stripe was at Montego Bay Jamacia, a long time back now, man how time flies!

I have mentioned I like to cycle, another passion of mine is basketball.  I picked up a bball on one of our supply runs.  There is a hoop in the tennis/pickleball courts and I've started working on my shot again!  We met a couple from Jersey, Mike and Shirley and Mike also likes basketball, so Mike and I went over to the local outdoor courts and hooked up with a group of locals and had a great run!  Although we held our own our 60+ years showed!

So until my next post, Aloha!