Ground Hog Day!

 Tuesday February 1st, 2022

Started the day before sunrise with a bike ride.  I really enjoy these early morning rides, definitely cooler than riding in the afternoons!  I usually time the ride so I am just finishing up as the sun is climbing over the horizon.

Munchie was up and ready for our walk when I rolled up and we did our 4 mile (6km) stroll!

Had a leisurely breakfast, then hit the beach for a couple of hours.  I started reading but may have dozed off a bit while basking in the rays, listening to the surf, and feeling the cool ocean breeze!

Munchie was at it again!  Made some more cookies, 2 types this go-round, oatmeal chocolate chip and peanut-butter!  She had promised the pool boy a batch as he is "stuck" in small cubicle at the pool all day.  I tell you he was pretty excited about those cookies when I delivered them.  House keeping got a batch as well! 

Wednesday February 2nd, 2022      Ground Hog Day

To quote Bill Murray's character Phil Connors, in the cult classic: "Well its ground-hog day.....again..."  And guess what, for us it really doesn't matter if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow or not, at least not here! 

Although, the day did seem awfully familiar to yesterday: got up early, went for a bike ride, same temperature, same beautiful sunrise, same stroll along the ocean path with my bride, same humpback whales breaching!  What day is it?

Ah, this morning was a tad bit different from yesterday, we saw our first monk seal of this trip up on the beach!  I forgot how large these seals are!  Adult monk seals can grow up to 7 ft long and weigh as much as 600lbs.  

There used to be a volunteer group that would come and stand watch to ensure no one disturbs the seal as it rests.  You are not supposed to approach closer than 150ft, but some people just have to push the limits!  This seal could be there for hours and sometimes a day or two.  The monk seal is only found in the waters around hawaii and are protected by state law.  Check out this link for details on this magnificent endangered animal!  

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/hawaiian-monk-seal

We ended up extending our walk this morning with a detour over Big Save for a couple of things.  Then home for our coffee and muffin.  

Today the grounds crew were working on the water feature up front.  They completely drained the pond and cleaned it out.  The grounds manager, Steven (who has been in his role here at the Pono Kai since 1990) said this was first time since he started here that the pond has been completely drained.  They did it in 2 stages, first one side then the other.  They had to cull the over abundance of tilapia.  Steven said he wasn't sure how the tilapia had been introduced to the pond, but they were putting significant pressure on the koi population and so something had to be done.  

Munchie was scouting out the fresh fish possibilities!

Today was the Kapaa farmer's market day.  We headed down there to pick up some fresh produce.  From there we continued down the path and ended up at Jimmy's.  I had a Red Stripe, Munchie a Corona Lite on ice and we shared some wings.  

The monk seal was still there resting on the beach!

We put some miles on today!  Time to head back to the condo and chill!

Thursday February 3rd, 2022

Did my usual this morning, an hour out on the bike, then we did our ocean path walk, saw whales breaching, the usual stuff!  We are getting to know the local long term morning walkers, they like us are out nearly everyday.  As is our custom we greet most people on our walk with a friendly "good morning!", we usually get an in kind response (even from those who have on their grumpy pants!).  

I went snorkelling today.  There is a small trough that runs about 1200ft and its only 10 minutes from the Pono Kai.  Josh told me about it.  He said he snorkels there and often sees turtles!  He wasn't wrong!  I saw 2 turtles.  Both were quite close, about 10ft!  They rest in crevices along the reef.  When I went by, they just leisurely moved off.  One kind of just hung there and watched me as I watched him/her!  One of them was missing his/her left rear fin!  They are beautiful creatures! 

Our Friday happy hour at Coconuts Fish Cafe moved to Thursdays.  One of the group has other commitments on Friday.  For us, not a problem, as everyday is Sunday!  We met up with the crew and walked over.  I tried a 1/2 price pupu, the seared ahi.  It was good, I liked it.  

We capped off our evening with Munchie feeding me, yes I know, she spoils me!  She picked up some fresh bean sprouts at the farmers market and she was eager to use them while they were fresh.  She whipped up some asian chowmein noodles and believe me or not, it was awesome!

Friday February 4th, 2022.

Our morning was a bit different today.  It started out the same for me, an early morning bike ride, but we did not end up going for a walk.  Kent and Melissa arrived on the island last night and we met them at the Java Kai in the morning before they headed up to their VRBO up in Princeville.  I met Kent years ago in Phoenix AZ, through a group of guys getting together Saturday mornings for hoops!  Way back then we played in a hanger at the Stellar Air field in Chandler, AZ.  All the guys ended up with nicknames, Kent's was E-Bun (Energizer Bunny).  He just never stopped!  

We're looking forward to hooking up with them before they jet home!

So Josh had said he wanted to start a banana tree and needed a starter spike.  Well Munchie and I asked Steven, the grounds/maintenance manager if we could get any of the shoots currently around the base of some of the apple banana palms.  Well, he said sure, no problem and boy did he deliver!  I asked for one, and he gave me two; one a small shoot about 18" tall and the other, a good 4 1/2 feet tall!  I delivered them to Josh's place in the afternoon.  I had a lot of looks and comments carrying the two trees down the ocean path!

We went over to Paniolo's for dinner tonight.  They have live music every night.  This place is great!  It is a BYOB establishment.  Lots for everyone on the menu.  There was a rib eye steak sandwich on special and we both had it.  It was very tasty!

The band was very good!  The gal lead singer was great and I found the songs by Joan Jett, Blondie and Pat Benatar were right in her wheel house!  We really enjoyed the evening!

Saturday February 5th, 2022

Well yesterday we did a bus ride to Lihue for a minor Costco run.  I ended up getting spoiled, again!  I picked up a smart watch, my rational to justify it to myself was to use it to track my exercise, biking, walking, hiking etc.  I also picked up a pair of sunglasses, my Ironman specials from Walmart packed it in, man, you would think $8 shades would last longer than a few years!  I have been resistant to spending any significant money on sunglasses (why? who knows, my scottish roots maybe?), much to Munchies chagrin!  She has been urging me to get a "decent" pair for years!  So, out of necessity mind you, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Maui Jim!

And so this morning I got to use my new smart watch to monitor my physical exertion on our walk (got to play with my new toy!)  So today I (we) did 14,000 steps!  As the steps are calibrated to my stride, my darling bride likely did about 16,000 steps.  

We met a young couple from Vancouver this morning on our walk, Veronica and Tim.  They looked exhausted!  We stopped and chatted with them a bit.  They had just finished a 3 day back country hike.  In fact they got off the trail late last night and ended up sleeping on the beach.  They were now just looking for a place for the next couple of nights until they headed home on Monday.  They were going to check out the Kauai Beach Hostel, but then decided to find a place they didn't have to share a bathroom.  They ended up booking at the Coral Reef.  

We were walking back from Safeway in the afternoon and as we crossed over the bridge next to the Pono Kai (over the Waikea canal) there were some kids jumping off the bridge into the canal!  The two girls were much braver than the boys and jumped a couple of times while we were watching!  The fearlessness of youth!  They looked like they were having a blast!

We walked down to Big Wave Dave's at about 9 pm.  We were going to meet up with Tim and Veronica, but they couldn't make it so Munchie and I had a beverage and then walked home.  Big Wave may be a great spot to watch the Superbowl!  Very upbeat and friendly bartender, she said it was a family run and operated business.  I liked the atmosphere!

Sunday, February 6th, 2022.

Went out early for a bike ride, but got chased home by the rain!  I'm not that hard core to battle the wind and rain!  Only did about 20 minutes before calling it quits.

We invited Veronica and Tim over for breakfast this morning.  Munchie went with pure and simple, fluffy scrambled eggs infused with cheese, bacon, sausage, hash-browns, toast and cinnamon-raisin english muffins.  There were mimosas as well!  What a great morning!  Veronica and Tim are awesome (the flowers they brought were lovely!) and we appreciated them coming over to hang out with a couple of "oldsters"!

I got a text from Veronica after they left to check our front door, they had gone off and found a couple of Kauai coasters for us.  They had seen our crafty homemade jobbies and heard our tale of woe about how we couldn't find any that we liked, so they were a fitting gift!

This was a busy day!  Kent and Melissa came by in the late afternoon and we had a great visit c/w Munchie's go to nacho cheese dip!  They went on a 9 mile hike the day before and had some pics of a pretty spectacular waterfall that was the reward for the effort to see it.  Melissa came away with more than awesome pics though, she has the aches and bruises to prove it wasn't just a walk in the park!  We walked down to Jimmy's for a bite to eat and refreshment.  The live entertainment was pretty good, a young local artist "Nakz".  

Had a great time hanging out and spending time with the our friends from Phoenix!  Looking forward to having our paths cross again, maybe Italy in the fall??