10th Anniversary - Oahu and Kauai trip

This year Dave and I celebrated our 10th anniversary!!  We decided to fore go our annual trip to Cabo Mexico and instead combine 2 Hawaii islands into one trip.  This would be our 3rd trip to the islands in 7 years.  Since we haven't been to Kauai, we decided to spend 5 days on Oahu and then an additional 5 days on Kauai.  It was a long trip, but so worth it.  Here is a brief photo view of our trip.

 Dave surprised me by having a flower lai greeting at the airport.  We received these large gorgeous lais.  And they lasted completely until the end of our time on Kauai.  Everywhere we wore them, we received compliments about how pretty they were.  I felt wonderful wearing them and smelling their wonderful fragrance.

 Of course we did our usual trip to the Arizona memorial.  It had just barely opened up, after being shut down due to the government shut down because of budget cuts.  This trip is always so emotional and makes me so proud of being an American and so proud of our military and the sacrifices that they have made for us.  One can not walk away with out feeling sadness and yet pride for what our men in uniform go through.

 After a stop at the USS Arizona memorial, we stopped by the Buddhist Temple again.  It is another peaceful stop.  These monks always present such a serene welcoming place to all who enter.  Dave of course loves to bang the large gong.  It is believed to bring good luck, and Dave wants to bring as much good luck as he can, so he always bangs it extra loud.

 One day we just took a drive around the island, enjoying the scenery.  Dave always loves the ocean and how the breeze feels on his face.  The sound of the ocean at night just helps him sleep so peaceful.  And our weather was so perfect on Oahu, (in the high 70's every day).

 And who can't take a perfect photo on the North shore when you have scenery like this?

 And of course what trip wouldn't be complete without our stop at the Dole Plantation for our pineapple ice cream cone.  I swear those people must be putting cocaine in this stuff - it is so additive.  I could eat it everyday and not get tired of it.  I just love, love, love it!!!

 I have always wanted to go the Aloha Stadium Flea Market - billed as the world's largest outdoor flea market.  So we went one morning.  It's $1.00 for parking and free admission.  The place is wall to wall vendors as far as you can see.

 There are vendor with home made goods - we got some of the BEST bar-b-que sauce made with honey guava, and some guava butter, (yummy), and some pineapple coconut spread, (just from this vendor).  We bought some of the best meat/cheese filled breads from another vendor - this made for a wonderful supper back in our condo.  And the food trucks, so many to choose from!!

There were jewelry vendor - many who made these own wares.  I purchased several nice pieces.

 And many crafts/artists who were making their wares there on-site.  You could watch them make your item and they would special make what you wanted.

This artist was making tiki sculptures.

 There were spices and foods, so very exotic, some just from the islands.
It was interesting seeing the different items.

 I was introduced to a new item called Li Hing powder, which when sprinkled on fruits that are not very sweet makes them VERY delicious.  It is only produced in Hawaii.  I purchased a large bottle and brought it home, it really does work well, even on fruit that is a few days past it's prime time.  This vendor was very helpful, even told me where to buy it in town to save money - so I wouldn't pay a lot at the flea market.

 After lunch, Dave asked how much more is there - I took a photo and said here have a look.   It just goes on, and on....

 A couple hours later, we finally gave up and went home, and we hadn't even went inside the Aloha Stadium to see those vendors!!  If you go, bring a good pair of walking shoes and lots of money, there are a lot of sales to be had.  When we got back to the Condo we just collapsed.  But we got quite a few things that we wanted.

 One day we just took it easy and walk over to the beach, (a block away), and spend the morning swimming in the ocean, laying in the sand, and enjoying the view of the city.

 Then on day 6, we flew to Kauai.  It's easy to see why they call this the "Garden Island".  It very beautiful.  But was everyone warned us, it's a small island and there's not much to do, but relax.  Which was perfect for the last 5 days of our vacation.  We were just wanting to relax and unwind for a few days.

 We were greeted at the airport car rental by the official tourist greeting committee.   Everywhere on the island chickens roam, (talk about "free range chickens" this is the place).  Dave said the only place he didn't see chickens on the island was outside the KFC stores.

 The island his some of the most beautiful sites, and the waves are truly a surfer's dream.  Much larger than the North Shore of Oahu.

 With the blue sky and the mountains, it makes for great photo opportunities.

 The weather on Kauai was very, very, very warm.  It was in the high 80's everyday, and very humid.  The locals said that they were having summer time weather, and it was unusually hot for the middle of October.  Dave was taking a shower every morning and every afternoon trying to stay cool.  I was just fine with an afternoon dip in the pool, (which I though was really a little too cool).

 One of the first things we did was go to an official Luau, (on our 2nd night).  They picked us up at the condo, so we didn't have to worry about driving.  It was served buffet style and so much food.

 This master carver was displaying his skills at the Luau.

 Making these tikis

 Our entertainment was very well done.

One of my favorite things to do when traveling is to visit farmer's markets.  I love the colors and to see what is being sold and displayed in various parts of the world.  You will always see these photos in my blog posts.  I have gotten ideas for some garden plantings visiting various farmers and talking with them.  So when I saw this sign, I told Dave we had to stop.   I found out that this co-op was comprised of 13 area farmers who grew and crafted everything that was sold at this market.

 You will noticed a glass jar on the table.  Everything is on the "honor system".  That's right, just take what you want, and put your money in the jar.  The farmers are very trusting, and the one farmer said that they feel that if you have to take the food from them without payment, then you must really need it more than they do and they hope you are able to help someone else later down the road for free.

 Some farmers made breads, jams, pulled pork/chicken dishes.  All being sold without the city inspector standing over their shoulder.  And yet the food was wonderful and I might add delicious.  At one stand, Dave had fresh cold coconut, and the farmer saved the shell when Dave finished, so that he could carve it into purses, etc.  Nothing went to waste.

 The food was fresh, and as I picked it up and felt it and smelled it, I was reminded on picking fresh from my own garden the wonderful smells of my own produce this summer.  Again notice the jar for payment on the table - what a wonder way to do business.

One afternoon we drove around the Southwest side of the island, very different from the rest of the island.  Very dry.

 This guy - I called him "Lucy", that short for Lucifer.  That's because EVERY morning at 6:30 when the sun started to rise he made sure to wonder around our complex and tell us it was time to get up.  And he didn't stop crowing about it until around 1:30 in the afternoon.  And then he would find a nice shady shop to curl up and sleep the afternoon away.  If I could have bagged him and delivered him to KFC - I would have.  I was very proud of his job, being the morning alarm clock!!!

 There were 2 highlights on our trip to Kauai.  The first was our stop at Waimea Canyon.  This is Kauai's Grand Canyon.  Dave and I read articles about it prior to our trip.  And we definitely had this stop at the top of our list of sites to see.

No magazine photos are articles can do justice to what you see when you stand at the canyon and look out over the area.  It is like the Grand Canyon, except it is filled it lush vegetation.  The colors are spectacular.  The reds of the rock, the green plants, the blue sky.  On most days, the canyon is foggy and misty.  But we were so fortunate that it was a clear day and we could see for miles in both directions.  This was what we wanted to see and the trip was so worth the drive up to the top.

 The 2nd thing we wanted to do was a cruise along the Na Pali coast line to view the cliffs.  This area is not accessible by car, only by boat.  So we booked a dinner cruise with Captain Andy's the 4th night on the island.  The weather was perfect and we couldn't wait.

The views were spectacular.  We learned that Kauai was the only Hawaiian island that was never conquered during the many island wars, because of these cliffs providing protection.

 The Kauai people only had to protect the one side of the island, anyone who tried to come ashore would smash their war boats before reaching the cliffs, and the few who reached the cliffs couldn't scale the rugged cliffs.  They were the best defense the people had from outside islander's attacking.

It was a beautiful afternoon ride.

 This photo of Dave and I against the Na Pali coast line, was the one we chose for our Christmas card this year.

On our return this back to port, this is the sunset we were luck to catch.  There was a storm out on the ocean and most of it was covered over, but a few of the rays broke through for a quick photo.

 Finally at the end of our last day, we decided to kill some time by visiting the local street fair in town.

 lots of vendors and craftsman, displaying their goods, but our suitcases were already at maximum weight, so I didn't dare buy one more item to take home.

I found it interesting that this carver decided to paint his tiki bright colors, made them very interesting.

 We then drove over to the light house lookout

 Here the state bird, (the nene), roams freely.  They weren't afraid of humans, this one walked right up to me as I was taking his photo and posed quite nicely.

Finally back to our condo to pack up and get our flight back to Oahu and straight on to Salt Lake non-stop.  The nice thing about these new non-stop flights are that it's only 6 hours and your home with no layovers.  Next trip, we will probably visit the big island.  But whatever island, I'm sure we will love it as much as we have loved Maui, Oahu and no Kauai.   It was a wonderful way to celebrate our 10th year anniversary.  Now on to our busy November month.

             HAPPY ANNIVERSARY DAVE - LOVE YOU !!