Day 11

Before we had left for Hawaii, I had insisted that we sign up to go horseback-riding.  We decided on a place in Kauai called Princeville Ranch, about half an hour from where we were staying.  We had some time before our ride, so we enjoyed the scenic route as we drove there.

The main road passed the coastline, and we got out and walked around a few times.  There was another farmer's market in a little shopping center.  One booth was selling a coconut syrup powder.  I thought, "why not?" and added it to our pile of edible souvenirs.

I love to look out over the ocean.  One stop had a pretty walkway out to the beach.  The bushes surrounding the path were covered in spiderwebs.  And in the center of each web sat a very large yellow and black spider.  It's a good thing I don't have a fear of spiders as long as they are staying put and not crawling on me.  As long as they are on the web, I have no problems getting a nice close up view.

Shortly after, it was time to head to the ranch to meet our horses and our guide- and pet the cats at the sign up area.  Our guide turned out to be a young woman from TN who had spent the last couple years living on the island.  I love horses. I used to go riding at camp every summer.  My horse for the afternoon was a tan Norwegian breed named Alf with a shaggy dual colored mane.  Derek's horse was named Maki.

We rode on a very open trail mainly through fields and dirt roads- nothing too exciting, although the hills in the distance were pretty. My horse kept trying to munch on the grass.  I hadn't been on a horse in about 10 years, long enough that my riding muscles were out of use and weak.  I'd forgotten how sore sitting in a saddle makes your legs and inner thighs.   After a while, we reached a hitching post where we tied up our horses and continued on foot down towards a waterfall for a picnic.

Our guide pointed out interesting things along the way such as a plan called shy grass that would actually pull away like a snail if you touched it.  It took a lot of steep steps to reach our destination.  Once we did, our guide set up some sandwich supplies on a big rock.  We were allowed to go swimming in the pool at the base of the falls, and I came prepared with my bathing suit under my clothes.  The water was pretty cold, but I had been looking forward to that part of the excursion.  I was the only one in our whole group who went all the way in the water instead of just taking a footbath.  It really wasn't that bad.  I had a great time swishing around in the smooth water- their loss.

When it was time to go, I dried off and put my jeans and top back on.  We took a different route back to where the horses were waiting.  Earlier, our guide had instructed each of us to take a tether with a latch and carry them down the trail.  We soon discovered what they were for.

First, we stopped in front of a ledge with a pulley going over it.  One by one, we latched our harnesses to the pulley and climbed over the rocks.  Next, we came to a stream with a rope over it.  This time we latched ourselves to the rope and used it to guide us to the other side.  Eventually, we made it back to the horses and finished our ride.  We would have liked to explore more of the island, but we had to get back to the bed and breakfast in time for dinner.

Our first night at Marjie's, we had asked if any restaurants in the area did anything for Thanksgiving.  This comment got our hosts thinking that they should have a meal for their guests.  So we were treated to a delightful home-cooked meal along with a couple visiting from Germany plus some local friends of our hosts.  They even served borscht- something I always joked about being icky, but wouldn't you know it?  I actually liked it when I tried it!

Day 10

On our first full day in Kauai, I woke up not feeling too well.  I felt nauseuos and was afraid to eat too much even though our hosts had a lovely selection of breakfast foods for us.  Alexis was immediately concerned and found some medicine for me.  I was determined not to miss anything even though we had plans to go hiking at Waimea Conyon, so Alexis made sure we had vitamin powder packets and snacks.  She also offered us these neat camelbacks for carrying water.  They are better in theory than in practice though- the plastic pouches made the water taste terrible!

We made our way through a very winding road to the Waimea Canyon visitors center.  The visitors center was small and had a few little exhibits on the local flora and fauna (but not merryweather- Ha ha!).

One thing I learned very quickly about the island was the sheer number of roosters- they were everywhere!  We could barely park the car at the visitors center without running them over.  Apparently, a hurricane had once destroyed the cages of many roosters causing them to populate the island.  They aren't even good to eat- just nuisances.  Sometimes, I'd run towards them like a kid and make them scatter.

We drove a little ways down to a spectacular overlook.  You could see all the way down through the canyon to the ocean below when the mist was calm enough.  We even spotted a rainbow.  Waimea Canyon is known as Hawaii's answer to the Grand Canyon.

A little down the road, we found a sign leading to a short hike.  Unfortunately, as we went down the path, we discovered that this trail didn't have much of a view- just lots of trees and bushes.  At one point, we stopped to snack on bananas and nuts before we followed the road back up (and up) to the parking lot with our car.

We checked around for other areas to explore and came across a sign indicating hikes that led to an overlook and a waterfall.  They had the same starting point so we followed the main road for a while and decided to deviate towards the overlook.  The trail at this point became fairly steep.  The bright side to this is that up the hill to get there means down the hill to get back.

The overlook was another view of the canyon from a different angle.  I still wasn't feeling that great so we sat down and enjoyed the view for a bit before heading back down.  When we returned to the place where the trail diverged, we continued toward the waterfall- a much longer hike this time.

We hiked up and down and around, through thick grass patches and slippery dirt inclines.  At one point, we could see across to where we had stood before.  Eventually, we found our way to the waterfall mentioned on the sign.  It turned out to be a pretty but ordinary waterfall and not the greatest pay off for the long hike.  We both concluded that we had just as nice a view from the short hike and the first overlook.  Oh well.

We made it back to the car just in time to avoid hiking in the forest after sundown.  We didn't really see any animals along the path, although we heard various bird calls from time to time.  We took a different route back.  By the time we could finally relax in the car, I was totally beat.

We then returned to the winding switchback downhill road.  Neither of us does well with that sort of motion, and we were both relieved when we got back down to the normal highway.  Next, we had to figure out where to go for dinner.  I wanted to see the little village that had inspired the setting for Lilo and Stitch, but when we drove by, it looked rather dumpy and asleep.  We eventually settled on a pizza place called Pizzetta mentioned in my guidebook.

Our GPS didn't seem to like it as it kept pointing us to the wrong place, but eventually we happened upon it when we pulled into a little strip of shops and restaurants.  I insisted we get Hawaiian pizza since we were in Hawaii!  It tasted pretty much the same as what you get on the main land.

We got back to our home away from home fairly late.  In fact, we were late enough that if we had stayed out any longer, our poor hosts would have called the police!  They knew we had gone to the canyon that day and were freaked out with fear that something had happened to us!  Unfortunately, I hadn't heard my phone ring while we were having dinner.  Now that's what I call hosts who treat you like family!