Kauai and Honolulu in Feb.

Feb. 8th
We left for Lihue, Kauai today through Houston. We arrived late afternoon, picked up groceries and headed to Poipu. We rented Wendy and Jay's condo which had a view of the ocean. It was a beautiful site to see and set up our next week in a wonderful way.

Feb. 9th
We left early for Allerton Gardens. It was started by Mr. Allerton and John Guage(?). They were domestic partners, but because it wasn't recognized and due to their age difference, Mr. Allerton adopted John, so he could inherit the land and gardens they created. Jurassic Park was filmed in the gardens. There were a huge variety of plants, domestic and native. Our tour guide was very informative.

Roosters and chickens everywhere!

                                                          Jurassic Park roots

After visiting the Gardens, we walked across the street to watch Spouting Horn shoot water up in the air. It was very beautiful. We then drove to Waimea, stopping in Hannepepe. We walked across the swinging bridge to visit an art studio and wandered along the streets seeing the other studios. There is a bookstore here that is called Talk Story. That is the term used for chit chat.

Spouting Horn

Some sort of cardinal we saw in and around Allerton and Hanepepe.

We had to turn back to get ready for dinner. Kayla's mom  and grandma were taking us to dinner at Duke's on the waterfront in Lihue. We met at Duke's on the waterfront and enjoyed a wonderful dinner with Kayla, Clara Myake, Carl Myake, her brother and his wife, Fran. We ended our dinner with Hula Pie which we split. Sue had made Forrest and I angel hair yarn leis which we wore to the wedding. All the adults special to Kayla were wearing them. We felt truly honored.

On the beach at Poipu

 Feb. 10th
We walked the beach in the morning with Leah and Karen who stayed with us Friday night before meeting the other girls and their partners in the house they all rented. There was a Welcome Food Truck lunch in Koloa, which was a five minute drive from our place.

 We left the Welcome event to drive to Port Allen where we left for a sunset cruise on the ocean. Our guide was great. We saw multiple whales while sipping drinks and enjoying a wonderful spread of hors d'oevres. It was a wonderful way to end the day. Kayla had made candy leis for everyone.

Sun. Feb 11th
Started the day joining the girls on Poipu Beach doing Pilates. The sun had risen and the view was great. Then I walked to the girls' house that they rented and had a cup of coffee before heading back to our place. We left at 9:00 am for the north shore. We stopped in Kapaa and had breakfast at Hemmingways, which was great. We walked along the Bike/walk path along the ocean to get to the restaurant . Then we headed up following the road to literally the end of the road at Ke'e Beach, where we ascended the Kelalau Trail on our way to a sandy beach on the NaPali coast. The trail was rocky, vertical, wet and slippery, but the views were fabulous! We talked to people along the way whose feet and legs were completely drenched in mud from the descending part of the trail to the beach. We decided since we didn't have our poles, that we would not go all the way to the beach, but turned around to go back to Hanalei. We walked around Hanalei looking at shops, toured the art market in Princeville, had a sunset drink at St. Regis overlooking Hanalei Bay, and then on to Killauea to see the lighthouse. We also stopped along the way to look at the taro fields and the refuge area . We ended our evening with dinner at Brennakes' having fish and chips.

Monday, Feb. 12th
Kayla and Charlie's wedding day. It was a perfect beautiful day! The service was at the Lihue Christian Church in Lihue. It was the place her grandma attends. The minister was hysterical, relaxing everyone and truly making it a celebration of these two people. Kayla looked beautiful! I got a photo with my middle school students- 7 of the 10 Trifling ten were Anwatin students!

The reception was at Poipu Beach at the Park Pavillion. Kayla and the girls decorated the pavilion with paper cranes. There were white tablecloths on the table with greenery and beautiful flowers adorning the table. There was an appetizer hour which provided coconut shrimp, steamed pork balls, veggies and drinks. Then dinner included fish, chicken, pork, side dishes and passion fruit wedding cake. There was shaved ice being served the entire time. Lawn games were set up and there were monk seals who decided to lay on the beach that day that provided entertainment. We also saw several whales out in the distance. After sunset and dinner grabbing a quick burger, we went back to the kids' place and enjoyed time with them. It was there that our world changed. We found out Leah was a bad girl in high school!!

Tuesday, Feb. 13
We drove up Waimea Canyon after coffee to look at the canyon. There was a lot of fog so were unable to get a good view. We stopped at Salt Pond Park, Kauai Veterans' cemetery, Poipu shopping mall, Kauai trading post. We went swimming at the resort and then we enjoyed dinner at home watching the Olympics.

Wednesday, Feb 14
We woke up early to go on a hike up Sleeping Giant (Nou You) with the group. It took a couple hours. Afterwards we went to Sue's house to clean up and grab water and snacks and tour her garden. Forrest dropped me at a quilt show after pursuing a quilt store there. Leah and Forrest returned all showered for our helicopter ride.  We had lunch at the Greenery Cafe which was part of a home. Christine Stehno joined us on the open door 4 door helicopter. It was fabulous!! We saw waterfalls and areas where no one can access via the helicopter. We think Christine would be a great match for Brad- they've talked on Instagram.

Thursday, Feb. 15
We flew to Oahu to meet Honolulu to meet Brad. We connected at Yardhouse for appetizers and stayed for dinner catching up. We stayed at the Imperial Waikiki hotel not far from the beach.

Friday, Feb. 16

We enjoyed breakfast at the Hula Grill overlooking the ocean. Forrest and Beth walked to the trailhead and climbed Diamondhead while Brad and Leah laid on the beach. Then Brad found us a restaurant in a different part of town which was quite good.

Sat. Feb. 17
We toured Pearl Harbor and the Missouri and went to the Arizona Memorial site. It was quite interesting and very humbling.
For dinner this evening we walked around Waikiki  and had a drink at the Maui Brewing Company and ended up at Me'e Korean Barbecue which was fabulous. It was a hole in the wall where we ate outside at picnic tables. We walked home and took in the bustle of the Waikiki area.

Sunday, Feb. 18
We waited in line to enjoy breakfast at Heavenly. Then we hung around before catching a ride to the airport. It was drizzling so it was a good day to leave. We went with Brad to San Francisco and Leah went home to NYC.

Guatemala City, Antigua and Lake Aititlan

We left for Guatemala City on Friday and were greeted by Jenni and Steve Norlin-Weaver at the airport holding their FIKA sign. We spent the afternoon at their place before going out to dinner at Kacao in Guatemala City.

On Saturday we headed to the colonial town of Antigua, which was charming. We stayed at La Porta Antigua hotel which was beautiful and right in the heart of the city. We had a wonderful tour of the city and a brief history lesson of Guatemala through the eyes of Giovanni. We had enjoyed brunch at La Condesa and then after a quick tuk tuk ride, we had a fabulous dinner at the old mission called Santa Domingo. Its' ruins were lighted by hundreds of candles and the towering walls and gardens rose around us. During dinner we were serenaded and our table was warmed by the glow of a little fire pit, since there is no heat in any of the buildings or homes. Following dinner we enjoyed a glass of rum at the House of Rum and then strolled home.

Sunday we toured and shopped more in the city. We had a beer  and snacks at the Antigua Brewery in town and then left for home. Mario was our driver and we enjoyed his navigating and company.

Monday we toured Steve's school, the American School in Guatemala, and then Fabio took us on our tour of the city which included lunch at Arrin Cuan. Very interesting to see the Black Christ, which was a replica of one built by a Brazilian and brought to Guatemala to help convert the people. We also saw a huge relief map of Guatemala which included Belize at the time it was created in 1915.

Tuesday, Mario picked us up to drive us to Lake Aititlan. We stopped along the way for a snack and where I tried my hand at making tortillas- kind of a disaster. We arrived at Panajachel and took a very bumpy, white-capped boat ride to the village of Santiago, where we stayed at the Posada de Santiago. The hotel, itself, was charming and the food delicious. However, we stayed at a friend's house next door that the hotel passed off as theirs, which was too big, shabby and drab. The gardens there were amazing and the beds fine. We did see two mice, which they took care of quickly.
We hung around the terrace overlooking the lake on Tuesday.

Wednesday, we took a harrowing boat ride to the villages of San Juan (known for textiles) and San Marco (known for yoga, meditation and new age). We had a lot of fun shopping there. Thursday we walked into the village of Santiago where there was the shrine to Father Stan, who was killed in the 90s in a brutal civil war within the country. Twelve farmers were killed outright, and the townspeople sought refuge in the church. Father Stan died a martyr for the cause. We then headed back to Guatemala City, but due to a chicken bus (bus with nefarious ties to gangs but transporter of many people ) blocked traffic while it lay on its side for taking a corner too quickly, most likely.

Our last day on Friday, Mario picked us up and took us to the Volcano Pacaya where we hiked to the top. We roasted marshmallows in the lava heat and enjoyed a wonderful lunch at a restaurant at the bottom of the hill in the village. Friday night we had dinner at El Portal de Angel, which overlooked the city of Guatemala. We returned back to Jenni and Steve's for rum and games. It was a fine ending to a wonderful week. We left on Saturday to head back to Minnesota.