Scottsdale 2012

Many weeks have gone by since our trip to scottsdale, however, because it was part of our summer break and what we consider vacation we are posting it and sharing a few of the pictures and happy memories we created. This trip was special and different compared to our other Arizona trips because we had the opportunity to travel with Evelyn and the kids. No only was our experienced enriched but "intense". Shortly after we left the Loma Linda/Redlands area, enroute to hot, arrid, Arizona the A.C. on the car stopped working! What an experience to travel over 200 miles with no A.C. in 100 F. weather. Oh, and we must not forget flash the flood warnings! Even if we had chosen to roll down the windows it would not have been possible because of the rain. What an experience, that will not soon be forgotten thanks to the diffuculties that make it unforgettable in more ways than one.

Beach and Pool Day

Today we got up to one of the sunniest, gorgeous, breeziest days in paradise. Whoever said Puerto Rico is the Enchanted Island (isla del encanto) has not been to Hawaii, specially Kauai! Last night we decided that we would hangout at the beach and at the pool. We often travel to tropical places but spend very little time at beach and/or pool. All the activities related to our given destinations distract us from the main attraction which is usually the beach. After a morning power walk along a trail next to the beach, we had breakfast and then relaxation at the beach finally! Several hours of sunbathing, pool lounging and relaxing made us hungry! It is our custom to have a formal nice dinner at every destination we visit, so we decided to make reservations at "Donderos" at the resort. An Italian restaurant with view of the ocean and beautiful gardens. The timing of our dinner was intentional so that we could go to see the sunset at a location in town. It was such a marvelous sunset, no clouds, palm trees swaying to a breeze and almost perfect weather. WE will relish this day for months to come! We were blessed today in a great way.

Hula Hula Day!

Today was one of those days that goes down in history as the most relaxing, visually stimulating, fun day.  We got up and had breakfast at the Ilima Restaurant at the resort.  A wonderful restaurant with really good food but mostly a million dollar view into the Pacific ocean. 
After breakfast we traveled to the northern part of the island to visit and re-visit our favorite island attractions.  Our first stop was in the Hanalei area, a valley like section of the island where the taro root is planted, it was such a serene location!
Our next stop was the lighthouse, another inspiration to be absorbed into the memory bank of life, it was so beautiful, we could of just set up a tent and spent more time there. 
Finally we came back to our hotel just in time to view a very typical, hula show, a couple of hours went by so fast we didn't even realize time had slipped by so quickly.  How enjoyable that was!!!
After today we have concluded that we must return to stay more time at this property and  on this island, this is a promise that we intend to keep!

Hanapepe AKA: Hawaiian Jose

Two things stand out for us today  First, our visit to the coffee farm in Port Allen.  Acres and acres of coffee plants ready to be harvested and shipped to different parts of the world.  If you like coffee you would have loved the little samples that the farm has for the visitors.  Dark roast, medium, light.  Coconut, mocha, vanilla, Irish mint, hazelnut etc. With all the varieties it seemed more like a Baskin Robbins 31 flavors!
Our next stop was in Hanapepe a small  town dubbed the "smallest biggest town" in Kauai.  A quaint town with lots of small galleries and talented artist from around the world.  One particular artist stood out today, his name is Bill Crane, a  "PetrosArt" artist inspired by ancient Hawaii. A gentleman that  creates beautiful pieces and sculptures inspired by the sea. As we entered his gallery he greeted us and started conversation, naturally the conversation went to our home state, then our home city, which was Los Angeles for him as well.  Finally he told us he is an alumni of  Eagle Rock High School! Small world huh?  No wonder he seemed extra talented ;-)  

We had a wonderful relaxing kind of day today with little adrenaline (other than the hanging bridge in Hanapepe)  and lots of good memories.  Tomorrow we head out to explore the island to admire God's creation in its most natural state.  We look forward to a visually stimulating, hopefully dry day. 

Cloudy with a chance of Plumerias

When we are home we jog to release stress, while we are on vacation it's merely to deserve the extra calories we will ingest while on vacation.  After all those rich meals we have consumed lately it may be that we will have to purchase a couple of Moo Moos to accomodate the expanding waisline.  Today as we were finishing our morning jog, we started to feel a light drizzle and as we got closer to the finish line the rain started coming down harder, to the point of bucketfulls.  Much of the day today was like that.  Overcast and rainy.  We had anticipated going to the beach so Alec could take his surf lessons, but the cautious side of him kicked in and he chose to skip on that possibility because the waves have been pretty intense the past few days. 
So no surf lessons and no beach...we just went to town, bought a few things and came back for a  little photo shoot we had scheduled.

For sunset we went to another part of town to watch the close of another day. We are so happy to be staying where we are,  without a doubt we have already decided we will be back.  We drank the water and have caught the bug to return to this island.  Tomorrow we hope to explore a bit more of Kauai.  Stay tuned for pictures and more stories.

Tropical 4th of July

Three out of the past five years we have not been on U.S.A. soil for independence day.  Although this year we were in the U.S.A. it almost felt like we were on foreign territory.  First because we are sooooo far from the mainland (including the time zone).  As we watched on TV the east coast enjoying their fireworks it was only 3:00 P.M. for us.  Second we decided that we would go to watch the fireworks in a little town called Kekaha, about 30 min. from where we are staying in Poipu Beach.  We were pleasantly surprized at how local the celebrations were.  A few hundred people speaking Hawaiian and eating typical foods of Hawaii with a little mix of American.  Kind of neat to see the cultures merge into one big melting pot of foods and language, and music.  There was a band playing Hawaiian, American and an ocassional spanish song translated into English!   It was such an intimate small town festivity tha even the mayor of the town (Bernard Carvalho) was present at the celebration.  The highlight of the evening of course were the fireworks, which were pretty impressive considering it was a small town production.  We did learn a small phrase, that sums up what we celebrate today:  Hana' ho (spelled phonetic) Happy Birthday America!
    

Saving the Best for Last

Because of technical difficulties with the browser at the hotel we are now staying at, we were unable to log on yesterday.  Fortunately there was not much to say except that we have now arrived to the final stop of our vacation.  We are now staying at the Grand Hyatt Regency hotel in Kauai.  Because we are loyal Hyatt members they have upgraded us to a suite that is the most beautiful room we have stayed at, in all our vacations.  It has a jacuzzi tub, a couple of bedrooms, living room, ocean front views and regency club access (which means unlimited snacks, desserts and appetizers at different times of the day).  Alec is super excited about the many pools with slides, lazy river and artificial lagoon on the premises.  A wonderful and exciting time awaits us!
  Last night as we planned our day for  today we decided that we would stay at the resort all day and enjoy the ammenities.  ENJOY we did.  We were awaken by the downpour of strong rain and showers, but shortly after were relieved to see the bright sun peeking through the clouds.  Just in time for our morning jog.  The rest of the day was just rest and relaxation inside the pool/lagoon until our skin was so wrinkled and so prunnie we just had to get out.

Finally, the icing on the cake came after dinner, when we decided to sit and watch the waves crash and surfers smoothly ride the waves as effortly as we sat in the pool.  This was one of those days that meditation specialist make you dream of when they are trying to make you relax, today we had one good long session!!!