Category Archives: Sarah

Kaua’i, Day 4

Note the massive spike early this morning (March 15).

We awoke this morning trapped at the northern tip of the island! It rained heavily overnight causing the authorities to close the Hanalei bridge.  This was awesome for two reasons. First, all the other vacationers on the island couldn’t swarm up to the north-end beaches and trails (as they usually do). Second, the atmosphere appeared to have finally run out of moisture. Sweet.

We spent the morning at Tunnels Beach, near our rental, swimming and wishing that we’d remembered to grab snorkeling gear. There were plenty of fish to be seen even without a mask. Eventually we headed into Hanalei for lunch. Most restaurants were closed because employees live on the other side of the bridge, but we were able to find delicious BBQ at Chicken in a Barrel followed by our first shave ice from Wishing Well. If you’ve never had one, where a snow cone is bland, crunchy, and gross, a shave ice is fresh, soft, and delicious. They’re made by literally shaving a block of ice with a sharp blade, producing a fine powder. Add fresh fruit and/or fruit syrups, other toppings (like coconut cream), and maybe a scoop of ice cream, and you end up with a divine treat on a warm day.

Later in the afternoon, the bridge opened so we went south to check out the Kilauea Lighthouse. Alas, it closed just as we pulled up. Plenty of beauty nearby, regardless. We realized that we wanted to be on the beach again for sunset, so we headed back north, grabbed snorkeling supplies from our rental (love it that they have a bin to share) and returned to Tunnels Beach for a jaw-dropping end to a perfect day.

April 2018 Addendum:

Although we thought the flooding was severe while we were on Kaua’i, the island was devastated by dramaically more serious flooding in April. By comparison with the USGS flood gauge at the top of this post, see the chart below for both March and April. Our “flood” appears before the Mar 17 line. The real flood hit on April 14. See also these dramatic before and after pictures published in Town & Country.

Hanalei River water levels from March 1 to April 30.

Kaua’i, Day 3

It was pouring today. Not the light mists, drizzle, and beams of sunshine that we encountered on our first two days, but nonstop, torrential rain. So we went to a fancy spa for glorious massages. Dreamy. Afterwards we were allowed to use the spa facilities including the hotel’s fancy “meandering pool.”

The great thing about tropical rain is that it’s not really that cold. Chilly, to be sure, but not insufferable. Luckily, it was too chilly for most guests, so Sarah and I shared the massive pool (and multiple associated hot tubs) with just a few other guests. I would never want to stay at a hotel like this, but the pool was amazing, with multiple waterfalls (including one with a cave behind it), two waterslides, a sandy zero-depth-entry faux beach, and the aforementioned hot tubs. See some pics below.

A few short video clips:

Flooded parking lot behind the Olympic Cafe.

Little did we know while frolicking in the pool that the rainfall total was unusually high, especially higher up on the mountain. After drying off, we strolled around downtown Kapaa and ended up stopping for dinner at the Olympic Cafe. Our waitress informed us that the only bridge to our part of the island had been closed since the morning. (Apparently it had closed shortly after we crossed it on our way to the spa.) She thought it would be closed overnight until the river level dropped. Yikes!

I confirmed the closure online, discovering that they close the Hanalei bridge whenever the water level rises six feet above normal. Astonishingly, the USGS provides excellent graphs of water levels for just about every river on the island. (Nerd glory!) They update automatically every ten-minutes; this is what we found:

The Hanalei bridge closes at the six-foot line.

Note that today’s level (March 14) went above six feet in the morning, peaked around noon, and has been falling ever since. Based on this, we were hopeful that the bridge would reopen, but weren’t sure.

Gotta love being on vacation, though, because who cares? Worst case: we find another hotel room for the night or sleep in the car. Neither are ideal, especially facing an unexpected expense, but both would be fun in their own way. So we ordered Mai Tais and relaxed at the Olympic.

Eventually, we decided to drive north and take our chances. Miraculously, as we approached the bridge, the police opened it and we were part of the first group of cars allowed to cross. The vacation gods are smiling upon us.

 

Kaua’i, Day 2

Our first full day on Kaua’i: a walk on Ke’e beach at the beginning of the Nā Pali trail (we’ll attempt that later), a drive around the island that included a Russian fort, Waimea Canyon (!!!), and a chance run in with one of Sarah’s former SCA crew members (from the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness), Sam, at dinner.

Scary aside: while we were at the Waimea Canyon view platform, a young couple decided to take pictures of each other balancing and doing yoga poses on the railing above a sheer drop. They appeared to have some slackline experience, but we both feared that we were about to witness a Darwin Award.

Kaua’i, Day 1

Departed Saint Paul at 7:00 AM. Arrived in Lihue, Kaua’i, at 2:45 PM.  The kids are in good hands with Sarah’s parents, to whom we are deeply grateful.

Today was about arriving, picking up the rental car (Sarah convinced them to upgrade us to a Mustang convertible at no additional cost), driving up to the north end of the island (we rented a place near Hanalei Bay), buying some groceries, and settling into our treehouse (a cozy studio apartment perched on massive three-story pillars). See pics below.

 

Igloo

Ever since building our modest Ice Castle four years ago, we’ve wanted to build a more proper ice-brick igloo. We’ve steadily filled the garage with half-gallon and quart cartons in the intervening years. This winter, with plenty of arctic chill, seemed like the perfect time to tackle the project. Despite some pictures of me working on the project, this was spearheaded by Sarah who did the lion’s share of the work with some help from Griffin and Maggie. (Oliver was an active observer.) The color in the blocks comes from some drops of food coloring added while we poured the water into the molds.

 

 

Whole30, Take 5

After taking a hiatus last year due to Oliver’s birth, Sarah and I are diving back into our winter tradition of committing to the Whole30 program for thirty days. It’s always a good reset for us in the winter when we are more drawn to sweets and carbs. For those who don’t know what it is, we’re basically going to avoid sugar (including honey, syrup, artificial sweeteners, etc.), grains, legumes, and dairy for the next thirty days. That pretty much leaves fruit, vegetables, eggs, and meat.

White chicken chili

I believe this is our fifth time doing it, so it feels like a pretty smooth start. We made lists of recipes last week and stocked up at Costco yesterday. Chicken chili is in the slow cooker and I’ve got a dutch oven filled with my proprietary kale-and-sausage stew which I eat for breakfast every morning (with a poached egg… it’s divine).

Andrew’s spicy kale and sausage breakfast stew

The kids aren’t included, though of course they benefit from having fewer sweets and carbs on the menu. Maggie, however, isn’t 100% clear on this fact yet. While we were making lunch for them, she came into the kitchen and asked, in her signature end-of-the-world way, “What are we having for lunch? Pleeeeease don’t say that we’re having only fruits and vegetables!!!”

(Actually, we made mac’n’cheese.)

Mac’n’cheese for the kids. (Not at all Whole30 compliant.)

Oliver’s First Flight

Travel with three is definitely harder with three than with two. Even though Griffin and Maggie are great travelers at this point, they still need a fair amount of guidance and support, especially around luggage handling: “Don’t run over that lady’s toes!” “Your bag is tipping over!” “Your coat is dragging on the floor.” And then, of course, they simply don’t have the muscle power yet to get bags onto shuttles or sometimes even escalators. Add Oliver to the mix and at least one parent is relatively hamstrung. He comes with additional supplies too. We ended up traveling “light” with merely five suitcases, five backpacks and diaper bags, two booster seats, one full car seat, and the seemingly infinite writhing tentacles of our winter coats. There were a few moments when we were entirely beholden to the kindness of strangers.

But we made it, unscathed, and the flight itself was largely peaceful. Let the mayhem of a seven cousin holiday begin!

Ninja diaper change complete!
Self-occupied throughout the flight, but oh-so-loud.
Awaiting the rental car with our array of bags.

Road Trip, Destination: McMinnville

It was just a short jaunt up the coast to McMinnville, Oregon, where we stayed with Sarah’s friends, Jordan and Megan, on their incredible farm. Their kids were generous and welcoming to ours, inviting Griffin and Maggie to have a slumber party with them in their epic loft (with passages into multiple rooms upstairs… top-of-the-line cool). That was fun, but it turns out that five kids in a loft can generate a lot of heat. On the following night they all elected to sleep under the stars on a second floor deck. Other highlights of the visit included lots of time in their amazing garden, candle-making, churning butter, cookie baking, and cherry picking.

Road Trip, Destination: Florence, Oregon

After Seattle (for days 8-12 if anyone is counting), we headed along the coast to Florence, Oregon to rendezvous with Andrew’s brothers and their families. They drove up from the Bay Area, meeting us as far south as we could get on this trip. Click below to see larger versions of the pictures in a slide show. It was a great visit!