Back in the spring of 2016, I decided that we had to have an incentive to get through all the construction we were anticipating. So I booked a trip to Kauai, Hawaii for November. In the fall when I started back to work, I was particularly happy to think about my soon to be tropical get-away. Then, when the time changed and the dark and rain closed in, I knew it would only be a couple of weeks and I would be basking in the sun with my sweetie.
Then I got sick. Scratchy throat, leading to cough, leading to fever, runny nose, sneezing and feeling like crap. We were supposed to leave on Thursday night, and I had to take Monday and Tuesday off I was so sick. Then Jeff started to cough. I knew he had it too. On Wednesday night it hit him. Thursday morning he went to the Dr., was told it was a virus and got permission to fly. I was determined that nothing would stop us from getting to the sun and warmth of Hawaii. We gathered our strength and packed our bags and headed for Portland Thursday night
Slowly but surely Friday morning, we caught the shuttle and braved the security line and got on the plane and got on another plane and rented a rental car and got groceries. It was just getting dark as we left the Safeway, exhausted, but eager to find our condo. About 45 minutes later, up and down hills, down some of the most winding narrow highways I have ever been on and over 7 one-way bridges, we found the Hanalei Colony Inn. It was raining but at least not cold. I sat on the lanai and thanked God that we had made it safely.
That was about the happiest I was on the whole trip. Except for one day, it rained and stormed continuously. It wasn't cold, but it was gloomy. Jeff got sicker and I got sick again. The pool was too cold, the spa too small and we soon regretted the lack of a television and got total cabin fever. We wanted to see the scenery, but it was blocked by mist, fog and rain. The beach was narrow, the water rough and we had to cancel our eagerly anticipated activities. By Wednesday night, Jeff flipped out. He could stand it no longer. He had had enough. He called the airlines and by pleading and bullying and crying, got them to change our tickets to Friday instead of Sunday. I kissed his feet in gratitude. We packed our bags and were out of there like a shot on Friday morning. As the sun shone down, we saw scenery for the first time, even though we had driven by it at least eight times, I had no regrets as the plane took off, I just wanted to get home.
Now, with a couple of weeks of perspective and hindsight being 20/20, I can see a little of the humor of the situation. But not much. At least we are almost completely recovered from our bug and we have optimistically booked another vacation. This time for Palm Springs in March.
Here are some of the pictures we took of the North Shore of Kauai.
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| Selfie on our beach |
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| The walkway to our condo |
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| The beach on the one day it didn't rain |
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| The lanai where I took refuge and watched the waves, wind and birds |
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| Brave workers fixing the roof |
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| Haena Beach lifeguard station. It was about 2 miles further down the road |
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| Haena Beach |
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| Even saw a surfer |
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| There are wild chickens all over Kauai |
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| And shave ice stands |
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| Hanalei Bay |
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| The pier at Hanalei Bay |
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| It says "No Diving" |
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| Bird on the pier |
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| Stand up paddler in Hanalei Bay |
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| Church in Hanlei |
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| Our one sunset |
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| Mostly cloudy every day |
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| Storm hits the condo complex |
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| As we were leaving the sun came out |
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| Big smile about going home. |
