Day 7: Friday, June 8, 2001
Hiking Waimea Canyon

The Stitchery, Lihue, Kauai

Today we decided to make a second attempt to hike into Waimea Canyon. But first we wanted to go back to a few spots in Kapa'a to get pictures that we'd forgotten to take when we were there. While taking pictures of the flea market, I couldn't help myself and this time I bought another sarong for the fabric for mom. We made a few more stops on our way toward Waimea. I wanted to go to the Stitchery, a fabric store that was mentioned in some of the guidebooks. It turned out to have a wonderful selection of beautiful prints. I especially liked the batiks. Walendo wondered if maybe we could get some for my mother so she could make us some place mats, which we could use for our dining room table. That was all the excuse I needed. I spent the next half hour wandering around the store picking out prints.

Holly cutting my fabric at The Stitchery

The sales clerk was extremely helpful. I told her what I was doing and, after first teasing me about giving my mother a job to do, she assured me that she'd love it if her daughter bought her fabrics for a project. She gave some advice about which prints provided enough contrast, and how much fabric to get. As she was cutting the fabric, she pointed out a quilt hanging from the ceiling that had won an award. She also mentioned that the store used to be an old general store and still had the sliding ladder for reaching things at the top. She was very friendly and helpful and enhanced the experience. She said her name is Holly, and I'm thinking that I'll send her a picture of the place mats after mom makes them.

Quilts at The Stitchery (top right won award)

While I was reveling in the fabrics, Walendo meandered down the ways to a Koa wood store. He said there were some nice things, but nothing too tempting. When he walked in the store, the man there said he "wasn't the real guy." He then proceeded to brag about the quality of the stuff in the store compared with other crap you get elsewhere. Maybe the real guy would have been better. Next we stopped for Walendo to pick up a sandwich at Subway in Lihue. Finally, it was on to Waimea. This time there was no rain along the way. The sky had scattered clouds, like most days, but it looked like we were in luck. This time we picked up some water along the way, and once again, we overshot Waimea Canyon road, but we realized soon enough to go back. They really should mark it more clearly.

Waimea Canyon trailhead

We stopped at that first trailhead where we'd seen people emerging last time. The sign said it was 2.5 miles down to the river. I prefer a trail that goes up and down, not just down in one direction and up on the way back, but there didn't seem to be much of an alternative. The trail consists of that clayish red soil, which is a bit slippery in places. After a bit, it became overcast pretty quickly and we had some concern about trying to hike up the trail when it was wet. We were just wearing sneakers, we didn't have hiking boots. Still, we continued for a while. I had taken my good camera, so I was shooting slide film as Walendo used the Digital Elph.

Goats on Waimea Canyon ridge

At one point, we heard something in the distance and it turned out to be a large herd of goats racing down the next ridge over. It was something to see! Unfortunately, I couldn't get my zoom lens on fast enough, so I didn't catch it. Later we saw a few of them standing around at the edge of that ridge so I took some shots, though I'm not sure how well they'll come out. (I only brought Walendo's monopod, and it was hard to keep it steady zoomed 300m.) The Canyon was very pretty, though it was a bit hazy. I hope the pictures will give a good sense of it.

Walendo resting along Waimea trail

After about a mile or so of down, it started to drizzle and we heard a sharp crack of thunder. Across the canyon, dark clouds were accumulating, so we decided to turn back. We had just taken a shot of the two of us using the self-time when the Elph battery died. Amazingly, astonishingly, Walendo had not brought the other battery, so he was without the ability to take pictures.

Waimea River

I must say, it really shook my notion of Walendo's preparedness with technology. As it turned out, it wasn't that bad walking up the trail when it was wet. In fact, after a quick drizzle, it cleared up again, so we probably didn't even have to turn back. Probably Walendo had ordered a little moisture accompanied by loud thunder to scare me from going too far down so he wouldn't have to climb back up.

Na Pali Coast from Waimea

Once we got back to the top, we decided to drive to the end of the canyon road again to see if we could catch the view overlooking the Na Pali coast. By now, it had cleared up a lot and there was a fair amount of blue sky. This time we could see the whole view, though there was no sun on the mountains to light up the scene. Still, it is quite a dramatic view, with strips of green-covered hills jutting straight out of the water.

As we were driving, Walendo came up with the idea of collecting dirt from different places we've been, similar to the travel rock fountain. I thought we could put them in clear glass jars and make stripes from the different colors. Since the soil is such a deep red in this area, we stopped along the way and I collected some of it.

We stopped again at Pulani's Famer's Market for another smoothie. Now that I'd sampled several throughout the island, I'd decided this one was the best and at the best price. Walendo got one too and we both enjoyed them. While we were there, we chatted with the store clerks, who were very nice. One of them said he assumed Walendo was native Hawaiian. I've always said Walendo looks sort of Hawaiian / Eskimo / Phillipino, and now we had proof. We joked about him being native at various points later in the trip.

Goofy picture of Walendo

On the way back, we went to Koloa for dinner. First, though, we continued on to check out Poipu, the only place on the island we hadn't seen. I'd stayed there 11 years ago and I was surprised how little I recognized anymore. I'd heard Poipu was hit hard by Hurricane Iniki in 1992, and I guess they've rebuilt a lot since then. Poipu really looks much more like a resort area, in great contrast to the rest of the island. All the fancy hotels are there, and as we drove along the coast a bit, we saw some gorgeous houses along the water. It had a very different feel from when I had been there. They say Poipu is the sunny area of the island, and indeed it was warm and sunny even when the rest of the island had been a bit cloudy. Although it would be pleasant to stay there, I was glad we'd stayed in Wailua, since it was located closer to more of the attractions we wanted to see, and it felt more "real."

We drove back to Koloa so we could go to the pizza place we'd noticed before, called Pizzetta. It had a nice semi-outdoors eating area that was very pleasant. Still, the pizza turned out not to be as good as it looked. The tomato sauce was tasty but the crust wasn't that good. Still, we managed to eat it. Fridays was half-off dessert day, so we had to get one. We got the brownie sundae but that also turned out to be not that good. The brownie was more like a cake, and I didn't like the flavor that much. Oh well. On the way back to the car, I picked up a post card to send to Mom and Dad, and then Walendo stopped in a shop to buy one of the t-shirts he'd been admiring. It was expensive, $25, but he went for it. He also got some goodies for his nephews for Christmas, which has become a bit of a tradition for us - we get the Xmas shopping over with while on vacation in interesting places.

Buses can't turn left? No left except for buses? (notice buses parked on left)

On the way back, we drove along the road with the overhanging trees, which I remembered from the last time I'd been here. At one point, Walendo was mentioning a store we'd seen called "Cost U Less" but he got it wrong and said "Save U Less." He laughed about it and I didn't even notice the error until he suggested its companion store, "Cost U More." We also passed, once again, a sign that said Buses with a no left turn sign underneath it. So did that mean that buses can't turn left, or that no one but buses can turn left? You'd think the former, but just to the left was a parking lot full of buses, so who knows? Maybe they had so many buses that they didn't want any more! Along these lines, each time we'd entered Kapaa, we'd seen the restaurant called "Ono Family Restaurant," followed shortly by "Larry's Music." Each time, we'd say "Oh no! Family Restaurant," and then "that's where Larry keeps his music." Goofballs.

Anyway, we got back to the condo, and while Walendo showered, I went to the store to pick up some laundry detergent for a last wash, plus another movie. This time we got "Bounce" (the movie, not the fabric softener). Once again, Blockbuster was slow and overpriced. "Bounce" was pretty good, though we later discussed a few scenes that were missing that would have helped explain both character's motives better. After that, it was bedtime.

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