Kauai Part 7 - The end is near

It actually rained for more than 5 minutes today. In fact, our friend's helicopter tour was canceled due to poor visibility. It did not deter us from SCUBA diving, however. Lisa has been taking classes in MN and did her first 2 of 4 certification dives this morning. She has the remaining 2 tomorrow. I was certified way back in 1988 and have not dived since. Well, other than a refresher class I took last month. So I went with Lisa today and it was really neat! We saw dozens of different fish, Moray eels, and even a sea turtle! Good experience.

After lunch we went back to our favorite beach, Kealia Beach in Kapa'a. There is a big surf at this beach, which makes it great for boogie boarding. So far this trip, we have been to 6 beaches - Ke'e, Tunnels, Kealia, Kalapaki, Poipu, and Koloa Landing. The neat thing about Kauai is that all of the beaches are public, so you can enjoy any strip of sand you want. However, you do need to be careful. For instance, I would never let the kids swim on the beach by our condo - the waves look much too treacherous. On average, 15 people die each year in the ocean around Hawaii. I also like how dogs don't seem to be forbidden on Kauai beaches. They have so much fun! Our lab Gunther, however, would drink so much sea water while swimming that he would probably die of salt toxicity.

After the beach we spent some time souvenir shopping in Kapa'a. We also had our first coconut milk - not very good, in our opinion. We did buy some fresh fruit and vegetables and had our Massachusetts friends over for dinner. In the almost one week we've been here, we've only eaten out once! Well, that wasn't paid for by the conference. Not bad, huh?

The trip is coming to a close. I had a great time, but it will be good to get back home, even if it is snowing (so I hear). We've put our lives on hold for a week and I'm itching to get back in the action. I'm not much for relaxing - I really have to force it and that takes work!

I will, however, miss the tropical birds singing and the breeze coming in through the windows, and the roosters crowing at 3 am. OK, maybe not the roosters. I will also miss the relaxed pace on the islands, and the rich history, and the natural beauty. I won't miss the fights Lisa and I have about the air conditioning. We'll start that one up again in June.