Hawaii Travelogue 7 – Waimea Canyon

It was still cool and rainy,  and we'd been awakened three nites in a row by torrential downpours with fierce winds (usually around 2 am) and roosters (promptly by 5 am).  However, every morning there was a beautiful rainbow right outside our door, which I guess is Kauai's way of encouraging you to shrug off...

Hawaii Travelogue 6 – Kauai

Our day was supposed to start with a flightseeing tour of the island, but the iffy weather prompted the pilot to call it off.  I appreciated the fact he didn't want to take our $ for a less than scenic flight.  However, it would have been nice if they'd told us the tour was cancelled...

Hawaii Travelogue 5 – Northern Kauai

We headed out on Hwy 50 to 56N to explore the eastern and northern sides of Kauai.  Miss Becky was leading the way with her magical book of all things Kauai.  Our first stop was at Opaekaa Falls in the Nonou Forest.  You view the falls from an overlook on Hwy 560 (Kuamoo Rd).  As...

Hawaii Travelogue 4 – off to Kauai

I now have a new least-favorite airline:  Go! Airlines, or as I think of them, No Go Airlines.   We chose a flight to Kauai on Go! to arrive at the same time as Tom and Becky got in from CA.  A week or so before our trip, Go! changed the time of our flight...

Hawaii Travelogue 3 – North Shore Oahu

Still thankfully on Eastern Time, we woke up bright (still dark, actually) and early and headed off for our adventure on the other side of Oahu.  Our first stop was at Leonard's Bakery on Kapahulu Ave in Honolulu.  This place is an institution for a reason. They make all kinds of fabulous looking cakes, breads...

Hawaii Travelogue 2 – Windward Oahu

One good thing about a 5 hour time difference is that a dedicated night owl like me has a fighting chance of getting up even before the crack of dawn!  People who know me will be flabbergasted to know I was up, dressed and on my way to a classic old Honolulu diner for breakfast...

Hawaii Travelogue – Part 1, On to Oahu

After our AMAZING trip to Alaska last September I thought we'd by lying low for awhile.  Happily, not so!  My brother-in-law Tom turns 50 this March and he wanted to go to Hawaii to celebrate, so off we went for our first trip to Hawaii.  We spent 3 days on our own in Oahu before...

Alaska Travelogue Part 10 – Inside Passage

Sailing the Inside Passage Our last day at sea was a beautiful one – clear skies, calm waters and plenty of time spent in the thalassa pool and sauna with Cristal and John.  Days don’t get much better. I love sea days on a cruise.  You can sleep in late, and your only to-do is...

Alaska Travelogue Part 9 – Ketchikan

Ketchikan If Icy Strait was a bit of a letdown, Ketchikan more than made up for it.  As I’ve mentioned before, the weather wasn’t exactly balmy blue skies every day, but we were especially prepared for bad weather in Ketchikan, which receives rain approximately 350 days a year.  I booked a kayak outing with Southeast...

Alaska Travelogue Part 8 – Icy Strait

Icy Strait Our day in Icy Strait was the one wee hiccup of not-as-fabulous on our little tour of Alaska.  That is not to say we had a bad time, but we could have had a better, cheaper time.  Icy Strait is a “made up” port walking distance from the town of Hoonah.  It is...