Kauai 2024 - Day 3 - Exploring South Kauai

"Chickens are believed to have inhabited the Hawaiian island of Kauai since the first human migrations around 1200AD, but numbers have peaked since the tropical storms Iniki and Iwa in the 1980s and 1990s that destroyed almost all the chicken coops on the island and released large numbers of domestic chickens into the wild."

Fast forward to 2024 and chickens are tempting us to have a BBQ with local birds. They are everywhere. In the parking lots, in the stores and on virtually everywhere you look you'll find a chicken. The hens are fine. The roosters have it coming. We have one that likes to cock-a-doodle-doo right outside our window at random times during the day. Kerry is not happy about it. She's also not happy that they seem to start at 3:00a. The idea that they wait until dawn is apparently a myth. Carter had a fun theory that they would not be near the McDonald's for fear that they would become nuggets but apparently they aren't scared. His idea of a 'build your own nugget meal' kit sounds like a good one.

We started the morning with coffee and donuts. The donut shop that we went to yesterday is a chain and this location had a few more options so the kids had one and Kerry and I stole a bite. The parking lot with the donut truck also had a coffee truck. It's amazing how many food trucks and coffee trucks there are in Kauai. People will take virtually any sort of truck, in this case a small bus, build a deck around it and permanently park the vehicle. I'm curious to know how many mobile trucks there are. I feel you could hit three or four beaches in an afternoon and do quite well.

Our destination today was the Waimea Canyon State Park which is as far away from our condo as you can get on the island and takes about 1 hour 45 minutes to get there. Our goal was to go as far as we were planning to on our trip and see what other attractions there were along the way. We don't really have a plan but Kerry does have a list of potential sites to check out including coffee plantations, hikes and various tourist sites. On our way we passed by what appeared to be a major generation station on the coast which I'm assuming is fossil fueled based. Kauai gets most of it's daytime electricity from solar and is transitioning to 100% renewable by 2033.

While we were at the canyon we went on a hike that takes you from the top of the canyon down to a look out about 200m below. The hike itself wasn't too bad though it was 90% downhill on the way out and 90% uphill on the way back. The hard part was the fact that it was absolutely covered in roots and the red clay made it very easy for you to slip on the steeper parts of the trail. The majority of the trail was not dangerous but the last 100m had many warnings about falling to your death. The one complaint is the red dust has ruined virtually everything we were wearing. Will have to rewash these clothes a few time when we get back.

On our way back we stopped by the Kauai Coffee Plantation. Hawaii is the only US state that grows coffee and Kauai is the biggest producer. I'm going to be honest and say I actually had no idea how coffee was grown. It always seemed like something that was like bananas or chocolate and was grown in the deep jungle but in reality they grow it kind of like wine with rows upon rows of plants. Each plant grows about a pound of coffee per year and the beans appear to come off the stems of the plants. Kauai coffee is not cheap at about $18 per pound at this tourist spot. 

We've also been scoping out which beaches we want to check out. We found one on the way back that I think has a lot of local homeless people so I think we'll pass on that one. We found another that had 4 turtles sunning themselves on the beach. I had noticed cones up the beach but wasn't sure what they were for. As we got closer, Kerry walked right past the cones and almost ran over a turtle. The lifeguard was amused at her reaction. As soon as we noticed what we've done we quickly escaped back outside the cones. One of the turtles swam it's way out of the shallow water while we were there past about a dozen swimmers. They are amazing creatures. 

Kauai 2024 - Day 2 - Exploring North Kauai

I was planning on starting this post with something about chickens but I'll save that for later. Instead I'll start by talking about giant snails. Gary is the biggest snail I have ever seen in the wild. It reminded us of that question of whether you would trade 100 million dollars in return for a snail that tracks you for the rest of your life and if he touches you, then you die. If this was that snail I'm not sure I would take that deal. He moves quicker than your average snail and they apparently can get as big as your hand. As far as I've researched, this is a Giant African snail and they are an invasive species though I don't know if they encourage you to kill them. We let Gary live.

We purposely don't have a lot planned for this part of our trip. Summer has already been hectic and there is a lot going on with a Disneyland trip so Kauai is intended for condo and beach time. For our first day our only plan was to explore our local surroundings and figure out what beaches look good. There are several near us that look nice and we stopped at a few to check out the surf. So far Kauai has not been very busy, at least early in the morning. Plenty of parking whenever we wanted to stop somewhere. We made it all the way to the most northern part of the public road. Tomorrow we will go in the opposite direction.

The only minor issue we've had so far with travelling around has been the one way bridges. It always takes a bit to understand an individual one way bridge and figure out how busy it is and if it's your turn to go yet. Kerry likes it best when someone gets there first because we know we can just go right after them. There are lots of signs that say it's local curteousy to let 5 - 7 vehicles go. We did okay but there was at least one bridge where we felt it was our turn and someone else went instead. We also watched someone yell at this poor guy on the tractor which seems an odd thing to get mad at.

We stopped at a local shopping area as it had several items from Kerry's lit on it including shaved ice, a donut place and the ability to rent river kayaks. We weren't planning on renting them until a future day but we wanted to see what the rental place was like. The shopping area was great and parking wasn't too bad. We got some bread, donuts, shaved ice and Callie found a nice island cat to pet. We'll likely stop in here several times including trying to get to the bakery earlier as it was partially closed with not much selection by the time we got there.

The plan for dinner included hot dogs and roasted pineapple so I went to the pool to use the the BBQ's. This is one of the better outdoor areas I've seen at a condo and the BBQs were well maintained. They even had a freezer where you could buy ice and a water filtration system. I think Kauai water is likely pretty good to start with but running it through the filter made it great. We are set for water for the week. I had several gecko friends to keep me company and so far we've seen cockroaches at both our hotels. I think they become difficult to keep out when you go anywhere warm. Tomorrow we will be exploring the south end of the island. 

 

Kauai 2024 - Day 1 - Transition Day

So technically this day started right at 12;01 for us because the plan was to stay at the park as long as possible and then head straight for the airport. The day didn't end quite as Callie was hoping. She usually likes to finish with Space Mountain at 11:59p, however they got stuck on the Nemo ride and didn't make it in time. Everyone came back to our hotel where Kerry rearranged our packing which was hastily done in the morning and we waited for our shuttle at 2:30a. We had thought this was a good time especially if we ended up on a ride as late as 1:00a or 1:30a but we ended up having to wait quite a while with security saying we couldn't nap.

Mellissa's flight was at 7:00a and ours was at 9:00a and we got to the airport by 3:30a so we had quite a wait. Security wasn't even open yet so we had to sit on the floor until about 4:30 before going through. Luckily our flight was on time which was good since there had been a lot of problems with the Crowd Strike incident days earlier. We even arrived in Kauai 20 minutes early. The only chaos was trying to get the shuttle to the car rental place. There was no defined line and several Karen's were trying to direct traffic for their own purposes which wasn't helping anyone.  We did get introduced to the world of Kauai chickens which was fun.

Our first stop was Costco which always seems to be our first stop when we land on a Hawaiian island. Cheap alcohol and POG was on the list as was water but we got distracted by macadamia nuts and Hawaiian cookies and somehow forgot the water. I may have also purchased too many chicken drumsticks but we'll see how the week goes. We also stopped at Walmart which allowed us to purchase smaller batches of things and we got some water. $5.99 for a 40 pack was a better price than $5 for a single bottle in Disneyland. Even though it's Hawaii, prices seem cheap in comparison already.

Our hotel is on the north part of the island. It's tricky trying to understand reviews of the island when it comes to weather. There are different thoughts on which part is rainier and when the rainy comes. So far our experience has been that the weather changes every 10 minutes and you should assume rain wherever you are. A bit different than Maui where there is clearly a wet side and a dry side. Our drive north was smooth and we got to see several nice beaches and lots of scenic areas. We rented a jeep which allows us to remove the top though I'm not sure if the weather will allow us to go too far without one.

We arrived at our condo around 2:00p with Hawaii being 3 hours behind PST so even though it felt very late because of our long travel day, it was actually still quite early. We managed to stay up until about 9:00p. Our condo is quite amazing considering the price we paid. Usually I'm expecting a cramped condo that's very long front to back but this one is quite spacious. It's a corner unit with two big bedrooms and a nice common area with the kitchen. We back right on to a natural area and we're on the ground floor. So far the only problem has been making sure we keep the chickens out.

Disneyland 2024 - Day 4 - A Long Day at Disneyland

It was our last day at Disneyland and for timing and financial reasons our plan was to not have a hotel room for the evening so we were going to have a very long day. It started with early opening at California Adventure where everyone but Callie and I went on the Guardian's ride. It's too uppy-downy for me. Callie and I wandered around the Avengers campus to get coffee and take some pictures. No one goes here first thing in the morning because there aren't really any rides so it was very quiet. Once the group was back together we went on Web Slingers. I hope they have plans for at least one more ride in this area because it's a bit empty. 

We then went over to Cars Land where we considered going on Radiator Springs Racers but it was already a long line up so we did Mater instead. In hindsight we probably should have done cars because the ride times only got longer as the day progressed. We got to Mater just as they were opening the ride so we saw that they do one test ride empty before letting people on. This ride is like the teacups but different. You aren't spinning though you can get some good speed going if you shift your weight just as the trailer is switching from one circle to another. Carter doesn't like that I squish him during this part. 

We then went back to our hotel to pack up and check out before going for what I thought was brunch which technically it was. What I didn't realize was that it was also a character breakfast. I'm okay with the concept of a character breakfast especially for young kids where you want to get pictures with all the characters but as a meal it's kind of irritating. This damn chipmunk kept showing up every few minutes for pictures. Technically it was two different ones but I think we hit shift change so they showed up in quick succession at least 4 times. Everyone has to get up, get pictures and then try to eat. Food was good. 

At some point we went back to Galaxy's Edge. I think the family wanted an ice coffee or something. We walked by Kylo Ren. The evil characters are always fun to interact with because they stay in character which means he's not exactly friendly. I think his phrase was "Move these children out of my way!" His character guards were storm troopers so I feel you were probably safe even if they started shooting. The characters in Galaxy's Edge don't seem to stop in one spot for very long. They just move about and stop for quick pictures. 

We didn't have a hotel room to go back to so we spent the day wandering the park until Kerry and Melissa split off and went to the Blue Bayou. This is a restaurant at the start of the Pirates of the Carribean ride so it's on the river in the ride. The food choices are limited and expensive but Kerry was taking Melissa for her birthday so the kids and I went back to California Adventure for dinner. We tried desperately to find a ride that we could go on and them meet up with them for cars at 10:00p but the tide times were into the 160 minute range which is ludicrous. I headed back to the lobby for a nap while the family tried to close the park.

Disneyland 2024 - Day 3 - Foiled by Children

When Kerry was planning our trip she had to look up what the start time is for each park and we were confused by the fact that the park didn't open until 9:00a on Sunday the 21st. We soon discovered what was going on when we went to get in line. There was something called the CHOC Walk which stands for Children's Health of Orange County. I guess they get to do a walk through the park which is why it opened later. This itself wasn't a problem but I think they either handed out free passes or people did the walk and then did Disneyland because the lineup was backed up to the middle of the courtyard entrance.

We started with Galaxy's edge before heading over to New Orleans Square and hopping on Pirates of the Caribbean. Ordinarily we would be trying to do Splash Mountain, Pooh Bear and the Haunted Mansion at this time but all three of these rides are closed. We did see some baby ducks. I guess that is the same. We also spent some time in the gift shop after Pirates looking for something for Uncle Ronnie. I liked the "The Beatings Will Continue Until Moral Improves" hat since he's a crew chief at Air Canada Jazz but I think Kerry went with a shirt instead.

We then spent a bit of time in Fantasyland where we got on Mister Toad's ride. All these Fantasyland rides are effectively the same though I would have preferred Peter Pan as it hangs you from the ceiling in a boat instead of just a car. I passed on doing the tea cups. There wasn't room for a fifth in the tea cup anyways and I hate the spinning. I realized I don't mind the spinning on Mater's Junkyard Jamboree but in that ride the vehicle itself doesn't spin where as the teacups do spin and you can control the spin and of course I never get to control.

We went back to the hotel and spent some time by the pool before heading to the Cheesecake Factory and then park. As we got into the park, the train was right at main street and we were headed to Tomorrowland so it was a good opportunity to take the train. We started in day time and ended in night time and it was interesting that they stopped in New Orleans Square despite the fact that you couldn't get off or on at the station. We just had to sit there for several minutes staring at the plywood construction walls. We did get a quick look at the construction though and it looks like they are still a few months away from opening back up.

When Kerry and I were here before kids we managed to get on the Story Book Canal Boats just as the fire works were staring so we knew that if you timed your line right you could get 'stuck' on the ride during the fireworks that are shot off both in front of and behind the ride. As we were getting on they referred to our boat as a 'Fire Boat' so we timed it perfectly. About 60 seconds in they stopped the boat and we got to watch the fire works from a great view point and while sitting. The timing was about 9:27 for anyone that wants to try this themselves.  

 

Disneyland 2024 - Day 2 - Early Rise Resisted

We're staying at a Disneyland hotel which means that one some days we can enter the park earlier than normal. On Saturday that meant we could get in at 7:30a and some rides were running as soon as we entered the park. We decided to pass some of those rides up and try to get into 'Galaxy's Edge' to do 'Rise of the Resistance'. This is definitely one of our favorite rides but it was closed all day on Friday. This was likely the best chance we were ever going to have of being near the front of the line because we were at the closest entrance at rope drop. Unfortunately it was closed on Saturday morning as well. 

We salvaged things by going on 'Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run' which is good and on our list but it's usually pretty easy to get on so it seemed like a bit of a waste of our early morning. Carter and Kerry were in the pilots seats, Callie and Melissa were gunners and I filled in the engineering role with the last seat empty. When steering, one goes up and down and one goes left and right. Carter was very unhappy with Kerry's flight skills and I think he wanted to throw her out an airlock by the time the ride was over. I think they score your flight but I didn't bother looking. It didn't seem good based on the rough ride.

'Rise of the Resistance' was still down so we started land hopping and went over to do the 'Jungle Cruise' and then 'Toon Town' where we managed to get a picture with Peg Leg Pete. This is the first time I've ever seen him as a character for photos. He was in front of 'Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad' which is a new ride in 'Toon Town' that we first rode in Orlando. When we were at Disneyland last time, 'Toon Town' was completely closed and now it had a nice new look. For this trip though we have Haunted Mansion, Pooh Bear, Splash Mountain all closed which feels like a lot to be closed all at once.

We finished Toon Town with the coaster before doing It's a Smallworld and Indiana Jones and then we headed back to the pool. The pool was way busier than any I've been to despite it being quite a bit larger. I think there are at least three main pools with multiple hot tubs and you have to check in when you arrive to get a wrist bracelet so they can make sure you are staying at the hotel. The bracelet allow you to order food easily and charge to your room which we definitely did not do. Drinks were $18 and everything was equally expensive. I think prices have doubled since we were here just a decade ago.

For dinner we went to the Lamplight Lounge which used to be Arial's Grotto. We weren't super hungry so most of us just ordered appetizers and we were not disappointed. Kerry and Melissa had the lobster nachos and they said they were quite possibly the best nachos they had ever had. Callie and I had the potato skins which surprising did not have any skins at all. They were essentially hash browns that I think had been marinated in something before being formed into patties and deep fried. They were the best potato skins without potato skins that I have ever had. We went to Ghirardelli for desert before I headed back to the room. 

Disneyland 2024 - Day 1 - San Diego to Anaheim

A bit of a different start to our summer vacation this year. I was in San Diego for a conference so the plan was for me to travel from there to Anaheim and meet the family in Disneyland. I could have taken a flight which would have meant a taxi to the airport, waiting for the plane, the flight and then a taxi from LAX. It probably would have taken 5 or 6 hours. Instead there was an Amtrak train that left from about three blocks from my hotel and ended up just a 5 minute cab ride away from Disneyland. I left San Diego at 6:01a and was in the park by 8:45a, all for $40 dollars USD and they even offered free snacks and coffee as it was a business class ticket. I highly recommend.

When I got to our hotel I attempted to check in however our room wasn't quite ready yet. We're in Disneyland for Kerry's 50th birthday and are staying in the Grand Californian. It's not cheap but we're making up for the cost by spending our last night in the airport. Our flight leaves early in the morning and the park closes at midnight so by the time we get done at the park and get to our hotel we'd have to leave in a couple of hours anyways. I checked my bags with the front desk and got my electronic ticket and then headed to the park. The rest of the family was scheduled to arrive after lunch and there was plenty of time for a few rides.

Going to Disneyland as a single rider is quite advantageous. There are several rides that have specific single-rider lines and even when they don't, they often call out asking if there are any single riders to help fill in a row. Within just a few hours I managed to do six rides including Indian Jones and the Millennium Falcon. I joined a nice family of 5 on the Falcon and acted as their engineer. It seemed like a successful run. After this, the conference and the early morning caught up to me and I headed back to the hotel to see if my room was ready. It wasn't so I had quick nap in the lobby until the family arrived.

The family was later than anticipated and didn't arrive until about 3:00p. Their flight had been over fueled so they were assigned another plane. All things considered though they were lucky it was only a slight delay. This was the day of the Crowed Strike bug that shut down millions of computers around the world and grounded thousands of flights. We're hoping things get resolved before the next leg of our trip. Our room was ready and we brought our things up. Carter was excited to get his own Bambi bed.  

The plan for the evening was to go out for dinner with Kerry's brother's family who had already been here for a few days. Unfortunately only Corey and Ryan were able to make it because Kristen wasn't feeling well. We went to the Naples restaurant and which was of course Italian. It was nice that it was only about 100m from the lobby of our hotel. We usually stay in hotels that are about a 15 minute walk which isn't a big deal except when you've already been walking for hours. It's nice to be able to pop up to the room if we forget something or in this case book a restaurant that's at the front door. 

At this point it was finally time for the rest of the family to head into the park. We have park hoppers so by this time we could start at any park and since California Adventure was close we started there. Ryan really wanted to do Grizzly River which is usually a bad idea this late in the day because it's guaranteed to get you wet. Callie and Kerry bought ponchos but the rest of us took the risk. We were pretty lucky and it was still warn so we didn't have to back to the room to dry. We also got the highlight of Carter's trip so far with a selfie with Big Al, one of the bears from the Country Bear Jamboree.