The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Kauai – Day 2
I was up early and started moving, headed north to Hanalei. I was first delighted to see a Safeway where I picked up some breakfast and figured I could stop for groceries so as to not spend $25 on a dinner on-property that wasn’t even good. Then I was ticked that I’d been to lazy to find it yesterday.
The drive was about an hour and I didn’t stop at the tourist shopping holes. I did, however, stop at the lookout points. This was a wetlands near Hanalei:
And then the lookout to the lighthouse:
Where I was distressed to learn that the wildlife preserve I’d been hoping to see didn’t open until 10am. No matter, I thought. There were some shops up the road a couple of miles. I would entertain myself and come back.
Except the shops didn’t open until 10am either. So much for Hanalei.
I headed back to the east and decided to find the famous waterfall. I found the signs and parked, but couldn’t spot them. Or, oddly, even hear them. Apparently I was expected something next to Niagara. I walked around the bend and found them:
Except that I am not tall enough to get the money shot over the guardrails. And then I was sort of irritated at the Drive to One Spot to Take One Picture bit, so I took a turn that I hadn’t planned on to find an old Hawaiian village. The road was so bad that at one point, I actually put the car in reverse thinking that I misunderstood the way the sign pointed. But I had it right. It was $5 to tour the village, which I found very reasonable.
I was happy because it involved petroglyphs:
My tour guide was not happy because I was continually distracted by this:
That is not a zoom shot. Dude walked up that close to me.
I thought to go to the famous Fern Grotto after that, but it seems to require a boat tour and I wasn’t prepared to commit to it yet. Maybe Monday.
So the downside to my Up and Out the Door Before the Rest of the Tourists strategy (besides the attractions that don’t open early) is that it is 4pm and I am totally done. I was back on property shortly after 1pm, spent some time poolside followed by a short stretch at the beach. Now I plan to eat some hummus and french bread and watch some DVDs. With the balcony door open.
The Next Dark Age 
Love the attitude of the peacock. Great photos.