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The day started with a wonderful sight.  Check this out.

 This is a monk seal resting on the beach in front of the resort.  The printed sign tells you that it happens all the time.  They just plop themselves on the beach to rest with no concern for their safety.  The volunteer knew this particular seal and her history.  She has a scar where she was attacked by a shark and some propeller scars as well.  She had a pup last July after being pregnant for 11 months.  Ain’t life wonderful!

Then off to the heliport for our bird’s eye view of Kauai.  The entire experience was well managed and you felt very safe from beginning to end.  Carol and I actually had the good fortune to be seated in the front with the pilot so we saw what he saw.  The take-off was a little breathtaking from our upfront seats but not scary at all.  This island is beautiful with lush vegetation and high mountain peaks making up most of the land mass.  We flew over the place where they filmed the river scene in Indiana Jones movie and what has been come to be known as Jurassic Valley from the movie Jurassic Park. 

MG & Carol in front seats of Helicopter

 We left the adventure with a DVD of the entire experience that we would be happy to share if you are interested.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the east and north sides of the island all the way up to the lighthouse at Kilauea.  (Good luck with the pronunciation).  Here are the pictures we took along the way.

Wailua Falls

Drinking Coconut milk from coconut bought from vendor along the road.

Kilauea Lighthouse on north side of Kauai

Opaeka’a Falls

Everyone said it wouldn’t last but it just kept raining all day.  We had planned to go to the Farm Market at the Community College and we actually went there.  What we found were most of the non-fruit and vegetable vendors got rained out, and only those whose product was not ruined by the water stayed.  Then the drenching started and everyone else left, including us.  Being the seasoned travelers we are, we were undaunted by a little water and started to consider what plan B would be.  First, to Walmart for a rain jacket of some kind.  They were basically sold out, because there has been a lot of rain here lately.  We considered a movie and then we remembered the estate where the luau was held, had a historic home with shops, a restaurant, and the rum factory office.  Plan B became obvious!

The Kilohana Plantation was built in 1935 as the most expensive home built on Kauai by the sugar baron Gaylord Wilcox.  It was designed by Mark Potter known for his custom Hilton Head homes and included custom furniture from Gump’s in San Francisco.  The gardens were filled with rare tropical plants and it was something to behold. 

Today, the home is a visitor destination.  The outside patio has been converted into a lovely restaurant, open enough to enjoy al fresco dining and sheltered enough to keep you dry when it rains.  The living room has been converted into the Mahiko lounge with the richly crafted panels and intricate screen doors leading to the porch.  The front hall is magnificent with two huge wooded urns of the most beautiful wood I have ever seen.

 While we waited for our table, we wondered through the downstairs portion of the house including the dining room.

Lunch was delicious and then we explored the upstairs filled with shops upstairs in the master bedroom, guest room, and children’s bedrooms filled with artwork from local artisans and beautiful jewelry.  Carol and I were good and resisted all temptation. 

Then we walked through the drizzle to the Koloa Rum Company store where we discovered a rum tasting being offered and the next available time was later in the day.  We signed up and headed to Macy’s to find that illusive rain jacket. 

When our turn came for the rum tasting were found out that rum is made from fermented sugar and the Koloa Rum Company still uses cane sugar while other companies use sugar from the sugar beet.  Being a sugar plantation, they had plenty available to them, but realized with limited supply available they would need to do something for the future and decided to grow their own on the plantation.  All the rums made at the factory have won ribbons at the largest rum show in Miami because they only use the middle brew with no impurities.  Supposedly, the impurities are where the hangover comes from.

We tasted our four one-quarter shots of rum and rum cake with fudge rum sauce and realized it was time to get cleaned up for our dinner reservation.

Keioki’s Paradise was just that.  A large building off the ocean but created with the pools and multi-levels, similar to the garden area of our resort.

We all had monchong fish prepared baked with the chef’s special sauce (not the same as a big mac) over rice with broccoli.  It was just what we wanted to end the day. 

Tomorrow is our big helicopter tour, so make sure you check back to see how it goes.  Keep your fingers crossed for the weather.

The landscaping at this resort is unlike anything we have seen anywhere else. There are seven four-story buildings outlining the campus and a garden area in the center made to look all natural with waterfalls, ponds, rocks and native plants. Check out the Kodak picture taken from outside our building.

After our initial walk around the resort and immediate area and breakfast, we attended the aqua aerobics class in the main pool. We have found that this is a great way to start the day and we usually attend the classes wherever we go. Here, however, instead of having one of those 20 something “hard-bodies” who usually teach, we had “Auntie” who looked to be a 60 something, shorter than me “fluffy-body”. When we first saw her, I didn’t have hopes of much of a workout especially since I remembered seeing her on the beach earlier teaching Tai Chai which is more about balance than aerobics. Boy, was I wrong! Auntie had me breathing heavy, while she was doing all the same exercises on dry land and talking at the same time, and, as you know, it’s harder without the water.

After our workout, we walked down to a restaurant near the resort called Brennecke’s. It is a two-story building overlooking the beach with t-shirts and deli on the first floor and a great view form the top floor. Carol noticed a coconut beer on the menu and had to try it. She said it was good and the sip I tasted confirmed her  decision.  Jim and Carol had pulled pork with Guava Plum BBQ sauce and I had Ahi tuna tacos with garlic fries.  I made each of them have at least one waffle fry as self-defense for the garlic.

We finished our meal with dessert of Pina Colada cake drenched in Kona rum with mango ice cream and candied macadamia nuts. To die for!

Then off to the grocery store for supplies and a stop at the local fruit stand for a fresh pineapple cut before your very eyes by a pro. She also introduced us to Rambutan which is a prickly looking red thing that tastes like a cross between a grape and a pear.

We could have done more damage there but we had big plans for the evening and had to get back to get cleaned up. We had reservations to the Luau Kalamaku which included a short train ride around the plantation, luau and fabulous show.

By 9 pm we were exhausted. I guess those roosters crowing at 4 am have an impact on your energy level.

After church services, we changed clothes and headed north to place most of us remember hearing about – Mount St. Helen.   This was on the list of “must sees” while in Washington, but we discovered it was closer to our camp in Oregon than when we were camped near Seattle.  It was a little over an hour away but well worth the trip.  There are four Visitor Centers leading up to the Johnson Ridge Observatory, which is the closest to St. Helen and each one told us the clouds were really bad and you would probably not see anything.  Cloudy seems to be a way of life up here, but we were too close and had come too far not to stay and see what we could.  It was a 47 mile drive from the first Visitor Center to the last and just like yesterday, the roads through these mountains are littered with cyclists in high gears peddling like mice in a wheel and not making much headway.  I can only ask why.

View from the Johnson Ridge Observatory. Mount St. Helen in the cloud.

Originally this mountain had an elevation of of over 9000 feet and after the eruption in May 1980 its elevation had reduced to a little over 6,000 feet.  There was a lateral explosion that erupted out the north side and blew material out at 450 miles per hour.    Then the mudslides began created 1.1 billion dollars in damages including timber and personal property, plus 57 people’s lives.  Much of the debris wound up in the Columbia River and reduced the water level to 30 feet.  All this happened in 190 seconds.  How’s that for statistics!

Valley to the left of MSH showing some devastation.

Mt. St. Helens sticking its head out from clouds

The vegetation is regrowing but its easy to see that all of it is less than 30 years old.  If you look closely at the pictures, you can see fallen trees everywhere. Scientists also found a lava cap in the center of the cavity that had blown out and the cap was growing daily and reached an elevation of 1000 feet within months.  This cavity and cap became a perfect place for snow to accumulate protected from the sun and ultimately became a glacier.

Just when people thought things were quieting down, in 2004 MSH started erupting again.  This time it pushed its material to the surface rather than by explosion, again filling in the crater but this time it was at the rate of one dump truck per second.   Today the crater has regained approximately 2,000 feet of elevation of the 3,000 originally lost, but the area will never be the same again.

damaged tree remains everywhere

Mount St Helen Volcanic Monument was establish to forever study and learn about this reality of our planet because there are many volcanoes and most of them are active and it will happen again.

It is still very rainy so we decided an indoor activity would be best and chose to go to the Aquarium since it it supposed to be one of the best.  The Aquarium is right in Stanley Park which is larger than Central Park in New York and filled with sights and interesting stories.  Here are some of the pictures Jim took in the Park.

Lionsgate Bridge connecting Vancover to North Vancouver

Vancouver Harbor from Stanley Park

We got to the Aquarium in time for lunch.

Wander what we should have for Lunch

The Asian rice noodles and vegetables were nothing outstanding but something different with no french fries.  To all my Foodie Friends, hang in there.  I’m hoping it will get better too!

Once you’ve been to Sea World, it’s hard to go to another aquarium and be objective but there was lots to see here in Vancouver, including Beluga Whales, dolphins, porpoises, penquins and much more.

Entrance to Vancouver Aquarium

Aquarium official at Sea Otter feeding

After the Aquarium, Jim took us to a really nice restaurant in the Convention Center called Cactus Grill for our birthdays.  (Hang on Foodies)  We got a table by the window with a wonderful view and started with Edamame.

View from Cactus Club Cafe

Celebrating Birthdays

View of Vancouver Harbor near the Cactus Grill Cafe

Carol and I had Sablefish with fingerling potatoes and asparagus with duck broth that was unbelieveably good.  The sablefish has a buttery taste to it and the duck broth just set all the flavors off just right.  Jim had butternut squash ravioli with prawns which is a big deal for him because he generally does not care for shrimp.  Dessert was something called Velvet Underground consisting of velvety chocolate mousse with crunchy sponge toffee and topped with warm caramel foam.  Oh to die for!