Dear Masen, Mrs. Fisher & Classmates,

What fun I have had with Masen’s Grandma Jean and Dale.

I started out on February 22, 2012 going to work with Grandma Jean. I got to play on her computer and watch her work all day. She even had the company where she works put a welcome sign on the computer. Grandma Jean works in the accounting department and she answers the phone and talks on the phone.

We left work early so Grandma Jean and I could go to the beauty salon to get our hair cut by Rebekah. Don’t you think Rebekah did a nice job on my hair?

After our haircuts, we went to church to celebrate Ash Wednesday. They have a real pretty church with stained glass windows and lots of pews.

On Thursday morning, bright and early, we got on an airplane and flew to Phoenix, Arizona, changed planes and flew to Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii. Kauai is one of the Hawaiian Islands that is our 50^th state, Hawaii. It became the last of our 50 states that make up the United States in 1959. The Hawaiian Islands are made up of eight main islands in the Pacific Ocean. Kauai is called the “Garden Isle.” It is very green with lots of vegetation.

After a long, long ride on the plane we landed at Lihue Airport. Dale rented a Jeep so we could explore the island.

While we waited for Dale to get the Jeep, Grandma Jean and I went outside to smell the flowers and see the palm trees.

Then it was on to the Hotel. Wow, you should have seen the swimming pool. We could see it from the balcony of our room.  We could also see the ocean and hear the waves crash on the shore. There were palm trees, pretty flowers and lots of chickens we could see from our balcony. I am so excited to get outside and look at everything.

Since we got there later in the afternoon and had a tour lined up for Friday morning, the three of us went looking for the Kipu Ranch where we were going on an ATV (4 wheeler) ride. It was not too far from the hotel but it was cloudy and looked like rain. We found it and were now ready to get there in the morning to start more fun and games. It is warmer here and more humid than Iowa is in the winter.

When we got up on Friday morning we wanted to see a sunrise in Kauai. It was cloudy but we did get to a high hill where the sun was just peeking through the clouds. Was it ever beautiful!

Then it was off to the Kipu Ranch and on to the ride. We had two guides that were native to Kauai. We had to practice riding the ATV to make sure everyone could do it. Off we went into the tree-lined road, past pastures with horses and cattle eating their breakfast. At the first stop the guides spotted a feral baby pig. One of the guides, Marlin, caught it and we all got to look at it. The baby is from wild pigs that run in the hills all around Kauai. We let him loose when we all looked at him.

It had just rained and so we had lots of puddles of water to go through and that was lots of fun getting really dirty in their red dirt. We had lunch by a waterfall and went up and down  some big hills. We went to a place where bamboo was growing. Do you know that bamboo grows about 7 inches a day and is very hard? They use bamboo to make furniture, flooring, bowls, and many other things for the house. The bamboo was by another waterfall where some of us swam in the dirty water. I want to do that again when I go back again.

On Saturday when we got up it was a free day.

We decided to go exploring and see some beaches and other points of interest. The first beach we stopped to see had a running trail going down around the beach. Kapaia Beach is where I nearly met the end. Grandma Jean was taking my picture when the wind picked me up and sent me flying down the sea bluff toward the ocean. Dale had to jump down the bluff behind where it said “Danger. Do not go beyond this sign” and rescue me before I blew out into the ocean. Boy was I scared. Dale got to me in time and I learned to be more careful.

The beach had chickens on it along with some snails that were really big. Then it started to rain on us and we hurried back to the Jeep. It was a good day to work our way up the north side of the Island to the end of the road.

We stopped at the Kilauea Lighthouse on a point where every way you looked it was turquoise water and white caps. We also saw a Nene (nay-nay) Goose on her nest right by the walking path. The Nene Goose is the State Bird of Hawaii. At the  lighthouse there was a Japanese couple that was going to get married. On the way to and from the lighthouse we saw lots of beaches that were all different. Some were good for sunning, some for surfing, some for exploring the rocks and some just to take pictures.

We also passed the fields of taro which is used to make poi. It is like mashed potatoes.

At the end of the road is Kees Beach which is good for snorkeling, but the beach was closed because of the storms and the rough ocean. We did walk on the beach and ate fresh coconut that another guest had cracked and was sharing with us. It was really good.

On the way back we visited a big dry cave and a wet cave that had aqua water in it.

Sunday morning we woke up to thunder, lightning and heavy rain. Our lights in the hotel blinked and went out for a second or two. It was scary. Not a good day for the beach or sight seeing. Grandma Jean decided it was a good time to go to the fitness center. She  used the exercise ball, the weights and the treadmill. I was ready to go back to bed when we got done.

Later that day it looked like it was clearing on the west side of the Island so we ventured out. It was still raining hard in Lihue and they got over 6 inches of rain.

We drove to a few beaches while it was still raining and the water was red from the red dirt washing into the ocean. One town had the streets flooded so we did not get to the beach. We headed on up the west coast and passed where the sugar cane factories used to process the sugar cane. The factories have closed and instead of raising sugar cane they now raise coffee in the same fields. You can taste the sugar in your animal cookie I brought back for you.

By now it was not raining very hard and we went to the Waimea Canyon State Park. It was up a winding road and at the top it was cold and windy. There were chickens there to greet us. It was very beautiful and is the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. There were waterfalls everywhere and the colors of greens, reds, and browns were spectacular. We took lots of pictures to save the memory. We went on to the Kokee State Park where we could see the ocean from way up in the mountain. It was cold there too, but very pretty. The sun was starting to come out so we went down to where we could get a good sunset picture.

Finally the rain stopped and Monday was pretty clear. We had a Luau planned for that evening so Grandma Jean wanted to do some shopping. We went to McDonald’s where they have Spam, rice and eggs for breakfast. It was good. Dale and I walked around while Grandma Jean shopped.

After shopping we went looking for waterfalls. We also drove to the end of the road to Wailua Falls that normally has two falls, but because of all the rain it was joined and was one big falls. It was very pretty. We went to Opaeka’a Falls and got rained on again.

Then it was on to the Luau, which is a festive Hawaiian meal where the pig is cooked in a pit over heated rocks like charcoal. The pig is wrapped in banana tree leaves and buried until it is done and ready to eat. There was lots of good food and I even tried poi. It was not good. The place where we went for the luau had lots of pretty flowers and trees. I saw bananas, coconuts, and pineapples growing. There were also lots of birds including beautiful peacocks. Oh, and beautiful flowers like hibiscus and poinsettias. We had a good time.

On Tuesday, we had to get packed up and ready to go home late at night. We left our bags at the hotel and went exploring beaches again. We were going on a dinner cruise around the Na Pali coast that afternoon. It was canceled on Sunday because of all the rain and rough waters.

We stopped at Poipu Beach where the sandstone has been carved into caves by the waves and water. It was not a beach for sunning. We explored the many caves and carvings and one even looked like a fireplace. It is one of the most popular beaches in Kauai.

We ventured on to Port Allen where we got on our Blue Dolphin catamaran for our cruise. It was windy, but we had lots of fun. We got to see whales and even baby whales with their mothers. They are very big and the babies, who are born in the Hawaiian waters, gain about 150 to 200 pounds a day. The parents swim down from the Alaskan waters to have the babies in the warmer Hawaiian waters. About the first of May they will swim back to the Alaskan waters where they eat and gain lots of weight for the trip again in the fall to Hawaii. There were two Bottlenose Dolphins that played with our boat. They look like the dolphins at Sea World. There was a beach that had lots of Green Sea Turtles on it. The Na Pali Coast is a magnificent cliff wall coast that can only be seen from the ocean or by helicopters or planes. There are no roads into this coast as it is too rough. You can hike to the beaches, but it is 11 miles each way. It is very beautiful and so rugged.

Our trip was about over and we had to return the rental Jeep, get on our plane for the almost 6 hour flight back to Phoenix, Arizona. We stopped at the hotel to change from our shorts and summer clothes to our warm clothes to come back to Iowa where it is much colder. We did not want to leave, but was missing home, our beds, Masen, Mrs. Fisher and my Second Grade Friends. It was a long flight and it was bumpy and dark outside. We changed planes in Phoenix for a plane to Des Moines.

Bob and Jeanne, friends of Grandma Jean and Dale, were there to meet us. We stopped at their house and I got to see Bob’s animals, the horse Jodee, and donkeys Jeremiah and Jennifer. They are always fun.

While in Kauai I picked up a few things for each of you. The black seeds, I picked up on the beaches. They are filled with grains of sand from the force of the water pushing the sand into the holes in the seed. The bamboo piece I got from the ATV trip and cut each of you a small piece so you could see how it is tough and hollow. The  lei is made from seashells found on beaches and put together by the Hawaiians. The cookie is made with Hawaiian grown sugar. We also got some activity books at different places for each of you to do the fun activities. Masen also has some pieces of coral that washed up on the beaches to look at as well as a piece of aged bamboo.

I had a very good time and learned many things about Kauai and Hawaii. Thank you to Grandma Jean and Dale for taking me along. Let me know if you go again and I will come along.

Love to you,
Flat Stanley