Thoughts from 35,000 feet

Yo La Tengo is the best airplane sleeping music in the world. I never sleep on planes, yet it put me into a lovely dozing trance for about 6 songs. Nice.

I’m writing this on the plane back from Kaua’i, some 35,000 miles above the Pacific. I’m in one of those awful seats that don’t lean back, and Andrea is about 5 rows in front of me so I have no one to talk to. I’m not hungry anymore, but I am tired and I’m really dreading my return to San Jose. Why? Have you ever been to San Jose? Have you ever been to Kaua’i? Doesn’t matter if you haven’t, I’m sure it’s pretty obvious.

Not to mention the fact that the next 5 days are pretty much going to suck. I’m trying to not be so pessimistic about it, but …arg. I have so much to do before I leave. Most of it tedious errands, chores, unpacking, packing, blah blah blah. I’m excited about the trip, but the actual leaving is always tough. The stress of making sure I’m really prepared, and the saying goodbye to everyone again. At least this time it’s only 4 months. Not nearly as long as a year, but still long enough to make leaving a little sad.

The three weeks at home were good for me…allowed me to settle my brain and body a bit, and to see everyone before I leave again. It’s funny, I’ve become the crazy globetrotter amongst my friends and family. Which is cool, I like being “that person.” I like watching people’s faces when I say I am going to fly over to India from Bangkok to meet up with a friend for Christmas….it takes a second to process, but then they get this look of disbelief and amazement and stop me, saying, “You’re gonna do what?!?” You know, just fly over to India, hang out there for awhile. I can hardly believe it myself, but I’m doing it.

So how did I get so lucky to spend a week in Kaua’i? I guess I need to backtrack here….my best friend Andrea’s parents, Kathy and Robert, recently bought a timeshare at the Waiohai Marriott. They had some extra space, so Andrea invited me to come along. When she first invited me, I actually was indecisive about it – I was not sure if I wanted to push back my other trip any further, and not sure if I could spend the money on another plane ticket. I was actually going to pass it up, but then I came to my senses…a week in Kaua’i with my best friend and her family? After a year away from home in a big inland urban city, how could I pass that up? And I’m tremendously glad I went too. We had a fabulous time.

Some good news I have is that the skin tone on my upper arms has evened out, and as I suspected, I just needed to get a little sun. The entire year in Korea, I think I must have been in actual sunshine for a total of 3 hours, by a generous estimate. Which is kind of the inverse of California, where I end up with a tan that lasts through the winter without even trying. California girl was a little bit dismayed to find out that the skin on her upper arms turns to a splotchy red color when she is out of the sun for too long. But a week on the island fixed that.

I’m also happy to say that Hawaii has been redeemed for me. Huh? Redeemed? Yes. I actually was not all that fond of Hawaii before, because I had only been to Oahu, which I just wasn’t crazy about. Too touristy, too developed, too full of cheesy people out to get wasted and laid. All the beauty of the island and the Hawaiian culture was ruined for me when I spent time in Waikiki. But Kaua’i is a whole world apart from Oahu. It is small, mostly undeveloped, slow paced, friendly, and absolutely beautiful. And dragging ourselves away from there was really, really hard. I’ve felt like crying all morning because I don’t want to go.

I’ll let the pictures do the talking on this one….(well, most of it.)

This is what coffee looks like before it is picked.
Getting wired at the Kaua'i Coffee Plantation.
Andrea, Bob and Kathy at the scenic overlook

A cooperative lizard posed for me while we were hiking.
The view of the Eastern side of Kaua'i, seen from the top of the Sleeping Giant.
Sunset out the front door of our villa.
Essential Hawaiian shave ice, in Mango and Passionfruit flavor.

One of the funnest things we did was ATV riding...now I want an ATV!

"What's wrong with this damn helmet?"
Bob in front of the fields where Jurassic Park was filmed, along with many other films.
There's Kathy in her Mudbug.
Me, getting dirty.
Our tour group at the end of the ride, filthy, tired, and grinning from ear to ear.
This is the pool where we stayed, looking out over the beach....sigh....

Another great activity we did on our last day - a cruise to see the Na Pali coast. The Na Pali coast is on the West side of the island, and can only be seen by boat or helicopter. The scenery is stunning, a must-see if you ever go to Kaua'i.




A slightly nauseous Andrea gets some love from the crew.We were lucky because we got to see dolphins, which they usually don't see on the morning tour.
Sunset over Ni'ihau, the Forbidden Island.
More fun with Pierre, crew member, artist, and all around cool dude.
Captain Dave, who used to live in Fremont, but gave it up to be a pirate and never looked back.

Darkness falls over Port Allen. (Should have had a tripod for this one.)