Remember the Alamo

The last few days have been pretty uneventful...more boogie boarding, more swimming in the pool, more beautiful sights.  Today, however, something happened that I've never had to deal with before...a broken-down rental car.  Shortly after lunch, we went down to Poipu Beach to do some boogie boarding.  After about an hour, we headed back to the minivan to return to our condo.  We threw our boogie boards in the back, got in, but when I turned the key in the ignition, the horn started honking and nothing more.  I tried it a few more times, but it was the same thing.  Unfortunately, I had left my cell phone at our condo.  Thankfully, just down the road was a pay phone, and so I went there to call Alamo Rental Car.  I was told that I just needed to reset the security system by looking the van from the outside with the remote, waiting a few seconds, and then unlocking it with the remote.  I did that...but it was the same thing:  Honking horn and nothing more.  There was a local guy there who was observing our blaring horn fun and he offered to let me use his cell phone.  So I called Alamo again and this time I was told that the whole system had probably frozen up and that they would need to send a tow truck out with a new rental car on it and make the exchange.  The only problem is that it would take 2-3 hours.  Mem found a couple there who were willing to take her back to our condo, where she could get my cell phone and call one of the families in the church who would then pick our daughters up while I waited behind with the van.  Finally, at about 5:00 p.m., after waiting for about 90 minutes, the new rental van showed up.

A Delicious Dinner

Before my parents return home on Thursday, we wanted to find a nice restaurant that we could all go to.  We ended up at Plantation Gardens Restaurant, the restaurant at the condo complex where my parents are staying.  Mem had "Seafood Lau Lau," which is fresh local fish, large prawns, jumbo scallops, and vegetables, all wrapped in a Ti Leaf.  It's served with steamed white rice and wasabi aioli.  Here's a picture:

I ordered the Curry-Coconut Seafood Stew, which is fresh local fish, prawns, scallops, mussels, and roasted potatoes in a curry-coconut broth.  It was absolutely delicious!!  Here's a picture:

More Golf Pictures

The last 4 holes of Poipu Bay Golf Course all run along the Pacific.  Here are some pictures from those holes.

Golf Day on Kauai

When I knew that we would be vacationing on Kauai again this year, one of the things that I wanted to do when I was here was play golf.  There are some beautiful golf courses here on Kauai..2 of the most well-known being Princeville and Poipu Bay.  The Princeville golf course, though, is about a 75 minute drive from where we're staying.  But Poipu Bay is about 2 minutes away.  So today my dad and I played Poipu Bay and had a wonderful time.  For those of you familiar with golf, this is where the Grand Slam of Golf was held from 1994-2006.  The Grand Slam of Golf is an end of the year tournament only for those who have won "majors" that year, which means that there are only 4 entrants into the tournament each year (since there are only 4 "majors").  Needless to say, the PGA doesn't hold golf tournaments at "average" golf courses.  Poipu Bay is a beautiful golf course.  Here are some of the pictures from today.

A Restful Lord's Day

Kauai Reformation Church has both of their Lord's Day worship services in the morning.  The first service is at 9:30 a.m., followed by a time of refreshments, and then the second service is at 11:00 a.m.  They do this for 2 primary reasons:  (1) Some of the people in the church drive quite a distance (approximately 1 hour to get to church); (2) The facility that they rent gives them that block of time.  It feels a little funny to have both services over by noon, but it does allow for a lot of afternoon and evening rest time.  Today after church we came back to the condo for some lunch and then went to the pool for awhile.  And then we went to the home of one of the families in the church for a nice dinner.  Pictured here is the sunset from tonight.

A Quiet Day

Today was a fairly uneventful day.  We went to Wal-Mart and then to Costco.  After that, we tried to go boogie boarding, but it was too crowded (extremely busy at the beach here on the weekends).  Then we went back to the pool for a bit.  I then went to Starbucks (not much changes, does it?) to go over my sermons for tomorrow.  I'm preaching on Romans 13:11-14 in the first service and the work of the Holy Spirit from Romans 8 in the 2nd service.  Before dinner we went down to Shipwreck Beach at sunset and I took the pictures that you see here.

Dinner and Sunset

We ended the day by enjoying some BBQ marlin (done by my dad), Yakisoba noodles, rice, and pineapple.  Then we walked down to the beach (which runs right in front of their condo complex) and took some pictures.  What a beautiful place!

Lydgate

After Hanalei, we were all hot and so we drove back toward Lihue and went to Lydgate Beach.  Lydgate has an area that is enclosed by large boulders, allowing swimmers to relax in the ocean without any major waves or current issues.  We spent over an hour there, cooling off and relaxing in the water.  It's amazing how much better you feel after spending an hour in the ocean.

Hanalei

After the lighthouse, we drove to Hanalei, which is at the northern end of the island.  Last year, we came here with one of the families in the church on our first full day on Kauai.  Although it was nice last year, the weather was not that great (gray and overcast most of the time).  Today, however, was entirely different.  It was a beautiful 85 degree day.  I didn't get a picture of it, but there was a guy surfing there with his dog.  It was a little terrier-looking dog...but apparently, it had some good sea legs.

Kilauea Lighthouse

Today was another breathtakingly beautiful day here on Kauai.  Our first stop was the Kilauea Lighthouse.  We stopped here last year on our trip, but didn't make the trek down to the lighthouse itself.  This time, after taking some pictures at the top, we drove down and then walked the rest of the way to the lighthouse.  This was well worth it.  Not only were we able to get some more great pictures, but they also allow you to check out complementary binoculars, with which we were able to watch dolphins swimming and jumping out in the Pacific.

Vacation, Day 7

It's hard to believe that we've been here for 7 days now...the time has gone incredibly fast! We are very blessed to be able to take this trip.  If it were not for the generosity of the Kauai Reformation Church and the sponsoring churches (Oceanside URC and Torrance URC), this trip would not be possible.  They are providing us a wonderful 1 bedroom, 1 bath condo, round-trip airfare for myself, and a car rental.  And because Alamo was out of 4-door sedans when we went to pick up our rental car, they bumped us up to a minivan for no extra charge.  What would normally be a very expensive vacation for a family of 4 is only costing us airfare for my wife and daughters and our food.  When hotel rooms at the Grand Hyatt Kauai are going for a minimum of $480/night and when 2 bedroom, 2 bath condos on the beach are going for $5,995/week (who could possibly afford those prices), we are very thankful to be able to take a vacation like this.

Today was a gorgeous day here on Kauai.  We began by going to Waimea Canyon (the largest canyon in the Pacific).  Last year when we went to Waimea the weather wasn't all that great (overcast, misty rain).  But this time, it was a whole different story (as you can see in the pictures).  After that, we traveled another 7 miles to the Kalalau Lookout, which provides a great view of the Kalalau Valley (the largest valley on the Na Pali coast).  We returned home in the mid-afternoon, and then my dad and I played golf at Poipu Bay Golf Course with one of the members of the Kauai Reformation Church and his son.  His son is a junior golfer, and because of that, he can play for free after 4:00 p.m.  In addition, anyone who comes with him gets to play for only $10.  This is a great deal when you consider that it normally costs $200 to play that course.  After golf, we went to their home for BBQ chicken and steak.  Pictured are some of the sights from Waimea Canyon and the Kalalau Lookout.

Vacation, Day 6

This morning we went to Hanapepe, called "The Biggest Little Town" on Kauai.  We went through some of the shops there and then walked across the swinging foot bridge (pictured here).  After that, we went to Salt Pond Beach (also pictured here), where we enjoyed the nice water for about 45 minutes.  We returned to our condo, swam in the pool, and then met my parents at the airport (they flew in today to spend 8 days with us).

More Pics

Driving to the east side of Kauai tonight to have dinner with a family in the church, we stopped to take a few pictures.  One of them is of Opeakaa Falls.  The other is of Wailua River.

Vacation, Day 5

Today we got an early start as the weather was (and is still) gorgeous and my wife wanted to get some picture-taking done.  We spent some time walking on the beach in front of the Grand Hyatt, followed by walking around the grounds of the Grand Hyatt, which are extremely beautiful.  Then we got to the beach by 10 a.m. for some more boogie-boarding.  While boogie-boarding we saw a couple of sea turtles in the water (less than 10 feet from us).  The waves were a little rougher today, but we still had a great time.  Then it was back to the pool here at the condo.  Tonight, we'll be having dinner with one of the families in the Kauai Reformation Church.  Pictured here: The area in front of the Poipu Bay Golf Club, the beach in front of the Grand Hyatt, and the grounds of the Grand Hyatt.

Newsweek and Osteen

Interesting article here on Joel Osteen and his wife.  Osteen is one of the great examples in our day of what Michael Horton calls "Christless Christianity."

Vacation, Day 4

We woke up at 6:00 a.m. this morning (Kauai is filled with wild chickens and they are quite noisy in the morning). After breakfast, we headed to Lihue, where we went to Wal-Mart, Payless Shoes, did some window shopping, and then had lunch at the Market Street Cafe. Then, in the afternoon, we went to Poipu Beach for some boogie boarding and then back to the pool.  We then had our first shave ice of the trip.  If you ever have the opportunity, have your shave ice with ice cream (it sounds strange, but it's excellent). Pictured here:  Some photos of the condo complex where we are staying and a shot of my wife and daughters' shave ice.

Vacation, Day 3

We began our day by worshiping at the Kauai Reformation Church, where I preached on Psalm 67 (often known as "The great missionary psalm") in the first service and article 10 of the Belgic Confession of Faith ("Who is Jesus Christ?") in the second service.  It was good to see and visit with the people that we had met last year on our visit here.  After church, we came back to our condo and enjoyed a very good lunch consisting of Japanese style Ebi-fried shrimp (from Costco), fresh pineapple, and Hawaiian sweet rolls.  We also snacked on some Maui potato chips.  I also chatted on the phone with a few different members of our church.  I heard that the visiting minister this morning was well-received, which is always good to hear.  It's also comforting to know that I have great elders who give wonderful care and shepherding to our congregation.  Then we headed back to the pool, where we spent about an hour and a half.  Tonight, we will be going to the home of the family that we stayed with on our trip last year and enjoying dinner with them.

Vacation, Day 2

Today was really a microcosm of what I hope this whole vacation to be:  A time of great relaxation.  We slept in, ate Eggo waffles, and then spent 2 hours in the pool.  After that, we went to Puka Dog, a well-known hot dog stand here on Kauai.  The menu is very limited by intent:  You have a choice of either a polish sausage dog or a veggie dog.  Other than that, all the menu has are a bag of chips and fresh-squeezed lemonade.  Although I love spicy food (and never seem to have much problem with spicy stuff), for some reason I've always had problems with polish sausage.  Because of that, I ordered a veggie dog.  Then you have a choice of condiments (Hawaiian mustard, various kinds of relish such as pineapple, mango, coconut, etc.).  I had pineapple relish on mine, along with a sweet Hawaiian mustard.  Everything was great...except for the veggie dog.  Not only was it rather tasteless, but it was also tough.  Oh well, at least we experienced it.  From now on, Puka Dog is known as "Puke-a Dog" in our house.  In fact, it was so bad after the first bite that I almost thought that I'd "accidentally" drop mine on the ground so that I wouldn't have to eat it.  But since the rest of my family didn't care for it either, I just yanked my veggie dog out of the bun and tossed it in the trash.  By the way, this reminds me our wedding rehearsal dinner over 17 years ago.  The pastor of our church and his wife insisted on providing the meal for our rehearsal dinner.  She made what will forever be known as "goosebump" chicken.  It was this incredibly nasty chicken dish that still had bumps on it (you know the type of bumps on chicken skin that I'm talking about).  Well, after somehow managing to get one piece down during the rehearsal dinner, the pastor's wife insisted that I have more.  And so I placed another piece on my plate, but...oops, somehow it managed to fall on the floor and I had to toss it in the trash.  I don't know how I managed to avoid having to take another piece, but I hope never to have "goosebump" chicken again.  Now if polish sausage doesn't bother your stomach, if you ever go to Kauai you should try Puka Dog.  The relish was quite tasty, as was the Hawaiian sweet mustard that they also put on it.  Anyway, after that, we went down to Poipu Beach, where we'll be boogie-boarding once we buy our boogie boards next week.  Then it was back to the pool...followed by dinner at our condo...and we ended the day with ice cream at Lapperts in Koloa.  Pictured here:  The pool at our condo complex, Poipu Beach, and my wife trying to fish out some dropped goggles at the bottom of the pool.

Let the Vacation Begin

Our day started at 3:30 a.m. as we got up at that extremely early hour to get to Seattle in time for our flight.  We went from Seattle to Oahu and then Oahu to Kauai.  Although almost 6 hours long, the flight from Seattle to Oahu was quite enjoyable, with a nicely air-conditioned cabin being the highlight.  After landing in Kauai, we picked up our rental car, grabbed some Strawberry Surf Riders from Jamba Juice, went to our condo, and then picked up some groceries from Costco.  Then we went to the Friday Bible study for Kauai Reformation Church...and now, we're all about ready to crash for the night.  To the left are the following:  (1) Boarding the plane in Seattle; (2) Approaching Oahu; (3) Landing in Kauai.