After a nice stay at Kauai Palms Hotel it was time for us to check out and travel to the north part of the island to Kauai. We had a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and leftover pineapple. We packed up, turned in our key and headed to the Red Hibiscus, souvenir store in Lihue.

While Sharon sat in the parking lot in our rented Jeep, I walked up into town to take photos. The old Lihue movie theater had been turned into a senior living facility, but they had left the neon marque with “Live Aloha” written on it. Posters from movies like “The Terminator,” “Vertigo,” and “Titanic” were prominately displayed in the “Now Showing” section of the theater lineup.

Outside of the movie theatre there was a homeless person temporarily residing nearby. Homeless in Hawaii had become a common theme throughout our stay. Housing seems to have become unaffordable for the poor and many have resorted to living on the beach.

I managed to snag a photo of a rooster in front of the McDonald’s. Now if I could only snag a photo of one in front of the KFC.

At around 9:20AM the sales lady arrived to unlock the doors to let us inside of the Red Hibiscus. Sharon bought some clothing for her niece and nephews and a couple of dresses for herself. Afterwards we stopped by Hilo Hattie’s again to get a vintage Hawaiian sign, picture frame and Ukelale.

Next was on to see the waterfalls. About 4 years ago I tried to see Wailua Falls on a day trip. But it felt like I was driving off into nowhere and turned around before I got to the waterfalls. This time with the help of my wife and Google Maps, we successfully found it. Parking was at a premium with a ballet of cars driving in and out of parking spaces on a dead end street.

The falls were gorgeous. The crowd thinned out enough for Sharon to get some good photos of the falls without hindrance. Next was onto Opaeka’a Falls. This one I had been to before. It was difficult to miss as it had a very large parking lot and was on the side of a busy street. We took several photos and crossed the street to watch people canoeing the river.

We headed north and drove though commercial area with dense parking. It seemed touristy in a subtle sort of way. We stopped by some scenic lookouts to get some good photos of the ever blue ocean with picturesque skies.

We did stop by a beach where were were sure homeless people lived at. There was a primitive hut and car seat with cooking utensils nearby. I began to wonder how and why people go homeless in Hawaii and how one surivives. Weather is not necesssarily and issue. Rather it almost propagates the problem.

We attempted to stop at a pizza place but couldn’t find an area to park at. So we skipped it and drove to the general store in Princeville. It was part of a touristy complex with stores with huge markup on things that I would never buy. It took 20 minutes to cook the pizza, so we browsed these shops waiting on the pizza.

We took the pizza to a local beach to eat under a pavilion. We shared the pavilion with what Sharon described as homeless people judging by their conversations. The man played classic rock on his portable stereo (maybe a iPod?), while a middle aged woman (maybe a new acquaintance) asked him questions. Sharon had a good view of them, while I could only hear parts of their conversation.

We finished up our pizza and headed toward the Kilauea Lighthouse. It was a wildlife refuge with a half a dozen bird species flying around and roosting in the forested mountain cliffs near the ocean. We managed to see a Hawaiian goose – a Ne Ne which road signs warn drivers to be on the lookout for. Sharon was fascinated with the whales. Ever so often they would emerge out of the ocean doing what seemed to be tricks or somersaults while a human audience watched from the shore. Sharon couldn’t get enough of the whales. It was great to see it from ashore rather than from an expensive tour on a boat.

We tried going to Queen’s bath, but it was bordered by a residential area and we weren’t about to hike down to the beach crossing through private yards.

Meanwhile we headed to Hanalei Bay Resort which must be some type of condo / timeshare residence. We signed up for someone’s condo on AirBnb. It’s al very complicated. All I do know is it is very nice area, and way out of our income level. This is a ritzy place. Folks are either very rich or very in debt.

Our condo has a very beautiful view. Sharon pointed out a waterfall from our patio. She stayed and took photos of the sunset waning on the horizon, while I went to Foodland to get supper.

Supper was chicken fingers and cheese tots. I also got some some cinnamon rolls for Sharon and donut holes for myself. Fruit punch was on tap for tonight and tomorrow morning for breakfast with a half gallon of juice I got.

After supper I managed to find my way down to the beach – another picturesque scene.

We used this time to do our laundry and pack for our flight to Maui departing at 9AM tomorrow. I’ll be a short night.