Kauai: Chickens, Canyons... And Rockets?

Although this is my fourth time in Hawaii, somehow I always manage to forget just how warm and humid it is. As I pack, I find it impossible to imagine that I'm going somewhere where I won't want to wear socks, and there is no point in having a long-sleeve shirt. I actually threw a cardigan into our bag at the last minute. You know, just in case! How much do you want to bet that piece of clothing goes untouched the entire trip?

Tom and I arrived in Kauai late on Saturday night. It was pitch dark out, 27 degrees and humid, and we navigated our car to the hotel with our windshield wipers running to get rid of the condensation on the windshield. We made it to our hotel, or rather, the condo that we rented via AirBnB at 10pm local time, or 2am home-time. Needless to say, we were exhausted.

The condo is beautiful! The kitchen is nicely appointed, the bathroom is huge, and there is glorious, glorious AV. To think we considered renting a pace without it.... This is out first time on Kauai. Previously we have always gone to Maui, but with a baby on the way, we decided we wanted to explore a new island for this holiday.

Here are something I can tell you straight off the bat about Kauai... There are chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE. Hundreds of them. Probably thousands of them! They are in parking lots, on athletic fields, at beaches, on the side of the highway... The sounds of roosters crowing at all times of the day has become a familiar sound.

The baby, currently the size of a pomegranate, and hereby referred to as Pom (at least in this post), does not like seat belts. My God, every time we get into the car and I put on my seat belt, it's like there's a tiny revolt going on in my belly-- limbs flailing in protest at the restriction of the seat belt. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not (maybe she doesn't like the band of my shorts cutting into her, or she doesn't like the position I have to sit in in the car), but Pom will let it be known that she is displeased.

What's that? Did I say, "she"?? That's right! We're expecting a girl!

Tom and I have spent the last few days beach hopping, and exploring the south and west sides of the island. The beaches here are not as nice as Maui. They are rockier, and we are both cut up with some minor scrapes and scratches from our first venture out into the water.

We stopped to see the Spouting Horn, a blowhole on the south side of the island, and the found a beach to park ourselves on and enjoy the sun.

Yesterday we drove to Waimea Canyon on the west side of the island. We drove the windy road and stopped at the many outlooks to see the wide expanse of the canyon, and waterfalls. Unfortunately, even though yesterday was supposed to be the "clearest" day here, there were too many clouds to see much of the Na' Pali coast line.

Waimea Canyon.

Waipoo Falls in Waimea Canyon

Cloud-covered Na Pali Coast.

Wai'ale'ale, one of the wettest places on earth.

After exploring the canyon, we headed further west, and happened to come upon a beach where there were dozens and dozens of people looking up at the sky. There was a weather balloon up in the sky, but some eavesdropping allowed us to glean that the Super Strypi rocket was set to launch of the Barking Sands launch site at 4:30pm. By luck, it had been delayed until 5:45pm, and Tom and I were able to witness it take off.

The rocket was carrying a selection of small satellites into orbit as part of the ORS-4 mission for the Department of Defense. Unfortunately the rocket failed about a minute after takeoff, and broke up.

One of the coolest things about the launch, which you can sort of witness for yourself in this video that someone posted on YouTube, is the time delay between the speed of light and the speed of sound. You can SEE the rocket launch, and then a few seconds later, you hear the roar of the takeoff. The power of physics, my friends!

In the photo above, you'll notice that the trail of smoke appears to have some curls in it-- this is likely because the rocket was rotating.

 It's been a busy few days, and today Tom and I are going to try to take on the first 2 miles of the famous Kalalau trail. This hike is actually 11mi one way, and most people backpack/camp overnight when they take it on. We know we can't make it that far, so we'll do the first section of the trail only. It'll be slow going with my belly, but we're looking forward to it.

For those of you at home keep warm! I heard it snowed. :)