home at last!

Our trip back home was uneventful, but that long flight sorta drives me nuts from being cooped up too long.  Chocolate does seem to help!  And a good long night's sleep (I actually slept 12 hours and I don't know if that has ever happened before!)

During the flight, I finished the Jodi Picoult book I told you about, and this was not my favorite from her.  This story was all about the search for a missing woman who had been an elephant researcher.  I learned a lot about elephants, maybe too much!  And the ending was really unexpected and still leaves me wondering.  I won't say anything more, in case it's on your reading list.

Happily, my suitcase did finally show up in Kauai, after a vacation in Paris.  I got very irritated about it, after numerous calls and wasted time with people associated with Delta.  I really didn't want to waste my vacation time dealing with that, nor shopping for necessities to replace what was missing.  And I kept thinking "it's going to show up anytime now", so I didn't really want to buy a bunch of stuff.  I ended up wearing one pair of shorts (Bob's gym shorts!) and one t-shirt (bought at the Kauai Walmart!) most of the time, running laundry when needed, and trying to keep a positive attitude!  I did finally give up on being mad about it because it was such a ridiculous episode, and now it's pretty funny after it's all over!  Even after the airline brought the suitcase back from Charles de Gaulle airport, I think it sat somewhere for a couple days, then went to Kauai and sat there 2 days when it was supposed to have been picked up and delivered to me.  I actually only got it back after 2 trips to the airport to bug people there about it until I found the right person to unlock the office it was stored in.  Crazy!  Got it back on Thursday and we left for home on Friday!  The silver lining is that I have a whole suitcase full of clean clothes!

my little lost suitcase

I did find a quilt shop in Lihue, and we stopped there for a look-see.  It was a pleasant little spot, with a mix of Asian and Hawaiian designs, and a big section of batiks.

 I only bought a few things--a pretty blue and green bark cloth piece that would make nice pillows for my couch, a neat hexagon print that has a little bit of gold bling on it, and 2 prints of vintage Japanese rice sack labels. 

I found another store, after some searching, that advertised garments made from these vintage rice sacks and I liked the idea and pictures on their ads.  It was called Jacqueline's in Hanapepe, and she makes and sells "aloha shirts".  It was an obscure little storefront that we drove past 3 times before we saw it (and this is on the one main street in town).  When I went inside, I was very sad to find that everything reeked of cigarette smoke.  There was no way I was buying anything there!

In another little shop, I saw this--

seems like good advice!

on an adventure

Last May, we (Bob and I) observed a significant event.  Our 40th wedding anniversary!  Trying to think back to the 21-year-old minds that embarked on this marriage adventure, we had no way of knowing what would come our way.  The ups and downs always enter into the picture along the way, but we tend to let the memories of the good outweigh the bad, so it's good to be where we are today!

We are vacationing on the island of Kauai, in the Hawaiian Islands, and loving it!  We had a long day of travel to get here, I was starting to go a little stir-crazy towards the end of the flight!  But Bob's a good travel buddy, and even though I hate that he can sleep sitting upright and I can't get even a cat nap, we made it to Lihue in one piece!

Yesterday we did some driving and exploring around the south and west sides of the island.  We were like the typical tourists, amazed by the views of the ocean and mountains around every turn!  And since we were on midwest time, we were up and on the road long before most locals!

We stopped at several little towns for breakfast and just walking around.  I'm enjoying the fact that there isn't much "city" life around here.  In the little town of Hanapepe, we saw this little swinging bridge.  I'm not a fan of hanging suspended over anything, even on a good day!  And just a day or so ago I saw a video about a similar-looking footbridge that collapsed, and there was no way I was going beyond a few feet out there!  Bob, on the contrary, doesn't mind going out there and even bounces on purpose!  He's crazy!

After surviving that, we drove up a steep and winding road to Waimea Canyon State Park, known as sort of a tropical Grand Canyon.  This is a setting for quite a few adventure movies.  There's a beautiful waterfall barely visible in the shadows on the left of my picture.

The drive back down got my motion sickness meter going bonkers, so we had to stop and let that settle down!  We stopped at a spice company and a coffee company, then back to our resort to enjoy the beach, the pool, and a nap!  Some good reading time, too.  Yes, we live exciting lives!  Actually, I already finished one book before we got here!  I had been waiting for the chance to read this one---

and I got started on it before we left home.  This is the 4th book in a series that I really liked, called the Millenium series, by Steig Larsson.  Larsson died after the 3rd book, but supposedly had plans for more.  Now the 4th has been released, by another guy carrying on with what had been started.  I was excited to read more about the girl, Lisbeth Salander, who is the center of the stories.  I have to say that the first half of the book did not have enough Lisbeth in it to keep me happy, but that did improve.  Not saying any more than that to give away anything!

I also spent some time tracking down my suitcase yesterday, because it didn't arrive in Lihue with me.  Found out that it went to Paris without me!  So I made do with Bob's gym shorts and tshirts, and found a Walmart for underwear and a swimsuit and toothbrush!  Keeping my fingers crossed that the suitcase will show up later today!