Recently back from a semi-impromptu trip to Kaua’i. We had unused credits for flights to Hawai’i from the beginning of the pandemic, and were hitting our “use em or lose em” deadline from the airline. Always a magical prospect for me, having lived in Hawaii for a while almost 20 years ago now.
It was wild to go back, really for the first time, to a place I know so well as an unfettered adult. No mormon spouse, no mormon friends, no children, no family members. Again, it’s so funny how a conservative cultural milieu will prevent you from living your best life, even if the only forcing function is family size. If you have 5 kids with you, it almost automatically remove nice restaurants, paid cultural site visits, or strenuous activities. You are almost required to eat at a burger king and do nothing but go to the beach.
All that to say this time, and for the first time, we did the damn thing. Nice restaurants with incredible experiences. Dive bars. Hikes to the top of a sheer cliff. Nude beaches. Kaua’i like I’d never seen it.
Played around with the Halide manual camera app for th eiphone — the macro shots it allows are absolutely insane. That’s sand and a gecko no longer than a pinkie finger.
We ate strawberry guavas off the trails, we explored the incredible green spaces maintained by the Limahuli Garden & Preserve, and just gaped at the beauty in general.
Finally, we sat on a cliff and watched the sunset, almost 16 years to the day since I did so with my mom, the last time she visited Kauai. The following day I laid flowers where we scattered her ashes.
I miss you, mom.
