January 4th... the last day for real...

On our last morning on the island, D and I woke early, made some coffee, and headed out in the pre-dawn for some photo opportunities.

I finally grabbed a shot of one of those gigantic frogs... the random slipper is in the frame as a size reference.  That is a man's slipper, so now you have an idea of the size of these monster frogs.

Pre-dawn sky with crescent moon.

Long exposure sunrise.

The sun begins to creep over the landscape, lighting up the Sleeping Giant.

We spent the morning in the room, I began to sort through our stuff and separate out what was staying in storage and what was coming home with us.  We still wanted to pick up a few souvenirs, so we went across the street to Safeway and the ABC Store to get our final items and gifts for people, as well as some basics that we wanted to store in the condo for our next trip.  For lunch, I was craving some decently sized fish tacos, so we headed into Kapa'a and decided to give Paco's Tacos a try.

I was a little concerned about this place because they do offer breakfast all day, which means a lot of eggs in the kitchen, and they use one big griddle to cook the food.  However there were no other customers at the time, and the chef said he would cook my fish on the furthest end of the griddle, (eggs are always kept separate anyway, but he ensured me my food would be the furthest from anyplace that egg might have ever touched)
We all shared some chips and salsa while we waited for our lunches.

I had the 3 taco special, each taco came with a generous filet of grilled ono along with fresh shredded cabbage - salsa and lime was available on the side.  Lunch tasted great, but due to the egg situation I would only feel comfortable eating here if there aren't any other customers around to potentially order eggy foods.  (As an aside, Tiki Tacos uses separate pans for their fish, so I'm much safer eating there in the future.  They are also a little closer to the condo, putting them just about within walking distance)

When we arrived back at the condo, G and I spent some time in the pool enjoying the warm day and relatively empty pool area.  After some swimming and a bit of time in the hot tub (to soak my sore foot) I showered up and wandered the grounds with my camera.  My intention had been to capture some of the foliage, however the low tide caught my attention.  The tide was so low off the beach that the reef - normally covered by several feet of ocean - was completely revealed to the point of being able to walk on it and poke at the tide pools.  The low tide also created a small, protected, sandy pool area for wading, so D got G out of the pool to come down to the beach and play in the ocean.  Meanwhile, I wandered with my camera and enjoyed the rare view of the ocean floor.

A spear fisherman taking advantage of the low tide

He came ashore with several octopi, G was fascinated by them and even reached out to pet one.  It suctioned to her finger for a few moments.

On the way back to the room, I caught a photo of this tree because it looks like a dragon head to me.

Since I had already showered, I started packing for our flight home while D and G showered up and got ready for dinner.  The plan had been to have dinner onsite, starting at 5:30.  We figured we'd be done eating around 6:30 and have plenty of time to pack before we needed to leave by 9.  Then we started chatting with our waiter, Henry, who had been so pleasant last year (and is also originally from the Bay Area, and has a sister in Capitola, so of course we had a lot of discussion about the old Monterey Bay Area)

we had a lovely table outside, with a direct view of the ocean

Our last dinner on the island... for this trip.

Henry treated us to a little appetizer made from shaved carrot, mashed okinawa sweet potato, a bit of persimmon, and I think it was onion blooms on top?  It was a very interesting mix of flavors.

D and I shared this appetizer of sashimi bruchetta, which is basically poke on toasted bread.  This was our first official taste of a poke... it was delicious... I can't wait to try more next time.

I ordered the beets-5-ways salad again, along with the grilled catch of the day, which was mahi mahi.

Between the multiple courses, the drinks, and the conversation, our dinner lasted until nearly 7:45.  We had a truly mad-dash scramble to pack everything... and we are still confused as to how it is we could leave so much gear behind (fins, snorkels, D's hiking shoes, masks) and yet have *less* room in the luggage.  We really didn't buy that much stuff... but we eventually managed to wedge all our stuff into our baggage, load it into the car, and hit the road for the airport.  Just as we began to drive out, it began to rain.
We seemed to be the last people of our flight to arrive at the airport, and after the getting through the confusing set of security lines (first scan your checked bags for fruit, then go to the other end of the lobby to check your bags and print boarding passes, then go back to the beginning for the security check, then be screened for fruit on your carry-ons on your way to the gate) we parked ourselves in front of a fan by the door to the plane.  Our flight was delayed in boarding due to the crew being stuck in a broken down van, but they eventually arrived, we boarded and we even took off on time.

Though it was an overnight flight, I hardly slept on the plane.  It felt like every joint in my body was swelling, and my left knee began to throb like crazy (probably due to the uncomfortable way I was seated, and because my leg dangles off the seat due to me being so darned short)  So I stayed up and watched "Martian", and dozed for maybe half an hour before we began our landing.  We arrived in Seattle at dawn, but the day was so heavily foggy and misty that it looked like 5 p.m. all day, which combined with the lack of sleep really left me feeling out of sorts. 

But we are home safe, with lots of notes to take for next time... like...

find out where we can find beach reports, not just weather reports

plan ahead to have more meals at the condo - while some things (like milk) cost more than the mainland, all kinds of fish are incredibly well priced in the markets 

Make several stops if we're going to the canyon, to avoid the carsicky feelings of being on a curvy road for 2 hours.

wash the inside of your snorkel mask with toothpaste before using it, it helps prevent fogging

Find some prepacked poke that has ingredients listed (there seems to be poke counters in almost every grocery store)

Tiki Tacos for the win!

Lighten up the camera gear load... maybe get a lighter bag that also has more convenient access

find out if there are hiking trail condition reports

tether the remote to the tripod so you don't chuck it into the river

long exposures with ND filter should be no higher than f/10 to avoid dust spots showing from the filters

and the big one... start packing the day before you need to leave for the airport, because it WILL take longer than 2 hours, and though the airport is smaller, the multiple security checkpoints take longer, so early arrival is important.