Feb. 21: Just another windy Thursday---

Up early again.  This time we took a walk on the beach across from our resort (Kamaole I, I think?).  It was a beautiful morning.

Lots of blue skies and clear blue water. 

Love the view of the distant windmills.

After walking the beach and sitting on the beach for over an hour, we decided snorkeling was in order.  So back to the condo we went, stopping to take a picture of one of my favorite flowers---- hibiscus.

Soon we were in the car heading south to Maluaka Beach.  I had snorkeled there last May and knew it was great.   Here's a view as we were walking to the beach from the parking lot. 

After snorkeling Honolua yesterday, I wasn't quite as impressed here, but still was pretty happy.  The water wasn't as clear and the coral wasn't as healthy, but there was still plenty to see.  These guys greated us as soon as we got in---right by the shore.

I knew the healthier reef was a ways out so headed straight there.  It was clearer there.

Even spied this zebra eel.  It was about to come completely out of it's hiding place when 2 kids went splashing by.  That was the last I saw of the eel.

I've seen lots of these 4 spot butterflyfish on Kauai, but not in terrain this nice.

Haven't seen any of these guys around Kauai, so I'm including another picture of him.

As I was slowly snorkeling around, this big turtle decided to come up and get a breath of air.

I love triggerfish and don't see many of these Lagoon triggerfish.

After about 1 1/2-2 hours, we were getting chilled so we decided to get out and sit in the sun for awhile.  That is until it totally clouded over!  Plus it was quite windy, as shown by these palm trees.  So we decided breakfast/lunch was in order.

This beach definitely isn't the easiest place to find!  I guess that's why we were able to get a parking spot!  The only clue that we were on the right road was the "road ends" sign.  There was a bit of a walk to the beach, but not bad.  Along the way there is a construction barrier covered with palm branches.  I thought that was an ingenious way to camaflouge the construction tarp. 

I also marveled at all the huge cacti growing by the parking lot.

After driving around doing the "what do you want" conversation again, I said how about Zippy's.  We really enjoyed it on Oahu and noticed they had one in Kahului.  So I punched Zippy's into our Garmin and away we went.  Being somewhat wet, we went to the counter side of the restaurant instead of the sit down side.  I really like that they offer both options.

My mini mahi-mahi meal wasn't bad, either.  Ken enjoyed his burger, too.

While we were in Kahalui, it poured down rain.  But I was on a mission to find lilikoi dessert.  Garmin said there were 3 bakeries in the area.  We tried a couple, but the employees there just looked at me funny.  The 3rd one Garmin took us to was actually a residence!  I decided Garmin didn't know what he was doing and we gave up the hunt.  But at least we were treated to another beautiful rainbow.

Back in Kihei, we decided to drive around and see where it took us.  We ended up at Waipuilani Park.  I was surprised to see it so vacant!  It really is a beautiful spot.  The water was calm and I noticed there were lots of rocky areas near shore.  I wonder if it would be good for snorkeling?  But for today, I just walked the beach while hubby called people back home and checked on the winter storm going through there right now.

As we were leaving the park, I made hubby stop so I could take a picture of the really cool concrete wall along the road.

Also love all the bougainvillea hedges all around Hawaii.  We don't see that back home!

We gave up on sunset because of all the clouds.  Instead we hit the resort jacuzzi.  Love these flowers they have planted around the pool area.

Love the pool and jacuzzi, too.  The pool is even heated.  Our resort on Kauai does not have a heated pool and pools even in Hawaii get really cold in the winter!  This one even has waterfalls.

After dark, we again wondered where we should go for dinner.  I guess I'm going to quit trying to give hubby a chance to decide so we don't have to have the "what do you want" conversation all the time!  I decided we should give Peggy Sue's a try tonight.  It is a cute little diner.  My pineapple milkshake and chicken teriyaki was very good.  Ken enjoyed his bacon cheese burger, too.   Loved the decor, too!

 That pretty much finished off our 3rd full day here.  Hopefully this wind will end soon!  Not only do we have winds, but now we have flash flood warnings, too.  After the floods on Kauai last year while we were there, I'm hoping this doesn't continue much longer.