El Nino & Kauai Summer Nights

WOW! I can't believe another visit from Kim Green from Corte Madera, California and her precious daughter Rylan~ flew by like a thief in the night. I actually took some time off of work which is something I haven't done in years and I had every single detail planned out to perfection.  The trip started out to a great start due to the fact that the plane did land safely. She reserved a small manageable car  in which the rental agency thought they were doing her a favor by  "up-grading" her with a mid size sedan. You see-that's the first mistake one can make when they are dealing with Kim. She is a woman who knows exactly what she wants and is not afraid to tell you. So she explained this to them but yet she was stuck with this car. They must have sold out the one she ordered. All in all, the car was great and I am not sure how they could label it as a mid size anyway-the thing was tiny -but as Kim would see it-she was to be the one to do all of the driving due to the fact that she had a rental car in the first place so we better take advantage. So we did. The first order of action was to get to this luau-see photo to the left. It is my favorite luau on island due to the fact that it is the only one on the beach and the dancers are all award winning. I was hoping it would create and compliment the feeling of "laid backness" you know like in the Corona commercials. But trouble lurked.  There were not one-not two- but three hurricanes swirling around the islands. The night was a smashing success, we left with 5 pounds of rice pudding in our tummies and we took a good photo.  I decided that it was best to cancel our tours for tubing, zip lining and the Na Pali Coast due to the weather forcast and spend the next three days shopping, moving things in and out and around my house and watching 24 hour full Hurricane watch coverage by the media telling us what are fate was. You know how the media is-well it was a feeling of doom and gloom. So I dropped everything, bought 500 bucks worth of power bars and nuts at Costco- while watching people crash into each other, while the manager was announcing THERE IS NO MORE WATER over & over the loud speaker. Then I spent another hour in line to get gas.   I was horrified as the thoughts of what could happen raced through my mind and what my PLAN of action was and Kim just kept saying lets go have fun before its too late & if it comes-it comes-so what. She was right.  So, somehow against our will-we chose to do something soothing -something calming-for our nerves. We decided to stay close to home and follow our daughters and their friend Penny while they drove for the first time. OMG. Let me give you a clue. The fastest way to get into an argument especially under the stress we were already under-is to take your 15-16 year olds out for driving lessons for the first time. WOO HOO! It felt like my head was glowing red and was going to blow right off my shoulders. I guess I should mention the ex-husband was in the car to escort them in front of us with blaring hip hop music and streaming Go Pro video taping to boot. They were having a grand old time while Kim and I figured out the facts of life and made clear any disagreements we have ever had in decades. The pressure was on as the storms approached us ever so slowly, every day feeling like it was the last day here on the Garden Island -the Garden of Eden-as we would know it. But we did have a really good time at Tunnels beach swimming with turtles in which Kim insisted was her "Happy Place". This was most likely due to the fact that she did not have to look or listen to any of us ~as she floated peacefully in the warm, crystal clear waters that are shared by so many gorgeous species of non-confrontational species-unlike the rest of us-that Kauai promises. Me? All I could think about was the evacuation plan THE PLAN THE PLAN THE PLAN  and what it was going to be like when we were all hungry, famished and exhausted in the dark, hugging in the bathtub with the ex husband and a bunch of smelly dogs. And for HOW LONG?  Did I have enough water to flush the toilets? The Donner Trail Party back in 1847, cannibalism and why didn't I make booties for my dogs feet to walk through broken glass~ dominated my thoughts. What would all of my guests do that were visiting from other states do? How would they get home? And the first order of my newly edited book that was FINALLY done right- was never going to be delivered because the mailman surely wasn't going to show up! The highlighted moment I will never forget was when Kim got into her car and found a Kane spider the size of a salad plate looking her straight in the eye on her dash board. She laughed thinking I placed a FAKE spider- there as a joke. I denied it profusely as I carefully attempted to remove it from the vehicle. Thank God my ex was there to save the day and supposedly grab it with a towel and fling it out into the yard. Or so he absolutely swore. He admitted later on that he really never caught it but he was certain it crawled out of the car on the other side of the passengers door. Another good moment was when I had the sense to re-order the zipping tour and I was laughing my head off flying head first into extreme darkness on  the night time zip tour with Rylan, Pearl and of course-the ex.  Kimberly gracefully bowed out of that one due to her lack of interest of jumping off of anything unless forced with a gun to her head. 
The storms passed. We had one down pour of rain.  And now Kim is gone. Lessons learned: Don't turn on the news for proper information. They get paid to scare the crap out of us and they get paid well. Just follow the forecast on the NOAA website for accurate updates. Don't cancel your tours until the vendors cancel them for you and they will call you when and if this should occur. Don't waste precious time you have set aside with your loved ones even under pressure. Life is too short to miss out on the moments and memories anticipated and missed~ all for nothing. And never-EVER-take your teenagers out for driving lessons with your best friend. Kimberly Ann Green? I love you and will cherish this last trip we had together this summer. The memories? Priceless. Thank you for still talking to me after you for spent thousands of dollars and traveled thousands of miles to come and visit me. If thats not my best friend than I don't know what is. ​








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