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 I cannot stress the fact enough that the greatest benefit to my job is helping other people see Kauai for the first time through my eyes before they even get here. Most people and definitely- everyone I have worked with- wants to see in their mind-how their plans are all going to fall together and what that is going to look like. How are they going to make it all work with the little time they have here-with so many things they want to do and see but still keep that feeling that they are not "locked down" to a schedule to the point where they need a vacation after their vacation. That's where I swoop in and take the reins. I traveled a great deal of the world before I settled down on Kauai and know first hand what its like to not know your way around. That was actually part of the thrill back in the day when I had no kids and so much more time on my hands. But that was then and this is now. Kauai is so small but there are so many exciting places to explore that you could never get it all done in a week or 10 days. The first thing I try to do is get the list of wants and needs from the visitor and take it from there. That includes time, budget & level of excitement & adventure the visitors want. Some want to fly hands free- head first- on the longest and highest zip lines in the dark and some want to enjoy a romantic sunset on a boat- being served steak and cocktails watching dolphins and whales jump in and out of the water with their loved ones. Either way or all of the above-there is nothing that compares to the majestic setting you will experience here. Actually booking the tours is how I make my living but the rewards I receive far surpass the paycheck when it comes to the letters and photos I get from the guests I work with year after year. Many of whom are repeat visitors and it's my job to keep it "fresh" all though often times people want to do the same tours over again because they were so much fun especially visiting the Na Pali Coast! And there are so many ways to do that. But the best reason I love my job so much is because I get to experience Kauai through a new set of eyes over and over again which allows me to stay in an excited frame of mind for everyone! So THANK YOU to ALL of my guests for the privilege of serving you, your families & friends and helping me keep it fresh!!!!
 Kauai is a really lay back and you don't have to bring much when visiting here. The essentials include a bathing suit, flip flops commonly referred to as "slippers," a pair of closed toed shoes or sturdy Teva type sandals that cover your toes, that you can get wet & muddy and a sweater, light jacket or sweatshirt. As for dinners out casual island wear is all that is required. Pack light and mix & match. There's no reason to drag around a huge suitcase because you most likely will find yourself wearing the same thing over & over once you "find your happy," which won't take long here. If you are coming on your honeymoon or to celebrate an anniversary and are hoping for romance, you won't have to look far to find it. But keep in mind, what you are wearing won't matter a bit. Leave the worries of the everyday hustle and bustle behind & clean the slate. How you feel on the inside will illuminate from the inside- out.
  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.  Aloha Kauai By Stephanie website visitor's!! This is an official tribute to my very best friend Kimberly Green who actually built this website for me in April. It literally took all day -every day- to get it done and she worked until the wee hours into the night-with me on the phone passing out (she was doing all of the work and I thought I was going to die of exhaustion.) She is 3 hours ahead of me in the California time zone (thats what I get for living the layback life on Kauai :))) Some people our age have stretch marks and wrinkles but we now both share permanent skid marks from this past month. (See photo) that we took in the 4th grade-that's right! -In one of those little photo booths at the Topanga mall in the San Fernando Valley-so many, many moons ago. There was no internet-no cell phones-no MTV...I am a very lucky person to have shared the things that young girls did in those days with her-such as horseback riding BARE BACK and bare foot...making Toll House chocolate chip cookies BY SCRATCH-every Friday night, riding our bikes to the Alta Dena Dairy for afternoon snacks, swimming for hours on end in Kim's pool, lugging around pillow cases till after mid-night trick or treating on Halloween-and we never came home until they were FULL! Spending the rest of the night sorting them out and trading out our favorite candies until our eyes were rolling back into our heads-half dead asleep. Carol King and Steely Dan on the old record player her mother had in it's large free standing wooden casing in the bar on the side of the living room-watching scary movies and scaring the hell out of ourselves. In our teens it was endless summers- with frizzy perms, baby oil and sun burned noses-hoofing it to concerts and beach parties, refusing to eat meat. We cheated death in our 20's and survived college, Hollywood, crappy cars, The Beatles and lots of love come and gone. In our 30's we shared the joy of still looking good, birthing and raising our daughters and a lot of moving around. In our 40's we survived spousal corruption and cancer as we stepped into the women we are today-owning up to our true selves and as the river rolls on- we hold on tight to each other through the devastation of dear friends and family passed on. How could I ever thank someone like Kim who has been there through my best of times and my darkest hours. My only gripe is I can never get away with anything with her because she knows me better than anyone. Kimberly Ann Green? As we spiral into our sunset years, clinging to our precious memories, please stop me if I demand to start wearing pastel colored polyester coordinates, feverishly lick sherbet ice-cream cones, and drive recklessly near golf course cliffs in my Hoveround wheel chair. Thank you for who you are and all you have done for me. I will never be as funny and smart as you are. You should have dumped me years ago. xoxoxoxoxo I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! HF1 and EF2 Forever!!!!!!!!
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