Thursday was our last day in Hawaii 😦 As usual we were booked. First, we did a kayak and snorkel tour through Holokai Kayak & Snorkel Adventures on the windward side of the island. We were supposed to go to Gilligan’s Island, but alas, we ended up shipwrecked on Horseshoe Reef because there is construction around Gilligan’s (Coconut) Island and it kicked up silt so the visibility was bad.  We got towed part of the

way out to the reef and then paddled the rest of the way. Apparently, Steven and I are speed demons because we were first to the boat. After my initial reluctance to get into cold water (not cold for normal people–about 71 degrees–but cold for me) we snorkeled around the reef with Kevin from the tour group as our guide. The coral and fish are beautiful. Some of us saw a turtle, but we did not. That’s OK, we saw them during our Scuba trip.

On the way back, we learned what “windward” means when the gusts picked up. Kevin towed us to a spot where we could paddle downwind. It was like a water roller-coaster –thank you scopalamine patch. Once again, Steven and I beat the crowd back to our launch site at He’eia State Park, where we had a barbecue lunch (I had chicken, ribs & corn -yum!).  They even had a veggie burger for me. Yay!

After the trip, we did spend about an hour chilling in the hotel (no, really, we did).  Then it was off to Moku Kitchen to see our new friends Dominic and Mo, whom we met at Opal Thai and happen to work at the restaurant where my cousin made reservations. Mo made us some off-the-menu delicious drinks (Great drinks – no idea what they were) and Dominic was very hospitable. They are just two really good guys. I hadn’t really spent any time with Carol, as she was born around the time I graduated from college (boy, am I old –35!), so that was great too. You can never have too much family (that lives in Honolulu). Oh yes, the food at Moku was delicious. Fresh fish cooked to perfection. Not that Steven would know since he doesn’t eat fish. I had pepper steak – it was great!

Oh, I almost forgot: We made it to the beach. Kind of. We stepped on the sand at the beach right outside our hotel. Can’t go to Hawaii without hitting the beach.  Cool thing about Hawaii – all the beaches are public and they have lots of access paths, so you can always stroll along the beach.