Another day in paradise, another 10 mile morning run. By the dawn’s early light, the cloud cover had improved markedly and sunrise itself proved to be all that I hope for in a Kauai morning. I even texted a photo to Mom from the road to ask if she was seeing it. She was.
Not wanting to waste the opportunity sunny skies were giving us, and anticipating the worst due to forecasts calling for all-day rain, we loaded up the car and drove to Spouting… Horn that is. Legend tells that a lizard guarded the area before a plucky youth challenged the creature for the right to fish off shore. The lizard was not pleased… and in a quick battle, the youth stuck the mystical beast with his spear. He dove into the water, the lizard in hot pursuit. But the youth was clever and swam through a lava tube… a lava tube that narrowed and as the lizard chased the boy, it wedged itself inside the lava tube. To this day, you can hear the roar of the lizard and the huffing and puffing its breathing at the Spouting Horn.
The blowhole’s sound is something out of 1987’s The Princess Bride Fire Swamp. It signals the water is about to blow… and it happens in a not-entirely rhythmic but very quick cycle. We snapped a few pics of the lizard’s breath and it was FAR easier than trying to capture the geyser at Geysir.
From there we drove out to Waimea Canyon, stopping along the way for a few overlook snapshots.
Waimea Canyon is billed as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. I’ve only ever seen the Grand Canyon proper from 30,000+ feet in the air and just haven’t made it out to the national park. It’s on my list, and it’s one of the few things on Mom’s list that when she saw felt lived up to the hype (The Eiffel Tower and Alaska are two others). So I can’t say if it’s better or worse than Arizona’s Grand Canyon; I can steal a Facebook posting line from Mom and say it seems pretty grand to me.
We detoured to lunch at my insistence at Da Booze Shop. It must have come under new ownership as it was now seemingly called Da No Booze Shop, a red “Ghosbusters” style “No” symbol encircling the word “booze.” So although that was a bit of a literal buzzkill, the food was pretty good.
As the sun was still with us, we opted to spend an hour at the Salt Pond Beach just off the main highway. It was a delightfully secluded and beautiful spot… although that seems to be more the norm than the exception when talking about Kauai.
The Marathon Expo itself was low-key, especially given all the worries over Hurricane Lester. I would find later on the Kauai Marathon Facebook Page this reassuring post:
So it certainly looks like although there may be a bit of wind and precipitation on Sunday, the marathon is a go. I’m ready to run. Bibbed and psyched for a few more miles in paradise.
After all, this day that was forecast to be rain, rain, and more rain, turned out to be sun, sand, surf, and succor for the soul.