Kauai

One week in Kauai is not long enough. :-)

Wild pigs on our tain ride.The baby was one week old and cute as could be.
Miles feeing the birds.

My buddy. I miss my little bird.

A rainbow.

The Hartes.

Since I can’t go to Egypt, this was the next best thing. lol

Queen's Bath.

It was this great pool of water with fish in it. I finally got to swim that day, but my incision still got wet. I was worried.

Relaxing at the Condo.

Hummmmmm........What's going on here?

Jen setting the pace.

Miles wondering what we are all doing.

Go Stevie Go!

My first time in a helicopter.

What a view!

It was so much fun to see everything.

Have you ever seen Jurassic Park? Remember the waterfall they fly over to and land? Yep, that’s the one.

Having a blast.

Everything is so pretty.

What's a morning without sharing breakfast with friends?

Blow hole.

One 5 gallon bucket of this dirt will dye 500 shirts red. "Red Dirt Shirt Company"

Why did the chicken cross the road? So Stevie wont run it over.

Chickens are all over the island. They don't know when to crow. They do it all the time. Good luck sleeping past 6:00AM.

Just us ladies.

A hug of support after limping all over the island.

You should see it in person. It's wonderful!

It was so pretty there.

Oh come on. You can't be suprised. Yes, bikes!

Just one of the many falls that are all over the island. I loved the birds that were flying all around it.

There were rowing races taking place that day.

Dave having some fun.

Wet cave.

I could look at that view all day.

View from the condo.

We are lucky to have such wonderful friends as Dave and Stevie Harte. They own a time share condo in Kauai and asked if we wanted to join them on their trip. How could we pass that up? Kauai and good friends, you bet!

(We met Dave through our riding club. He is an amazingly fast and smooth rider. I think he was born with riding gloves on. I don't know why he even owns a car. Then I met his wife and knew she was one of a kind and would be a good friend. )
I have been to Maui once so this was going to be my second time to the islands and first time to Kauai. I loved it. I loved all the waterfalls. Did you know that Kauai is the wettest place on earth? Well, the top of a mountain is. It rains an average of 340 days a year up there. This makes for a lush jungle and lots of waterfalls. There was only one down side. My foot is not healed yet and I was banded from the water p/doctors orders. He said it could get infected. That’s all I need. I tried water proof band-aids, but they did not work. I did go in Queen’s Bath for a swim. How could I go all that way and not go in the water? I was really sad I could not snorkel. I wanted to, but I struggled with the thought of messing up my foot and delaying the healing process even longer. Dave and Stevie were great about taking that into consideration. They gave us a great tour of the island. It was really nice. Miles thought it would be great to take a helicopter tour as well. I have always wanted to go in a helicopter. I was amazing. The pilot said it was one of the best days all year to fly. We went into a volcano that they never get to go into due to rain and turbulence. I smile just thinking about the flight. I want to do that again.
It was fun to spend time with Dave and Stevie. They are a great couple to go on a trip with. Their daughter Jen was there also. She was nice, and a pleasure to meet. The trip consisted of tours, good food, games, beaches, waterfalls, shopping, feeding birds, a helicopter ride, a train ride, and lots of Mai Ties. There was one day that it rained and rained. We all braved the elements and drove all over. We even got stuck for over 2 hours waiting for a flooded road to open back up so we could get home. I can’t wait to go back so I can snorkel. It looked like a great place. Tunnels Beach is calling my name.

-----------------> More pictures of the trip.

My Thoughts Today.

Italy on my mind.

I put this picture as my desk top for my computer. It's so pretty.
I wish people made things like that still.

Always amazing to look at. Takes my breath away.

I find that my mind wonders back to Italy often. I find that I think not only of my trip, but of all the things that have taken place there in the past. What were the Romans like? How did they build the things they did? Aqueducts alone blow me away. To be able to master building one that is on the slightest slope to send water perfectly to the people and fountains of a great community. It’s staggering. I am making dinner for myself tonight and I thought I would get some basil from my garden to put in my pasta. I understand now why I like to garden. It’s in my blood. I saw garden after garden as I went train to train traveling around Italy. This also got me thinking about the great food of Italy. I liked every meal I had. Why does it taste so much better there? Is it the cooks that prepared it, the water, or the soil the ingredients are grown in? Why on earth do we not have the pastries that they make, here in the US? Why oh why don’t we have gelato. Oh sure, I have been to one here in the LA area, but really, it’s not the same.
I long to go back and see more. Not only what I have yet to see, but the things that I have already seen. I hate that I rushed through Lucca. I would like to stay there a little longer to see more things. I have two memorial cards from family members that are buried in Bagni Di Lucca, Monti Di Villa. I would like to find them and also go back to Riolo to see if I can find my family members. I wish I could find them. I know I have many out there. Maybe one day.
Italy has become part of my soul.

Stitches and Seca (AKA MotoGP)

Let’s start with stitches. I believe it was June 18th that I had a second surgery to try to correct my big toe tendon. It was stuck in scar tissue so my big toe would not move. I was told I needed it done right away so off I went once again for surgery on my foot. I was not happy about it since I had just gone to Italy and walked around all over. I was feeling a little like my old self. I had also waited about a month to get my Aprilia SXV supermoto and it came in two days before surgery. That only gave me one day to try to ride it before I was down and out again. My one day ride was very short, rusty and slow, but nice. Surgery was a little more than I thought. My doctor cut open my foot where one of my original scars were. He also cut open my big toe joint to cut into some capsule. That left me in a cast for a week.
I got my stitches out just in time to go to Laguna Seca for the races. I was going to be able to ride to the track and bike night. I was really happy. That is until I got on the bike and went all of a mile to Cannery Row. The incision on the ball of the big toe is right were you shift. Yep…… I shifted and ripped that one inch incision open to the tendon. There it was moving back and forth. I spent the rest of the weekend riding in and out of the track and walking around all day with my foot open in that area. I tried to cover it, but it was not working. The pain of shifting was less than fun. It would distract with me with the pain. Not a good thing since I have been off a bike for 7 months, on a new bike that feels different and only thinking about how bad my foot must be in my shoe. I will go to my doctors tomorrow to get it looked at. It just finally closed a little today, almost a week after it was split open. Dang foot it really making me unhappy. I hope this is the last of it and I can work on getting better. (To make it that much better I am going to Hawaii in a week and will go nuts if I can’t snorkel)
Seca!
I love going to Monterey. I look forward to it each year. This year even more since I have been so distant from bikes and fun. I love the bike night for all the bikes and people. It’s cool to see so many people on bikes and the plated ones that no one sees on the street. I was also looking forward to riding finally. The open incision was a big bummer but the rest was very nice. Pebble Beach for lunch and 17 mile drive was very nice. Seeing the riders, and the races were fun. I also like the landscape. I saw some hill sides that reminded me of Italy. It was cool. Enjoy the pictures of my trip.

Click here for all my pictures from the trip.