July 11

Today was "driving day," which means we went from our roost on the south shore all the way up the eastern side of the island, and from the northeast all the way over to where the road ends on the northwest. (Got that?) Our first stop was the Kilauea lighthouse and wildlife preserve. The weather was, for the most part, really pleasant; it's been rainy during every other jaunt we've had to the north shore, so it was a nice change of pace. Abby was delighted to find that the albatross were still roosting (not really; she's scared of them) and was even more delighted to read about another kind of bird that lives on Kaua'i that has a seven-foot wingspan. (Again, not delighted.)

From there, we stopped in Hanalei (which, if you've never been, is kind of like Hawaii's Berkeley. Seriously. I couldn't get into the car to leave because the guy parked next to us had one shoeless, tanned foot sticking out of the driver's side door while he smoked his joint) with the intention of having Bubba's, but discovered upon arrival that said burger joint had closed down earlier this year. (It was a total bummer because it was how Adam had bribed burger-loving Abby into risking an encounter with her winged foes. Oops.) So we went across the street and had different (very, very salty) burgers instead, and the Little Boys encountered an extremely chatty little boy who was clearly very extroverted and looking to expand his social circle during his Hawai'i vacation. The boys weren't quite sure what to do with him.

Then it was off to the end of the road, where Ke'e Beach meets the stunningly beautiful NaPali Coast. (No exaggeration there.) We parked, then trekked down the beach a little ways past most of the sunners to an expanse of mostly unspoiled sand. We found a pair of rope swings and my compadres took turns swinging while I walked to the edge of the water with Lambie and wrote Logan's name in the sand. (It's something we do when we go to beaches. I haven't given the motivation much thought but I guess maybe it's our way of saying hi.)

By then it was already 4:30, so we headed back home. Traffic slowed things down quite a lot, but at least we had some beautiful scenery to study along the way. Then it was dinner at a nearby restaurant; my knees were sore from sitting still in the car, so after we ordered, I circled the shopping center, and every time I passed by our table, they made a show of waving at me. Har har. (Okay, so it was a little bit funny.)

Anyway, that's our day. It's always hard to choose photos for Driving Day because we saw so many beautiful things, so these are just a sampling. But wow, I have to tell you, God's creation is just incredible.