Rodney & Sheryl's Travels

Sunday, January 14, 2024

1/14 Oahu (Honolulu), Hawaii

Our next stop was Honolulu. Although this is one of our favorite places, we didn't really do much as we only had a few hours here. We did get some shopping for essentials that we hadn't been able to pack for our trip done at the Hale Koa Exchange and Ala Moana Center. We had hoped to have lunch at our favorite restaurant in Honolulu - Bubba Gumps (yes, there are much better ones in Honolulu, but Bubba Gumps is a special place for us). Sadly, they had gone out of business there :-(. We did find a great upper-scale food court where we enjoyed an amazing burger and onion rings, and they were televising the final Dallas Cowboys playoff game - yes, we left before the painful ending. But we acquired everything we needed to continue our trip and had an awesome day!

Banyon Tree at the Hale Koa

Honolulu Clock Tower

Harbor view from our verandah

Cargo ship leaving port

Honolulu skyline

Saturday, January 13, 2024

1/13 Nawiliwili (Kauai), Hawaii

After five (two of which were VERY rough) days at sea, we were very happy to be back on land! Had a great tour to the Kilohana Plantation where we boarded an open air train to ride through the plantation. The train took us through stands of original island crops like sugarcane and taro, as well as groves of mango, banana, papaya, pineapple, and experimental plantings of longan, cashew, hybrid mango, noni, and atamoya. The best part was stopping to feed the pigs, goats, sheep, horses and "Stiney", their very friendly donkey - all rescue animals. At the end of the tour, we were treated with beautiful music, hula dancing and Koloa Rum Mai Tais. Beautiful day and great tour!

Sailing in to Nawiliwili port

Rodney on our verandah

Boarding the train

Driving through the plantation

Driving through the plantation - Red Bull
(yes, that is his name - he has been there since being rescued as a small calf)

Driving through the plantation - feeding the animals

Entertainment

Sunday, January 7, 2024

1/7 Santa Barbara, California

In our first port of call, we chose a walking tour of the city. We saw the Old Mission Santa Barbara, the Santa Barbara County Courthouse (hailed as "the most beautiful courthouse in America" according to our guide), and walked through the streets of the city. Santa Barbara is a beautiful little college town along the Pacific Ocean backed by the soaring Santa Ynez Mountains.