The plan was to meet my mom for her birthday in Kauai...at least that was the plan. Before we even left for the HK airport I knew the flight was going to be delayed. As soon as we arrived at the gate I reconfirmed how late and asked how many of the passengers would be connecting on to Honolulu - 46, a large number as it turns out and I was reassured by the gate agent that they would likely hold the plane for such a large group. When we arrived in Guam, the gate agent informed us that the Honolulu passengers (we!) missed the flight and would have to go wait in line to be accommodated on a later flight. We got put on a flight 6 hours later to Tokyo (um the opposite direction of Kauai and oh yeah, closer to where we started from than where we were trying to go), then another 5 hours waiting in Tokyo then finally on to Honolulu. We had a connecting flight on to Kauai which the Guam agent confirmed would connect with our Tokyo flight. After clearing customs and immigration in Honolulu we ran down to the inter island terminal to check in for our flight to find out that apparently United didn't actually confirm our seats and they were rereleased. To make matters worse, even at 7 am there were no seats out to Kauai all day October 12.. my mom's birthday! We then ran all the way back over to the other terminal for United to try and sort it out but the best they could do was to get us into Kauai on the 13th.
Making the most out of the hand we were dealt, we headed down to Waikiki and after checking in at the hotel (which we booked literally in the taxi as we left the airport!), did some shopping and scoping out all of the restaurant chains we miss. I found a 30 pound tiki statue that I was just barely able to fit in my bag and then we then headed to the mall for Melissa's turn to do some damage (which she did). Surprisingly the place we chose for dinner was PF Chang... most might thing we came all this way to have Chinese food, but they have American Chinese food, the type we grew up on.. and LOVE!
We took an early morning flight into Kauai. This was our first time into Kauai and I thought we were landing in Jurasic Park when we passed the Na Pali coast line... the first scene in the movie with the helicopter. The mountains push right up against the coast, so much so that there is no room for them to build a road!
Kauai is known as the garden isle, but it is know to locals as rooster island. There was a strong storm in the past that knocked over chicken coops and with no predators the wild chicken population has EXPLODED. They are everywhere, from the side of the road to your open air restaurant, and yes you will hear the roosters every sunrise. Hotel wake up call not needed. 
The next morning we went on a tour of the island starting with a stop at Kilauea Point. The government shutdown, made it all the way to Hawaii! As they charge an entrance fee, it would seem they were actually losing money by closing it down. I guess Obama succeeded by making the shutdown as painful as possible! Kind of surprised they didn't put spike strips and erect something to block the view from the road. Oh well, at least we got some good views from the parking lot. 
After driving around the windy coastal roads of Kauai, we were ready for lunch. We saw numerous advertisements for Shrimp Station and their "best on the island coconut shrimp", so we had to try it. Actually we had it twice while in Kauai (albeit 2 different locations), can't get enough of a good thing! There were even a handful of chickens roaming the restraunt looking for some table scraps. 
We did a 2nd day of driving making it around to the Na Pali coast. Driving down the coast from Princeville, an elevated road passes through a valley hillside of trees that look to be over a hundred years old and look very unique to the island, another reference to Jurassic Park.
After making our way to the other side of the island after passing through half a dozen sleepy Hawaiian towns, we finally arrived at the Waimea Canyon Lookout point. We have not made it to the Grand Canyon yet but this is what we imagine it looks like - but with a touch of green. A little further up the mountian was Kalalau lookout which offers a great aerial view of the Na Pali coast.
We saw a lot of shaved ice stands so Melissa had to relive her childhood days. They have the usual flavors such as pineapple and coconut but also have some strange ones like li hing mui and lilikoi. We were so intrigued by li hing mui we asked for a sample which Melissa and my mom testify was not that bad but nevertheless, Melissa ordered the traditional flavors. 
At my mom's time share there are gas grills for the guests to use and as this is one of the things I miss the most from back home, we picked up some fresh mahi mahi filets and some vegetables to get some grill time in. I am not sure what I enjoyed more though...grilling or the views just past the grill... absolutely PERFECT...and the food was good too!
After lunch we went on a walk around Princeville.
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