Well, today is my last day in Kauai and I must say, I'm pretty sad about it. I've had an absolutely great time here on the Garden Island. It was the perfect combination of thrilling adventure and laid back restfulness that I wanted. Yesterday Jessica and I went to a local beach (I can't remember the name off hand....starts with a K....everything seems to start with a k here :)) It was beautiful. I asked Jess if she wanted to swim out to this rock with me....thinking her answer would be that of many of my friends when I ask them to do something such as this...,"heck no" "that's stupid" "go for it- but don't come crying to me when a shark bites off your leg" you know, the usual responses....but she surprised me and said "sure"! So we took two boogie boards and started out...not really going at a very fast pace, but still making progress. We were pretty far out...just floating in the middle of the Pacific....I think we were both thinking we should turn back....just feeling a little uneasy...out of our element...but my stuborness kept me from saying anything...I forced Jessica to make the call....She wisely said we should head back...I agreed. When we got back to the beach, one of the locals (who ironically was the pineapple farmer I met at the market..small world), told us we probably shouldn't have been out so far with our black-bottomed boogie boards because the tiger sharks he often sees swimming right where we were, would mistake us for sea turtles and eat us for lunch...well, he didn't say that last part, but that's what he meant. So I guess we lucked out....oh, and Jessica nearly ate a gecko that was sitting in her brownie batter..on her spoon...it was a pretty stressful day! :)

Side note- met up with friends Tiffany and Adrian at Tahit Nue last night- we talked "teacher" with them- They were super fun.

Today has been uneventful- morning yoga, packing, and laying in the hammock, reading, with a purring cat on my lap....not a bad day so far.

Stay tuned for my next posts though...we're heading to Maui today and staying in a hostel that may or may not be a little shady...keep your fingers crossed...I'm sort of nervous...Should be an experience either way.

Pics are of the lighthouse here in town and some more flowers for battles to identify for me.