Storm Warnings

    A huge storm has stationed itself off the smaller Hawaiian islands - particularly Kauai.  Some areas got over 14 inches of rain TODAY.  We got about 7 here.  This morning it was not raining when we got up and the sky was a bit blue here and there.  We decided to drive to the northeast side of the island to the Kilauea Lighthouse.  The northeast is the wetter part of the island, but it wasn't raining when we left.

    As old scout leaders we were prepared with fleece shirts and good raincoats.  The road started out wet with standing water in low areas.   By the time we had gone ten miles it was raining heavily and we could see water standing in parking lots and filling up drainage ditches.  We kept on driving.  Soon with the wipers going full blast we could only see the white stripe along the road (when it wasn't covered with water).  We pulled over and watched huge brown waves break against the shore.  The run-off from the hills and overflow from the sewers has turned the water brown.
    The rain let up a tad so we drove on.  Water flowed across the road in more areas.  It rushed down the mountains in huge, red mud gushes.  And we drove on.  The wind started to blow harder - sometimes hard enough to blow the water back off the road.  And we drove on.  We turned towards the shore and drove out to the lighthouse point.  As we got out on the point the wind was gusting up to 50 MPH.  The lighthouse road was closed.  We parked and looked out across to the lighthouse.  Gigantic waves broke against the rocks.  Rick got out and found the rain and wind so powerful he couldn't see anything.
   We fought our way out of the car for a pit stop and tested the quality of our REI rainwear.  I turned up the heat in the car to dry us out a little as we drove "home."  The standing water was even deeper on the way back - often halfway up our hubcaps.  We returned to our resort to find that the wind and rain had moved into the south side of the island.  We spent the rest of the day tucked into our condo watching leaves and branches blow by.  Since most of the windows only have wooden shutters on them it is sort of dark in the unit.  No heat either and we are pretty damp.  But it is an adventure and we have lots of books, plenty of cable channels and we DID bring some warmer clothes.  I feel sorry for folks with only T-shirts and shorts.  In the mean time I am reading up on my history of Hawaii and learning about the Hawaiian alphabet (only 12 letters). We will see what tomorrow brings.