We were a little sad to leave Lihue this morning because we are that much closer to the end of our vacation. Today was an exploration day, with just a few planned stops, and the rest as time and interest allowed. First we stopped at the Red Hibiscus gift shop and found two dresses for the price one would have been at Hilo Hattie. The owner was very sweet and personable, and she gave us some free gifts for shopping there. We did go back to Hattie’s for a few things we’d slept on and then headed north along the Eastern shore. The first stop was Wailua Falls. It was out of the way on some narrow twisting roads (nothing nearly as bad as the Polihale Road), but when we got there, a bottleneck of tourists made it hard to find a place to park. We took our pictures quickly to make room for other people coming in to the site. The next stop was Opaeka’a Falls. This site was far easier to get to and was arguably more impressive except for how far away the double waterfalls were. While at both of these sites, we saw people flying drones even though they are expressly forbidden. It just annoyed us that they apparently thought the rules didn’t apply to them. We decided to check out one of the beaches on the Eastern shore, and the nearest one was Anahola Beach. It was dirtier than a lot of the beaches we’d seen, but it did have some beautiful views. But it was also here that we saw traces of Hawaii’s homeless problem. A makeshift shelter of palm leaves and grasses reminded us of the vast income inequality in the state, where astronomical property values have priced many people out of their homes. It was getting to be lunch time, so we got a pizza from the North Shore General Store to take to a nearby beach for a picnic. Anini Beach was very crowded, but we were able to find a picnic table under a shelter. A man and woman were already at another table, and the longer we sat there, the more I gathered from their conversation that they were among the beach dwelling homeless population. As we finished lunch, a couple of other men came up, and judging by the size of the thing in one man’s hand, they were smoking pot. It was a good thing we left when we did. From there we backtracked to the Kilauea Lighthouse and National Wildlife Refuge. This was the highlight of the day, because not only did we see thousands of birds roosting on the cliffs and the awe inspiring crash of the most powerful waves we’ve seen, but we also were able to see several humpback whales surfacing in the distance. My phone camera was not powerful enough to catch the breaches, but Jeff got some pretty good shots with his camera. I kept thinking of Scotty’s line in Star Trek IV, “Admiral, there be whales here!” I could understand his excitement because every time I saw a whale come up out of the water, I half gasped and half laughed, I was so giddy. It was getting close to 4:00, which was when the refuge closed and our room was supposed to be ready for check-in. We got the room through Airbnb, a first for us. Apparently, it’s a privately owned condo under the management of Hanalei Bay Resort. My impression of the place is that it’s for posh people, as is the whole town of Princeville. We got the room at a decent price, so I don’t mind so much sticking out as a normal person. I’m especially pleased with the view from our balcony. The mountains of the Napoli Coast rise up, crowned with mist, and while Jeff went to the grocery store for our supper and breakfast, I sat outside and took pictures every few minutes as the light of the sunset changed. While we ate supper outside, I wondered aloud at the name of the color reflecting on the clouds. Jeff didn’t know, and I said my daddy would know. And then, unexpectedly, I started to cry at the idea that Daddy didn’t get to turn his artist eyes on all the beauty around us. After supper, I was too worn out to go down to the beach, so while Jeff went down for some sunset pictures, I worked on laundry so we’ll have clean clothes the rest of the week. Tonight we will pack everything to be ready for our flight. We will need to leave Princeville by 6:00 a.m. to return our rental car and make the flight to Maui, where I hope to find as much beauty as I have found on Kauai.