Last Hurrah in Kauai

With LP's upcoming arrival we wanted to visit to an outer island one last time, which we did in December.  Since we had an incredible visit to Kauai in 2011 (see our posts on visiting different waterfalls, Waimea Canyon and Kalalau Trail hiking, Wailua River kayaking, and a Zodiac tour along the Na Pali coast), we decided to return to the island for a relaxing weekend and light exploring of Waimea Canyon.

We decided to stay at the Barking Sands Cottages again since really enjoyed its remoteness.  As we were approaching the Pacific Missile Range Facility (home of the Barking Sands Cottages), we again saw horses parked on the side of the road.  Since our first visit we learned that the horses are used for hunting and are kept by the side of the road so they can eat the grass and drink water from the provided barrels.  We pulled over and one horse stuck her head into our car.

This time our cabin wasn't directly on the beach but we still had a good ocean view from the lanai and even saw some whales' water plumes.

We went for a walk along the beach and there wasn't a single person in sight

However, we did see cardinals

and wild flowers

The ocean was too rough to go swimming, so A only went for a quick dip.

and we ended up playing and reading on the sand

and watched a gorgeous sunset