6 Days of Bonding

Emily met Laura and visited Catalina Island off the coast of California for 6 days and 5 nights, so Maddie and I were on our own. As opposed to some fathers who would hunker down in front of the TV, order pizza and just wait out the "misery", I saw an opportunity to do some new things and have a good time. I'll say this, the kid sure does sleep well when you tire her out during the day.

Sunday was spent biking along the coastline path near Kapaa with a small sidetrip to a fairly secluded beach for lunch. Maddie had her first short mountain-biking experience on the trail down to the beach. She enjoyed playing with some of the old fishing net floats that had washed up on the beach and even got to swing on one that was tied into a tree. This is basically what hanging out with your dad is all about - doing things that Mom wouldn't let you do. After an afternoon of fun, Maddie napped, I made dinner and prepared for the next day's escape to Kokee cabins.

The next morning we packed up and drove up the canyon road to Kokee, where we got an early check in at the legendary and dreaded Kokee cabins. I say this because these cabins are not well regarded by many, so we'll call them rustic. Considering our experience 4 years ago on Maui at Waianapanapa cabins, which I would classify as hellish, I was hesitant to give the state park system another chance. I guess I was pleasantly surprised since my expectations were so low. It was by no means luxurious living, but it was reasonably clean with a functional bathroom and kitchen. A small woodburning stove was present to provide heat during the cool evenings so I couldn't complain. In a good mood, we walked from the cabins to the Nualolo trail and started hiking. I guess I underestimated the heat that day (it's been hot as hell with no breeze for a week) because I was struggling on the way back up the trail. I'd definitely rate it as one of, if not the hardest days of hiking with Maddie even though I've done this trail with her multiple times. I was thankful to get back to the cabin and grab a cold shower and cold beer. I'd say that it's rare that a cold shower would feel good in Kokee because it's generally quite cool and rainy there, but the hot weather had even filtered up into the mountains. Nonetheless, the evening was quite comfortable and enjoyable.

Wearing the heavy PJs to protect against the cold

I dedicated Tuesday to doing whatever Maddie wanted to do while we stayed in Kokee. We did awesome stuff like feeding the chickens, playing in the rain, running around, climbing on and jumping off rocks, reading books and wandering around looking at flowers. We visited the Kalalau overlook at sunset an I took some surreal pictures of the military tracking station and the sky. A warm fire and bowl of chili with cornbread hit the spot on our return to the cabin.

We did a short hike across Waipo'o stream to view the waterfalls the next day and bid a fond farewell to the "not too shabby" rustic cabins of Kokee. We'll definitely visit again per Maddie's request. I got Maddie back home in time for a nap in her own bed while I unpacked and sweated. No breeze and plenty of heat that wouldn't break until 3 days later.

At Maddie's request (her vocabulary is both a blessing and occasionally a curse) we went to Baby Beach on the south shore where we took advantage of the calm water for Maddie to run and splash around. Maddie played with the water toys and learned the meaning of a new word (dizzy) while being spun around in her tube. The water was refreshing and leaving was depressing, because I knew we were returning to a home about the temperature of a blast furnace. I made dinner with minimal use of the oven or stove for fear that I would spontaneously combust from a core temperature that was too high.

The next morning we ate breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe and drove to the airport to pick up Mom. Of course, Maddie was excited, but I was still her favorite for a few days...until Grandma and Grandpa D showed up and quickly absconded with the title of "Maddie's Favorite". Oh well, I guess that's the nature of the child/parent/grandparent relationship.