I've got a tip for you...

The fun part about serving people breakfast, is that they are usually hungry, and have exciting plans for the day. They wanted to know what there is to do here.

At the table, it's easy to get the newer guests involved in conversation, if we can get the earlier guests to tell them what they liked about their adventures on the island. Then, people hang around and drink more coffee, and "talk story" (as the Hawaiians say). Bob was so good at enticing people to go see the Dry Caves or the Wet Caves, or to try snorkeling at Tunnels Beach, or taking the long drive to Waimea Canyon.

When Malcolm and Connie came from Canada, they wanted to try everything, but especially the Kalalau Trail which they had read about. Connie was in shape for the rough hike, as she usually walked 6 miles to catch a bus to work, then 6 more miles at the end of the day to get home. Malcolm looked to be in pretty good shape, too.

The morning they left to drive to the end of the island and begin their hike, we fed them the nutricious brown rice cereal with all kinds of goodies to heap on it for breakfast. When they came back in the early evening, they were splattered with red mud, and Malcolm's legs were so shakey from the difficult descent, that he immediately went to soak in a hot tub. He told us the next day, that nothing could have prepared him for that rough trail.

In about 1998, when we were 70, Bob and I hiked up 2 miles of that trail, and found out what he meant. It wasn't a hike up an easy trail, it was like a steep rocky staircase, all the way to where you can see the Na Pali Coast, jutting out into the ocean. Wow, what a view. It was worth the work.

When Malcolm and Connie left for home, we found a $20.00 bill on the dresser with a note of appreciation.

Our first tip ever.