Wintertime Deals to Kauai

OK friends, time to start surfing the web to score some of the insane flight deals to Kauai. At last glance on both www.travelzoo.com and www.beatofhawaii.com, I saw round trip flights to Hawaii hovering around $300.

Get your flights now! They'll go fast.

Kokee blaze mostly contained

A brush fire torched 10 acres of Kokee forest in the Waimea Canyon State Park this weekend. As of Sunday morning, the blaze was 75 percent contained, with a few hot spots still burning. The fire started along Makaha Ridge Road and has burned over 2 miles of pine forest. Though it threatened a few cabins, no one had to be evacuated.

For more information, click here.

Great Destinations Kauai review

Just wanted to share my recent interview and book review. To read it, click here.

Kauai Inns Offer the True Spirit of Aloha

For those of you interested in finding an authentic Kauai lodging experience, click here.

A Shameless Plug for a New Book

OK, so I know I am supposed to be writing about Kauai here, but I couldn't help letting you know about my new book.

Looking for summer road trip ideas? Romantic getaways? Family friendly getaways? Campsites, gourmet taco trucks, hikes and hidden mountain towns? My new guidebook Northern California: An Explorer's Guide addresses the need for honest coverage of California's most beautiful landscape from a local perspective. The book covers the region from Big Sur to Yosemite, all the way up to the Oregon border, including hidden gems like Dunsmuir, Gualala, Shelter Cove and Twain Harte, not to mention Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Wine Country and the redwoods.

For more information, click here.

Facing death makes life sweeter

Eddie, Kai and I recently faced death, again...here's a link to what happened.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-6346-Northern-California-Getaways-Examiner~y2009m4d22-Facing-death-makes-life-sweeter

Polihale State Park--Why Locals Love It

Imagine a bumpy potholed road, 5 miles long that breaks rental cars that merely think about the trip. Throw in 15 miles of white sand that stretches to the western edge of the Na Pali Coast, free camping, intense surf, and even a mellow sheltered reef for keikis. Oh, and did I mention that it is almost always sunny and is Kauai's best place to watch the sunset?

Now you know why locals are volunteering to help rebuild a washed out bridge that leads to this magnificent beach. Wouldn't you?

Polihale may open up again sooner than you know it, thanks to the Kauai community.