[Kauai TR] The First Three Days: Travel and Working Along Hanalei Bay

Pictures from the first three days of the trip can be found in the gallery.

Wow! What a week! My plane took off from DIA around 10am on Monday morning (Feb 19). It was fun flying out with all of my co-workers. Even though the first flight was a bit too roller-coaster-y for my tastes, the mood in the planes was festive and excited.

We landed in Kauai at around 6pm local time that evening. There’s something so wonderful about stepping off a plane into a warm, breezy, tropical atmosphere. The airport was basically outdoors, with three of the four walls open to the breeze, and the sound of palm trees swaying and roosters crowing filled the air.

It was wonderful to be in the warmth and sun of the islands. But my conference was three days long, and located on the rainy north shore. I soon learned that tropical rain storms are great! One minute the sun is beating down, the next the heavens open up and water simply pours out. Then, a few minutes later, the sun is out again, and there is almost always a rainbow.

We worked hard for those three days. I got great input on my masters project, and a serious learning experience as I presented it to the group. I met people from all over the world who were working on similar topics as I was, and I volunteered for more work than I probably should have. The group in general made great progress, as people seemed excited to be here, excited about their past work, and excited about all future prospects. Except, perhaps, whether you can call a 17km-grid model a true Cloud Resolving Model. Probably not.

I was so busy that I only got about an hour one day to go down to the beach and take pictures of the beautiful Hanalei Bay. While we had a great view from the conference room, I was in Kauai for two days before I was able to actually touch the water. And even then, it was just a little bit of wading, as I had to go back in for more work soon. But the Bay was incredibly beautiful. With huge waterfalls in the distance, surfers, boogie boarders, and snorklers peppering the water, and such warm water and sun!

Even though it rained every day, there was some sun every day too, and a very productive conference. Definitely a great place to be and to work.