Day 3 - rain changes our plans

The day started promisingly with our first dose of sunshine in Princeville. After a somewhat leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and tropical fruit, we spent quality time planning with the guidebooks and more coffee. The website http://www.kauaiexplorer.com has daily updates of beach conditions. Today's report was that all of the beaches on our side of the island have high surf and dangerous currents. So it's off to the south end for snorkeling at Poipu Beach on the south end of Kauai. On the way, though, we can make a few stops - first is Anini Beach which is about 15 minutes from our condo. A reef protected sandy beach that looks like some that we saw many years ago in Tahiti. Further down the road is a botanical garden that supposedly is a must see. We'll see tomorrow.
The rain really kicked in hard as we stopped at the gardens, we're hoping for better conditions on Thursday. We rejoined the throng of travelers going up and down Hwy 56, the link between the North shore and Lihue. It was slow going. We stopped south of Lihue to eat the lunch we had packed and watched surfers while eating. Still raining. We continued further south, then saw the major shopping area of Kauai, so since it was still raining, we decided to look for more supplies and gifts. 2 hours later it was getting dark, so we bagged the beach idea until Friday.