Local. Fresh. Free.

At the luau a couple nights ago we overheard couples talking in line about the excursions they had lined up for every day of the week.  At dinner, the couple across from us talked about the excursions in the same light, asking which day we were going on the ATV's and had we signed up for ziplining yet?  Don't get me wrong, the excursions are all tempting.  But they are 1.  uber expensive tourist traps and 2.  take up a good part of the day.  So we chose a couple and then left the rest of our days open to explore all that Kauai has to offer on our own.  In recent years, we have been proponents of Rick Steve's back door travel philosophy.  "Take the 'back door' and get to know people along the way."

So our morning started at a local coffee cart.  No running water, 1 man job, raw home-made almond milk.

We spent some time by the pool, then threw together a lunch salad with our farmer's market picks,

before heading to the Kauai Humane Society to pick up our dogs for the day.  They have an awesome volunteer program where you can take dogs on a "field trip" for the day.  Not only does this improve the quality of a shelter dog's life, but the dog wears an "adopt me" vest while it is out and about on the town; increasing its chances of being adopted.  We ended up taking a pair of sister Pit mixes out for the day; Cherry and Berry.   We took them hiking on the western side of the island at Waimea Canyon.

They were a wild but lovable bunch.  With a little work, it was easy to see that they would make a great pet.  Such a sweet pair of sisters.

After dropping the girls off at the shelter, swinging by our new favorite hangout, da crack for a bite to eat, we ended our day on the beach, as the sun was setting.  Total cost for the day... $25.  We got to see half of the island, meet locals, and eat fresh.