Hawaii Vacation

**Our anniversary is not actually until the end of July, we just thought it would be easier for everyone else while kids were in school**

To celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary Will and I went for a week vacation to Kauai, "The Garden Island" of Hawaii. I really didn't know anything about Hawaii before this trip. Will wanted to go, but we didn't have a clue which island to go to. My dad could get us a timeshare on Kauai so we just went with that. Well, it turned out to be the perfect island for us. It wasn't crowded with a ton of other tourists, and it wasn't overly commercialized. I say that because while their main industry is tourism, it wasn't too obvious, and we didn't have to rely on tourist attractions to enjoy ourselves. We absolutely loved it! I think we explored this island in every possible way we could!!

Will hangin' loose with the Jeep...I think to rent a Jeep is to say "I'm a tourist", but we had fun! :)

Sunday

The first thing we wanted to do when we got there was the helicopter ride! Neither of us had ever been in a helicopter and that was the best way to see a lot of the island. The 360's were awesome, and the scenery was breathtaking!!! I just kept thinking "Wow, we have such an incredibly creative Creator". We had church in a helicopter :) It only made me want to see more, more of His creation, more of His people!! I can't get enough of visiting different places and cultures!!! We tried to take pictures while in the helicopter, but when I looked through them they were just disappointing. So here we are in front of the helicopter.

We also found Wailua Falls...they said it was in the opening of "Fantasy Island"?

Monday

We woke up early, thanks to the "eastern standard time roosters", and went for a run. Here are some views from the trail!







We scheduled a catamaran ride in the afternoon and on our way down we stopped by the Kauai coffee plantation.

Will: Mmm, I like this one, nice balance, not very acidic...
Saleslady: Wow, you know your coffee!
:)

"This is a coffee bush"

These are coffee beans :)

Okay, if you ever get to Kauai, the best way to see the Na Pali coast is from the water!! It was again AMAZING, some of the mountains are a mile above Pacific Ocean! If we had to pick either the boat or the helicopter, I would vote for the boat! We snorkeled off the boat, but I wouldn't do that again. We saw a better place for it (and it was free)!

Some friends swimming along with us. No, we did not get to snorkel with the dolphins :(

Not sure how we got the best seat to view this:

Na Pali Coast



Why can't we have water like this on the east coast??

Tuesday

In the morning, we sat through a timeshare presentation so that we could get discounts for the helicopter, catamaran, and the Luau. We were like steel and did not cave under the pressure, yes! We went to the Luau that night and we were not really impressed. It was very theatrical. I guess I was thinking it would be more authentic? I don't know, but we did eat pi pi's, pu pu's and poi! :)


Wednesday

When we were on the boat, we talked to some people that were staying with some "local's" (lucky). They told us that we had to go to this place called Queen's Baths. The resorts don't tell you about this place because they are not allowed to...

Scare tactics?

Stopped to take a self portrait on the treacherous path

There were a few baths, but this was by far the biggest and cleanest one. Many of them were shallow and had a lot of algae and big crabs scurrying around. At high tide the water washes into the bath, and apparently washes away people sometimes, this make me sad...we made sure to go early in the morning!!

I'm thankful we didn't get frightened away! This was one of my favorite things!!

After the baths we decided to drive down to Waimea Canyon, often called "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific", I think Mark Twain said that. Anyways, we stopped by Subway and brought lunch with us.

Sorry, it was definitely more spectacular than this!

Will eating his $5 foot long and thinking "I need a panoramic lens"

Thursday

We needed a little break. I took a class about how to make a basket out of coconut tree leaves at the resort and then we went to the beach.



Friday

We were torn between surf lessons and hiking up the Na Pali coast. We ended up choosing the hiking. I was a little scared because we don't hike a lot, and this seemed kind of "treacherous"! The Kalalau Trail goes for 11 miles along the Na Pali coast, but you need a permit to go beyond 2 miles. Once you get 2 miles, there is a trail that branches off from the main trail and goes to a waterfall, it's another 2 miles. Unfortunately, we were not prepared. We didn't have a back pack to put lunch and a ton of water in, so we just did the first 2 miles. My feet were thankful!

This was on our way, I thought it was a pretty beach with a neat tree

Up we go, can you see the people?

I feel like singing "Bali Ha'i may call you, any night, any day..."
(from South Pacific)

Will said "lean against that tree!" You can not tell how high up we are...very!!

More scare tactics...this time we listened, but only because we had to hike back and didn't want to be all wet and sandy! :)

The reward for hiking two treacherous miles? Another beautiful beach!

Saturday

We hung out at Hanalei Bay and read and swam...


That's about it, you know, in a nutshell! I just wanted to record this somewhere before I forgot! Oh, I forgot to mention my favorite thing about HI...NO SNAKES, except at the zoo in Honolulu! Least favorite thing...it takes way to long to get there and even longer to get back = major jet lag! And I'm not really done...there is obviously something missing from this post, but it will have to wait for now.