The Final Days

Are you tired from reading about our vacation?  Well, by Sunday, February 17, we were exhausted.  Which was great!  We had done pretty much everything we wanted to do and so for the last few days, we simply rested.  We stayed at the resort, enjoyed lounging in the sun, and sleeping in.  It was lovely.   We were starting to be ready to come home, so we just enjoyed some downtime before we knew we would be headed back to the real world.  We read books, sipped drinks by the pool, and watched television – a luxury we don’t have at home.  We made a few more trips to the beach near our resort and, of course, found a new friend.   This time Leonard was brave enough to hold him.

I am so glad that we went on this trip.  A lot of things had to fall into place for it to happen and I am so glad that they all worked out.  I am thankful to those who helped make it happen.   Here we are on our last day on the beach.

I love my husband and I am so glad we had that time to spend together.  He is funny, entertaining, and charming.  I am glad I had him to myself for the week…I feel very blessed to be his wife. 

Our return flight had a layover in San Jose.  It was a short stop and I am pretty sure that neither of us slept, so it was pointless to even get a hotel.  We made it home on Wednesday, February 20. Sara picked us up from the airport and we found Grandpa outside on the farm with the little girls.  The big kids were at school.  Miranda was thrilled to see us and show us how “big” she was now that she was 5!  Timberlyn, not so much.  She gave us the cold shoulder for a little while and even ran away from Leonard when she first saw him.  She wouldn’t snuggle with me,  she’d just look at me from across the room.  I think she may have been mad at us?!  It took her a couple hours before she warmed up to us and was freely coming up to me again.  Miranda was the exact opposite and couldn’t be more then 2 inches away from us all night long!!  The older kids were excited to see us when they got home from school and we were happy to be together again as a family.  I truly am blessed.

North Side–Hanakapi'ai Falls

Saturday took us to the north of the island.  Our river guide from our kayak adventure had told us about a hike that was along the Napali coast then went inland 2 miles to some awesome waterfalls.  This sounded like something we wanted to do, so that’s where we headed.   We stopped to see a look out that was recommended to us by the hotel concierge.  It was a beautiful view of the ocean and a lighthouse that is being renovated.  They let you walk through the lighthouse, but it was closed when we were there.  We were too early in the morning.  The view was still awesome.

Leonard almost hit one of these geese as we were driving.  Later we learned that they are endangered.  Good thing we didn’t hit one!

The north side of the island is completely different from the south.  The south had all the cliffs and canyons and red dirt everywhere – it is very much like a desert.  Yet only 50 miles away on the north side, the island is a tropical paradise with lush greenery everywhere.  Amazing.  We drove as far north as we could drive and that is where the trail started along the Napali coast that would take us to the water falls.    We started a little later then we planned but we were finally on the trail about 11:00 am.  The hike was two miles to the beach and then two more miles to the water fall.  The trail was rough.  It was very slippery and muddy, and if it wasn’t muddy, then you were simply climbing rocks that made up the trail.   We saw hikers of all types.  Some were running on the trail, some were creeping along, and some were even turning around.  This was one time that we were really glad that we didn’t have kids.   We made pretty good time going in.  The views were awesome as we hiked the coastline from above.

We made it to the “beach” in about an hour.  I was glad that this was not our destination.  I would have been disappointed.  The beach is pretty much non-existent in the winter.  The tide is so high, it was just rocks everywhere.   We had a granola bar, and kept on hiking.

The second part of the trail was good and bad.  There were fewer people on it, so that was good, but the trail was worse.  It was very muddy and slippery.   We passed some cool things along the way, however.  There were bamboo forests that sounded like old, creaking houses as we passed them. 

There were also some amazingly large trees.  This one is a mango tree, I think….

We could finally see our destination about an hour after we left the beach. 

About 10 minutes later we arrived at the water falls.  We had lunch and then Leonard took a swim.  After he got back, I got in for just a bit.  The water was cold, but you can’t hike all that way and NOT get in!  The pictures again, don’t show how awesome these 300 foot falls were.  We couldn’t get back far enough to get a good picture.  But I promise, they were amazing!

After our cold swim, we hiked the 4 miles back to our car.  I was exhausted after that.  It’s been a long time since I was on a hike – good thing we were at sea level! 

We made it to the start point of the hike about 5:00.  We soaked our feet in the ocean and I threw away my tennis shoes.  They were covered in red dirt mud and I didn’t want to take them in the car.  I had brought sandals so I just put my shoes in the garbage and walked away.  We went back to the hotel, changed our clothes and went out to dinner.  We went to a little café on the side of the road that we had heard about.  It’s called the Mermaid Café.  Leonard loved it – he ordered fish tacos.  It was pretty good – local food.  I was exhausted after our long day of hiking and we headed back to the resort.  We soaked in the hot tub a bit and then headed for bed.   Why does your bed feel so much better after a long, busy day? 

The South

For Friday and Saturday we rented a car again.  We ended up with a Ford Focus this time, which I was glad.  Better gas mileage, and gas was expensive.  Plus, we were planning more driving then we had done before.  On Friday, we decided to head south on the island.  We were told the waves were safer on the south side this time of year, and Leonard wanted to snorkel.  We had a guide book that gave us some tips on some beaches, so we tried a couple out.  First we went to Poipu beach.   We walked around for a little bit, but when a bus full of kindergartners showed up, we decided to try somewhere else.  We found a quiet beach away from almost everything.  There were people there, but not many.  It was perfect.  We spent the morning and early afternoon getting some sun, snorkeling, and reading on the beach.  Perfect.  Leonard took some pictures of the beach.  It was beautiful.

After we decided we’d had enough sun, we headed to lunch.  I ordered the fish and chips.  It was fresh Mahi Mahi and I seriously, still think about it and want some more.  Leonard had fish tacos.  He ordered this at almost every restaurant we went to.  He loves fish tacos!!

Anyway, we continued on south and stopped at a place called “Blowhole”.   The legend says there is a monster living under the rocks, trapped.  It was, of course, awesome.

We continued south to see Waimea Canyon – also called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  It was beautiful and magnificent.   These pictures don’t do it any justice.  Just take my word for it – you must go see it!

We drove a little further for a “better” lookout” point.  It was definitely higher, but I think I liked the first lookout better.  Still breathtaking.

Right behind that cloud is the tallest peak on Kawai, also one of the wettest spots on earth. It’s called Mount Waialeale and it gets over 360 inches of rain per year!   It felt a little like hiking to Tablerock only to find the Grand Tetons behind clouds.  Except we got to drive, not hike!  Oh, well!

And don’t worry, there were plenty of chickens along our travels today!

We ended the day on the West side of the island for a Hawaiian sunset.  We sat on some sand dunes on “Barking Sands” beach and enjoyed the humongous waves and breathtaking beauty. 

Beat this Valentine’s Day

I told Leonard that he will have a hard time trying to come up with a better date day for Valentine’s Day then the one we had this year.  It started with a morning helicopter ride.  We had booked the ride before we went to Kauai, and although it was expensive, we had heard that if you do anything, you must take the helicopter.  We were glad we did.  Again, this post will most likely be filled with pictures – they say it so much better then I can.   Just know that it was beautiful, overwhelming, and inspiring all at the same time.  Our Father in Heaven created such beauty all around us – Kauai got plenty of its fair share

Getting ready to go!

Pictures from the air.  If you want the narrative, you will have to come see us.  This is only a small amount of  the pictures we took!

Water falls from Jurassic Park – some helicopter tours let you land here!

This is also from some movies: Raiders of the Lost Arc, and Pirates of the Caribbean.

For the second part of the day, we talked the shuttle driver from the helicopter place into dropping us off at our next activity.  Kayaking.  We kayaked in a double kayak up a river about 2 miles.  We then walked on a trail for about a mile until we came to “Secret Falls”  There were quite a few tourists there, so I am sure they are not that secret, but we had the chance to swim under a waterfall. 

It literally took our breath away – it was pretty cold!  But now, I can say I swam under a waterfall in Hawaii!  We hiked back out and then kayaked down river.  Our river guide was awesome and worried about us walking home in the dark on the beach (it was the same 3.5 miles we had walked the day before)  She waited for us to have dinner and then dropped us off at our resort.  What an amazing thing to do.  Thanks, Monica!

Also thank you, Leonard.  This was an awesome day and a fabulous way to celebrate Valentine’s day.  I love you!