Hanalei Bay, last sunset, and more zipping

Well, 3 days later and I'm finally writing about our last day in Kauai.

Back to the real world, I guess.

After we spent time at the pool, we packed up, said goodbye to the Westin and set

out to finish up our exploring.

Isn't this valley a beautiful place to have a farm?

We found it!  

Hanalei Bay. I had seen it  on TV and wanted to see it in person.

We had a hard time finding the pier and were running out of time cause we had to head back to the airport.  Thankfully, I have a husband who is extremely patient with me and wants to fulfill all my wishes.  After trying a couple of roads, we finally found the one to the pier.

The views were gorgeous!

This was my favorite bridge.  Cool trees, huh?!

Our last sunset over the shopping mall by the airport.

 King Kong zip in action.

So Fun!!!

Kayaking, hiking, an engagement and Indiana Jones (Wailua River)

It's funny how when we used to vacation it was all by the beach.
Now that we are getting older, we seemed to have gotten more active ditching the beaches for some strenuous activity.  I guess that will keep us on the path to getting older, right?
Well, we are older but we were also more sore when we woke up yesterday
 (I forgot how saddles can affect your sit bones or okole).

But, of course, we set out to push ourselves again by kayaking 2 miles, hiking to a waterfall, then kayaking back all in the rain.

The rain actually was a blessing because it cooled everything off.

The drawback of the rain is that is was so muddy that we were walking in mud puddles most of the time (don't ya love the fashion shoes?).  The only way to the "secret falls" was a hike through jungle.  Our guide started playing his ukulele to help inspire us,

playing songs like the theme from Indiana Jones, and Rocky.

Next time we go on a vacation like this though, I'm getting those sport swim shorts and swim shirt.

It was really hard to be modest hiking in a swimsuit.

Joseph was the brave one to swim out to the waterfalls.  We weren't supposed to because it's a falling rock area, but our guide said he wouldn't stop us.  I thought it best that at least one of us stay behind . . . just in case.  He said that the water was much colder under the falls and there was quite a strong current to swim against.  Only one of the other men attempted it.

 Our most exciting event was when this young man knelt on one knee and proposed to his girlfriend while the guide took their picture in front of the falls.  I was so enthralled with the whole thing that I forgot to get my camera out until it was all over.  It was very sweet though, with tears and all.  

 See those trees that border the bottom of the mountain?  Those are the trees that Harrison Ford ran through in the movie Indiana Jones, when he was getting away from the natives and going towards his plane.

Our guide told us that we could go at our own pace on the way back, so of course, Joseph took the challenge.  He paddled all the way back (2 miles) without stopping.  Not me.  I stopped quite often and tried to get him to stop too so we could enjoy the peace.  He did briefly but quickly kept going.  I must say, it was a great upper body workout.  We were a good team and only "slapped" paddles once.  This picture is from us at the end waiting for the others.  You have to look really close, but the specks way in the back are the other kayakers.

We win!

Today is our last day.  

It started with a massage for me and then laying by the pool (finally).

We are headed out to the beaches to see what we can see then

off towards the airport for the last of our shopping.

Our flight is at 9pm which brings us to LA at 5am.

Redeye? 

Yes.

As hard as it is to say goodbye to this beautiful island, we really do look forward to seeing the kids.

I guess we'll just have to bring them back so that we can enjoy both.

Jurassic Park zip lining and horseback riding (Princeville)

Yesterday was a pretty eventful day.

Thankfully it was beautiful weather for our zip line and horseback riding.

Recognize that big mountain?

It's the Jurassic Park mountain where they filmed the movie.

We weren't in the actual field, that was the ranch next door.  We zipped on 9 lines and dodged cow pies between each of them.  Don't ya just love the fashion statement?

We had to quickly leave when it was done so that we could hop on over to another ranch to go riding.

Horses were my first love in life.  I even had one through my teenage years but sold her when I went to college so I could get a car.  Needless to say I don't ride very much anymore.  Joseph's such a good sport cause this was truly my idea.  He just came along for the "ride".

I rode Romeo and he rode a horse with a Hawaiian name that I can't remember.

Romeo liked to be with the leader (I loved her hat) so she and I talked the whole time while Joseph's horse and the others were some distance behind us.  It wasn't really a together activity.  

Again, Joseph was a good sport.

Boy was I hurting when we were done.  My knees and ankles got a workout.

But it was worth it.

We crashed pretty soon after we got back to the hotel.

Today, we'll see if my body can handle kayaking.

The last pictures should have been the first (Po'ipu, Kauai)

Today, was just a hang out day.  It's our last day in the south of Kauai cause we will be

heading to another hotel in the north.  So we slept in, as usual, exercised then headed for the pool.

The wind had died down to a light breeze which made for a wonderful day.

There are chickens everywhere here!  The roosters wake us every morning,

we saw them in the mountains yesterday, and today they were in the restaurant

fighting for the crumbs.

And of course, we ended our day with a long walk on the beach and a beautiful sunset.

Aloha!

Their refuge and mine

We are halfway through the week with so much more to do.

On our way up from the south shores of Po'ipu, we stopped by the restored lighthouse at Kilauea Point.

It was rainy but the views were breathtaking.

It was built in 1913 and was the first contact with ships coming from Asia.
It's outdated but the area is now a museum and wildlife refuge for birds.

This little guy, we were told, is about to start flying on his own.  When he can, he'll fly all the way to Panama by himself, stay there a couple of years, then fly back here to nest with the other adult birds.

Hawaiian geese just like other geese, mate for life.  While I took this picture, one gave me low warning honks while the other took a drink.

Joseph and I are celebrating our 27th anniversary this month.

I'm so very grateful for an eternal companion who loves me and takes care of me in every way.

He's my "goose".

Waimea, the Grand Canyon of the Pacific

 Yesterday was a full day (vacation wise).  We made an outing to Waimea Canyon which has been dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.  And after being there we can see why.  You really don't feel like you're in Hawaii.  Except for looking past the peaks and seeing ocean, much of it could pass for the West.  One obvious difference is the waterfalls.  Um, it was cold too.

 If you look closely in the picture below, you'll notice a waterfall to the left.  We managed to find the trail and hike all the way over there to see it (2 miles, uphill both ways, haha).  It seemed like we went through woods, desert, and jungle to get there.  The rains had made it a little treacherous too.  Joseph took good care of me making sure that I could use his back or arm for support when I needed it.  He's such a good guy!!

The most disconcerting part was walking along or past cliffs that had no railing.  Joseph was sure if our boy scout troop were here they would be trying to see how close to the edge they could get.  Me?  I stayed as far away as I could.  I believe in railings.  We did get quite the view from the top of the falls.

Further up the road from Waimea is Kokee.  This is a beautiful park with a gorgeous overlook.

Part of the valley was in shadow because our hike had taken us further into the afternoon. 

Now, this is Hawaii.

We topped it off with another beautiful sunset.

I was so wiped out that I took a hot bath and crashed early.

Vacationing is hard work!

Aloha Kauai!

Aloha!!  Greetings from the sunny/very rainy (is that possible?), windy garden island of Kauai, Hawaii.    As I write this, I can hear the wind howling outside.  It sounds more like we're in Idaho than Hawaii.
And we arrived last night to pouring rain that seemed to threaten flooding roads.  But we made it to our hotel, went out to eat, and bought a few groceries for Sunday then crashed for the night.  I was a little worried that we had picked the wrong time of the year to try a new island but really, this is the same time we go on a trip every year.  It just happens to be unusually wet this year (so they say).

Thankfully, we woke to a beautiful morning which made for a nice drive to church.

Church was great!  Loved the inspired messages of following the prophet, and becoming self reliant.  As I was looking around the room, we could tell that a great percentage of the people were visitors.  And sitting two rows in front of us I saw the familiar face of Elaine Dalton, who used to be the General Young Women's President of the church.  I got so excited!!  After sacrament I went up to her to shake her hand and thank her for her service and wonderful example.  She gave me a big hug and showed me her YW medallion still on her necklace and said, "I'm still in Young Women's.  I've decided I'm not released." Then she gave me a big smile.  You could always tell that she loved the girls.  If she hadn't been on vacation, I would have asked to sit down and have her answer all my questions. I also came really close to asking for a picture with her, but I controlled myself.

The picture above is deceiving because when we came out of church is was raining again.  We spent a lot of time indoors cause every time we tried to go for a walk towards the beach, it would start to rain.  so we decided to take the Jeep for a drive to see what we could see.  On the advise of our friends the Ruiz we took a dirt (mud) road to a local beach that isn't well known.

Below is what it looked like most of the way.  We thought our fillings would fall out of our teeth!  It was so bumpy at one point that we were swaying back and forth like a boat in a storm.    I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the image of the two of us rattling around inside the car.

After much jarring, we made it.

 We walked the beach then as we were heading for the car, it started to rain.

So Joseph quickly took my picture and we ran for shelter.

Back at the hotel, we stayed in our rooms, talking with the kids, until sunset.

Then we ventured out to capture the last of the day.

What a great way to start the week!! (no sarcasm intended)