Hawaii Part 2 - Days in Kauai

July 2015.  Kauai.

After attending church, which really was a nice experience, we enjoyed staying at the condo and walking around.   When I sat down in Relief Society I thought it was odd that nobody would sit by me.  Slowly more sisters came to class and eventually the row I was on filled up.  When they asked for visitors it turned out that there were four of us visiting on the same row as well as three or four others throughout the room.  I can't imagine living in a place that you would get so many visitors.  We felt totally welcome though.  We even did two different wards.  We did the classes in one ward and then sacrament in another ward.  

We stayed in a condo on the East of the island near the Wailua River.  The best thing about going on this trip was we could plan a few things out but we didn't have to commit to doing them on a particular day.  We had planned to do something but the weather was a little cloudy and not quite as warm so we decided to head south an hour and hike a little near Waimea Canyon. 

 Ha. Ha.  Selfie stick again.

 We went to the tallest peak and hiked around.  This was so cool because the clouds were all around us but would also allow us to have looks at the canyon side (not the beach side).  It was  a wet day so we had to be a little careful hiking around.

 One poor lady wore white shorts on this hike and this mud does not come out of your clothing.  There is a place in Hawaii where they make red dirt shirts and they make them from this nice dirt we were hiking through.

 During our drive back to the condo we stopped at Spouting Horn and Poipu Beach.  You can kind of see a rainbow in the water when it would spout up.  It had such a cool sound too.

 Poipu Beach was so beautiful and had a fun element.  There was a small section that allowed for a pathway of sand out to a larger bank where you could look at the lava rock.  Anyway it was an awesome spot for all the kids and adults enjoying it.  We had fun trying to boogie board out there.

 Dinner was at the glorified McDonalds.  Inside was a picture of Robert Downey Jr. saying he at here a lot while filming some movie.  The onion rings were pretty good.

While we were at church I learned about (Haena) Tunnel's beach.  A place where it was supposedly a great place to find turtles.  I really loved the drive up to the North of the island, it really felt more like a garden to me.  If I returned to Kauai I would definitely stay on the North end or somewhere near the Poipu beach.  When we got to the beach the lifeguard was driving on his 4-wheeler putting up signs to close the beach.  The waves were too dangerous.  Luckily, we walked a long ways down the beach and found a spot near all the snorkeling areas.  It's a little scary breathing through a tube in the salty water.  We managed though and spent a whole lot of time in the water.  On the way back Willie went to get the car so we wouldn't have to lug all of our beach gear (provided by the vacation rental).  As we were putting things in the car I looked at Willie and asked if he knew he had hit a rock!  It was right under a huge leaf and he didn't see it.  With the worries of the car getting hit Willie forgot to tell me he saw a monk seal.  The whole time we were there and I never saw one and yet he did!  I can't believe it.  We didn't see any turtles either.  We did get to read in our books, jump in the water, swim around and just enjoy a true day at the beach.

 Hawaiian shave ice.  Ice cream on the bottom, shave ice and then a nice topping.   Berry flavor was my favorite.  Willie picked the rainbow one in honor of our kids who love to see rainbows.

 We made our own breakfast every morning and I have to say it was delicious.

 We went to Waimea River and rented some paddle or sup boards.  We could have done kayaking but this seemed like more fun.  It was enjoyable and I thought I would have felt more sore afterwards but I didn't.  We followed the tour groups up found a place to land our boards and started hiking.  I was expecting a nice big waterfall, yeah it was just a trickle.

 This spot reminded me of 'Honey I Shrunk the Kids' because the leaves were so huge.  This hike was really fun.  We listened in onto one of the tour groups and learned about an area that was called a Queen's bath where the stones were placed vertically and stacked to create a bath with the natural water for the Queen to use.  It was neat.

 Here we are supping.

 We heard there was more to see so we headed up the river a little further and listened as some folks were jumping a small cliff  maybe 10 feet.  There were some dudes from California that climbed a little higher and jumped from maybe 20 feet but the distance was more to jump because they had to jump out further.  Willie took his turn and did awesome and he was willing to go again.  I don't like to jump, it scares me a lot.  It took me a few minutes to jump, but I did it and I felt good that I did it once.

We traveled back to the area where we picked up the boards and decided to just enjoy being on the water.  Willie took his out into the ocean but the crash of the waves were a bit dangerous.

 Man, my husband is good looking!

More adventures are to follow from Kauai.  Good times, good food.

Hawaii Part One

June 2015.  Oahu, North Shore.  

Our first morning we woke up to this beautiful sunrise.  I tried to take the picture to really show what the colors were, I didn't want to make it look more rich in color that it was.  I was a little shocked in the morning on the beach when the little crabs came out to say hello.  We also saw a lady riding her horse in the waves of the ocean.  It was so beautiful to see someone riding her horse, it's a dream of mine to ride a horse on the beach.  

                                     

                                     

 Willie and I found a great condo on the beach on the east side of the island.  We didn't stay much there but when we did it was fantastic.

 After getting ourselves ready on day one we traveled on over to the temple.  I must say that it was a great experience to visit one of the first temples built in this dispensation.  I loved seeing the architecture and the celestial room where everything was such a brilliant white.  I enjoyed spending time in the temple making sure I took part in the most important thing on the Hawaiian Islands.

Another walk on the beach in the evening.  A little chilly most of the time we were on the beach, it was really windy and the water seemed cold to me but the company was great.

My review of this place.  We ate chicken, because that's pretty much all they had.  The sides were all the same.  It was good but not a place I would return to.  

 Now this joint, AMAZING!  Willie and I ordered two different meals and enjoyed both of them very much sharing halves.

 Coconut, Macademia nut shrimp.  Yum!

 The cowboy burger, Yum!

The chickens and roosters walking around the place were fun company.  Honestly, they are everywhere on the islands.  I'm surprised we never hit one while driving.  We had the afternoon to go to a beach so we hit up Turtle Bay Beach which really wasn't all that awesome.  Good for what we wanted, but the sun set came to soon.  We read a lot while on the beach.  As the sun was defending we took off to find Sunset Beach to enjoy, well, the sunset of course.  And here it was.  I laughed when I saw so many people on the beach with their cameras out.  The selfie stick was ridiculous, I can't believe how many people were buying and using them.  What ever happened to asking someone for some help to get a nice shot of you with an awesome scenery?

A visit to the USS Arizona and the Missouri as well as the air museum.  I would like to say this was nice to see again and it was good for Willie to experience it for the first time.  If we come back though, I think I will be okay to not see it again.  It was interesting to see the Missouri this time around and learn more of the Japanese with their kamikaze strikes and to see how kind the U.S. was.  Willie is standing next to the spot where a Japanese plane hit the ship, you can kind of see the dent on the side near his thumb.

 Some friends of our went to Hawaii recently and took a photo like this, so we did likewise.  Not many folks were walking around when I was setting this up but hey that's what random benches are for because seriously how effective would the selfie stick be?

 After visiting WWII we visited the dethroning of Hawaii.  It was a beautiful palace and I'm amazed at the Hawaiian Royalty's advancement in technology.  Pretty cool.  Sad that the U.S. just came and took it.

 Dinner was divine.  I have been craving Duke's for over 10 years.  It did not disappoint.  For future purposes we ordered these items..."Baked Duke's Style", the fresh fish of the day baked in a garlic, lemon and sweet basil glaze.  Also, another fresh fish of the day Suateed Mac and Nut and Herb Crusted, lightly dusted in parmesan cheese and bread crumbs topped with lemon and caper butter.  Oh man capers, I never knew were so good.

 Yummy. Yummy. Yummy.  So pricey but worth it.

PCC - Polynesian Cultural Center.  Review.  It was nice to visit for the first time for Willie.  Once again since I have now done it again I can move on to see other things.  Wonderful show and the food at the luau was good.  Somehow we got a smaller luau to eat at and that was nice.

 So long Oahu.  You will be missed.