One more day in paradise.......

Aloha!  How sad that this amazing trip is drawing to a close!  This will be your final blog from sunny Kauai, although you are invited to visit again any time you need a quick fix of sunshine from our pictures!  :)  We kicked off today laying on Hanalei beach which has become a favorite of ours.  The surf was bigger than we wanted to tangle with but we succeeded in catching some rays if not waves, and enjoyed a nice walk on the beach to watch the surfers.

Keith's mom and Rick and I camped out on the Hanalei Bay Beach.

I love writing in the sand!  :)

and I LOVE the ocean!  Yay!

After our beach stint we headed to the Hanalei Dolphin for an amazing lunch!  Keith and I munched on "Fin Burgers" of grilled Ahi tuna while his mom had a grilled Ahi tuna salad and Rick went with the traditional fish and chips.  Mai Tais were had almost all around except I opted for a "Lava flow" which involved much coconutty goodness.  

al fresco at the Dolphin!

This big one didn't get away!! 

After lunch we headed around the corner to "Kayak Kauai Outbound: Kauai's Adventure Company" to rent kayaks to paddle up the Hanalei River.  I had been wanting to try paddling a longboard, a traditional polynesian sport, all week long so Keith was a good sport and offered to give it a try with me.  We LOVED it!  If you head to Hawaii, it's a must for sure!  The two mile route up river was a great way to get some sun and exercise and we agreed it was one of the cooler adventures of the trip.

Keith and I pose on our longboards.

Keith: Hawaiian Warrior

 

Paddling past some palms.

Keith's mom and Rick opted to stick with the original kayak plan. 

One of my favorite pics of the day.  It just looks like a postcard!  

Keith and I enjoy one last shaved ice before we leave the island....rainbow ice on top of homemade macadamia nut ice cream!  Mmmm!  And...the guy who worked the stand is about to take a trip to the Philippines through Compassion International with his fiancee to meet his fiancee's Compassion sponsor child!  It's a small world!  (For those of you who don't know Keith, he works for Compassion International and he and I both have sponsor children!)

What an awesome ending to an awesome trip.  We're back at the condo right now packing up our suitcases and then we're going to a tapas place called "Bar Acuda" (Baracuda?  Get it?) for our final dinner before heading to the Lihue airport to catch our 11:30 pm (Hawaii time...you do the math!) flight to the mainland.  We'll fly Kauai to Seattle, Seattle to Cincinnati and then Cinci to Nashville just in time for me to make a Thursday night rehearsal and then leave for Green Bay, WI Friday morning.  Hope you've enjoyed our Hawaiian adventure!  Mahalo for reading!

Coffee, clouds, roosters and whales.

May I begin by saying that I'm thrilled to be in my bed at the condo right now blogging and not on a flight back to the mainland like I was supposed to be.  :)  This extra day in Kauai is positively glorious!  Today was action packed from beginning to end.  I got up early this morning, swiped the rental car, and headed off on my own to Hanalei to mail some postcards to the fam (and ended up purchasing a great pair of Billabong surf shorts from the Hanalei surf shop along the way.)  By the time I got back to the condo, everyone else was ready to roll so we packed up the mountaineer and headed southward.  Our first stop was the Kauai coffee company where we taste-tested MANY flavors of coffee (between all of us, I'm pretty certain we tasted every flavor they had!) and loaded up on gifts for ourselves and those back home.  It was neat also to drive past the rows and rows of coffee plants....and I really enjoyed the amazing smell of the car the rest of the day as the bags of beans we purchased smell fantastic!

The Kauai Coffee Company Cafe and giftshop.

Rick samples some coffee while I munch on a coffee-flavored ice cream cone on the back deck of the Kauai Coffee Co. where the samplin' is set up!

Keith's mom and I on the front porch of the Kauai Coffee Co.

After we were sufficiently caffeinated, we headed up the long and windy road to Waimea canyon.  It was a beautiful drive up the mountain, but hard to keep our heads out of the clouds....literally!  It was amazing to stand in the clouds and look over the railing into what should have been a massive "Grand canyon" but looked to us like a bowl of cotton.  We literally couldn't see anything!  We ate lunch at a nearby picnic stop on the mountain and encountered some foul play......lots of chickens being rowdy that is!  This is a good time to mention the fact that Kauai is overrun with wild chickens.  Because they have no natural predators on Kauai (the other Hawaiian islands controlled their chicken population by introducing the mongoose...but Kauai has not followed suit for fear of endangering their vast population of desirable birds) the chickens run rampant, crowing at all hours of the night and lurking anywhere and everywhere they please.  This particular chickens even had the gall to get up on our lunch table while we were eating to try to steal food!  Keith tried unsuccessfully after lunch to catch one and it was hilarious to watch him run around after them.  We were able to have an amazing view of the Kalalau valley from another overlook point however, thus making the trek up the mountain worthwhile.

At the bottom of the Waimea Canyon lookout....we didn't know yet that there was nothing to see at the top!

Keith and I "on cloud nine." literally!  haha.

Chickens on our picnic table!  (Today's headline reads, "Potato chips stolen from lunching tourists...forest rangers suspect "foul-play." haha.  haha.)

Little did they know one of their cousins had been "oven roasted" and added to my Subway sandwich. 

This isn't even all of them!  It was insane!

View of the Kalalau Valley.

Me at the Kalalau Valley overlook sporting my new Kauai coffee company shirt....it was a bit chilly at that altitude!

Late afternoon we boarded a Holo Holo Charters Catamaran for a 4 or so hour "Sunset Cruise."  The weather (which had promised to be "sunny all day") made a slight shift so our tour was a little grayer than we'd hoped for, but were thrilled to have an amazing whale watching experience!  We saw tons of humpback whales swimming in the waters around our boat.  Everywhere you turned it seemed you either saw a whale or evidence of one as when they come up for air they send out a puff of water and air that looks like a puff of smoke.  They were so graceful as the lazily came to the surface to breathe and slapped their tails on the water.  We saw so many I honestly quit counting.  At one point we could see three whales on the surface at once!  We also cruised down far enough to see the magestic Na'Pali coastline and our captain gave us a brief history of the Hawaiians who lived there as recently as the 1940's.

Me onboard the boat...a tad wet....but loving every moment of it!

We took this picture of the back of a random man so you could get a perspective of how close the whales were coming to the boat!  Within 20 or 30 feet easily!  The captain said it was the best whale watching day he'd had in a long time.

the dorsal fin of a humpback whale coming to the surface.

A whale of a tale! Make that tail! 

Two whales come up at once!  Awesome!

Whew.  I'm exhausted so I'll wrap it up here and head to bed!  I'm so sad that we have to go home tomorrow....but no worries, you'll get one more blog before we depart.  :)  Aloha!

We ♥ Kauaii!

In fact, we ♥ Kauaii so much that we've decided we're not ready to leave tomorrow and we called Delta today to postpone our flight reservations and get one more glorious day in paradise!  We are beyond excited to be able to extend our vacation by a whole day!!!

Today was a great mix of relaxation and excitement.  We took our time getting ready this morning and then headed to Hanalei.  Keith and I hit the beach while his mom and Rick did some shopping in Hanalei and then joined us on the beach about noon.  They brought with them yummy lunch from Bubbas' Burgers which we scarfed down and then the four of us went for about a mile and a half walk down the Hanalei Bay Beach...to the pier and back.  Keith and I had originally planned on snorkeling at Tunnels Beach today but when we stopped to rent snorkel gear the shop owner said, "I'd love to rent you my gear, but I'd also love for you to not die."  The rip currents were pretty severe today and the waves, as we found out when we got to Hanalei Bay were HUGE!

Hanalei Bay Beach.....the waves washed my artwork out to sea seconds after this picture was taken. 

I LOVE the ocean!

Keith and I next to the HBB pier.

On the HBB pier.

Keith's mom and I "surfing."

Mid afternoon we headed back to the condo to get dressed for "Smith's Tropical Paradise Luau."  The evening was way better than we could have even imagined.  We were each presented with a shell lei necklace as we entered.  The luau itself began with an Imu ceremony where the kalua pig is taken out of the ground and the conch shell is blown calling everyone to dinner.  Next was cocktail hour (watch out for the mai tais...they're yummy....TOO yummy!) followed by a fantastic buffet (where I liked almost everything served!  A small miracle!) accompanied by dinner music.  A hula dancer also performed the hula and then called for volunteers.  Since Keith thought volunteering me was a fun idea, I made him come with me and we both joined the group onstage for a hula lesson.  It was hilarious!  After dinner ended we all traipsed over to an amphitheater for an incredible stage show that explained the diverse Hawaiian culture through dance and costumes of the Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Samoan, Tahitian and Hawaiians.  The show featured lots of hip shaking girls, some awesome drumming, and even a chinese dragon!  We went home enchanted and exhausted.

Keith and I at the front entrance to the luau.

Mr. Smith gives the history of the Smith family, welcomes all the guests, and explains the Imu oven cooking process in front of the Imu oven.

Mr. Smith's grandson blows the conch to signal the beginning of the luau.

The yummy Kalua piggy!  Mmm mmm  good!

Keith's mom and I with the two guys who dug up the pig. 

Keith and I demonstrate hula dancing at the dinner table for the enjoyment of his mom and Rick.

Keith and I demonstrate hula dancing onstage for all the guests to see.  :)

Real hula dancers kick off the stage show.

Hula dancers spice things up a bit by swinging around flaming coconuts on ropes.

The entire cast of the Smith's show take their bows.

P.S.  I realize that I have been posting insane amounts of pictures on my blog these past few days and hope that no one finds this annoying.  However, let's be honest....you'd much rather see pictures than hear me babble about stuff, correct?  Hope the picture overload is acceptable!  Mahalo (thank you in Hawaiian) for taking the time to read!

Exploration day.

Today was an overcast day in Kauai so we decided to sleep in a bit and then head to Hanalei to do a little shopping and have lunch.   We walked around lots of little shops and art galleries, ate the best banana nut muffin EVER at a little coffee shop and just enjoyed strolling around.  We also ate an amazing lunch at the Hanalei Cafe...apparently a favorite spot of Pierce Brosnan!  I had fish-'n'-chips made from swordfish and Keith had a fresh grilled ahi tuna (tumbo) sandwich.

The shops at Hanalei.

Hanalei Center...where the shops are.

Hanalei Cafe....a favorite of Keith and Bethany...AND Pierce.

"on the road to Hanalei" my favorite shop of the day!

More of the Hanalei shops.

After we'd shopped until we dropped and eaten our fill of yummy fish we set out exploring. Our Kauai "Blue Book" suggested that Hideways beach was a "gem" of a beach...it warned that the hike down was a bit treacherous...even with the "steps" and guardrails...but that the beach at the bottom of the cliff was worth it.  It also mentioned that because there is limited parking (6 spaces) and the hike is tricky, that the beach is usually pretty vacant.  This was true today as there were only 2 other couples on the beach when we reached the bottom.  We climbed on some boulders, make a pitiful attempt at a sand castle and took a quick nap.

Me on the hike down...

the view of Hideways beach from about halfway down the trail.

another shot of the beach from the middle of the trail.

frolicking in the waves!  

Surveying the ocean, cliffside. 

King of the cliff.

View of the ocean from the trailhead.  The beach can be seen through the trees in the left center bottom of the picture.

After a catnap on the beach we drove down the road about a mile to visit Queens Bath.  Huge volcanic rocks create these amazing cliffs that the waves pummel.  The Queens Bath itself is a large pool in one of the cliffs.  Apparently this can be a swimming spot during the summer months, but today the waves were incredibly violent and I wouldn't have gone anywhere near them (although some local boys were thoroughly enjoying themselves in the pool.)  The highlight of the Queen's Bath adventure was a sea-turtle sighting!  We've been so lucky to see oceanic wildlife on this trip...whales, seals and a sea turtle...all we have left is a dolphin!  Hopefully we'll get to see one in the few days we have left.

ummmmm..........yet we kept on hiking.....

surveying a waterfall along the way.

Keith and the waterfall.

Ummmm......28 drownings?  Seriously? In case you can't read it all, the sign says, "Queens Bath Drownings 28.  Unexpected large waves will knock you off rocks and sweep you out to sea!"

Contemplating the sea. 

Our sea turtle friend!  (I had to zoom in on this picture many times so it's not the best).

Large, unexpected waves: exhibit A.

Local Hawaiian boys playing in the surf....large, unexpected waves: Exhibit B.

After Queen's Bath we headed back to the condo to take own baths.  :)  As I sit on the couch to blog this, Keith and I are munching on appetizers and watching the video of our helicopter flight from yesterday.  It's so cool to get to see it all again!  His mom and Rick are cooking grilled zucchini and mahi mahi for dinner!  Yummy!  Yet another amazing day on Kauai!

Aloha!

P.S.  As a side note...Keith's parents decided that they wanted a slightly more leisurely pace today and decided to hang at the condo a bit longer and then do some shopping of their own while Keith and I were out adventuring.  They ended up heading in the wrong direction, and arrived at Kapa'a instead of Hanalei, but thoroughly enjoyed their day nonethess.  :)