Kauai

We have been home for 1 month now - and I think I have finally come to grips with the fact that we will not be moving to Hawaii. Dave and I went to Oahu when Kaleb was 1, but Kauai was a different experience altogether. The first couple days we were there it rained - A LOT!!! In fact I wasn't sure how much we really were going to enjoy the trip. We did a lot those days, mostly exploring around in the car, getting out for short hikes, etc. But once the days were beautiful I found the place I want to retire to. Every picture we took looks like a postcard to me. We are going to go to Maui next in a couple years, but I think Kauai will always be my favorite.

What a beautiful valley. This was the area of the Gods where they built stone temples to them in several places heading up stream.

Our favorite beach! This was a secluded place that we found when chasing the sun. It was really crazy how it would be gray and raining in the north or east and we would head south and find this weather. We picked up some local Hawaiian food that came highly recommended and drove down to this coast - opened the top on the convertible and enjoyed a beautiful lunch.

The view outside of Sunset Beach House Restaurant. The first (and only) sunset we saw.

A beautiful view hiking down to Secret Beach. This should be a postcard!

This picture was taken as we were hiking Na Pali coast - before it started to rain. The hike up was great and it was wet on the way down. Our shoes were so muddy from hiking in and through rivers that we just walked right into the ocean when we finished the hike to try to clean our shoes. They will never be the same again.


This tangle of roots is actually the trail. We walked through so many waterfalls and the strange part was that we weren't just crossing them - THEY WERE the TRAIL! This was a really good experience. Beautiful coast that you can't get to only by hiking and kayaking.

Na Pali coast from the helicopter (glare included). So you can only get to 10% of Kauai from the roads. While the helicopter trip was REALLY expensive - 400 dollars an hour - it is something I will never be able to do again. Once we finished I told Dave that it was probably one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. Next to marrying him and having the kids that is!

Us on the beach in front of our hotel. This was the first sunny day we had on the east part of the island where we were staying.

Dave insisted on a convertible. It is funny because I thought he was just being extravagant. Turns out that Hawaii is better when you can see all 180 degrees of it!