The Grand Canyon of the Pacific

After a day of relaxing and checking out the Island, it was time to do some real exploring.  So, we got up early, just as the sun had come up, packed into my dad's rental suburban and headed up to Waimea Canyon.  From our hotel in Kapa'a, it would take about 2 hours to reach the end of the road and Kalalau Lookout, looking over the beautiful Na Pali Coast.

The beach first thing in the morning, the sun is barely up.

Our first stop at Waimea Canyon, Canyon Lookout.

My mom and Amy with Harvey the Javelina.

Back in the car and on to the next stop...

This is the best picture we could get of the island.  It was cloudy and misty.

Thanks to our fellow hikers for taking our picture.

Back in the car and on the road again, to our final destination...Kalalau Lookout and the Na Pali Coast.

What can I say, but WOW!

Back to the town of Waimea for lunch and a beer at the Brewing Company.  Well, not for me, but Andy enjoyed a beer at the Western Most Brewery.

 

The brewery used to be an old plantation.  Cool old buildings and a beautiful view.

After lunch, drove the hour and a half back to the hotel and got ready to go snorkeling at the RIGHT beach this time at Lydgate Park.  And here is what I learned about snorkeling... I can't do it!  I tried.  I really did.  I put on the flippers and walked like a duck to the water, put on my mask and breathing thingy, waded into the waves and avoided falling. (I did not however avoid looking like a dork while I did it!) Got out deep enough into the water to put my face in, put my face in and.... PANIC attack!  Claustrophobia like you can't believe!  Stood up as fast as I bent over and ripped that mask off like that!  Whew!  Deep breaths!  It's okay.  I can do this.  I. Can. Do. This. I know I can.....  Waited a minute and tried again.  Nope, that is not gonna happen. Ever!  I did it when I was 12. Not now!  Maybe next time.

Oh, and the other thing I learned is that it doesn't matter how sexy you think you are hanging out on the beach in your bikini or speedo, once you put on those flippers, it is impossible to be sexy.  Period.  No matter how hard you try!

I will spare you of the unsexy snorkeling pictures and leave you instead with more flower pictures.

We didn't see any Nenes today...

But a day on Kaua'i would not be complete without a bunch of these..

So excited for my next post!  Day 4 and our zip-lining trip!!

ALOOOOOOOHAAA!

We are home from our dream vacation.  Seven days on the beautiful island of Kaua'i.  I have one thousand pictures to share.  Don't worry, I will spare you and only show you 800 or so!  Kidding...


We will start with our first and second day.  The first day was spent mostly on the plane, of course, and then renting the car, checking in the hotel, checking out our beach and settling in.

The view from our room.  Awesome, right?

Our first dinner, at TC's.  The girls had hamburgers, I had the pork, Andy had a Loco Moco.

"Our" beach, right outside our room.  It wasn't a swimming beach...

...but it was a bury yourself in the beach kind of beach...

And a hang out in a hammock kind of beach!

After our first exciting travel day, we were pooped and went to bed around 8:00, which was actually 11:00 at home.  But we got a nice night's rest and Wednesday, it was time for some fun! We woke up and went to the Coconut Marketplace and ate at Eggberts.  The BEST banana pancakes, banana smoothies, mango smoothies and Abby's favorite... Spam!


After we ate, we made some plans for the next days, and in the meantime, Amy took pictures of every single flower on the island I think.  

We went and rented some snorkeling gear and went to an old sugar plantation which is now home to a rum distillery.  Kaua'i no longer grows sugar cane for mass distribution.  I'm sure that some is grown by individuals, but all of the Sugar Mills have been shut down, the last one just last year I think.  It is cheaper to get sugar from other countries than to produce it in Hawai'i anymore.

At the old sugar plantation, now home to Koloa Rum Co, along with some shops of local artists.

Some old tools used for the sugar mill.

It was then time to go snorkeling, but, we went to the wrong part of the beach so, we didn't snorkel, but just played on the beach instead.

Went to the grocery store and fixed tuna for dinner in our awesome kitchen at our timeshare and had some mai tais and cherry coladas on the beach.

Oh, and one of the funniest things about the island... Roosters and chickens, everywhere.  And I mean EVERYWHERE.  Just running wild.  Walk into the restaurants, hanging out in all the shops, on the side of the road.  Everywhere.  Funny!

Where the Wild Things could be

As promised, here are pictures of my new guest bedroom.  First, here is the before. The bed doesn't have a mattress yet, so just pay attention to the walls and decor... The bed and side tables were hand-me-downs from my grandpa.

So, we got the mattress, took down the big cat print and painted, and it was time to get a new comforter. Love Ross for stuff like that, cuz I got a new set for $20!  And, it is kind of crazy, which is fine, cuz I need a little crazy fun in my life anyway.  Are you ready?  Here goes.  

Okay, so I probably still need something in the corner. I'm thinking a cute little chair.

And this is the bookshelf that my dad made for Abby when she was a baby.  I know, it doesn't REALLY match, but I don't really have anywhere else to put it, so for now, it stays.

Some of these things are not like the other, some of these things just don't belong.  Did you find the two things that really don't match.....

If you chose Yoda for one, you would be right.  But isn't he cute?  I can't put him in a closet.

And, probably a sparkly lava lamp doesn't go with zebra, giraffe and leopard print, but hey, you need a little light.  So, that is my "finished" room.  I say that with uncertainty because I am never really finished with anything.  Always have to fix and change something.

Goodbye Plastic

Okay, I'll say it and I don't even care if I hurt anyone's feelings. I HATE PLASTIC.  Plastic containers, plastic ziploc bags, plastic grocery store bags, plastic, plastic, plastic...  So, last weekend, I did it.  I finally just bought nice glass containers and threw away all my gross plastic container...

You know how they get, all burnt if you put them in the microwave, stained if you put spaghetti sauce in them, and of course, you can't find the matching lid to save your life.  So goodbye plastic.  (Well, I did save a couple just in case, but I swear, I'm not going to use them unless I am desperate!)

What else happened since last time?  Oh yeah.  I turned 37.  37.  Hmmmmmm.  I do not feel 37.  I sure am glad I am not in my 20's anymore.  And really I'm not afraid of my 40's.  So, I am just 37.

Maybe the best birthday ever.  My husband bought me concert tickets to see Carrie Underwood.  My first ever concert!  Can you believe it?  Yes, I lived a very sheltered life growing up.  Let me just tell you what... Carrie Underwood is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  If you haven't seen her, you should.  If you don't like country music, you would still like this concert.  For anyone that has listened to her music, it is so uplifting, and thoughtful and fun and just all around great!  I can't even tell you how great!  GREAT! GREAT! GREAT!  I would go again tomorrow.  Oh, and it didn't hurt that Billy Currington was awesome too!  Fun and funny and cute and awesome!  And the new band, Sons of Sylvia, SUPER COOL!  Came home and downloaded their album from iTunes.  They aren't even very countryish, more rock/bluegrass/pop.  My favorite new song by them... "Revelation".  Get it!

Billy Currington

Carrie Underwood singing "Some Hearts"

Carrie Underwood singing "This is my Temporary Home"  Great song, listen to it if you haven't heard it

Carrie Underwood in a truck hanging out above the crowd!

Do you think I had fun?  Oh trust me!  I did. I did. I did.  And I told Andy that he was in trouble because I was going to turn into a concert junkie!