Hawaii - Days 3 - 9

Okay... we've obviously been having too much fun and are not waking up at 4:00am to keep up with this blog. I'm going to do a quick photo dump with a very high level overview of the past week and I'll come back later and clean this up.

Day 3 (Tuesday, July 2)

I'm not going to post many food pictures because I think that is somewhat weird, but wanted to at least capture the fact that Alisha whipped up some AMAZING meals that were not only delicious, but saved us some serious $$ on this trip. This was steak and eggs and didn't last much longer than it took to snap the photo.

Looking back on the week, we definitely pushed it hard at the beginning. Maybe we tried to do too much, but it was sure fun... we've taken it easy since then and have gotten in a lot of beach time. This is Alisha after she helped me load the kayak (another great perk of renting the Cocohut). 

One of the first stops on our kayak trip - the Fern Grotto. There were some really cool plants growing down from this cavern.

We may have made a couple wrong turns, but we made it to Wailua Falls in the end (and still faster than the large guided groups). Not only were we able to see more sights and go at our own pace, but we saved a load of $$ doing it! You'll notice roosters in several pictures...if you're not already familiar with this quirky fact - roosters are EVERYWHERE on Kauai... even at the end of a long hike to a waterfall!

Day 4 (Wednesday, July 3)

Finally... A beach day. We definitely needed a break after all the hiking and kayaking of the last two days.

Alisha trying out the boogie board. (Hanalei Bay)

Shave ice is so delicious after sitting out in the sun for a while. Alisha wimped out and went for the kiddie cup.

We had hiking withdrawals and decided to hike to a secluded beach on the northeast side of the island, only a couple of miles from the Cocohut. Alisha wasn't a fan of all the scurrying crabs, but soon we had scaled the rocks and made it safely to a secluded beach. We only saw a couple kids paddle by on a SUP (stand-up paddleboard), but otherwise had the beautiful sandy beach to ourselves.

We ran into a parrot as we hiked back up the trail. He was a bit too friendly and kept buzzing our heads as he followed us along the trail.

Day 5 (Thursday, July 4)

We had a fantastic Independence Day, started off by riding the 'waves of freedom' in Poipu. Alisha was a natural and even caught her own waves without the instructor even in the water by the end of the lesson.

We didn't have any idea what we were going to do for the rest of the day and decided to just start driving to the opposite side of the island than we had explored so far since we were already in Poipu (south side of the island). Alisha found a cool beach in one of the guidebooks which brought us to Glass Beach. This beach is unique in that there are millions of tiny pieces of glass that have been smoothed by the crashing waves. As you can see from the close-up, these make the sand a bit more colorful than normal. The waves were really crashing in and could have easily sucked you out to sea so we didn't stay long and continued on the road westward.

Who knew that this tiny island had it's own version of the Grand Canyon?! 

The photos above were taken at the same place, just minutes apart...the fog really rolls in and out fast up there.

We were tuckered out from surfing so didn't do anything more than short jaunts to the lookouts, though there were plenty of opportunities to hike all over this great canyon. There were even signs to warn people to stay out of hunting areas. If my parents won't move to Texas, I think I can make a good case for Hawaii! ;)

Yep... chickens even at 4000+ ft.  These things are everywhere!

After driving all over the Waimea Canyons, we continued not only until the road ended, but even on a crappy dirt road for several more miles until it finally dead-ended at a massive beach. If there were a way to continue on this road, we would have been back to the Cocohut in short order... since we couldn't, we figured we'd stop at a gathering we noticed coming up the road a little ways back.

Turns out it was a community 4th of July party. We got some good Hawaiian food and pulled out the beach chairs. We felt very welcomed by those around us and were able to sit back and enjoy some live Hawaiian music, dancing, and a great fireworks show over the ocean. Couldn't think of a better way to end the day.

Day 6 (Friday, July 5)

Yep, time for another beach day (Larson's Beach). Surfing was a lot more taxing than I had anticipated... especially all the paddling back out to catch the next wave. Well, that and all the wicked tricks I was pulling off ; ). 

Mmmm... a tasty seafood treat. Really, I was just looking to empty the shell for a souvenir for Hailey. ; )

Oh, look... another delicious morsel. This one was too fast for me to catch.

The Kilauea Lighthouse was closed when we got there so we weren't able to drive closer than this. we could see it from a distance, but we thought we'd get a better view by hiking down to 'Secret Beach'. 

As you can see... not necessarily 'secret', but still not too many other beach goers given the steep terrain to reach this beach and the Secret Lava Pools down the cost from where the trail drops you in. We got another good look at the lighthouse and headed over to check out the crashing waves near the pools. There were plenty of signs warning us to be cautious around the pools. Most were obviously not ones that I would touch with a 10-footpole, but several were very calm and we watched them for a long while before venturing near them. The one above would nearly empty before a wave would bring the water rushing back in with a massive crash.

I took a leap into one of the still pools and found the water to be much warmer than expected. It had a soft, warm sandy bottom as well (good thing since Alisha was right, as usual, in that it wasn't as deep as it looked).

A couple more of the Secret Lava Pools. They seemed to stretch on forever, but we didn't think it was a good idea to walk much further since the waves crashed up over them unpredictably. We watched the sun set over the pools and then hike back out with the aid of my trusty iPhone and flashlight app. 

Day 7 (Saturday, July 6)

Today we said goodbye to the Cocohut. This was truly the perfect place for us to stay. It was central to most of the activities we had planned and minutes from numerous sandy beaches. As we would soon find out, it also high top notch equipment, some of which we hadn't yet had a chance to try out. Though we still didn't get to the surfboards, we figured we'd at least give the stand-up paddleboard and snorkeling gear a whirl before catching our flight at 4:00pm.

It only took a quick ride out to the edge of the reef and back to realize that I wanted to bust out the snorkeling gear and GoPro. The reef at Anini Beach was really wide and all sorts of sea life was brewing underneath the paddleboard that I wanted a closer look at. I convinced Alisha to ride out with me and drop me off. The camera got locked in the car when I pulled out the GoPro so I don't have any other pictures to post just yet. 

Looks like Alisha pulled the camera back out after sunbathing on the paddleboard for a while before I waved her off. I had planned to ride back in with her, but was having so much fun that I told her I'd just snorkel all the way back to shore. These crabs were all over this beach in many different sizes and colors. They only came in one speed, though - FAST! I'm surprised Alisha got one to hold still long enough to snap the shot.

After a little shopping in Lihue, we were off to Oahu. We were really looking forward to some of the sites and people we were going to see on Oahu, but couldn't help looking longingly over the Garden Island as we took off. The shuttle bus driver even said "Your vacation is over, eh? How was it?" When we told him we were actually just headed to Oahu, not home, he said, "Oh, your vacation really is over then. Hope you enjoyed Kauai while you were here." Hahaha.

Day 8 (Sunday, July 7)

Highlight of the day, hands down! Alisha and I hadn't seen Carlos in so long and it was so much fun talking to him and catching up on everything he's been doing. Carlos was in our ward way back when we lived in Orem, even before we had Carson. Now Beckham is a year older than Carson was when we last saw Carlos and his awesome brothers and mom. Hope to be able to catch up with arose, Marco, and Gabe in the near future. 

We didn't want to tie up Carlos for too long since we surprised him at work where he is a surf instructor and runs the surf shop at a really nice resort up the North Shore. We have plans to catch up with him later this week at one of his favorite breakfast places in famous old town Haleiwa.

Earlier in the day we attended church with the Waialua Ward after Holly convinced us that it was the best ward on the island. We had run into Holly the night we came into Oahu when we stopped to stock up on groceries. We'd never met her before, but we all soon realized that we were LDS and even met another member of her ward preparing to serve a mission as he was checking out of the store as well. The testimony meeting was fantastic and we felt very blessed to have worshipped with this great ward. The young men were all away on a big campout on Kauai (Waimea Valley) so I even got the opportunity to help pass the sacrament. Sitting by my wife for two Sundays in a row was a special treat as well.

That afternoon, we thought a visit to the Dole Plantation would be a good low-key activity where we could walk around holding hands and learn everything we could ever want to know about pineapple. 

Day 9 (Monday, July 8)

Today turned out to be much different than expected. After the topic of Alisha's bucket list came up last night, she decided that if she was ever going to check off skydiving what better place to do it than Hawaii?! We booked her for the latest slot (noon) and proceeded with our plans to get to Pearl Harbor early.

After reading several guidebooks, we thought that arriving before 7:00am would give us ample time to get early tickets and see what we wanted to see before Alisha's skydiving appointment. We're we dead wrong! We. We rolled in around 6:50am there were already dozens of buses and hundreds upon hundreds of people in line. By the time we got to the ticket booth, the earliest tickets we could get were for the 12:00pm tour! By the way, the tours don't even open until 8:00am. I stopped one of the rangers to see if we could get on standby for one of the earlier shows and he hesitated for a minute before finally telling us to stay put and disappeared behind the ticket buildings. When he came back, he asked us to follow him away from the tour bus guides and crowds before handing us two 8:15am tickets! That is only the second tour of the day and I'm sure we wouldn't have gotten those even if we had been in line at 6:00am. 

Pearl Harbor was such a great experience for us. We walked away feeling very privileged to live in this great country and for all the the brave men and women - not only those that fought for our freedom, but also those that struggled behind the scenes - to make this country what it is today. The USS Arizona was a particularly humbling sight to see, resting at the bottom of the ocean as a tomb for the brave sailors who never even saw the attacks coming on Dec 7, 1941.

You can see a part of the USS Arizona's 3rd gun turret rising above the water under the memorial. There is a slow trickle of oil still seeping from the ship which they've decided not to clean up as it would desecrate this sacred resting place for nearly 1200 sailors. Many like to think of the oil droplets as the tears of those wearing for their fallen comrades. 

Our next stop was the airfield. Alisha was a little nervous, but determined to follow through with her goal to skydive. Above, she is getting all strapped up and set to go.

All smiles, but I can tell it is starting to set in that she is about to jump out of a plane at over 14,000 feet! In her group were 4 other girls and the tandem jumpers as well as a few photographers.

Seems like a perfectly good plane to me... Not sure why anyone would want to jump out of it. ; ). I actually told Alisha I'd do it with her if she wanted me to. We asked if they would give us a deal for a second jumper, but they wouldn't go for it. As it wasn't cheap we decided that she would just do it and let me know if it was worth it!  : )

This was the first glimpse of her I got using my telescopic lens just after her 60+ second freefall.

If you look close, that might appear like sheer terror on her face, but I was reassured that it was pure joy and that my lens must have been dirty. ; )

Her tandem partner, Colorado, was the most experienced of the bunch. He stopped on a dime and then helped some of the others land safely.

I guess when your riding up in a plane that you are about to jump out of, you make friends quickly. : )

Ah, the victory walk. At this point I couldn't tell if she was scared stiff or about to get back on the plane to do it again. In the end, it was a little of both. She said it was a once in a lifetime experience and that it would be just that... once in her lifetime. While she was was glad that she did it, she decided that skydiving wasn't her thing and that she probably wouldn't do it again. I guess once you have 4 kids, things like skydiving are just plain boring. ; ) 

I have to say I am very proud of her. I know that heights are not something Alisha is fond of and I could tell this was a huge fear that she conquered in order to do something she's always wanted to do. Way to go babe - or should I say Alisha Knievel? 

Apparently, skydiving works up quite an appetite. We stopped at the Grass Skirt Grill and had some great pulled port and fresh fish burgers before heading to Shark's Cove for a little snorkeling. Alisha read a bit on the beach while I had a face-to-face encounter with an octopus (you'll have to wait for the GoPro footage for that one), and then we grilled up some juicy NY Strip Steaks alongside fresh pineapple for dinner. It is now way too late after posting all of these pictures. Time to get to bed and some much needed rest before tomorrow's adventures which include a long afternoon at the Polynesian Culture Center and evening show/luau.