Some Dreams Do Come True!

Hawaii, y'all, HAWAII!

For Christmas, I impulsively bought Eddie a trip to Kauai.  He had been with his siblings back when we first starting dating in 2009 and had been longing to go back ever since.  And we wanted to take advantage of Shep's last free flight status of not quite being two yet and get there before Feb 20th.  So when I got an email for flights less than the cost of a flight to Indy, I had to book it.  And then we found a VRBO condo for less than $100/night (unheard of in Kauai) and a cheap rental car!  So off we went.  Shep was of course a champ on the flights.  There were all night flights which he slept through.

The first day, we hiked the famed Na Pali Coast.  It has been rated the most beautiful coast/beach in the world several times.  I can now see why.  We hiked the 8 miles to the waterfall and back.  I carried Shep on the way up and Eddie carried him most of the way back down until the last 2 miles when Shep wanted to walk.  This part was brutal for me, since I was so tired and we had long since run out of water and Shep kept falling and it was steep, and did I mention that I was so tired?  But we were patient and let Shep walk as much as possible (read: as much as he demanded) those last two miles with only a few bonks and bruises.  I was so proud of all of us!  We hadn't hiked that far in a really long time, if ever, with Shep on our backs.  He's been refusing the backpack lately and demanding to walk which means that we can hike for a max of 1 mile.  So when we actually did the 8 miles and reached our destination, I was thrilled!  And what a hike it was!  The hike ended at the famous Ke'e Beach so we had to take a dip and cool off.

Na Pali Coast

Kalalau Trail

Hiking!

River Crossings

Christmas Photo!

Such a Boy! Throwing Rocks

Cairn

Day Two:
We were told to explore on the south side of the island and try to find a secret beautiful beach called Muhalpeu.  Of course, we had to try!  So we drove down to Poipu and then continued onto a mile long stretch of the biggest potholes I have ever attempted to cross. As if we weren't sore already from the hike the day before!  The road ended at the most glorious beach that we had almost to ourselves.  Shep slept through the entire potholing event and then continued to sleep for another hour after we arrived at the beach.  He was within earshot so Ed and I sat on the beach while Shep napped in the car.  When people say they sit and relax on the beach, I now know what they are talking about.  Eddie and I read magazines, I snorkeled, we ate lunch, and then read magazines again.  The life.  Then Shep woke up and we hiked along the rocky ridge of the coast for about 1/4 mile.  It felt like we were discovering uncharted territory!  We crested the ridge and below us was a beautiful perfect beach.  We walked down onto that white sand and straight into that crystal blue water.  We splashed around and body surfed; Eddie lost his sunglasses and then found them! We felt like we could stay forever on this stretch of God's beautiful meeting of sea and land, but well, the adventurers in all of us grabbed hold and we needed to explore more areas of the island.  So we hiked back and caught a glimpse of a whale flicking its tail! We survived the pothole road and went into Poipu to play at the playground, snorkel and eat shave ice.  Sometimes when I see something really spectacular and unlikely, like a blooming flower in the desert or a little boy named Shepherd, I feel like God wants to show me how deep his love is for me- like a gift just for me.  When I was snorkeling, I saw all the different colors and shapes of fish swimming so freely and thought that it must be a gift just for me. They truly were spectacular there in the reef just off the shore.

Hang Ten!

Day Three:
We went to the Kilauea Lighthouse but got there a little too early before it opened so had to go and get a pastry.  While at the cafe, we perused a bookshelf that was pay by the honor system.  You see, I had agree to join a new book club and the first meeting was the Tuesday that we got back.  The first book was Hinds Feet on High Places- a book I had read at least 15 years ago.  I thought I had it on our bookshelf upstairs and so had procrastinated getting it down until packing for this vacation.  Well, it was the sequel that I had upstairs so I made a few last attempts to acquire it before getting on the plane but to no avail.  So when I found it so randomly sitting there on that shelf, I may have squealed a little bit.  Another one of those unlikely God gifts just for me!  Then we went down to the lighthouse which was cool.  We saw a couple of whales playing and lots of birds.  Then on our way home, we stopped to explore Secret Beach and the Lava Pools.  Because the waves were so rough, the pools were mostly too dangerous to go out to, but we still played in a few small ones.  That night, we drove down to Kapaa to Smith's Family Luau.  We gorged ourselves on meat and then watched the hula dancers put on a show from the different islands that contribute to Hawaii's history and culture.  It was pretty cool.

God's Special Bookshelf

Whale Watching

As you can imagine, our true maturity shone through when we saw Red-footed "Boobies"

Jumping in the Lava Pools

Hula Dancing on Stage

Heart to Heart

Day Four:

We went to Hanalei and went surfing!  Eddie persevered and caught a few big ones!  I also rode one in which was pretty miraculous.  Shep loved jumping over and in the waves.  I have to say selfishly though, that I'd rather go hiking or snorkeling or some sort of activity instead of maintaining Shep's safety on the beach and in the water.  Although cute, that got old faster than I had hoped.  

After nap, we went into Kapaa and rode beach cruiser bikes along the coast trail.  It was so refreshing!  Then that evening was the monthly art walk where the locals mingle.  It was really fun for a while until Shep decided to run through the crowds and come close to the street a few times which quickly became more stressful than enjoyable.  We did get to eat some amazing food truck dinners like fish tacos, pork laulau and shrimp quesadillas.  

Day Five; Final Day

We drove down to the opposite side of the island to see Waimea Canyon.  It supposedly is as deep as the Grand Canyon so we had to see.  It took almost two hours to get to our trailhead and by that time I was ready to call it quits.  Thankfully, we spontaneously chose a different hike a couple miles closer because the drive up the canyon was brutally curvy and we were going to run out of time in order to make our flight.  So we hiked 1.8 miles in to a waterfall and back.  It was beautiful. We could get up close to the 20 foot waterfall but just stand at the top of the 800 foot falls.  Needless to say, Shep and I kept our distance and couldn't actually get a good view of the 800 foot one.  We finished just as it started to drizzle.  And then we fed the chickens which felt a little weird because they are everywhere on the island and there are beautiful greens everywhere for them to snack on, but we had some leftover feed from the luau that we needed to get out of the car.  On our way back to the airport we stopped at the Kauai Island Brewing Co (we just wanted the pint glass, let's be honest.)  We made it back to the airport with plenty of time but it was brutal.  Our hearts were so heavy.  We loved every day on Kauai and could have spent another week there.  We usually are so ready to get home at the end of a vacation, but not this time.  We were so sad to see it end, yet our hearts were so full of thankfulness and rest.  What an adventure!