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nted 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 posted by bridger at 4 01 am 1 comment labels fern grotto glass beach haleiwa hanalei bay kauai kilauea lighthouse larson s beach lihue oahu pearl harbor secret beach shark s cove sunset beach vacation wailua falls waimea valley older posts home subscribe to posts atom blog archive 2013 7 august 1 back 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