Hawaii Vacation

Day 1

So I decided to do my best to blog good on this trip. Not only to inform every one of my vacation to for memories. If I get then down now I can read them later and maybe I will remember something that I had forgotten about. With all the pictures I take though I’m not sure how that could happen. 

This morning went very smoothly. Graysen woke up at 6, and dad got up with her while I got ready. When I was done we “traded” spots and he got ready while I did the last minute things and hung out with Graysen. We got out of the house on time and on the road. I arrived to the airport an hour and half early because I wasn’t sure how busy it would be. It is spring break for most of the colleges around this area. I give Graysen and Brandon big hugs and kisses and head in to see what I face… NOTHING! There was not one person in line for check in, so it was a breeze. Get to security, no one… Everything went smoothly…. Tooooo smooth!

I sat and waited for my flight and 45 minutes before departure the nice gentleman gets on the intercom to inform everyone that; “there is weather in Chicago!” The old man next to me snickered and said “there’s weather everywhere, are we talking about baaaaaad weather? “ I don’t find those people who have rude sarcasm to be too funny these days. Anyway the flight was being delayed an hour and half. I have three connecting flights on this trip. One to Chicago and then to Lax, then from there I head to Hawaii. Two flights ended up being delayed but otherwise I made all of my connections with at least 30 minutes in-between.

I got to Hawaii. Laycie picked me up at the airport and from there we went directly to Aiea where my Vietnamese Pho is. I have found a place in Virginia that carries it, but I’m not one to try new things right away when I LOVED something somewhere else beforehand.   After gobbling up a HUGE *Small* bowl of Pho we watched a movie and then I tried to get a little sleep. Didn’t work to well, maybe the excitement for the next day, and the fact that I was in a new place/bed and I’m getting to be that age that has a hard time sleeping anywhere other than my own bed. Not to sure on that one.

Day 2

Our flight was at 9:30 so we woke up fairly early to get us to the airport and indulge in some coffee.  The flight over to Kauai is always short and so beautiful. I LOVE the view of the waterfalls on the overhanging cliffs dropping into the ocean. Once we landed we hit the Condo so we could drop our stuff off.

We stayed at the Kauai Resort Villa’s. It is right next to the Kauai resort hotel so we basically have the best of both worlds, get to have a nice big condo with the recreation that the hotel offers.  The condo was beautiful. Had a spectacular ocean view from the back lanai and each bedroom had its own front lanai facing the front of the resort. Two bathrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen; it was like we were at home.  The hotel’s pool area was beautiful. Had one big pol area in front with a few waterfalls and two spas. Then the back pool was a sand pool halfway and a regular pool on the other half with the water slide. That area also had the bar/restaurant.  The ocean was a little rough to swim in, but there was a little lagoon up a ways that you could have safe swimming in if you wanted.

After we checked in we headed to Kapaa to go to Ono’s Family Restaurant. We went to this place last time we were in Kauai and loved it. It is a little “whole in the wall”, ran by an older crowd of locals, and it’s very good, local breakfast.  Laycie got a Mahi benedict, and I got steak and eggs.  After breakfast we went to Java Kai café and got some coffee. They are supposed to have some of the best coffee so we got a bag to try at the hotel and I would get some later to bring home if I liked it; which I did! Must try if you like coffee and are in Hawaii! Next was grocery shopping, we didn’t want to spend all of our money eating out. So we figured if we could get stuff to eat breakfast, lunch and at least two dinners we’d be doing pretty good.

Once we got back we finished the afternoon laying by the pool, walking the beach and picking up sea shells! We also barbequed our dinner that night and it turned out wonderful. Had some lemon pepper chicken with mashed Okinawan sweet potatoes, and grilled yellow summer squash with seasoning! I slept pretty dang well that night I must say!

Day 3

One thing I don’t LOVE about Hawaii is; all the wild chickens running around! They have a ton, and there were a few roosters that were about to be cooked at the rate they were crowing all night long! I was wide awake at 5:30 so I got in some homework and phone calls before laycie woke up. Once she was up we went outside and laid in the green grass to do some Yoga/Pilates and other little work outs to warm us up for the week. I think this routine intended to be an everyday thing but it didn’t finish that way at all! After some mean coffee and a good breakfast we headed out.

We found our way to a more private waterfall, Kilauea. This was a very easy hike along a beautiful river. It was one of the easiest waterfalls we had ever hiked to as well. Seemed to run a long an old Hawaiian road that was no longer in use. The waterfall was HUGE and flowing rapidly. This is one we could have swam in, but how big it was wasn’t very good for swimming one wrong move and you could have been swept away. A few other people got to the waterfall shortly after us and we really learned how “private” it was. The local ladies had two VERY cute dogs that you will see a picture of if you look at the pictures I have in my album.

The hike was fairly short so once we got done we headed to the hotel to lay by the pool for a little bit, and to get in the spa so our legs wouldn’t get sore the next day. We stayed just an hour and so then we headed out to go to a local farmers market in Lihue. They had a ton of fruit and we picked up a few things that I had never tried before. One of them was Rombuton Lychee. It is a red ball with “spike” looking things on it. You cut it open and there is a white jelly like oval in it. You stick it in your mouth and eat around the seed. It’s sweet and juicy, tastes very similar to a white grape. 

Once we got back to the hotel we went ahead and got ready for the night. We went down to Lihue again to go to a restaurant Laycie read good views on. It was called Merriman’s, this is more of the fancier dinner with the itty bitty portions that coast you a ton. But we needed one of these nights right! The dinner was outside and you could see the coast line. It was one of their “sunset” tables. We saw in the very far distance whales. The water spouts, backs, and their big tales splashing. Living in Hawaii five years I had never seen a whale. Although, I think sometimes you don’t take advantage of some things you can do in the place you live, you skip it and then you miss out. The food was SO good! We got some crab cakes to start. Those looked very pretty and taste even better! Laycie got a stuffed lobster tail, with some kind of fish and asparagus.  I got steak and a macadamia nut Monchong. I was hesitant on trying the fish, but it was wonderful! Just melted in your mouth! Overall a fantastic dinner! Of course we had to top the very good, heavy meal off with some ice cream at Lapperts, also another local spot.  I’m pretty sure I told the lady one scoop, and I didn’t know you could get a bowl, so I put it in a cone, and I think there was at least five scoops in that thing! I have a lot of burning off to do when I get home that’s for sure! But so worth it!

Day 4

Roosters crowing before dark yet again!! This was another leisure day, so we thought. We got up and got breakfast so we could get going on our first adventure. I introduced Laycie into Geocaching even though she had heard about it before. So I had found four to do that day. One was right behind the Condo. It was on private property, and this was a VERY good hike! Of course Laycie and I got lost, yes, lost! Followed directions AND the GPS and still got lost! But we always make the best of it, and it just means we got an even better work out! We were able to see most of the east coast of the island and even saw our entire resort, it was so beautiful.  This cache was on Kalepa mountain, and after a few hours we had finally found it along with only 16 other people!

Next we headed to Kapaa to get some lunch. We stopped at a local spot, Pono Market and got a fatty plate lunch. Next we headed to Kipu waterfall. This wasn’t  a hidden spot on the map. Pretty popular actually. Very short hike down to this bigger waterfall that fell below into a waterhole that seemed to be fed by a ranch, meaning I would not put my foot in it! But it was fun to see the tourist swim in it (ewwww)! Let me say this, Hawaii’s waters are blue, you can usually see your feet through it. Even waterfalls, if you go to a waterfall that is brown, and you can’t see much of ANYTHING through it, I wouldn’t touch it!

That being said we left, and headed to the next Geocache. This was in Old Koloa town where a very historic sugar mill is still left. We didn’t get any pictures of this one because it was private property and besides the two works who were trying to hit on us we were getting some dirty looks for being up there. So we made this one quick and left!

On our list next was Gillin’s beach. A beach we had never heard of. After going down this very long winded road and killing the shocks on our rental car we finally got to the end where we could get out and walk. We walked up a certain path and ended up finding our next geocache. Then the path led us to an amazing beach. Hardly anyone on it, white fluffy sand and pure blue water! Was so pretty . This is a spot that we will go to next time we are down there for sure!  In the exact same area just a different path that was used by horses, so yes, it stunk and you had to skip over horse manure every minute; led us to another part of beach. This also was beautiful with a coast line in it. After searching and searching we finally found a path that took us up to the mountain above where we found a well maintained Cavern. It was called Makeleha Cavern. They have this place to grow Hawaiian native plants. It was such a beautiful place but the mosquitoes loved my blood up there!

After all of this we went ahead and called it a day, went back to the condo and hit up the spa! Had another night of fantastic sleep!

Day 5

Before we had left on our trip laycie was doing research and she found a picture of two ladies on a hike that we really wanted to do; the blue hole. She found a way to contact this lady and amazingly she just gave Laycie her phone number and said to contact her. So she did and she was willing to take us down there if the weather was okay.  Throughout the week of being there we decided the weather was not good enough to do the Blue Hole but she would take us on another hard one that was best done with someone who had done it prier instead of trying it on our own.  So after eating breakfast and getting our mean coffee we headed out on a new adventure.

We got the Nancy’s house and well, it is very hard to describe her. She is a very beautiful lady, in great shape, and has such a dominating personality. We all clicked great. I drove us to the trail head and that’s where we started our 4 mile hike. Doesn’t sound too long, but the hike is up stream, yes rock/boulder hopping up a stream! Nancy KICKED Laycie and I’s butt big time on this hike, there were many times when she was waiting on us! She did have these excellent shoes that came in handy for the rock hopping, while she was jumping rocks laycie and I were bent over grabbing any kind of rock we could that would catch us if we slipped. The Five fingers worked great for trails, mud and all that but NOT for the slippery, film covered rocks. Some rocks were smaller, some were huge and after watching laycie struggle over some I was not sure how I was going to do it! But I always find my way to maneuver the short legs I have, plus we had a grand prize at the end of this one! The river was flowing pretty strong, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as the other one would have been!  We finally reached the top and it was BEAUTIFUL. Pictures didn’t do this one justice. The walls around us created a loud rumble/drum sound and the waterfall flowed powerfully into the river below. We ate our lunch and had a few minutes with nature, then headed back.

We dropped Nancy off and decided to do another hike with her the next day. We headed back to the condo and sat in the spa, although; after all the cuts and bruises I had just gotten the spa didn’t feel the best this time around.  After the spa we got ready and headed out to dinner. This time around we went to Kapaa and went to the Bull Shed. This wasn’t too cheap but I felt you got a TON of food for what you paid for. We both got the salad bar, and then Laycie got lobster tail and steak with a loaded baked potato. I got steak and shrimp (I think I ate a LOT of steak on this trip now that I look back at it, ha!) and also a loaded baked potato. The food was delicious, and I couldn’t have been any happier with the places we had picked to eat out!

Day 6

Since we couldn’t do the main hike we wanted to do Nancy decided to take us up there anyway so we could get an idea of the hike. This hike is the center location for where Jurassic Park was filmed. We drove in on this really really rough road and got to a place where we could park. You could see the back wall and you could see a LOT of waterfalls. Nancy said that usually you can’t see any waterfalls on the back wall until you get “in”, and that’s how you know it has been raining a lot and not good to hike. Since this is a stream hike to the stream was moving rapidly, and even before we left that area it started raining on us. If you get caught in the middle of this hike with rain, either you have to book it back or you chance for the worse. If the rain is heavy you can get stuck, and if the river rises, there is no place for you to go. You get the point! Anyway we went on another short walk to see Ditchman’s dam. It was a pretty little area!!

After we left there we went to Opaeka’a falls. This fall we saw last time we were here from the lookout. We had been told that it the waterfall was on private property so we couldn’t get to it. Although Nancy told us it wasn’t. She said that it was blocked off because of quite a few people dying on it. This is NOT a hard hike. Just straight down, which I LOVE! Short but demanding! We got down there and this waterfall was also flowing pretty well, we got soaked just standing near it! I love being able to just look up to such a beautiful part of nature!

Once we finished our little hikes for the day we headed back to Nancy’s house to visit for a little bit. She fixed us a snack, some very thick, creamy yogurt with frozen cherries, and some hot tea. It was so good! We also went into Nancy’s back yard and picked some fruit from all of the fruit trees she had, EVEN BETTER!! After visiting we went ahead and left and headed back to the hotel where we went to the pool for a little bit, enjoyed the spa and hit up the waterslide, FINALLY!

For dinner we ended up going to Monico’s. It is one of the Mexican restaurants on the island and everyone loves it. Nancy said she really liked it, and since we invited her to dinner we went ahead and went there. I won’t say I hated it, and I wouldn’t even give them a bad review since Hawaii just doesn’t compare to what we have in Colorado. This place was probably the best I’ve had in Hawaii. I didn’t order exactly what I wanted, or I didn’t get exactly what I wanted, not to sure what happened there. But either way I got a pork burrito when I was expecting a Steak burrito, so you can see my disappointment from the beginning. They still don’t know what “chili” is, so that is never good haha but otherwise it was a great evening out with a new friend.

That night I had planned to take some time out and get some good studying in. AND we were going to go to bed early early since we had a sail the next morning and had to be up at 4! It was about 8:00pm and laycie’s phone was BLOWING UP, but was on silent so we’re not too sure how long people had been calling. She called her boyfriend back and we had found out that there was the earthquake in Japan, so for the first time all week we turned the TV on to watch the news. When earthquakes hit japan or any of that area over there we are always in a line for a Tsunami. I was in the one last year as well. Nancy called and let us know if we needed to leave the condo we were welcome at her house, which was a little bit higher in the mountains. I didn’t really want to leave, didn’t think it was necessary do to the face we were a little bit higher on the second floor. We were right on the beach though so it was a mandatory evacuation, so it was best if we just left. I was only willing to go because we didn’t have insurance on the car, and I didn’t want to chance that part of it!! HA! So we packed our bags and went up to Nancy’s house. We stayed at her daughter’s house right next door because she had an extra bedroom. We stayed up most of the night just streaming the news on the internet and keeping an eye on things. By 3:30 nothing had happened so I called it a night. By 7:00 the Next morning we went back, minimal damage had been done to the island we were on.

Day 7

This is the shortest day you will read.. if you are still reading! Since the Tsunami had hit the night before the weather was still iffy as for that day so our sail was canceled. We went ahead and did a little shopping and hung out at the pool. We went and ate at Olympic café, we went there last time we were on the island too. Very GOOD food! Basically that was it though. We went to bed super early after repacking bags and making sure we had everything because we had to be up at 4 to get the car to the rental shop and to get to the airport!!

Day 8 and 9

My last day!! I was very sad to leave, but at the same time super excited to get home! We got on the plane to oahu just fine. We picked up a few friends and went to eat some Dim Sum in china town. I used to go to this place with the family a lot. Loved it! Even though I was extremely tired and didn’t even have much to say because I had talked so much that entire week!  At noon they dropped me off at the airport and that’s where I began my adventure home. I drank for the first two flights because I needed sleep. And since I had Aisle seats I knew it would be hard for me to sleep if I didn’t have a little drink beforehand. So the first two flights went pretty well since I got at least 3 out of the 5 hours sleep. My last flight coming home from Dulles was delayed two hours of course. But I finally got home and my lil munchkin was excited to see me! Oh and the hubby was too!

We got home I got showered and then I left to go to open lab for school. No that’s not dedication, that’s just how much I did NOT study while I was on vacation! I have a lab practical this week that Is worth another 25% of my grade and I’m a little nervous now.

Little Update with Graysen

Before I left I made an appointment with the doctor to get Graysen checked out. This was because she was just getting sick with milk so often. I really started pinning down the times she would get sick and see what her activity was, what she ate and what not to see if I could just figure it out. I know she’s not allergic, and I also didn’t believe she had intolerance to it. Soo with a few changes she went an entire week and half without getting sick at all! After looking at what she was eating it seemed that the more she ate that day would be a day she would get sick on milk. Basically she drinks milk when she wakes up in the morning and she never gets sick unless she’s sick! Then after lunch (within 45 min) she drinks milk before a nap. And same thing with dinner but usually within an hour and half. My assumption is that she is not getting enough time to digest her food before we hand her a WHOLE sippy cup of milk (about 8 oz). Whole milk is heavy to top it off and giving it to her right after she just ate an entire kids meal from wendy’s is what was making her sick!  So in the morning I’d still give her the whole 8 oz but for the rest of the day I cut her milk intake in half. She only gets 3-4oz of milk after lunch and after dinner. Since milk is mostly for fat and vitamin D it’s not a big deal that we’ve cut it. And since we’ve done that she hasn’t gotten sick! It has also increased her appetite. She’s eating and is hungrier then she used to be! If anything changes I might take her to the doctor but for the mean time I think I solved the problem!

That is all!!! Thanks for tuning in!