Kauai- part 1

Jason and I got to take a wonderful vacation to Kauai.  We didn't even take the kids. Well, actually one of them got to tag along- but they are about the size of a peanut in my belly (YAY!!! I 'm 14 weeks pregnant).  The other two kids stayed with Jason's wonderful parents, and we knew they were in good hands.

Jason has been to Hawaii twice before, but only spent a day or so on Kauai. And I have never been to Hawaii.   Jason's family took a cruise and got to see the 5 bigger islands when his oldest sibling graduated from high school.  So his parents suggested Kauai and said it was the most beautiful island of them all- the least commercialized and most lush.  And it did not disappoint!

Friday afternoon- after a layover in Phoenix we headed straight to Kauai (it end up taking 10 hours)- We got really fortunate on the plane ride to Kauai, we didn't have a third person sit by us, and no one behind Jason so he could recline without worry.

This is the reason we got to go.  Jason worked on a 6 month project (October-April) for Marriott Vacation Club. And after 6 months of working days, nights, weekends, early mornings, you name it- he finished this huge massive project. (his dissertation took a break then)   Why did he work so hard, someone's job at Marriott was on the line, if he didn't finish it quickly.  Well to say thanks, they made sure to reward him well, with a 5 night stay in a worldwide villa of our choice.  And there was a list of places on the back we could go.  We contemplated going to France...but wanted something more relaxing.   I am not sure, but it must be a pretty elite award because when booking the vacation and asking questions about the hotel they kept asking me if I was family of the Marriott's and were pretty surprised when I said no.

I don't think something like this will ever happen again, because as a pretty new hire, it was his only project.  After he finished this he has maintained working for 9 different clients instead of just one.  Which unfortunately keeps him almost as busy (but now with dissertation work into the mix).  But his job is hard to recruit for, statistics and programming genuises- but they are always looking to hire

We stayed at Marriott Kauai Beach Club located right next to the airport in Lihue
 
It was gorgeous!
 
We were told it would be one bedroom two baths... but there was a second bedroom, with a mini kitchen  (fridge, microwave, dishwasher, toaster, blender, plates, utensils)- more than we needed

And here is our bedroom with an ocean front view.  The reason you see a mountain as well, is the Kalapaki beach is more like a lagoon, making it safe to surf  and paddle board, but also blocking the view of sunrise
 
Here is a picture from our balcony
 
So since we were tired we made an easy car drive to Wailua falls
 
No hiking necessary or available, the road dead ends here.
 
So peaceful and beautiful here
 
Then we got mexican food for dinner in Kapa'a (at Monico's Taqueria)- so yummy. And drove to Opeakea Falls (also in Kapa'a).  These are  different falls off the same river. You aren't as close to these falls, but again its just off the road and no hiking available.
 
Here I am with our white rental in background
 
Here are the leftovers from my carne asada (it was more colorful, but I already ate the green and red peppers that came with it)- yeah mine was a nice big portion- Jason got the shrimp enchilada, really yummy, but not as big.

Then we headed to Costco in Lihue for breakfast and lunch supplies- by then we were pretty tired, as it was midnight Utah time and we had woken up at 4:30am for our 7:15 flight

Saturday- Driving to Waimea Canyon - So on Kauai there is a North Shore and a south west shore.  Lihue is on the east side.  There are no roads that connect in the middle of the island, and no roads that connect from the west side to the north side (because of the Na Pali mountains, I think).  So our hotel was the perfect spot, as we could drive to both sides of the island in about an hour.  So we heard the Waimea Canyon is gorgeous at sunrise.  Our GPS told us it was 45 minutes to Waimea, but then it took another 30 minutes to get the Canyon over look.  
 
A photographer was just leaving and said the sunrise wasn't that great this morning with all the clouds, so we weren't too disappointed- we might have gone back, back it was cloudy off and on the rest of our stay.  One little drawback of going in September- but no crowds and easy parking everywhere made September a great time to go!
 
This Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

Every few minutes, as the sun would rise amongst the clouds, it would shine  differently in certain spots

 
We decided to keep driving up the Canyon and then head back to this lookout, so we could see the vibrant colors better- as the sun rose higher.

Chickens and roosters are everywhere on Kauai.  As we heard from a local at the hotel that they have are no natural predators on Kauai.  All of the other islands have the mongoose, but it is not on Kauai.  And there are a lot of Filipinos on the island and they like to raise chickens.  And there were two hurricanes (one 40 years and the other 20 years ago) where they were set free, and now they roam the island and are everywhere.  They are so funny and nice.  They would come up to us for food, but weren't mean if we didn't give them anything.

Here is the Canyon from another look out

 
 And you can start to see all the vibrant colors of this Canyon



Then we drove back to original view point for some better pictures.
You can kinda see a river bending back and forth between the valley of the mountains
 
So stunning

 


We got so fortunate with the timing of this picture, for a brief moment the sun shone through the clouds lighting up the cliffs jetting out on the left
 


We were hoping to go hiking in the Canyon, but saw no signs for any.... then on our way back down, we finally saw a sign- Can you tell why it would be hard to spot...its the little brown sign to the right of the call box

 

 
We saw these cute baby palms as I called them, until we read more about them...

I guess we were fortunate this day, a local from hotel told us to not go before 1pm, because it will be all foggy and misty like this- the whole time.
 
This picture is really zoomed in (200 m)
 
Here is the picture at 55 m, can't even see the waterfall, unless you zoom in on the center of this picture


It started to rain and we weren't sure how it would be going back uphill, so we headed back before making it to the river, but it was a beautiful scenic trail.

So interesting to see lots of red dirt on this side of the island.  The only other place I know with red dirt is deserty places like St. George, Utah

Along the coast in Waimea


 
I didn't even get wet!

When we got back from our hike, we were surprised with this dessert tray


The white chocolate macadamia nut cookies with chocolate drizzled on top were amazing!
Another way of the Marriott Vacation Club people saying thanks

Then we went swimming at the pool and tried out our new snorkeling gear at the beach. We did see a big sea turtle surprisingly, but were warned that the visibility would be low. Good thing we tried it out, mine was missing an important part on the bottom that keeps the water out, so I was breathing in salt water... Yuck. We found that part at a local shop, a few days later.  Jason let me use his, while he held the bottom of mine with his hand.  Such a nice guy!

Then we ate Kauai Pasta- good but overpriced, but you can tell it was a homemade sauce. Then we went to Walmart really close by and got a redbox and chocolate animal crackers, as noted by other resort guests.

 I am pointing to a lizard in the picture below.  Earlier that day after our time at the pool and beach, Jason and I hung out on these comfy outdoor couches along the pavillion.    One time I saw one and tried to get it crawl on me, and it jumped away from me and onto Jason's leg while he was napping.  Then another time, while I was napping too, and man walking by saw Jason swat a lizard about 10 feet away, and he was laughing so hard and saying,  "Did you see that?" It totally startled me awake.  And I just smiled, nodded, and went back to sleep- having no clue what happened.  Jason stayed asleep throughout but I found out later what happened.

Sunday- We went to a nearby LDS church for sacrament meeting- Both talks given were excellent
And we took some more pics around the hotel.  Here is the koi pond across from the lobby...

 



 
 Then we drove to the North Shore to do some snorkling at Ke'e Beach.  The North shore is gorgeous and has a very Jurassic Park type feel
 
 Ke'e Beach- does have a lifeguard on duty.  I am not sure if this is just on Kauai- every book, every video at hotel, airport, car rental place- talks about how dangerous it can be at the beaches in Kauai.  And to be sure to be careful.  In general the north shore is safer in the summer (May-Sept), and the south shore is safer in the winter (Oct- April). But they always suggest you check online as well. Well Ke'e Beach was great!  There is lots of coral, where the fishes are, but there were no waves to push you into the coral.  (The coral can give you an infection like what happened in Cast Away- so you have to careful around it).  It was great!


 
Caves on the drive toward Hanalei Beach 

 
The lush view on the drive  
 Another cave, but you can walk in this one
 
Rainbow- you barely see the faint double rainbow to the right
 
Pier at Hanalei Beach
 

 Watching sunset at Hanalei Beach. One of the only places with a good view, most views of the sunset are covered by mountains.





 
You can park your car right on the beach here.


 
 Little dog on the surf board- lol

On the way home to Lihue, we got dinner at Bubba's Burgers on Kapa'a- YUM!  Everywhere here seems to be really committed to organic food, the burgers were grass fed beef...pretty cool

Here is how things look around the hotel at night.  Lots of tiki torches lit up around entrance, and by pool and beach.