Friday, September 9, 2011

Hawaii part II

Since I know you have all been on pins and needles, here's the rest of our little vacation...

We woke up early Tuesday morning to hike the Kalalau Trail along the Napoli Coast. One word- GORGEOUS!! Everyone told us it was a pretty strenuous hike and to be very careful of the mud and wet rocks. They were all right! When we were done, I had slipped around a few times, my shoes were completely covered in mud, along with most of my clothes, we were drenched in sweat but it was well worth it!

After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with some famous Bubba Burgers and fries (yes, I ate one as well). We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beautiful Tunnels Beach. We cleaned up later that evening and enjoyed a night out on the town!

Wednesday was a very lazy day for us as we were a little sore from the long hike. We slept in, had the best brunch of my entire life, snorkeled and relaxed by the hotel pool and beach for the rest of the day. There's some amazing snorkeling at our hotel so we decided to take full advantage. Mike had never been snorkeling before so I was in charge of "teaching" him. Let's just say that I'm not the best teacher and we didn't snorkel together for very long! I really wanted to take a picture of us in our snorkeling attire, but decided it might break the camera. That evening we got ready and headed out to the patio bar. Every Wednesday they have a champagne ceremony and toast right before sunset. We snagged some great seats, met some new friends and enjoyed watching the sunset. We ended the day with a yummy dinner right by the Kilauea Lighthouse.Thursday was the day I was looking forward to the entire trip...helicopter day! We worked out then headed to the airport for our helicopter tour. We arrived early (of course), got weighed in (hated it) and were told we could drive around until our tour left. We drove down to the old harbor on the edge of the island to explore and take a few pictures. We made it back just in time to make friends with our tour-mates and pilot. The pilot seated everyone in the helicopter based on our weight and I scored the best seat!!! I wish I could say it was because I was the lightest, but I think that God just knew how many pictures I was about to take. For an hour, we flew over every inch of the island while hearing the island facts and history. I snapped as many pictures as I could and this is one memory I won't soon forget.
We explored a few more towns, ate the biggest burrito of my life before heading back to hotel beach for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we ate our last dinner in Hanalei and bought a few souvenirs to remember the trip.


Friday was D day...or this is what I called it because the depression started creeping in. We woke up, had another delicious breakfast, then headed to the pool to lay out and drink away our sorrows for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, we showered, checked out and said goodbye to the hotel. We stopped for dinner in Kappa before consuming the largest shaved ice known to man. After we stuffed ourselves silly, headed to the airport to begin the long journey home.We made it back to TN late Saturday night and were both exhausted. Sunday was spent unpacking, doing laundry and grocery shopping. Sleep has been a bit of a struggle this week and our bodies have not adjusted yet. I have become a night owl and can't fall asleep until after midnight...TERRIBLE!!!

This week at work has been stressful for both of us but it has made us that much more thankful for the opportunity to get away for a long vacation together!! We're now ready for the work craziness to begin again!

1 comment:

Emily G. said...

awesome pics!!!! especially the helicopter ones....breathtaking!

so glad ya'll had a great trip and time together :)