Vacation in Paradise {Day One}

After 2 plane delays, one missed connection and one very long plane ride over the Pacific,

we (me, Joe, Joe's brother John and John's wife Ashley) finally arrived in Lihue, Kauai, our final destination for Operation: Vacation Paradise.

Our Hawaii trip had been planned since right after Christmas, with the help of a certain fortune cookie, and it was a huge relief to actually be there. I told Joe I wouldn't believe we were actually going to Hawaii until I set foot on Hawaiian soil.  I expected some Ukelele music and a woman in grass skirt and coconut bra to welcome me with a colorful flowered lei around my neck. That didn't happen. Nevertheless, I was still actually in Hawaii!

It was late in the evening when we arrived at the airport so, instead of boring you with tales of picking up a rental car, driving to the resort, brushing my teeth and tumbling into an exhausted sleep,

I will skip to the next morning. My official day one in paradise.

Joe woke up around 5 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. He left our room and my stubbornly snoozing self for our hotel's beach front. He took pictures of the amazing sunrise.

Isn't there something so serene and peaceful about watching the sun rise over the ocean? The never-ending crashing waves against the shore and the daily rise of the sun reminds me of the constancy of God. How His promises are unfailing.  And how He must be a God of beauty and awe to create something so lovely and meaningful.

Well, I missed it all. BUT, I can still enjoy the pictures, yes?

Joe rented a convertible to traverse the island, and I quickly realized that my hair + top down + wind =  hot mess.

The next day I found a jaunty little scarf to wrap over my hair as we were driving.

But I don't want to get too ahead of myself. We are still on day one!

We didn't have any excursions planned for the day, so we decided to drive toward the Waimea Canyon. It is described as "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific," a quote commonly ascribed to Mark Twain upon his visit to the Isle.  Kauai is known as the Garden Island for its lush natural landscape.  It also boasts the rainiest spot on Earth, which is why I was a tad bit worried when our First Day morning started out rainy and a bit cool.

Paradise should not be rainy and/or cool!

The Waimea Canyon is most definitely a grand site. Despite the low-slung clouds, we were able to behold this marvelous natural landscape.

Looking back as we motored the canyon road, all we could see was endless ocean meeting gray sky.

The Waimea River runs through, and helped to carve, the canyon.

Waterfalls flowed freely about the canyon.

We were standing higher than the clouds! 

The most amazing part when we got to the top of the ridge was the view from Kalalau Lookout.  Because the land is so rugged and wild and protected, the only way to access the Kalalau Valley is by kayak or by hiking a super intense like 22 mile round-trip trail. (Uh, no.) I've heard that it leads to a picturesque secluded beach, Kalalau Beach. It was a bit cloudy to see well, but still awesome to peak through the clouds and the canyon to the blue ocean waters below.

From some points on the canyon trail you can see, out in the distance, a small island off the west coast of Kauai known as Ni'ihau. It is also called the "Forbidden Isle," but I'll tell you more about it later on. {Cool story--must come back for Day Four of Paradise. ha!}

Something I did NOT know about Kauai, and was surprised to find out about on that first day, were the roosters and chickens! They ran around and were as common a sight as we might see squirrels here. They were EVERYWHERE. I don't know the exact story, but they were originally brought to the island early on during settlement days by Polynesians, Europeans, etc... and perhaps during a hurricane in the early '90's the  animals were somehow set free and left to over-populate.  I think there are several versions of the story. Nevertheless, I didn't know before that day, but I am just not a fan of roosters. They are a bit freaky looking and quirky moving and act as if they have no sense.

I did see several of them cross the road, however, and never could quite figure out why...

(Oh, Ellen. You crack me up!)

We saw some mountain goats. Joe thinks that taking pictures of animals in the wild is really, really awesome. I have about 25 pictures of this goat, all in different poses, if you want to see them. Just email me!

Because of the overcast nature of the day, most of the great views were a bit shrouded by rain clouds and mist. I was getting a bit apprehensive. We found out from some people we had met that Kauai had just spent the past 2 weeks drenched in rain (uncharacteristically) and even had to close roads due to flooding. And seeing as how there is only one major highway running through the entire island, that is a pretty big deal.

I was trying not to panic and assure myself that I could still have fun in paradise even if I couldn't lie by the pool and work on my tan (sob!).

After seeing the canyon sites, we traveled back to the town of Waimea and had a super delish lunch at the Shrimp Station.

We ate fabulously the entire time we were in Kauai. This place was a highlight. Fresh shrimp-yum! I had the cajun, Joe had the Thai, John tried the coconut, Ashley the fried shrimp.

I liked taking pictures of our food.

It was a perfect first day lunch!

I couldn't help myself, being the coffee lover that I am, stopping at the Kauai coffee company. They had tours! And samples! And a museum! ha!

Well, I did buy some locally made coffee, which gave me a warm fuzzy. Now I can have a little sip of Kauai every morning for a few more weeks. (Smiley face).

I heart coffee. This is me and a coffee tree. Coffee bush? Coffee plant?

After the marvelous coffee stop, we headed back South toward Po'ipu beach to see a much talked about natural wonder knows as the Spouting Horn.

Ocean water sprays through an opening in the lava shelf, sometimes spouting up to 50 feet.



We stayed and enjoyed the spray for some time before meandering back through the souvenir booths and purchasing a few trinkets for the girls.

Cleary wiped out from a long day of sight-seeing and our previous day of travel {and way too early wake-up} we headed back to our hotel for dinner and sleep!  The fun had only just begun, my friends.

And now, I am tired from just writing about it.

Check back for Day Two: How Joe and John made two girls take a hike.