It seems I've come full circle. When I graduated from college, I went to Hawaii by myself. It was my first time there, so I went to Oahu to see Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and the Polynesian Culture Center, all musts for a first time visitor. And then I spent a few day relaxing on Kauai.
The next time I went, I took mom as a thank you for watching my kids while I got my masters. It was her first time, so it was back to Oahu and Kauai.
Many years later, mom and I took the kids with us, so again it was Oahu and Kauai. All three times is was amazing and all three times, we did different activities.
Last week, I went back to Hawaii...this time alone, again. And since there was no need to go to Oahu, I spent the entire week on Kauai. It was amazing and just what I needed. Milo and Gale stayed with mom, so I had a week of relaxing and no worries. And that is just what I did...relax.
I did have a little excitement...one day I went horseback riding...
Another day, I went on a zodiac raft ride to see the Na Pali coast
Me before we headed back to shore ...
...and me at the end of our trip! On the way back, the seas became pretty rough with some big swells. Every time we went over one, it was like someone threw a bucket of water right on me. I was sitting in the front of the boat, so I was drenched! But, it was so much fun.
Dolphins, dolphins everywhere...hundreds of them!
The third day of my rental car, I explored the beauty of the island.
Shave Ice
My guide book said that there were three outstanding places to get shave ice...I managed to try all three! And to tell you the truth, I couldn't taste the difference between any of them. They were all delicious.
My hotel, Kauai Beach Resort, was amazing. The pool was so fun...and the beach was only a few steps away. This is the view from my room.
During my entire week, I never adjusted to the different time zone,
so I was up early every day. One benefit of this was the gorgeous sun
rises I was able to witness.
The beaches were fantastic...
But, most of my time was spent either reading by the pool...
...or lying on the beach.
All in all, an amazing week! It was very hard to say
This outfit originally belonged to Mel and I don't think it started out to be a costume. But mom snagged it from Mel and wore it for several Halloweens at her school parade. Then Amy grabbed it and it became a family tradition. I have even worn it on a few occasions. I wonder how the grandkids will look in it in a few years. I hope the patches can hold up!
I kept thinking of Lori's talk the entire time I was in Hawaii. My
"nursery" was amazing. Every sunrise, every flower, every waterfall,
everything pointed to the fact that God loves me very much. I was in
awe of the beauty of the world around me. Thank you Lori for pointing
that out and thank you, God for loving me.
On Saturday night, we discovered a bowling alley at a neighboring
casino. We went and the kids had a ball. And by kids, I mean the young
ones and the big ones, too (Amy, Todd, and Todd)!
