Last spring when Rick told me his fishing trip planned for this September was going to be over my birthday I decided to take the bull by the horns and invite others to join me on a trip to Hawaii!
I got a few takers. Darla and Audra, DeeAnn and Kathy Mouritsen, and Kendra and me.
A big thanks to Darla who pretty much did all the prep work of finding a place and getting the cars for us!
Five of us left on Thursday the 14th of September. (Kendra joined us a few days later)
Our first flight from SLC to Oakland had about only 25 people on board so we all were able to have our own aisle to stretch out on. That was nice since we had to leave very early that morning. (3:30AM)
Most of us were able to get a little sleep on that flight.
Our second flight, though was completely full!
This was our seating arrangement.
We arrived around 1PM to the island of Kauai. We were able to get our cars and made a stop at Walmart to get some food for the coming week. Afterwards we made our way out to Poipu without much trouble.
After getting settled into our condo, which was really lovely and accommodated us very well. Darla did a very nice job at finding one for us at a discounted price.
After unpacking we drove over to Brennekes to have some dinner, but they were closed for the evening, so we found another poolside grill called Cabana Grill.
We all enjoyed our meals.
After getting back to the condo a few of us ventured out to the beach. It was about a ten minute walk from the condo. It was quite a rocky and rough beach. On the way back to the condo I ran into DeeAnn and Kathy, and we decided to get into the hot tub for a bit. That was nice. Afterwards we settled into bed for the night. It was only 8:30 but our bodies were on UT time, and it was after midnight at home.
The next morning we got up to a beautiful sunny, breezy day. We had a great breakfast from all of the food we bought the day before, and then off we went! But first a picture from our deck....
Our first stop was to The Spouting Horn. It is a fun phenomena to see. The water rushes in underneath the lava rock and whooshes through the whole and then out of another hole comes a big rushing sound. We took a bunch of pictures and marveled at the beautiful blue of the ocean!
Our next stop was the Ninini Point Lighthouse. At first I thought it was a wild goose chase because of the dirt road we were on but, lo and behold our GPS got us to where we needed to be. This lighthouse was bigger than I thought it would be. Unfortunately we could not go inside but we enjoyed the surrounding area. The lighthouse sits on a little jut of land just off the airport runway. At one point I said, "It would be cool to see a jet come in for landing." Then lo and behold, immediately I looked up and there was a Hawaiian Airlines jet headed straight for us. I was quick with my camera and videoed him coming right over our heads. It was so cool! This was a really fun stop for us!
Next we headed toward Koloa town where we stopped for lunch at Jimmy's Grill.
It wasn't cheap, but our food was good, and it filled us up.
We got a seat looking out over the water.
Our next stop was the Kiluaea Lighthouse.
We got a couple nice pictures from an overlook on our way to it.
Luckily, both Darla and Kathy had their National Parks Pass so we were able to get in for free:)
This lighthouse was not as tall but it is situated on a jut of land on the North Shore. We enjoyed watching the seabirds from this vantage point. In the wintertime they say this is a great spot for watching whales.
The Park Ranger gave us a few suggestions for a nice beach. She suggested Hanalei Beach, and we found it most delightsome! It was now 4:00 in the afternoon but we set up camp on the beach and then Audra and I got out into the water. It was nice being out in the calm waters. We just chatted about each others lives getting caught up on our families. We were out there about 40 minutes when a rain storm hit. The ladies on the beach were calling us in, and by the time we got packed up and to the foot wash the rain had all but stopped. I just loved my time at this beach! Short as it was.
After the hour plus drive back to the condo we all got comfortable and made some nachos and quesadillas (thanks Audra;) and settled down to a Hallmark movie. It was a nice quiet evening.
The next day was kind of a lazy one. I spent a couple of hours at the pool while some others went and did a little shopping. DeeAnn, Kathy and I spent some time at Poipu Beach in the afternoon, but found that it was pretty rocky and none of us had water shoes. We couldn't get in very well because of that, but we all enjoyed some time getting some sun. Poor DeeAnn got too much sun! That evening we went to the Sheraton Resort for dinner at Lava's Restaurant.
We got a beautiful view of the sunset just before going in to dinner.
From our table we had a great view of the pool and beach. The dinner was delish and we had a nice time talking over a good meal.
After returning I drove out to Poipu with DeeAnn and Kathy to see the turtles up on the beach. They were hard to see because we couldn't get too close but there were a couple of volunteers with red lights that they shined on the turtles.
The next day was church. We got to the Kalaheo Ward just west of Koloa. It was a great meeting!
Funny enough, after the meeting we ran into our niece Rachel and her son Cooper. Rachel was in Kauai for work and we both just happened to be staying in Poipu. Kinda cool!
After church DeeAnn and Darla set right in to making a fantastic lunch. DeeAnn and Darrell's famous linguini with a couple of salads, bread and fruit. It was really a great lunch. The best parts of this trip were these times sitting around tables eating, in the car talking, or sitting around visiting. I just love that about these girls trips. After lunch and a nap we headed out to the middle of the island to see a couple of waterfalls. Rick called me during the second waterfall so I didn't get a picture of that one. I just mostly enjoyed hearing his voice and finding about his day:)
After the waterfalls we drove back to the condo and played some games around the table. We played Word on the Street, Codenames (twice) and a getting to know you game of Kathy's.
I loved it! Games are so fun and it gets everyone involved!
The next morning was the 18th...DeeAnn's Birthday! I got up early to run to the store to pick up some flowers and a small gift for her. By the time I got back everyone was mostly awake. We decided to go to breakfast and get some banana macadamia nut pancakes. We went to Taco Loco there on the golf course and ordered up some Mexican breakfasts with an order of banana pancakes to share. Oh man! Everything was so flavorful and good! Especially theses babies......
Around 3PM I left to go pick up Kendra Dee from the airport. I was so excited for her to arrive and to be able to spend the next few days with us! That evening we met up at Keoki's Restaurant for DeeAnn's birthday dinner. The Maui onion soup was super delicious! I also had some coconut shrimp with my soup. DeeAnn ordered the prime rib and was super happy about it. The restaurant found out that we were having two birthdays so they got us TWO Hula Pie's for the table to share! Score! What a wonderful evening!
The next day was MY BIRTHDAY! We started out early (well, early for the six of us) and left the apartment at 8:30 to get to Koloa where we had four bikes and two trikes reserved. Just as we were starting out we discovered that the trike was not going to work for DeeAnn. She just could not get the hang of it and so turned her trike back in. After taking off Darla discovered that her trike was too heavy to pedal up the hills so she ended up returning her bike.😳
They met up with each other and did some shopping.
The rest of us got started on the 8ish mile of bike path next to the ocean. There were some beautiful vistas and it was exhilarating being on a bike with the wind in my face. Some hills took a bit of effort but for the most part it was a pretty easy ride. We enjoyed it!
After our ride we met back up with Darla and DeeAnn and headed back towards Poipu. We wanted to find a beach that had more sand instead of rocks. Audra found that there was a beach right next to the Sheraton that looked like it was sandy. It was sandy alright but the breaking waves were more than I could handle! They were so strong so after being out for just a few minutes I went back to my chair for more reading time with my book. I didn't mind:)
That evening after getting all spiffed up we headed out to Duke's for MY birthday dinner. The food that night was SOOOO good! A few of us got this steak dish with the salad bar and it was heavenly! We got the same treatment as Keoki's from the night before (they are sister restaurants) and alas, we got two more Hula Pie's for dessert for the two birthday girls!
It was a GREAT birthday!
We ended the evening with snacks and a movie back at the condo.
The next morning we ventured back up to the North Shore to get back to Hanalei Beach. It was such a nice calm beach and we wanted more of that. Well, as things go, by the time we got that far north and had lunch we didn't arrive at the beach until 3:30.
We had thought we would try Anini Beach at the suggestion of the Park Ranger but found there wasn't much sand to sit on so we opted to drive to Hanalei Beach.
Not before Audra got this nice picture, though.
By that time we were all super hungry so we stopped at the food trucks to get some grub.
Kendra and I decided on a chicken sandwich and fries. Darla got a salad and DeeAnn and Kathy shared a couple of tacos. Audra was the real winner went she went bold and got some Argentine food. She came back with a plate of HUGE grilled shrimp along with rice, beans and some type of cole slaw. Kendra was wishing she had gotten that! Audra was nice and shared her shrimp!
Here we are back at Hanalei! All set up for some fun!
Hanalei is surrounded by beautiful mountains.
We could spot two waterfalls from our place on the beach.
Goodbye Hanalei Beach!
It was just so pretty we had to take a picture.
That evening we decided to go back to the condo and eat up some of our food in the fridge. There was still sooo much, and we just had one day left. We enjoyed a leftovers (Sunday's linguine) and some down time.
The next day was a big one. Darla, Audra, Kendra and I got up early to catch our catamaran to see the Na Pali coast. We drove down to a little harbor west of Poipu. I was a little disappointed to see that our boat was a small catamaran but realized later that it was a blessing because we could not have gotten into such tight places with a larger boat. Our guides were really fun and it was just such an enjoyable morning.
We got to see some spinner dolphins. (which I don't have pictures of) There were so many different pods and some of them were swimming right along with us. So fun to see. We also got to see a couple of turtles in the water a little later. The Na Pali coastline was so beautiful! Our boat ride was a little rough but it was totally worth it and we all had such a good time. Our captain took us in to a couple of different caves and that was really cool! I loved that part of it. Plus we got to see MANY waterfalls coming off the cliffs. I'm not sure how many but there were at least ten. On a rainy day I bet it is loaded with waterfalls!
We stopped after a couple of hours and I did a little snorkeling. Audra also got into the water but I don't think she stayed too long. The water was a little rough and there was definitely a strong current. The wildlife was just meh, so I got out after about a half an hour. Luckily they were just serving up lunch...a sandwich and chips that hit the spot! This Na Pali boat trip was definitely a highlight of the trip!
At the end of our excursion with Captain David.
On our way back we stopped at the famous Hanapepe hanging bridge. Can I just say again how happy I was that Kendra came to be with me/us? She's a delight!
We arrived back at the condo and Kendra went out to the pool while the rest of us laid down for a little rest. That night we hadn't made any reservations for dinner so most places were booked up for the night so we ended up going back to the Cabana Grill where we got in without any wait. We enjoyed our last dinner out and then headed back to the condo to get packed up.
We left the next morning by 9 while Kendra had a few hours to wait before her flight was to leave. Luckily we were able to get a late checkout and she was able to spend some lounge time at the pool before her flight left. Pete and Terri were in town with some friends so they graciously agreed to pick her up and take her in to the airport.
What a fabulous time with some fabulous ladies. I feel very blessed that they agreed to come along with me to celebrate my birthday!
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