Kauai

This may be the longest post of pictures ever.....

We left Saturday a.m. and arrived late afternoon on the island. First stop on Kauai: Walmart. Ashley forgot his hiking shoes so we had to go straight to the store. He bought $14 athletic shoes that lasted (just barely) the whole hike.

Kauai! Isn't it beautiful! Wait, we're at Walmart,  do'h.

Our air BnB the first night near Poipu

A BnB way up in the hills. The other side had gorgeous ocean views. We didn't have ocean view, but it felt like we were in a tree house.

 The first afternoon we went into Poipu and walked around, grabbed a bit to eat and beer at a restaurant and watched humpback whales and the sunset. Not a bad first evening on the island!

The next morning (Sunday a.m.) we got up early to drive to the North shore to start our hike along the Napali coast.

Hiking in - 5 miles in or so

Steep drop offs to beautiful blue water. 

Beautiful although treacherous. We saw humpback whiles in the water around here.

Narrow trail on the cliffs. I HATED this part. You can see me just off center on the trail.

That is BARELY a trail and you would definitely die if you slipped. It was also VERY VERY windy here. I was shaking the whole time. I'm apparently more afraid of heights than I knew.

But it pays off with beautiful views! This photo must be as we are approaching the last couple miles of trail.

Steep Napali cliffs

We arrived around 5 or 6pm, were wiped but immediately set up camp. Beautiful view from our campsite.

Morning view from tent. We didn't have sleeping pads and the ground was hard, but we were both beat from the hike, and with a waterfall behind us and the sound of the ocean on the other, we slept surprisingly well.

Beautiful source for fresh water. We did a lot of filtering here.

View of our campsite from the ocean side

Cosmic Aloha : )

The naked residents swimming for their provisions the boat is dropping off!

We had all of that day to just chill, rest, and explore around the beach. Since there are so few people back there,  this is the only photo we have of us together!

Ashley relaxing in the hammock

We had a guava tree over our campsite. Yum!

Sunset wave show. So beautiful

Sun almost set....

The photos don't do it justice - the waves were going crazy, it was really beautiful.

Hiking out the third day - good bye Kalalau beach!

Had to hike those dang cliffs again, ugh!

Ashley and pretty mountain views

When we got off the trail Tuesday afternoon, we went straight to grab fish tacos and a beer in Hanalei and then to our VRBO in Anahola. We showered, grocery shopped, ate and slept like rocks.

The next morning we snorkeled at Anini beach - saw lots of fish and swam with sea turtles! That part made my trip. : )

In the afternoon we toured a beautiful botanical garden

Stopped at a farmer's market in Kapa'a to make dinner - mountain apples, lumquats, avocado, cilantro, tomatoes, papaya, pineapple and limes. We also picked up different types of poke - we at poke every single day. That and the kahlua pig were my favorite foods.

Ashley eating breakfast on "our" beach : )

"Our" bay that the VRBO was on - drank coffee and walked on the beach every morning. Going on walks around our neighborhood in Portland is so uneventful now : )

Ashley taking a break on the surfboards in Hanalei bay

"Queen's Bath" near Princeville. GORGEOUS clear water. It really is a huge pool fit for a queen.

I didn't get any pictures of us swimming since I didn't want to get the camera wet, but some folks came along right after us and I got their picture. We had it to ourselves for a bit, which was awesome. The pool is at least 7 feet deep and so clear. Huge waves come in and fill it up over and over again. Tons of beautiful fish swimming around in there.

Ashley's Walmart shoes get one more use: We used them in place of foam when mounting the surfboards to the roof when we went to return them. The shoes went in the garbage after this, but I'd say Ashley got his $14 worth out of them : )

Our little rental with the boards on top

View from our VRBO bedroom window. Good bye beach, sun and crystal clear blue water! I swore we'd plan for another vacation of this type next winter : )