You ever try and check a surfboard in as your checked luggage? Holy cow. My twenty dollar board is much higher now and may be missing a fin or two when it makes it home. It'll be a great story to tell, though :) When leaving Hawaii, you have to run all your bags and goods through an x-ray machine (in addition to the TSA ones) to make sure you're not going home with plant life or agricultural items. They even made me run my surfboard through the machine to prove it wasn't filled with coconuts or something. Might have worked better if it was!
We're both very excited to return and share our new status with all our friends and family. What a great vacation, and what a perfect place to make another step in our relationship. Hawaii, we both love you and we'll be back soon!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Kauai Trip Day 4 - Pictures
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| Allysha doing yoga with Samantha Fox |
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| Yoga handstand |
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| Pretty Plumeria flowers |
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| If only I could take this back in my luggage |
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| I feel like there isn't anything to say here |
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| Kenny hitting the big wave off the West Shore |
Kauai Trip Day 4 - Surfboards
Our last full day in Hawaii, and the sun was warm and inviting! We started the day off with private Yoga lessons on Annai Beach. Samantha was amazing, and we both had a really nice time. We experienced a few minor showers in the first few minutes, but that soon gave way to warm, warm sunshine and Kenny sweated away a couple of pounds! Allysha did a really good job with yoga, only doing a little bit of damage with a stubbed toe while attempting a handstand (right after Samantha had instructed, don't go all the way up quite yet!).
After yoga, we headed back toward the resort and grabbed a small snack. On the way back, we found someone selling a really beat up motorcycle for $50.00 bucks, and an old surfboard for $20. If only our luggage was larger!
At 1:00, we had a relaxing couples massage at the spa, during which Kenny had the epiphany that he was going to buy the surf board as decoration for his livingroom. So, after the massage, Allysha caught some rays by the pool and Kenny went back to buy the board. No one answered at the phone number, so Kenny left $20.00 taped to the sign and trotted off with the board (a later text message alerted me to some pokey fiberglass).
Allysha was convinced that no surfboard from Hawaii was going to look good if it hadn't been surfed, so we ventured back to the Poi'po to find some waves and hang loose. Along the way, we had to stop and buy a leash for the board, which at $28 bucks was more than the board itself! We picked one of the worst spots we could find, and Kenny struggled in the waves for 20 minutes or so before calling his surfing career complete. While resting and worrying on the beach, Allysha took pictures of Kenny surfing and a Asian gentleman in a pink Speedo (I must have gotten boring).
Looking for a little rest, we made it back to the hotel for a great dinner and a nice sit near the beach. It was a wonderful last evening in Hawaii!
After yoga, we headed back toward the resort and grabbed a small snack. On the way back, we found someone selling a really beat up motorcycle for $50.00 bucks, and an old surfboard for $20. If only our luggage was larger!
At 1:00, we had a relaxing couples massage at the spa, during which Kenny had the epiphany that he was going to buy the surf board as decoration for his livingroom. So, after the massage, Allysha caught some rays by the pool and Kenny went back to buy the board. No one answered at the phone number, so Kenny left $20.00 taped to the sign and trotted off with the board (a later text message alerted me to some pokey fiberglass).
Allysha was convinced that no surfboard from Hawaii was going to look good if it hadn't been surfed, so we ventured back to the Poi'po to find some waves and hang loose. Along the way, we had to stop and buy a leash for the board, which at $28 bucks was more than the board itself! We picked one of the worst spots we could find, and Kenny struggled in the waves for 20 minutes or so before calling his surfing career complete. While resting and worrying on the beach, Allysha took pictures of Kenny surfing and a Asian gentleman in a pink Speedo (I must have gotten boring).
Looking for a little rest, we made it back to the hotel for a great dinner and a nice sit near the beach. It was a wonderful last evening in Hawaii!
Kauai Trip Day 3 - Pictures
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| Napali Coast from the helicopter |
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| On the helicopter ride! |
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| On the helicopter ride! |
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| The Tunnel of Trees! |
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| After dinner at the Beach House |
Kauai Trip Day 3 - Helicopter ride!
Our third day on the Garden Island was a fill of excitement, relaxation and good food! We started out the morning with a nice shopping trip at the local mall, where we came away with a new swimsuit for Allysha (her second) and a new pair of Hawaiian sunglasses for me. We even got a shirt for little Spencer!
After a quick snack, we made the short drive up to Wiemea Falls. They were very pretty, and had quite a bit of water over them. As with our outer sight stops, we were out, took some pictures, and headed off to the next item. Of course, this time it was something a little more worthwhile!
We were to be at the airport at 12:30 for you 1:15 pm helicopter flight around the island. After checking in, we sat on the porch and enjoyed the nice weather and a neighboring spider that must have been 2 inches or so in diameter. He/she had the brightest golden back I've ever seen! We loaded on the helicopter around 1:00 and off we went for our trip. Our pilot was a retired eighth grade teacher from Kauia who had broken his back during a tour in Korea. Allysha and I had the two front row seats right next to our pilot, and I was right next to the door. The flight was amazing, and afterward Allysha said something along the lines of no better way to see the island. And, she was completely right. First, flying in a helicopter was a first for me and I enjoyed it! A little bumpy, but amazing and fun to navigate in. We flew right up to the cliff walls, right up to the waterfalls and close enough that we chased off a couple of goats! The views were awesome and something words can't do justice.
The Napali Coast was beautiful from the air, and something that would be worth coming back and camping on sometime (which would require a fair amount of hiking or boating). The waterfalls were beautiful and inspiring, and seemed to run from a never ending source. We circled the entire island and saw things we'd never be able to see from the ground. We will definitely have to take another ride!
After our flight, we rested at the hotel for a bit and then headed back out for a sunset dinner at The Beach House restaurant. The food was delicious, and the sunset was gorgeous. We've decided that it might be easier to find restaurants with chef's who know what their food has in it, rather than looking for gluten free menus! (editors note: the trip is complete and we had another successful vacation with no gluten sickness!).
To complete a wonderful day, we made the 2 mile trip from the restaurant to the Spouting Horn. Given that is was well after dark, we were the only visitors there which made the spouting every 15 seconds or so both eerie and romantic. Pictures didn't work too well, though!
After a quick snack, we made the short drive up to Wiemea Falls. They were very pretty, and had quite a bit of water over them. As with our outer sight stops, we were out, took some pictures, and headed off to the next item. Of course, this time it was something a little more worthwhile!
We were to be at the airport at 12:30 for you 1:15 pm helicopter flight around the island. After checking in, we sat on the porch and enjoyed the nice weather and a neighboring spider that must have been 2 inches or so in diameter. He/she had the brightest golden back I've ever seen! We loaded on the helicopter around 1:00 and off we went for our trip. Our pilot was a retired eighth grade teacher from Kauia who had broken his back during a tour in Korea. Allysha and I had the two front row seats right next to our pilot, and I was right next to the door. The flight was amazing, and afterward Allysha said something along the lines of no better way to see the island. And, she was completely right. First, flying in a helicopter was a first for me and I enjoyed it! A little bumpy, but amazing and fun to navigate in. We flew right up to the cliff walls, right up to the waterfalls and close enough that we chased off a couple of goats! The views were awesome and something words can't do justice.
The Napali Coast was beautiful from the air, and something that would be worth coming back and camping on sometime (which would require a fair amount of hiking or boating). The waterfalls were beautiful and inspiring, and seemed to run from a never ending source. We circled the entire island and saw things we'd never be able to see from the ground. We will definitely have to take another ride!
After our flight, we rested at the hotel for a bit and then headed back out for a sunset dinner at The Beach House restaurant. The food was delicious, and the sunset was gorgeous. We've decided that it might be easier to find restaurants with chef's who know what their food has in it, rather than looking for gluten free menus! (editors note: the trip is complete and we had another successful vacation with no gluten sickness!).
To complete a wonderful day, we made the 2 mile trip from the restaurant to the Spouting Horn. Given that is was well after dark, we were the only visitors there which made the spouting every 15 seconds or so both eerie and romantic. Pictures didn't work too well, though!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Kauai Trip Day 2 - Relaxing day
Hey there from Kauai. Today was a relaxing, pretty laid back day here on the island. We stopped at the Paradise Gluten Free Bakery on the way out of Kapaa, and met one of the most energenic, crazy people I think I've ever met. She was going about a mile a minute, and Allysha laughed every time she went back into her 138 sq foot bakery because she had to duck under an electrical cord. A rather large gentelman showed up while we were there, and asked if he could come in. She responsed with something like "Does it look like you can?" :)
After that, we drove up the east side of Kauai, alternating between pooring rain and goregous sunshine. We stopped in at Hanalei Bay for coffee at the only coffee stand that was opened, and waiting with 30 other people dodging the rain storm! We continued on to a million different beaches, ending at Tunnels which was amazing and gorgeous. There are huge tunnels in the rock wall behind the beach, and the sand and water is amazing.
Allysha and I have both decided that we travel very together, and that's for two reasons.
(1) When we stop to see something, we're very effiecent. We get out, we see it, we take a picture, and we're off to the next stop. None of this old person sight seeing, we do it, and we're off.
(2) We love to shop in new places. We've been in 100 stores since we got here, and I'm sure we'll go in 50 more. We love looking, and buying if needed.
From there, we had lunch in Princeville and enjoyed a nice drive back. We walked down the beach when we got back to the hotel, specifically looking for a motorcycle track we knew (and could hear_ was nearby. We enjoyed watching the few guys out there ride, and the kids on the little track were cute as could be. We had dinner in Kaapa at the Olympic Cafe, which was very good. I had Ono, which is a rather tough white fish and I'm glad she told me when I ordered it, because I would have been very confused. After that, Allysha was ready to crash and prepare for the next day!
After that, we drove up the east side of Kauai, alternating between pooring rain and goregous sunshine. We stopped in at Hanalei Bay for coffee at the only coffee stand that was opened, and waiting with 30 other people dodging the rain storm! We continued on to a million different beaches, ending at Tunnels which was amazing and gorgeous. There are huge tunnels in the rock wall behind the beach, and the sand and water is amazing.
Allysha and I have both decided that we travel very together, and that's for two reasons.
(1) When we stop to see something, we're very effiecent. We get out, we see it, we take a picture, and we're off to the next stop. None of this old person sight seeing, we do it, and we're off.
(2) We love to shop in new places. We've been in 100 stores since we got here, and I'm sure we'll go in 50 more. We love looking, and buying if needed.
From there, we had lunch in Princeville and enjoyed a nice drive back. We walked down the beach when we got back to the hotel, specifically looking for a motorcycle track we knew (and could hear_ was nearby. We enjoyed watching the few guys out there ride, and the kids on the little track were cute as could be. We had dinner in Kaapa at the Olympic Cafe, which was very good. I had Ono, which is a rather tough white fish and I'm glad she told me when I ordered it, because I would have been very confused. After that, Allysha was ready to crash and prepare for the next day!
Kauai Trip Day 1 - Pictures
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| From the lanai at our hotel |
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| She said yes! |
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| She walked right past the message! |
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| Sure, now she sees it! |
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| Just after she said yes! |
Kauai Trip Day 1 - Alaska Air staff
To start out this little jaunt to the islands, we almost had an incident in the lovely city of Seattle with the check in gal at Alaska Air. It was a scene straight out of Meet The Parents that would have made the director proud. As our section was called, Allysha and I both lined up to board the plane. When it was my turn, she took my ticket and check me in, but then said (gasp) that my carry on luggage was too large to take on with me. Here is a play by play of how it went:
Ticket agent "Sir, you're bag is too large to take on the plane, I'm going to need to check it through to Hawaii"
Kenny "Ah, no, I'm going to carry it on with me. Thanks!"
Agent "No, sir, you're bag is to large (to fit into the little cage), so I'll check it"
Kenny "It'll fit, and I've travelled hundreds of times with this bag without a problem"
Agent "Well, sir, it isn't on a diet today so we'll need to check it"
She proceeded to write me a tag, and asked me to leave it on the ramp before entering the plane.
Agent "Now, I'm not going to charge you the $25.00 fee today that we normally charge"
Kenny, slightly ruffled already "It doesn't matter, I'm MVP (which Allysha thought was hilarious and normally gives me two free checked bags)
Agent "Actually, it doesn't matter at the gate. Have a good day!"
Now, given that my bag was about two inches too big, and that I had a very, very important ring inside of it, I removed the tag on the way down the ramp and brought the bag on with me. Allysha spent the rest of the time before they closed the door waiting for the agent to come down the ramp after us! :) I think I heard more than once "You're gonna get us kicked off the plane before we even get to Hawaii!".
I'm sorry, I just didn't want to let that bag out of my sight!
Ticket agent "Sir, you're bag is too large to take on the plane, I'm going to need to check it through to Hawaii"
Kenny "Ah, no, I'm going to carry it on with me. Thanks!"
Agent "No, sir, you're bag is to large (to fit into the little cage), so I'll check it"
Kenny "It'll fit, and I've travelled hundreds of times with this bag without a problem"
Agent "Well, sir, it isn't on a diet today so we'll need to check it"
She proceeded to write me a tag, and asked me to leave it on the ramp before entering the plane.
Agent "Now, I'm not going to charge you the $25.00 fee today that we normally charge"
Kenny, slightly ruffled already "It doesn't matter, I'm MVP (which Allysha thought was hilarious and normally gives me two free checked bags)
Agent "Actually, it doesn't matter at the gate. Have a good day!"
Now, given that my bag was about two inches too big, and that I had a very, very important ring inside of it, I removed the tag on the way down the ramp and brought the bag on with me. Allysha spent the rest of the time before they closed the door waiting for the agent to come down the ramp after us! :) I think I heard more than once "You're gonna get us kicked off the plane before we even get to Hawaii!".
I'm sorry, I just didn't want to let that bag out of my sight!
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