Monday, July 30, 2012

No more boats for me!

The last week of June we headed to Hawaii to watch two of our friends get hitched.  This was our second time visiting the beautiful island of Kauai and it was a week-long vacation that was very much needed.  The wedding was amazing and the bride couldn't have looked more gorgeous.  Aside from a little bit of tropical rain (which provided an amazing rainbow) the day couldn't have gone better.  The reception was a lot of fun too.  A little too much fun for myself and I have the scar on my ankle to prove it.  Apparently, I can't hold my liquor these days.  After one margarita, I tripped over some rocks and ate it pretty hard.  It was worth it though.  I forgot how much fun it is to let loose once in a while - especially if its good alcohol and you don't pay for it the next day.

We ended up staying in a house with the bride and groom and three other couples that we had never met.  I must admit, leading up to the trip I was worried that we had made a horrible decision to stay in the house.  However, to my surprise it worked out really well.  Everyone was so respectful of everyone else and we all got along really well.  We may even meet up with some of them in the future.

After the wedding was over, the rest of the trip was pretty low-key.  The only scheduled activity we planned was a catamaran snorkeling trip along the Na Pali Coastline.  I know what you're thinking.  "She actually got on another boat in Kauai?"  I did, and just like last time, it was a bad decision.  The last time we were in Kauai we went on the worst boating trip ever.  We went deep sea fishing on a tiny little boat in 20-foot swells.  For most of that outing I questioned whether or not we would return to shore.  It was horrible.  So why did I agree to go on another boat in Kauai?  Because I'm an idiot!  That's the only explanation I can come up with.  I guess I figured it couldn't be that bad.  After all, it was summer this time around so the weather was supposed to be better and we were on a MUCH bigger boat.

The first part of the outing was a lot of fun.  We spotted sea turtles, Spinner Dolphins and Bottle-nose Dolphins.  My friend and I sat at on the trampoline at the front of the boat so that we could have the best view as well as get optimum sun exposure.  It was a lot of fun....Until it wasn't.  All of the sudden we hit some rough water.  Not 20-foot swell rough, but rough enough that it wasn't fun anymore.  The captain told us that it wasn't safe to move around so we needed to lay on our stomachs and hold on tight with our arms in front of us in a Superman position.  Wave after wave began crashing over us.  I don't know how big they were but it felt like we were constantly under water.  After what seemed like an eternity of being pummeled by waves and getting rope burns on my knuckles, there was a small enough break that we were able to get up and run under deck.   Once we were safely under deck, I realized that everything was blurry and I had a massive headache.  I must have swallowed the entire ocean.  What I didn't swallow was in my eyes and ears.  It wasn't pleasant and I stayed under deck for the rest of the trip back to shore.

Aside from dreaded boating adventure #2 in Kauai, overall the trip was a success.  Kauai is a beautiful island, but not one I think we'll return to for several years. Next on the list for Hawaii is to check out Oahu or Kona.

Here's a little picture recap.  Enjoy!

Our tiny little car companion

The wedding reception

Ian's watching me stumble to my drink

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Nash

This is the house we stayed in as well as the reception location
The wedding rainbow

The view from our backyard

Cheese!

The hammock in our backyard.  I wish I had remembered this was here
so I could have actually used it

The guys chilling on the porch after a hard day in the sun

Looking down on the general location of our house

Our understated rental.  Could they have given us a more obnoxious color?
By the way, Mustangs are not at all comfortable

Spouting Horn at dusk

The dreaded boat.....Before it got bad.  We don't have any after pics. 

Ian watching the turtles

Yep, that's a turtle

Glass Beach

The sand was old beer bottles and metal that turned into soft glass rocks from the ocean


Of course I had to take some home

So did Jessica.  One of the many reasons we're friends

The lighthouse.  We didn't actually tour it.  If you've seen one,
you've seen them all, right?

Instead we decided to take a picture to make it look like we did. 

I don't remember which beach this is, but it was pretty

A little sunning after body surfing at Hanalei Bay - Our favorite beach.
Too bad we found it on our last day. 

Body surfing is hard work

See the waterfall?

These birds were so pretty.   We called them "Bryce" birds because our friend
Bryce (aka the Groom) is a ginger (aka redhead) so its fitting right?





1 comment:

  1. Nice pictures! What a fun trip....too bad we coulnd't have made it. Your boating excursions would be enough to make me never get on a boat anywhere. I don't do well with stuff like that....

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