Red headed cardinals are found all over the island of Kauai. This one was hoping to steal our breakfast.
Helicopter Tour of Kauai
Since we were visiting Kauai to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, we wanted to do something special. We had seen most of the island on our previous visit (it’s not a big island), but one of the things we had not done was take a helicopter tour of the island. In fact, we had never even been inside a helicopter before. But we had heard that a helicopter tour of Kauai was a very impressive way to see the Na Pali coast.
With Sydney hopping around on one foot because of the bee sting she received the day before, we were limited in the activities we could do. The weather was good so we decided that today was the day we would take our helicopter tour. We looked in our guidebook as to which company to choose from, and went with the recommended Blue Hawaiian. One phone call later and we had reservations for that afternoon.
Upon checking into the Blue Hawaiian office we had our safety briefing (don’t touch any buttons!) and were given inflatable life jackets just in case of a water landing. When was the last time you heard of anyone surviving a helicopter landing in water? But, with our reassuring life jackets and safety knowledge we loaded into a hot van and headed to the helicopter pads at the Lihue airport.
As we waited for our helicopter to arrive we watched as other helicopters took off and landed. It really reminded me of that helicopter scene in Apocalypse Now, “Charlie don’t surf!” Once our helicopter arrived we loaded into it and were buckled in and handed headphones and a microphone to allow us to communicate with the pilot. We also located our barf bags, just in case. The three of us had all four of the available backseats in the helicopter, which was pretty cool.
Having never been in a helicopter before, I was not sure what to expect. But after taking off… wow! If I was to win the lottery, a helicopter would be high on the list of things to buy. It is hard to describe the amazing scenery of Kauai from the air, so I will let the photos and video do that. And even those do not come close to showing the amazing beauty of Kauai. Our one hour flight was amazing and worth the money we spent. And the funniest thing happened during our flight. Sydney fell asleep.
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Roosters and Beach School
After spending the day flying to the Hawaiian island of Kauai from the mainland we made our way to Costco and Safeway to buy groceries for our stay. While the food is really expensive in Hawaii, Costco’s prices are generally the same prices as they are on the mainland. We filled every nook and cranny of our rental car with luggage and groceries and then made our way to the north shore of the island where we would be staying 7 peaceful days, or so we hoped.
We checked into our accommodation in Princeville and unloaded our luggage and groceries and called it a night. Around 2am we were awakened by a most annoying sound; a rooster crowing right outside our window. Kauai is infamous for its annoying roosters, but on our previous visit, we had never actually been woken up by them. The rooster’s crowing continued until 6am when our daughter Sydney started crowing that she wanted to get up. So, we were all up.
After breakfast we packed a lunch and grabbed our snorkel gear and headed down the road to ‘Anini Beach, a kid friendly beach with good snorkeling and not too many people. After spending some time snorkeling and not seeing much we returned to the beach and decided it was time for school. To take this trip we pulled Sydney out of school. We feel travel can be as educating as any classroom, but the basics still need to be taught. Being a master in geography is always useful, but not knowing how to read or do math is just not going to cut it. So, before leaving we spoke to her kindergarten teacher about what she was working on and what they would be working on while she was gone. This was going to be our first experience homeschooling Sydney and something that will be more common once we start our round the world trip. We have always read to her and had been purchasing educational workbooks the last few years to jump start her education, but now we had specific requirements to be met; and already we failed. In our haste, we forgot to bring paper. But who needs paper when we have a sandy beach and a stick. So, she did her writing assignments in the sand with a stick, and it worked out well. And it was much more fun than sitting in a classroom with paper and a pencil.
After her writing assignment was done we started on sandcastle engineering, a very important subject. But during the process of building, Sydney found the one and only bee on the beach and stepped on it with her bare foot experiencing her first bee sting. Surprisingly, she did not cry and only complained that her foot REALLY hurt. Kerri pulled the stinger out and we scratched our heads as to how to stop the pain. We had nothing with us, other than ice. So we applied the ice, packed up all of our stuff, and drove to the nearest market and bought some bee sting relief and paper.
So now, Sydney has finished the rest of her school work and is hopping around on one foot complaining that her swollen foot still REALLY hurts. We are planning on doing a hike to a secluded beach in a couple of days, so hopefully her foot is feeling better.
Hawaii and the Pre-Travel Phobias
We are flying out Sunday morning to spend a week in Kauai for our 10th wedding anniversary, with our wonderful 6-year-old daughter of course. As the weather turns cooler here in the Pacific Northwest, we find tropical getaways like this most beneficial in helping us get through the dark and rainy fall, winter, and spring… basically the 10 months of the year that do not have sun and warmth. We are really looking forward to this trip, but I have my usual pre-travel phobias. Not the typical travel phobias of flying in an airplane, crossing oceans, or getting kidnapped and beheaded by some extremist group, but something much worse. The week before flying to “someplace amazing” I become worried that I will get hurt or sick and won’t be able to go. There would be nothing worse than missing a trip somewhere warm and tropical!
The weather has actually been nice this week and I will usually ride my motorcycle to work with these conditions, but not this week. There is no way I would risk breaking a leg or worse and missing a trip to Hawaii. So, this week I have been extra careful in eliminating any risk that could compromise this trip. This phobia even extends to the security-screening checkpoint at the airport. I always double check my backpack to make sure I did not leave a pair of nail clippers or something that would get me barred from boarding the plane. On the way home, who cares! But on the way there, everything must be perfect.
So, wish us luck that nothing will happen between now and boarding our plane Sunday morning and I will promise to post lots of photos of a tropic island paradise.
Yurt Camping on the Oregon Coast
The forecast for the Oregon coast called for cool temperatures, heavy rain, and 65 MPH winds. Let’s go camping! That’s right, we love to camp and aren’t afraid to go any time of year. Well, as long as we can stay in a yurt during the cold and rainy season. Luckily, most Oregon State campgrounds have yurts and with enough forethought, you can reserve one. They are a really popular option and we usually reserve yurts for the fall and winter months in the spring or summer since they fill up fast. They come equipped with electricity, light, heater (important), bunkbeds, futon, and a table. You must cook outside, which is a good thing. I am sure they would all smell like bacon if people cooked inside.
So this last weekend we loaded up our vehicle with sleeping bags, food, beer, toys and games, and propane grill and headed towards Lincoln City. We initially planned on bringing our kayaks, but the thought of kayaking in 65 MPH winds and pouring rain sounded a little too extreme for this weekend getaway, so we left them safely in the garage. Maybe next time.
We arrived at the Devil’s Lake campground around 9:00pm and found the camp hosts asleep. Okay, where do we get our key? We made our way to the yurt and checked the front door and found it unlocked. Inside was our registration information with a note saying to get our key after 9am in the morning. We unloaded our gear and setup “camp.” It doesn’t get much easier than yurt camping. No tents to setup in the dark and the convenience of electric light and heat.
The next morning we awoke to rain. Lots of rain! I initially tried to cook our breakfast on the picnic table, but found it a bit too wet with the pouring rain. We have a portable canopy that if setup, it would have protected our picnic table and breakfast from the pouring rain. But, it was hanging out in our garage with the kayaks. So, I moved our propane griddle onto the front porch of the yurt and finished cooking under the shelter of the small porch roof. After breakfast we took turns going to the campground showers. Hot showers while camping! After spending the summer camping at primitive campgrounds where we had to boil our own water if we wanted a “hot shower,” this seemed like luxury.
With a break in the weather we decided to explore the Central Oregon Coast. We first went to the beach just a couple of blocks down the street and next to the D River, the world’s shortest river. The storms hitting the coast had created some massive waves and we had to be very careful as we walked down the sandy beach. But after having to climb up the sandy cliffs as a sneaker wave came all the way up to the cliffs edge and dangerously rolled the large logs around the beach, we decided it was time to get off the beach before we made the 5 o’clock news.
After our beach adventure we went to one of the Oregon coast’s most famous restaurants for lunch, Mo’s. Mo’s often has large lines and they will sit you right next to strangers. But the lines move quickly and the seafood is excellent and quick.
The rains and winds had started again so we decided to head south to Depoe Bay for some excellent storm watching. When the swells are large and coming from the right direction, they will pound against the rocky shoreline in Depoe Bay and shoot water up and onto Highway 101. Great entertainment! As we entered Depoe Bay we were lucky enough to find an angled parking spot right where the water will shoot up onto the highway. A great place to park if you want to see the show and not get soaked. Unfortunately, the swells were coming from the wrong direction and it was only creating a light spray as the waves crashed against the cliffs. We headed over to the Whale Museum, which sits at the entrance to Depoe Bay, the world’s smallest harbor. Inside, they have an assortment of whale bones and information on where to spot the whales.
Back at the yurt that evening, the winds and rains really picked up but we stayed warm and dry playing games inside. Throughout the night, the bands of the storm would roll through creating pouring rain and strong winds. Not a good night to be in a regular tent, but a perfect night to be camping in a yurt.
The next morning we had breakfast at another famous Oregon Coast restaurant, Pig ‘N Pancake, and then loaded up everything and headed towards home. Along the way we decided to stop at a few Willamette Valley vineyards and take some photos of the fall colors. The pinot noir grapes were still hanging on the vines and the sun would occasionally break through the clouds to create amazing scenery from the vineyards up on the hills. A perfect ending to a great weekend getaway.
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