Hawaii Day 3 Na Pali Coast - Catamran

What a beautiful day for a catamran ride!!! We had to travel about 45 minutes from the hotel to Captain Andy's. Here we are aboard the "Akialoa". First we were fed a continential breakfast ....which tasted mighty good because I was hungry.

As we traveled to our destination of the Na Pali Coast we were able to see lots of Spinner dolphins....when they jumped out of the water, they would spin!! It was pretty cool. They followed the boat...if the boat sped up, so would they! Even a sea turtle came to the surface to get his picture taken by all us silly tourists!! Notice the color of the water...beautiful!

Does this rock formation look like anyone famous to you? How about the profile of King Kong?

The next several pictures are of the Na Pali Coast. This is the coastline that is steep cliffs, waterfalls, caves, sandy beaches, accessible only by ocean kayaking or hiking on steep trails. There is no road access to this end of the island. I'm afraid my new camera didn't do it any justice. It was so BEAUTIFUL! The water was so clear and blue!! There were several beaches along the coast line that were pretty white sand!! It was just like in the movies!! In fact they pointed out several spots along the coast where several scence of movies were made. Two that I remember were King Kong and Coonies, and I think the mystical island of "Bali Hai" in South Pacific was also a part of the coastline. It was just breathtaking!!!! Because it was such a beautiful weather day, we were able to sail up the coastline a lot further than the tour usually goes. I just can't express the beauty of it!!! Enjoy the pictures!

On the way back we were VERY fortunate to come across a momma whale and her calf. Whale season usually ends in April, so to spot a whale this time of the year was very unusual! Our guide said it must have been a late birth and the calf wasn't ready for the long swim back north. He also said it is very possible the calf wouldn't survive because of the lateness. Momma never "berched" (is that what you call it when a whale comes out of the water?) while we watched her. The pictures aren't that good....trust me, it was a whale!!

Part of the expedition was a chance to do some snokeling in one of the coves. It was a little over rated. We saw a few different species of fish, but it wasn't that exciting. None of the fish were very colorful. But it was still fun. Check out the Love Birds!!!! After a short snokel, lunch was served. We made sandwiches and had salad and fresh fruit. It was great!

With full stomachs and the warm sun it was easy to just relax and enjoy the ocean air. (or maybe he was tuckered out from the kissing?...ha ha) This expedition was well worth the money we paid!! I'd do it again in a heartbeat....a great day, with great people. By the way, we had a crew of three terrific guides. They were very informative about the coast and quite entertaining also!!

After docking, the group decided to go for Shave Ice (notice I said shave ice, not shavED ice). This place is famous for shave ice. Talk about a delicious treat!!!! It is very fine ice with flavoring and cream over ice cream. YUMMY!!!!! My favorite was the Berry Blast!! I can't even tell you how good it was!! (Does anyone remember the slush that Gpa Pete used to make? Do you remember having the cherry slush with the soft vanilla ice cream? That is what it reminded me of?) Great stuff....we had it three different times!

We ended the wonderful day at a mexican resturant for dinner. Here we are again with a few of our good friends. Once again a fun filled day!! It is going much toooo fast!!

I bet you can hardly wait to hear what we do next, right? Be patient....it's taking longer to blog this than I thought!! Stay tuned...............

Hawaii Day 2

Because of the time change, we had a hard time sleeping. I woke up at 3:30 a.m. and felt like I had had enough sleep. I think I FINALLY did go back to sleep. I had made arrangements with another consultant, Terri and her mother, to go sight seeing, because Mike was going golfing. They had a rental car. To pass time until it was time to meet them, I went to the excerise room and had a nice workout. We saw the Spouting Horn. It didn't "spout" much because the tide was low at the time.
We had coconut shrimp at this little "hole". YUMMY!!!!! This is Terri, she's from Minnesota. She is 33 years old.....so I'm old enough to be her mother!!! She is a cutie and I enjoy being around her.

Like I mentioned, Mike spent the day golfing. That was one thing he was really looking forward to doing in Hawaii. Here he is with the president of the company, Patty, and husbands of two of the regional managers, Jim and Arlen. The holes along the ocean were closed for reconstruction, but he said there was plenty of sand on the course. He managed to lose nine balls and quit counting strokes on the 16th hole....when he had of score of 100+. I think he had a good time regardless.

That evening the group went to a luau. We first went on a train ride around the grounds and learned about the different plants. That was interesting.

This the the group of consultants and their spouses who are in the Mendenhall organization. They are some great people and fun to be with.

We were taught about the ceremony of cooking the Kalua pig and the unveiling . The first picture is the blowing of the shells. Then they pull off the sand and reveal the pig.

Looks yummy, no? It really was!!

This is the pit called an imu, where the pig was cooked. It is buried in leaves and covered with sand.

This is what the food looked like!! There was yummy pork, fish, rice, potatoes, veggies, salad, fresh fruit, Hawaiian sweet potatoes and of course, the famous poi!! Poi doesn't have much flavor. It was suggested you dip your meat in it. Not too bad. I can't believe I ate the whole thing!!!

During dinner we had live entertainment, singing and dancing. They asked for volunteers to come on stage and learn the Hookie Lau' (SP?). Mike and I both went up....sorry no still pictures, on video. We were up staged by a bride!!!! Oh well! After dinner we watched a production of the different dances of the different cultures that make up Hawaii! It was pretty entertaining. We were too far away from the stage to get good pictures. Sorry!

Well, that is the end of day two of our adventures in Hawaii. Stay tuned for more.......

ALOHA....Hawaii....Day 1

The BIG day FINALLY came!! After spending most of the night packing, we finally went to bed about 2 a.m. to get up about 6 a.m to get to the airport. Who needs a good nights sleep...one can always sleep on the plane, right? HA HA...ever tried sleeping in those "comfortable" seats? We were SO excited who cared!! Here we are on the plane, waiting for take off. We look excited, huh? We didn't both wear yellow intentionally!

After cat naps, puzzle solving, reading, listening to MP3 player, and about five hours on the plane (after a plane change in LA), we see our destination!! This looks like the Na Pali Coast we flew over on our decent upon Kauai.

This is what we see as we taxi into the terminal.....not too impressive, huh? It really wasn't much of an airport!!

This is the first vegetation we saw as we walked to the baggage claim. It was very humid. Everything was really green!!

After settling into our room, etc....we went to dinner. This resturant is poolside. It was pretty expensive (what isn't in Hawaii?) We look like we could be having a good time, huh? This is one of my favorite pictures of the trip!! The leis were presented to us by the SimplyFun staff!! The staff didn't recognize Mike because of his weight loss....he had to almost ask for our leis!!! (Notice Mike changed into a "Hawaiian" shirt....thanks Preston!) It rained pretty hard that first night, and we felt it as we ate under an umbrella. Who cared....we were in HAWAII!!!!

To be continued..............

ALOHA........

Mike and I are headed to Hawaii on Sunday!!!! YAHOO!!! Through our SimplyFun business we earned a trip for one to Hawaii...(we just barely missed earning the trip for two). Of course, we couldn't just let one of us go.....so our business account is paying for me to go too!! We are so excited!!!! We will be going to Kuau'i for five nights. We are sharing this amazing trip with 44 other "FUNSTERS" in the business. We will be staying at the Merriott on Kuau'i, which is a fabulous resort right on the beach. Mike has been planning several excursions that will be a lot of fun, like kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, touring the coast on a catamaran (SP?), beach volleyball, shopping, sunning and anything else we please!! Mike will be golfing, which he is really excited to golf on a "nice'' course. One activity we are most looking forward to is the rental of a Harley Davidson motorcycle and touring the island. Doesn't that sound fun? (A couple of weeks ago we rented a Harley in Ogden and "practiced"...funny!!! It was a blast!) I made this countdown poster to help build the excitement and keep it fresh on our minds!


You will notice that we have been losing weight, tanning and working out in preparation for our vacation.....don't we look great! HA HA! Eat your heart out! I purchased myself a new camera so I should have LOTS of pictures to share upon our return (if I can figure out all the "bells and whistles" on it). So....until later....ALOHA!!!!

Texas...continued

After the baptism we went into San Antonio and visited "The Alamo." It just happened to be the anniversary so there were several things going on. I was surprised that the Alamo was right in the middle of town!! It was interesting to me because we study this every year in the history class that I aide in. Enjoy the pics!!!

Mike and I delivered Carter and Taylor at school and were able to see their school and classrooms. That is where we said our good-byes....which made it a lot easier!!! A wonderful time was had by all....only wish it could have been a longer stay. We look forward to visiting Texas again!!

Texas .....Carter's Baptism

We were fortunate to make a trip to Texas the first of March to spend time with our favorite Texas Birds and witness Carter's baptism. We were glad we could share this special day with Carter. Great Gma and Gpa Bird made the trip with us. They were great traveling companions!! We had a delightful time.....just not enough time with the Texas Birds!!



Not a bad sized group, huh?......considering the distance we had to travel!! Amy's parents were also able to share in this special occasion.

The little girls got a hold of my camera and just started to take pictures. They were taking pictures of everything!! What could it hurt??? They are easy to delete, right? Here is a sampling of some of their work.......their mother needs to give them a few lessons!! Note the lovely picture of the pin on the table....?????