Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Animal Instinct

Do you think the animals can sense that their mommy is ill?

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Memories...

This afternoon we have been watching the NFL Pro Bowl, which is being played in Honolulu. It reminded me that we never did finish posting the rest of our pics from our trip to Hawaii last fall! My work schedule got out of hand shortly after we returned, and my blogging went on hiatus for a period of time. Well, as I sit here battling a head cold/sinus infection/whatever it is, I thought it would be a great time to reminisce about our last two days on the island of Kauai.

Here is Scot on the morning of Day 7. We were on our way to breakfast and stopped to enjoy some of the beautiful scenery at the resort.




These swans were in a pond just outside the main entrance of the resort. I had never seen black swans before, so, of course, I had to stop to take their picture. They were so beautiful!




We drove to a small town a few miles from our resort for breakfast. The food prices in Hawaii are expensive to begin with so the prices at the hotel were especially outrageous. Therefore, we tried to eat outside of the resort whenever possible. We stopped at Tomkats for breakfast, a great little "Mom and Pop" type of establishment. They had great food and the locals were very nice.

Back at the hotel after breakfast. This was taken in the lobby- you can see how it looks out over the ocean in the background.

We then headed out to the beach. Scot was very disappointed that he couldn't swim in the water at our hotel due to the undertow and rocky surf. The resort had pools and lagoons, including a large sandy-bottom pool, so he quickly got over his disappointment. Swimming or not, the beach was still beautiful.

Kim posing along the waves. Man, I wish I was there now instead of here in Peoria where it is 3 degrees outside!


Scot paying his dues by posing on the rocks.



A close-up of some of the beautiful orchids...



We did end up eating lunch at one of the restaurants at the resort. It was such a beautiful view. We are standing right next to our table in this picture. The beautiful view almost made up for the outrageous lunch bill... We had 2 appetizers and 4 Mai Tais (they were small, I promise). Grand total? $75.00 Ouch!



One of my favorite pictures from the trip- I think it looks like it could be a poster or greeting card or something. This, too, was at the restaurant we ate at for lunch.



That night we attended the Luau at the hotel. It was such a neat event. Included in the price was dinner and all-you-can-drink Mai Tais. This picture was taken of Scot and me at the beginning of the event.

I ended up taking TONS of pictures of the Luau (blame the Mai Tais.) Here are just a couple of the better ones... This guy was cool (and a little scary) with his Tribal tattoos.




Some of the lovely Luau ladies...



DAY 8: This was our final day in Hawaii. We had most of the day to do some more sight-seeing before flying out that evening. A final picture of the black swan as we were leaving the resort.



It is tradition to leave your lei on the pohaku stone when you are leaving as a remembrance of your trip.





After checking out of our resort, we headed to another quaint establishment for breakfast. Here is Scot about to devour his Macadamia Nut and Banana Pancakes. He was smiling ear-to-ear in anticipation. He said they were every bit as good as he hoped they would be!



After breakfast, we drove to the West part of the island to go to Waimea Canyon. This is the largest canyon in the Pacific and is referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." It was truly breathtaking. There is a 40-mile scenic road that you can take to see all of the scenic stops. Unfortunately it is a very windy road. I ended up feeling quite queasy from all of the twists and turns. As a result, we ended up stopping at every possible stop so I could get some fresh air. Here are some pictures at the numerous stops...



Yes- that's us in the middle...


I'm not a flower expert, so I'm not sure what kind of flower this is. I just thought it was really pretty..





This is a picture of the final stop on the road- the Na'pali Coast. It was amazing. This is as close as you can get to the coast unless you go by boat or air.


A final picture of us in Hawaii...



You can see the waterfalls in this picture...





The dirt in Hawaii is this vibrant Red color. I loved this picture of the waterfall along the red dirt. This was taken as we were leaving Waimea Canyon.
After Waimea Canyon, it was time to head to the airport. We left Kauai in the evening and flew all night. Here is a picture of us at one of the airports that we had a connection at the next day. I don't think I knew where we were at the time, so I definitely don't remember now! As you can tell, we were quite exhausted, but it was well worth it!