I know, I know, it's been 2 months since this vacation but this post has been a daunting task. After getting pictures from all cameras and sorting through them, this is only a fraction of the pictures we took and it's still the longest blog post in history so brace yourselves!
In August, my family took us on a trip to the island of Kauai. We had never been to that island and Zack hadn't been to Hawaii at all so we made sure to see everything there was to see! It was fabulous!
We got there in the middle of Tropical Depression Felicia so it was pouring rain and crazy windy. Wednesday morning we headed to the "sunny" side of the island to check out Waimea Canyon (The Grand Canyon of the Pacific.) This is what it looked like when we got there.
"The cliffs of insanity!" Name that movie.
Even though it was misty and sprinkling we decided to hike down in the canyon to Waipoo falls.
The trail was muddy and slippery (which we would soon find to be the case with every trail on the island.)
We made it to the falls but decided against jumping in because all of the rain had brought runoff which made the water a nice chocolatey brown. We just enjoyed the scenery while eating our lunches.
All wet but didn't even get in the water.
As we hiked out, the weather cleared up so we could see the canyon. It was beautiful!
Turns out, our hike led us to a small waterfall that was on top of this huge waterfall.
On our way home we stopped at the famous jojo's shave ice and it was to die for!
We ate at a nearby beach.
Then we went and saw the spouting horn. It's a hole that shoots water and makes monster noises.
And we browsed the little shopping area.
The entire island was covered with wild chickens. Apparently the hurricanes of '96 blew over chicken coops and blew the chickens all over and they've been wild ever since. It was kind of cool at first, but then they just got annoying with their begging for food and crowing at all hours of daylight.
Our last stop that day was at Poipu beach where we did some great snorkeling and had a visit from this guy.
Thursday was still stormy so we decided to see a couple famous waterfalls that we could drive to. This is
'Opeaka'a Falls.
And this is what Wailua Falls normally looks like. (Featured in the show Fantasy Island.)
But this is what it looked like while we were there because of Felicia. Crazy Niagra Willy Wonka waterfall.
That afternoon we did a jungle hike. These cool trees were brought in from Africa after the hurricanes of '96 to help stop soil corrosion. They have since taken over the island. I think they're cool.
This is why Kauai is called "The Garden Isle." So green.
It's also famous for the red dirt. They dye tons of t-shirts with it... we dyed lots of our socks with it.
Sunrise from our balcony.
Friday morning was spent relaxing on Kalipaki beach. The weather had cleared up nicely.
That afternoon we kayaked up the Wailua river and hiked to Secret Falls.
Kayaking reminded us that our arms and shoulders are not as strong as we would like them to be.
The hike was very slippery and the river was unusually high from the storm, so crossing the strong current of the river was quite the ordeal! Luckily nobody was washed away.
And we made it to the falls.
The water was freezing but we swam to say we did. It was so hard to get close to the waterfall because it was pushing you away. Plus, we weren't supposed to stand under it because of branches and debris from the storm. It was cool though. Dad, Misty, and Merrisa are the ones in the back with their hands up.
Saturday morning we hiked to a ropeswing at a waterfall. Here we all are being brave (except for my mom who decided to be a wimp.) Dad:
Misty:
Merrisa:
Zack:
And me: Turns out this is not recommended at 17 weeks pregnant but the baby is fine and all I got was a ginormous bruise where my thigh hit the water.
That evening we watched the sunset over Hanalei Bay.
After church in Hanalei on Sunday, Zack and I took a nice stroll.
We found frogger.
That evening we took a little hike down to hideaway beach to watch the sunset.
Monday morning was the favorite of the whole trip! We got to go on a helicopter ride around the island! There is so much of the island that you can't get to by car or even hiking so this way we got to see it all! Here are a few highlights:
The waterfall on Jurassic Park:
Waimea Canyon:
The Na Pali Coast (only accessible by air or boat):
Looking out from inside a valley of the Na Pali coastline:
The coast again (they won't build roads because it is erroding):
This mountain range looks like a dragon curled up. In fact, it's puff the magic dragon in Hanalei and it's a good place to grow illegal substances.
The crater of the wettest spot on earth:
Sexy safety pouches:
And a few of us enjoying the ride:
Afterward we had lunch at an amazing local hole-in-the-wall called Mark's place. This was my favorite because we got to try all sorts of Hawaiian cuisine including loco mocos!
We did some snorkeing at Tunnel's Beach (named after tunnels of coral that go on the entire length of the beach.)
We explored a little cave.
My Mom was squatting in the corner. Ask her why because I don't know.
We ended the day with a hike to Queen's Bath, a natural swimming pool created by a lava formation. Only swim at low tide though, there is a drowning tally.
It was pretty cool.
Mom snorkeled of course. She snorkeled anywhere she could.
Twinners!
Tuesday morning we browsed the shops in downtown Hanalei.
He is making that face because, apparently, someone just took his spleen.
We noticed that the top of Mount Wai’ale’ale was visible. Being the wettest place on earth, it's only visible about 7 days out of the year.
We had some more shave ice to cool us down. Not as good as jojo's but it did the trick.
We went to the farmer's market that afternoon.
Tried a few interesting things like this dragonfruit.
And had some chilled coconut to cool off.
This is a cool church in Hanalei. Zack did a pretty good job of photographing it from a moving vehicle!
We spent the evening at Ke'e beach. That umbrella was quite useful during the random 5-10 minute downpours.
Snorkeling
Pesky roosters
And sunset poses.
On Wednesday we hiked the Kalalau Trail on the Na Pali Coastline to Hanakapia beach.
We saw some nice views of the coast.
Crossing a little river.
Almost there!
Another death tally. The waves were quite feirce.
Misty and Merrisa found out the hard way. They were just standing at the waterline watching the ocean and a huge wave came and "slammed" them.
That evening we attended a luau.
The grounds were beautiful. Peacocks were running around the gorgeous gardens. This was our first experience seeing a peacock in a tree.
The imu masters.
Digging up the imu.
Kalua Pig.
The food was excellent!
Free drinks!
The dancing was also excellent! The tahitians are our favorite! One lady came into the aisle and was feircely shakin it right by my Dad's face. He was trying not to look.
Bad picture of the fire dancer.
On Thursday we visited the little lighthouse.
Then we went to Secret beach. At least, it used to be a secret so it was a nude beach but now people know where to find it so the nudists get tickets. It's a shame really. We had a view of the lighthouse from the beach.
We explored some lava pools and saw a little bit of wildlife. My mom even snorkeled in the big ones.
The waves were pretty feirce here too so we didn't swim much.
And after all of that we finally took the redeye home Friday night.
It really was an amazing trip! Thanks again Mom and Dad!
Then we took a little walk down main to see the sights. 
We decided to drive out to the Golden Spike sight where the trans-continental railroad was completed. It's about 30 miles west of Brigham City in the middle of nowhere but there were tourists all the way from England who came that day!
Since it was a holiday, we got to see a reenactment of the ceremony. 
The trains were cool. 
We finished our trip with an adventure out to the west desert. Zack has many fond memories camping out here with his friends, lighting huge fires, and shooting things.
