Farmgirl Paints: Kauai...the great unknown

This is my last Hawaii installment:( Oh how I loved looking back through these pictures. Such good memories and talk about feeling out of your comfort zone in so many areas! When I planned our trip to Kauai I knew I wanted adventure. We usually do a horseback ride or something, but that didn't seem good enough this time. We wanted to really see the island, so my honey took the reigns and booked us a helicopter ride. This kinda shocked me because he's very afraid of heights...very!!

Before we went to our helicopter ride we stopped for breakfast in the town of Kapaa. Kasey had posted on her IG pics of the quiche and I knew I needed to try it out for myself. Hemingways Art Cafe definitely lived up to the rave reviews and the croissant with strawberry preserves...mmmmmm...so good!!! The upstairs was this charming little spot where you could look out in the distance and see the ocean. They had art supplies so you could make your own little tags. The question and motivator for your tag design was "what is a reason you get up in the morning?". Don't you just love that!! I could have made a ton of tags, but we were in a hurry to catch our ride, so mine was a simple "to live this one glorious life":))

Not really sure if eating a rich breakfast with a stomach full of nerves was the best idea. Immediately big chick and I started having stomach issues...which remedied themselves once we got there.

We did it!!! I looked back at my honey and he was doing great. This is quite the miracle I have to say, but he was also safely tucked in the middle of the helicopter. I was in the front right by the door. Yikes! I loved every minute, but I was also more than ready to be done at the end. It's just a little disconcerting. The pilot kept making fun of me with all my feet pics. But I wanted to be IN the picture. I think it makes it feel even more real:)

In addition to the helicopter ride we took a little field trip one day and drove to the Waimea Canyon to see it up close and personal. We didn't stay long. You could really make a day of it and hike etc... But we'd had enough hiking for a while.

And by hiking I mean THE grueling 8 mile...8 hour hike we made along the Napali Coast. When Kasey invited us I was like yeah sure...that sounds fun. And then my "cycle" started that morning, and it had rained all night etc... I definitely had my second thoughts. Add to that bad mix, a honey that isn't overly adventurous and you get the general vibe of our morning. BUT I did NOT want to wimp out and be the sissy friends that couldn't do it...so we sucked it up, put on our shoes, packed our lunches and headed out into the great unknown.

When I looked up this hike online afterwards it said it was one of the most demanding hikes in the world. UH YES validation!!!! It was seriously THE hardest physical thing I've ever done outside of childbirth. I mentioned that we did the hike to the helicopter pilot and some people around town and they downplayed it and couldn't believe it took us that long. I wanted to smack them. SERIOUSLY IT WAS HARD! No joke!!!!!

We saw older people and middle aged (heavier set) women alone on the hike, so apparently anyone can do it, but let me warn you first the path was steep, muddy and treacherous. You have to wade through a stream several times. The first time we crossed it we actually took off our shoes and socks;) Which makes me giggle now, because by the end we didn't even bother to hop across the rocks...we just walked right in and didn't care how wet we got.

It was extremely muddy. We had mud all over our legs and hands and rears...from bracing ourselves as we tried to navigate down the rocks. Did I say ROCKS...cause there were miles of those. Again by the end nothing mattered. We walked forever and a day and not knowing how much further we had to go. One time we got off the path and ended up in the middle of the jungle with no path. It was a tad frightening. And when we finally got there (to the falls)...it was beautiful and all...but you knew you had to turn back around and do it ALL over again!! Another 4 mile...4 hour torturous hike. There were many times we could have injured ourselves or possibly died. I'm sure people have died. I'm not joking. It was HARD people! But I've got to say I felt such a sense of accomplishment. We did that hard thing. We made it to the falls. A place most will not see. And we lived to tell about it. And we will never ever ever see it again!!! So there... Bucket list check mark;) You definitely can do more than you think you can:))

So Kauai in a nutshell was THE most beautiful place I've ever been in my life. We loved exploring it's land and leaving our mark so to speak. Nothing beats looking at these pics and seeing us IN them. After dreaming of a vacation there for years, having these memories...these little bank deposits of goodness in my mind...it's priceless. If I could do it all over again though I'd definitely book a nice condo in Princeville with AIR CONDITIONING and a pool. I'd spend one whole day napping, reading a book and sunbathing. Then it would have been almost perfect;)

Be a blessing.