Kauai: Part 1 - The Kalalau Trail, Ke'e Beach, and Hanalei Bay

Since we've been home, I've been browsing through thousands of pictures from our trip and I was hesitant to post anything on this blog because I don't want anyone thinking that we are "rubbing it in."  But then I realized that this blog is for us... it's our way of staying in touch with our families and it's the BEST way to document our experiences.  So, here's a glimpse at our trip to Kauai, Hawaii.  There are a LOT of pictures so there will be multiple blog posts.

We flew out of San Jose because it was a cheap, direct flight.  We made a few mistakes: #1) We parked in the most expensive daily parking lot EVER and #2) We got split up in the security line... Mike ended up in the "precheck" line which took 10 min and I got stuck in the "regular" line which took about 30 minutes (but felt like HOURS).

Once we were on the plane, we were good to go.  Next stop: Lihue, Kauai!

It was raining when we landed, but as soon as we got our rental car for the week, a Chevy Camaro convertible, we immediately put the top down.  The rain and humidity was SO refreshing since Tahoe is always SOOO dry!

We just drove around the island a little bit to get oriented and then headed north to our condo.  We booked this trip through Groupon and I was a little nervous because I thought that maybe the resort was struggling for business and that's why they offered a Groupon.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Our condo was amazing!  We opted for the "garden view" because it was much cheaper, but from our room we could see the start of the NaPali Coast, tons of palm trees/coconut trees/flowers, a river, the pool, and we had a partial ocean view.

Day 2: I woke up to see the sunrise on the beach.  Since it wasn't raining, and we weren't sure what the rest of the week would be like, we headed for the Kalalau Trail (just right down the road from our condo) to do some hiking along the NaPali Coast.

JUST ABOVE KE'E BEACH... GREAT SNORKELING DOWN THERE!

HANAKAPI'AI BEACH - 2 miles in on the Kalalau Trail

 After hiking 2 miles along the muddy trail, you can take a left off the main trail and hike another 2 miles to a 400 ft waterfall... Hanakapi'ai Falls:

The trail to the falls was SO muddy.  We passed lots of people in brand new Nike's that were totally ruined.  It was ankle deep mud in some places.  Parts of the trail were along rock ledges or through streams.  It was not the easiest of hikes.  

But, the reward was worth it: 

 The views of the start of the NaPali Coastline from the trail were amazing: 

 We were very hot and muddy after the hike so we headed straight to Ke'e beach to do some snorkeling: 

We only had a short time snorkeling because the ocean started to get rough and the lifeguards made everyone get out.  

We spent the late afternoon watching the sunset in Hanalei Bay while sipping water from a coconut.   

Here's a short video of our hike to Hanakapi'ai Beach and Falls: 

Fabulous February...

... at least so far!

A few weeks ago, I was able to get my first backcountry ski in.  Unfortunately, we made a wrong turn and ended up on a flat track... no elevation gain means nothing to ski down.  So, we hiked about 2 miles in with our skis, then turned around and followed our tracks out.  But, we still got some decent views and it is always good exercise.

We were so excited to have my family visit us this month.  My brother, his wife and their 2 kids came to visit. We absolutely LOVED having them here.  My only wish is that they could have stayed longer.

After picking them up from the airport, we started the long drive home in heavy rain/snow.  I know they were all exhausted from traveling all day, but everyone did great!  The kids adjusted really easily to the time difference and they were so easygoing the whole trip!

We had lots of snow for the kids (and adults) to play in! I think we got about a foot of snow at our house; more in the higher elevations.

We made the trip around the lake... played at a park in North Lake... went sledding... rode the gondola at Heavenly... skied at Heavenly (sort of)... and just spent lots of time together.

Cutest selfie I have EVER seen!!!  

Riding the gondola

It was so amazing to have them here!  PLEASE come back soon!!!  And bring Pa and JuJu with you!  :)  

Keeping with a FABULOUS February... we leave for Hawaii on Wednesday!  I'm a little bit excited!!!!  Stay tuned!!!

Excitement for Things to Come

I don't think I have ever been so excited about the month of February in. my. life.  

Unfortunately, I usually dread February.  It's cold... spring still seems far away... I've had several loved ones pass away in the month of February... it has just always seemed so "blah" to me.  

Not this year.  I am thinking only positive thoughts this February and we have SO much to look forward to: 

1) My brother and his family are coming to Tahoe!!! 

2) They are predicting 200% precipitation for the month of February!!!  We desperately need the snow!  Maybe I'll finally get more practice at powder skiing (and maybe I will get in shape).  

3) We are taking our first trip to HAWAII!!!!  

I am pumped!  That should carry me through to March.  

There have been several things that have happened to my sweet little hometown lately.  There are people going through much more than I am!  They are so inspirational.  Part of our move to Tahoe was to help us live every single day to it's fullest potential.  Sometimes I forget what a blessing my life is.  Several years ago (in February... imagine that), one of my PT professors recommended that I see a neurologist due to some muscle atrophy in my hands.  The next 3-ish years, I saw a couple of neurologists for testing to track the progression.  I had just done a HUGE project in PT school on ALS and as I did more research, I realized there was a legitimate possibility that my presentation fit the signs/symptoms.  

I am ridiculously blessed that I have a non-progressive neuromuscular issue.  A friend I grew up with, who has a very thorough understanding of neurology explained it very well:  "Being diagnosed with monomelic amyotrophy [which is what I have] is like playing the lottery only once in your life and hitting the jackpot!"  I couldn't agree more!!!   I have no excuses not to live every single day of my life!  Luckily I married a man who enjoys living his life to the fullest.  He pushes me out of my comfort zone and I am learning that life is good outside of my comfort zone!  In fact, I'm just making my comfort zone bigger!

So, to summarize: 

Life is awesome... 

February doesn't have to be depressing...

Just remember what a blessing every day is!

And... here's a few random pics from the past few weeks: 

When there is no snow... go mountain biking!!! 

Biking gets you muddy! 

Our dog is THE BEST CUDDLER EVER!!! 

We have cold rivers... they should be frozen solid! 

Seriously... we need SNOW!  

This was the same cabin last year in February! 

This is a start.  But, not nearly enough!!! 

Hate the mustache... but love him!

So happy and grateful for all of my friends and family (those that are 3,000 miles away and those that are 3 miles away).  Life wouldn't be the same without you all!  

The Start of Our 2014

Mike and I rang in the new year with shots of Nyquil and LOTS of rest!  I ended up having 5 days off from work (4 were planned vacation time because I thought we would be moving/unpacking/getting settled... 1 was a sick day... blah).  Anyway, having a nice long break was a fantastic way to start the new year.  We rested and thoroughly caught up on sleep (even sleeping for 12 hours straight one night).  Fortunately, by the end of the "break," we were both feeling better and we were able to get out of the house.

So, last Thursday we decided to drive west to Auburn, CA.  It's about 2 hours from Tahoe and it's lower in elevation.  The weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T.  Sunny.  Temps in the mid 60's.  It was t-shirt and shorts weather.  I didn't know much about Auburn before we went but it's actually a very pretty area.  Lots of rolling hills and serpentine roads... and beautiful views of vineyards from the hilltops.  

The American River is a beautiful blue color.  

The ride was a pretty short 3 miles uphill and a little over 4 miles downhill.  It was a pretty mellow trail alongside a river for most of the ride.  There were some surprises on the trail... like a LONG pitch black tunnel... and lots of rocky terrain very close to steep ledges that dropped down to the river.  The GoPro did a great job of capturing Mike's latest crash(see the videos at the end of this post).  He went straight over the handlebars and landed on his back.  Luckily there were no injuries.  

After the bike ride, naturally we were hungry.  A quick search on our phones revealed there was a Chic-fil-A about 10 minutes away!!!  For those of you in the East, this may not seem very exciting because there is a Chic-fil-A in every town (almost), but for us it is a rare occasion now.  As if dinner wasn't exciting enough... guess what else we found????  

That's right... KRISPY KREME!  And they just turned on the "Hot Now" sign when we pulled up.  It was meant to be.  So, we quickly consumed every SINGLE calorie we had burned on the bike ride (and a few extra calories I'm sure).  Thank goodness we didn't set New Year's Resolutions to lose weight!  We would be off to a bad start.  

The following day we decided to take advantage of the calm Lake (and lack of snow) by paddleboarding.  It was about 40-ish degrees out and sunny so we loaded up the boards and headed down to Cave Rock.  It was a short paddle, but the video below gives you an idea of what it looked like.  We had never paddled that stretch of shoreline before so it was a new adventure for us.  We saw lots of million dollar dream homes, and we even paddled under someone's personal little bridge connecting their house to a small rock island.   

This past week was a normal work week for me. Followed by a relaxing weekend.  Friday, we had a day date... greek food for lunch and a drive by Emerald Bay.  

And Saturday... a snow storm rolled in... finally!  It's only supposed to bring a few inches and we need a few feet to catch up to where we are "supposed to be."  

Despite the rough weather, the water is still crystal clear. 

We feel very blessed already in 2014.  There has been so much going on with friends and family in the east and my thoughts have been consumed with them lately.  I am constantly reminded how short life can be and to live every day to it's fullest potential.  

Mike's crash:

A long, unexpected tunnel: 

Paddling Lake Tahoe: 

[I apologize for the length of the videos.  I actually clipped a lot of them and made 1 video with music... but it's formatted wrong and youtube won't upload it.  Sadly, I just got frustrated, gave up, and decided to just post the unedited videos.]  

It's been a year...

This time last year, we were finishing our drive across the country... pulling onto our new street for the very first time... laying eyes on our rental house for the first time.  We had grand plans last year to pop a bottle of champagne in our new home, and check out some of  the excitement in South Lake Tahoe.  What actually happened: we unpacked our stuff and cleaned our filthy new place until we were too exhausted to keep going and we crashed around 11ish?

So, you are probably wondering what we will be up this year on New Year's Eve?  Well, we have super exciting plans...  we are going to eat junk food and watch movies on the couch, followed by a few shots of nyquil (because we both have colds) and an early bedtime!  WooHoo!  Exciting times.

2013 has been an absolutely amazing year.  We have met some amazing people.  We have had many new experiences and we've seen a lot of new places.  This past year totally exceeded my expectations.  I'm actually very grateful for this blog... it allows me to go back and read old posts which is great for reminiscing at the end of the year.

I think most people look forward to starting a new year because they are tired of the old year and ready to start fresh again.  I feel so blessed to say that 2013 was amazing and I can't imagine 2014 being any better!  We have pretty big plans for 2014 so far though, so here's to hoping it will also be amazing!

In 2014 I am praying for the HEALTH and genuine happiness of all my friends and family. Happy New Year everyone!!!!  LOVE LOVE LOVE you all!!!

"There is no path to happiness, happiness IS the path."  - Buddha 

Christmas 2013

We've been busy getting settled into our new place... just in time for Christmas. The move went smoothly.  We got it all done in 3 days (including cleaning both places and hanging all the pictures, etc).  We are happy with the new place so far and plan to stay here for at least a year and a half.  

 Last year at this time, we were surrounded by our friends and family for Christmas before we departed on our cross country adventure.  This year, it was just us.  We really missed spending time with everyone, but enjoyed some quality time as our own little family.  

I worked until noon on Christmas Eve.  Once home, I immediately changed into my pj's and headed to the kitchen to start baking.  Mike and Zater napped while I baked and watched Christmas movies... all by the glow of our hand cut Christmas tree!  [Quick side story: we took all the ornaments off the tree while moving it from one house to the other... ya know... to minimize the risk of breaking the glass ornaments... once in the new house I redecorated the tree... which stood for about a day... then fell over... breaking some of the ornaments.  Go figure.]

No mantle?  No worries!  We hung our stockings on the stair railing.  

 I really think nothing smells better than baking chocolate chip cookies.  It's so comforting.  And this year I made homemade cinnamon rolls... which I will probably make a yearly tradition.  they were pretty tasty.

It was a relaxing holiday for us, which was greatly appreciated since the last few weeks have been pretty busy.  And, thankfully, there is skype!  So we were still able to see and talk to most of our family members.  Next year, you all should spend Christmas in Tahoe!  Merry Christmas everyone!  

"For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a savior, which is Christ the Lord."  - Luke 2:11

Well, winter is back...

We have temps in the single digits... dipping down below zero during the night.  We also got a couple feet of snow from the most recent storm.  Mike and I were able to do some skiing in the fresh powder.

Changing topics, a family friend was recently hospitalized after a motorcycle crash.  Please keep him, and his family in your prayers.  His daughter is getting married in just a few days and I feel sure that she desperately wants her father there.  I have been praying for everyone involved but please, if you are reading this, take a moment to pray for his speedy recovery and that her wedding day is everything she dreamed it would be.

To change topics again... we are moving!  We are renting the house we currently live in, and the landlord has put it up for sale.  We've been showing the place as much as possible, but now it's time for us to move on.  So, next weekend we will be carrying ALL of our belongings to the house right next door.  Hopefully everything will go smoothly and there won't be a blizzard.

Well, I think that's the latest news from Tahoe.  Stay tuned.