Hawaii-- Day #4

Each morning that we woke up we said, "We should really go down to the beach and watch it form there". But, every morning we don't. So, once again, here's the sunrise from our balcony. Not bad if you ask me!?!

My favorite thing about this picture is not the rainbow in the distance, but the perfectly clear, blue sky in the rearview mirror. The island is divided into geographical regions and when you cross these "lines", you are literlly all of the sudden in the rain forest or the desert. IT's so weird.

This rain isn't going to ruin our beach day on North Shore... it never lasts longer than 5 minutes anyway!

Since Kauai is such a beautiful place many movies have been filmed here. For example, all of the Jarassic Park movies, King Kong, Six Days Seven Nights, South Pacific, George of the Jungle, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Hook, and don't forget, the pilot of Gilligan's Island. Driving to the North Shore we were able to see lots of places that looked like scenes from these movies. It was all very green and lush and beautiful. First beach of the day: Tunnels Beach. Known for its amazing snorkeling. Look how clear that water is!

Yup, lots of people snorkeling. John is out there somewhere. We liked Poipu better for snorkeling, but the scenery at this beach was best here, by FAR!!

John made us lovely "chairs" out of the sand . They were quite comfy. John read Waffle Street by James Adams and I read Mom, Interrupted by John Viehweg.

The most beautiful beach I've EVER been to.

This was the view directly behind us as we sat on the beach.

I'm not quite sure where this little gir's parents are, but it made me really miss Jack and Jonah.

This tunnel was just across the street from the beach. Apparantly there are really deep, beautiful tunnels just like this, but they're deep in the waters of the ocean and you can only get to them with scuba gear on.
This local dude was selling fresh coconuts out of his pickup truck. Notice his awesome knife he's using??... don't stand too close :)

First time I've ever had "fresh" coconut. It was pretty good, but very squishy... interesting texture.

Then we decided to check out a different beach, but got distracted stopping at lots of pretty "lookout points" and scenery. I took WAY too many pictures...

Coconut Tree

The plant growing here is Taro (the stuff poi is made out of). These fields were everywhere!!

Here we are looking down on the fields. I remember the guy taking our picture said something to us right before he snapped the camera. I can't remember what it was, but from the looks of the picture it was obviously really funny.

We had heard a lot of hoopla about "Hanalei Bay" and how beautiful it is... it's a must see... you'll be sorry if you don't go. So, we decided to check it out and once again, we were not disappointed.

We drove to where we "thought" the best view of of the bay would be and we ended up driving right to the Regency Hotel. I really wanted to at some point watch a sunset and since this was the recommended best place to watch it the island, we thought we'd check it out. So, we valet our car and asked if we could check out their dinner menu just in case we wanted to come back. Well, we didn't do dinner (it was a little out of our price range at this time in our lives) but we got some great views... we'll go to dinner next time we come :)

"I'm gonna wash that man right outta my hair"

This is where South Pacific was filmed.

The next look out point was to see the Kilauea Lighthouse. This is the norther most point in all of the Hawaiian Islands. The lens is the largest of its type.

It's light could reach 90 miles out to sea. It was constructed in 1913 and hasn't been used since 1976. While we lived in NC, I really wanted to go to the outer banks to visit some of the famous light houses out there, but since we never got around to it, I was very happy I got to see one here in Hawaii!!

Our next stop... Secret Beach!!

The little hike down to the beach was WELL worth it... It really is a secret!! No one was there :)

John went for a little swim!

While I finished my book.

This book "Mom, Interrupted: A Young Family Faces Cancer" is written by my Uncle John and it is about my Aunt Lana who passed away December 2003 of breast cancer at the age of 44 leaving 9 kid under the age of 18. Brittany, the oldest of the kids, is one of my dear friends and closest cousins. We were Freshman together at BYU when Lana was diagnosed then passed away 6 weeks later. Reading the book from John's perspective brought me back to many emotions and experiences I had during that time. Since reading this book, I have an increased admiration and respect for John and a deeper love for Lana and the amazing life she lived and created for her family. John is an incredible writer and has inspired me to have more love, faith, and gratitude in my everyday life. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

We went for a walk down the sandy shore.

It was romantical!!

Turns out we were there for the week of Kauai's fair!!

Yes, there was even a 4-H booth!! John was very proud.

Where else can you see such vibrant floral arrangements??

This interesting looking thing is called a Jack gourd. We miss you Jackers!! Sorry Jonah, there weren't any plants, food, or animals with your name.

This banzai tree is 35 years old and... I'm not sure what John is looking at.

Happy Fair Everyone. Until tomorrow...