Aloha!

Aloha! Mike was to present at conference in Kauai, so of course we made a vacation out of it! We flew out February 9th, and stayed until late on the 19th. It was the perfect vacation. This is how it went...

After we arrived in the gorgeous state of Hawaii we took a taxi to our hotel. Since his work only paid for the hotel the days Mike was at the conference, we switched hotels a couple of times so when we paid we got cheaper places :) The first night we stayed at the Kauai Inn. It was a super cute hotel. After dropping our stuff off and relaxing after a long flight, we took a walk to go find some dinner and sit at the beach. The next morning we ate some breakfast outside and got ready to switch to another hotel. Oh and there were roosters absolutely everywhere- not only at this hotel but the entire island.

Next hotel... The Kauai Marriott Beach Club and Resort... fancy! 

This was the view from our hotel room... AMAZING! 

 Since Mike had his conference and we didn't have a car for a few days, we mainly just hung around the hotel. It was a 5 star place, so needless to say it was pretty fancy. I hung out at the beach and pool all day while Mike was at the conference, then we would go grab some dinner and hang out at the beach some more, and of course get shave ice! One night there was a Luau for the conference. It was really neat to see the performers and eat some delicious grub! 

Mike presented Wednesday morning. He did amazing of course! Then Wednesday afternoon we rented a car. Nice huh! We drove to Popoi, walked around a shopping center, got some dinner at Da Crack (sketchy place!), and hung out at the beach and saw the spouting horn (water spouting).

Before we knew it the conference was over and it was time to switch hotels again. The next and last place was the Aston Aloha Beach Hotel. It was hard to go from such a fancy place to a normal hotel but it was still nice :) It was now Valentines Day! Spending Valentines Day in Hawaii? Yes, it was perfect! Mike was at the conference in the morning, then we went to Lunch with a couple of people he works with and then we were off to Poipu to go snorkling! It was scary at first, since it was my first time but it was AMAZING. Seeing all of the tropical fish is quite the experience. After that we went to Walmart to get some groceries, and spent the evening returning our rental car, relaxing, and watching chick flicks :)

This his the beach by the Aston Hotel- we spent the next day just relaxing on the beach.

A couple days later we rented another car and had lots of fun exploring the island the rest of the week! On Saturday the 16th we headed west. We went to Waimea Canyon (The Grand Canyon of the Pacific). It was gorgeous but so windy!

We kept driving and ended up at the Puu Hinahina Lookout. It was another view of the beautiful canyon.

Next was the Kalalau Lookout. This was one of my favorite places. Absolutely GORGEOUS!

This is the awesome Jeep that we rented :)

Then we kept driving and went to Polihole Beach. It is a 4 mile drive on a dirt road to get there. It is the farthest west/north you can get to on the island before the Napali Coast.

Sunday came and we went to Church in Lihue. It was a great meeting and at the end the ward sang Aloha Oe and gave us Lei's. So cool! Then we went exploring a bit more. First was to this waterfall. It was even on the show Fantasy Island. 

Next we found this waterfall, and view of the river.

We then decided to drive to the north part of the island. We found this lookout- again- amazing!

Next we stumbled upon this cave. Cool but also scary!

Then we made it to Kee Beach- the farthest east/north part of the island before the Napali Coast. This was our favorite place- I'm sure you can tell why. The beauty is astounding.

On Monday we headed south again to Poipu to do some more snorkeling. We went to a couple of beaches, and spent most of the day just hanging out in the water. One of the beaches had a couple of seals- that was pretty neat! 

Tuesday was our last day. :( So we decided to do the north part of the island again- just taking more time. We first got some food at a BBQ chicken place that was delish. Then we went and saw this lighthouse, explored shops, went to another beach, and ended up at Kee Beach again to watch the sunset. 

After the sun set, we headed to the airport. Our flight was at 11 (gotta love red eye flights). It was the absolutely perfect trip. I am thankful to have smart husband that made it possible! As great as Colorado is, it was wonderful to be able to get away to a warm and gorgeous place. Aloha!