Thursday, February 21-Friday 22--Kauai

We started the day with a helicopter tour of the island of Kauai. We went through Jack Harter tours, which I liked. We flew on a Hughes 500, which seats 4 passengers plus the pilot, and is doorless! Yes, all that separates you and hundreds of feet of falling into jagged cliffs is a 3 point nylon seatbelt. There were a few times where we'd hit some turbulence and dip for a second, which I'll admit scared us all. The tour was an hour long and absolutely beautiful. I took a ton of pictures, but I feel like they don't really do it justice for how breathtaking it was. And I know, that's such a cheesy word, but when I saw some things they really did take my breath away. And while I was sitting in that little air bird, I thought to myself, "Wow, that word really does make sense!" I'm a dork, I know. I sat in the front, sandwiched between Jason, our pilot, and Derrick. So I had the safest seat, and arguably the best view. We flew over Waimea Canyon, dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, over the Na Pali coastline, my favorite, over Hanalei Bay and through the center, green part of the island. We saw a lot of waterfalls, and even where they filmed Jurassic Park, 7 Days and 7 Nights, Indiana Jones, and Fantasy Island.






After that we went on a boat tour up the Wailua River to the Fern Grotto, which was extremely lame. None of the pictures of the actual grotto even came out very good, so I won't even waste your time.

Then we drove up the eastern coast, past Hanalai Bay and Bali Hai. Gorgeous drive. Saw lots of taro fields, which is pretty much a Hawaiian potato, and they make poi out of it. Purple mush.


We found another Jamba Juice and had BOGO coupons so we decided to stop. Jamba Juice is just too good, and there needs to be one in Milwaukee. Who's with me to open our own?


Friday we slept in and walked over to Kalapaki Beach at the Marriot Resort. Terrible snorkeling here. Beach was okay. The ship left port early this day to cruise by the Na Pali coastline, so we camped out on the deck at the front of the ship to enjoy the view. It was scorching hot that day. It was awesome.







This pretty much sums up the population of the cruise:



What can I say? I loved these bathroom signs!!

That night we packed up and set our luggage out. It was so sad knowing that we were going back home the next day. The whole trip had been nothing but fun and beauty everywhere. It was so nice to be somewhere so beautiful knowing that it was snowing everyday back home. I have officially fallen in love with Hawaii and can't wait to go back! And this is exactly was Derrick was afraid of.....

Just like the trip West, my trip home was no cupcake. After arriving in LA at 9:30pm, Derrick spent the night in LA with a friend and I caught a redeye to Atlanta. I switched airlines in LA, but they assured me in Honolulu that my bags would make it to Milwaukee. Well, I get to Atlanta with an hour before my connecting flight which is at 830am. I get a call from the Atlanta baggage claim telling me my bag is down there, and that I need to pick it up and check it in. I tell them it should be checked through the Milwaukee, and can they just do it, please. He says no, I have to come and get it. So I run down, look for it, it's nowhere to be found. I find an attendant who gets my name and flight info and says, "I'll just put it through for you." Are you kidding me??? So now I have to go through security, which has a ginormous line, and I run to the tram to take me to my terminal, which is 4 stops away, and which takes forever b/c some idiot keeps blocking the door. I mean, c'mon, the dude tells you the doors are going to close...get out of the way! So I finally make it to my terminal and I'm booking it as fast as I can as right as I get there the guy is closing the door to the jetway. Out of breath I tell him I need to get on and he says, "Sorry, flight's closed." I tell him I still have 10 minutes and he tells me they close it 10 minutes early. LAME. So he puts me on standby for 11am, but also a confirmed seat at 1:15 in case I don't make standby. Keep in mind I left Hawaii at 2pm and haven't really slept much yet. Well, I def can't sleep now b/c I'm terrified I'll miss hearing my name if I make standby. Which I don't. So I go check in at my confirmed flight. Or so I thought it was confirmed. Oh, no. Flight's overbooked. I tell them I don't care what they have to do, I will be getting on that flight. Out come the bribes for$400 vouchers for people to give up their seats. Oh, and in the meantime I get a call from Milwaukee saying my bag is there with no tags on it at all, just my address tag. Fabulous. So anyway, I get a seat, I'm first on the plane not giving my seat up for anything. Next thing I know we're in the air. What happened to takeoff? I was so wiped out. Derrick beat me to MKE, so we drove home together, which worked out. I then slept for the next 19 hours straight. Glorious, glorious sleep.

So that's it! You made it to the end! If you are even still reading this, give yourself a pat on the back for reading my painfully boring play-by-play. You deserve a vacay to Hawaii!!!