2026 is less the four hours away (where I live). I’m at home enjoying the evening with my family and committing myself to stay up until midnight. It’s really unusual for me to stay up that late and I’ve made myself a coffee to help get through the next several hours (while watching some football).
2025 was a bit of a slog in the latter months. But there were also some cool moments over the course of the year. I can look back at moments like seeing endless numbers of wildlife together with my wife and son in Yellowstone, evening neighborhood walks with my family, making the bucket list hike to Lake Solitude in Grand Teton, learning martial arts over the summer with my youngest son, hiking with my eldest son in Rocky Mountain, finishing some challenging paintings, and enjoying my 50th birthday with my family in Hawaii.
Many of us make new years resolutions. I just call them goals. I want to make some cool artwork. I want to cross a few more places and experiences off my bucket list, I want to read more books. I want to make some home improvements. I want to experiment with and build some electronics. I want to continue spending time with my family and helping my kids achieve their goals.
The Wildlife of Hawaii page has been updated with new photos from our most recent trip. I may have missed out on a terrific moment for a photograph when a monk seal swam past on the beach, but the green sea turtles, nene geese, spinner dolphins, and more made up for it. Check out the gallery!
It was the last day of our trip. And it was also my 50th birthday. I had thought about this day for weeks and what it would mean to me, but ultimately I was just glad to be on vacation with my family. I was happy that everyone was enjoying themselves and everything had gone well on the trip.
Pondering this morning a several weeks before, I had decided that it would be cool to take a pre-sunrise hike at Diamond Head peak and to see the sunrise from the summit that morning. In preparation for this I woke up at 3:30 AM a month beforehand, to get parking reservations at Diamond Head State Park as soon as they were reservable at 4AM MT (or midnight Hawaii time). I had done this in Estes Park, CO the same day my son Daniel and I were going to do the Sky Pond hike in Rocky Mountain National Park.
You can’t just park at Diamond Head on a whim, thus I made sure we had parking reservations. You can walk (or run) into the park, however, and our hotel was about as close as you can get to the iconic peak that has been photographed and painted thousands of times as a backdrop to Waikiki Beach. If we had not been able to get parking reservations, we certainly would have pursued this option.
I had entrance reservations for all four of us, but on the morning of my birthday, only Shelley and I were up and out of bed on time to drive over in time for the sunrise. We had been up late the night before and we didn’t have time to wait for the boys to get up and dressed, or to coax anyone along on the trail. Shelley and I decided to let them sleep, and exited to drive over to the park.
Diamond Head State Park
We drove around and saw dozens of people jogging around the perimeter of Diamond Head, and I admit, at that moment I felt a tad lazy. I enjoy running too and in Honolulu it seemed to be a very popular activity.
But we would be ascending a steep slope and had to do so quickly. Had we walked or ran over, we would have needed an leave at least an hour earlier. And time was of the essence. On that particular day sunrise would happen at 6:29 AM and we had entered just after 6:00AM. We had just under a half hour to make it to the summit of the steep, crowded one mile trail to see it happen.
I told Shelley we’d be ok, even if we didn’t make it on time. It was just good to be there together. At this point on the trip I had only a pair of close-toed sandals left, having thrown away a pair of mud-wrecked, worn out running shoes, with my hiking shoes finally dry from being soaked in the surf at Ke’e Beach, but still and covered in fine particles of sand that I doubted would ever come off.
But I was good with wearing my sandals to the summit. They lacked cushioning and I felt the rough terrain through the soles, but I still had the willpower to hike and even run in them.
We hiked together for about 10 minutes before Shelley told me to just go ahead and try to make it to the top as fast as I could. She would meet me there.
The trail is only partly a trail. It’s also a series of steep concrete stairways and tunnels that eventually lead to the summit of the volcanic peak. And it was crowded. I jogged my way up as best as I could and got there just after the first rays of the sun crested the surface of the eastern horizon over the ocean.
There was hardly any room to even stand once I had ascended to this loftiest of concrete platforms on the unattractive summit of a mountain that had been carved into a World War II bunker. Everyone wanted to stand upon the summit and after taking a couple photos over the ocean, I walked back down a little way to meet Shelley so that we could enjoy the views together.
We wound our way up through the crowd, ignoring the rude people that are inevitably among any large number of people, and returned to the highest level to enjoy the views together. We looked out over Honolulu, the hotel below where our sons were sleeping, at a lighthouse on the coast, and into the distance to the east where more Hawaiian islands lay hidden beyond a thin layer of clouds.
We carefully climbed back down while others pushed their way up and turned the corner to enter the uppermost World War II bunker. A narrow gap led into a pocket in the summit that led to a spiral staircase in the rear, that led down to the stairway and tunnels below.
Diamond Head was a truly carved up mountain, but a reminder that in the 1940s war had gripped this paradisiacal island chain. Fear of an invasion necessitated turning this mountain into a pillbox for gunners ready to fire on enemy troops.
We slowly made our way back out of the battery (careful not to hit our heads on the way in or out) and followed the herd as it descended from the summit. We were far from the only people that had come for the sunrise, but it was also likely that as the day progressed, the temperatures would rise to uncomfortable levels in the park. So who didn’t want to be there first thing in the morning?
It took a while, but as the trail leveled out we finally found ourselves with a moment of isolation on the trail again. A rainbow appeared over the ridge, something we had seen many times on the trip, but which was a nice close to the hike. At the parking area we stopped at a gift shop and I picked up a key chain for the collection my son Daniel had started as a child, but which he abandoned for us to continue in his stead.
Honolulu
We both wanted a coffee before we returned to the hotel, so we decided to drive over to a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf a few miles away. Shelley and I used to live in California where we frequented Coffee Beans. After we moved to Colorado they became only a memory since even when we visited California we weren’t in areas where we found them. But they were in Honolulu and it was nice to partake in something from our past life.
After getting some coffee, we decided to go over to the donut shop nearby called Purvé Donuts.
The owner was very friendly and we told him it was my birthday. He made a birthday donut for me with a candle. The donuts were unique flavors and really good. We bought a box to take back with us for the kids to enjoy.
After a nice start to the day, Shelley and I drove back to the hotel with the donuts in hand to wake up Daniel and Evan and spend some time at the beach before our noon checkout.
Waikiki
We were in no hurry to checkout and wanted to spend at least an hour at Waikiki Beach while we still could. Daniel and Evan were still more interested in sleeping than enjoying the beach, so Shelley and I changed into our swim suits and took our snorkel gear and my GoPro to the sand outside the hotel.
It was fun and relaxing to get into the water here. The sand was soft and the water was fairly warm. Every time I go to a beach I want to look under the surface (if the ocean is warm enough to swim in) so it just made sense to bring our snorkel gear.
Once we found a reef nearby we found a lot of fish and even a sea cucumber (photo above on the left side covered in sand).
At 11AM we knew we needed to return to the hotel to shower and change and checkout. Fortunately the hotel was willing to hold our luggage for us for the day while we did some site-seeing, and they let us use the courtesy bicycles to take a ride down the beachfront to where there were more restaurants.
We rode the bikes on the wide sidewalk along Kapiolani Park, eventually leading to the busier areas in the main hotel zone. A police officer told us we needed to use the street bicycle lane. I was weary of Evan riding in the street since he seemed to be wobbling his handle bar a lot, but whatever.
We parked and locked up the bikes and entered an open air mall area. There was a Chinese restaurant called Kirin. That sounded good.
Kirin Restaurant
It was good. Some of the best Chinese food we’ve had in a while. We ended up ordering an extra dish after going through it quickly. One thing about living in Colorado is we don’t have very good Chinese food. They have it in Hawaii though.
After eating we returned to the bicycles and rode back to the hotel to return the bicycles and get the car. We still had some time to burn and Shelley and I needed to dry off our swim suits before packing them up for the flight home.
We got to the car and I suggested going to a historic spot on the island. The place where King Kamehameha won the decisive battle that unified the islands for the first time in the 1700s.
Nu’uanu Pali Lookout
When Kamehameha the Great led his warriors in the invasion of Oahu, he pushed the natives of the island up a valley where they faced a steep cliff (or pali). At Nu’uanu Pali Lookout, Kamehameha’s warriors pushed the opposing forces to their deaths.
The views from the top are majestic, though often cloudy, windy and rainy. Shortly after we exited the car to take photos rain began to fall and we retreated back to the shelter of the car.
With still more time available to us, we decided to go find some malasadas and stop off for some cough drops for Evan, who had developed a nagging hoarse cough along the way.
Heeia
We followed Google Maps to a Leonard’s Bakery location at a mall in Heeia on the windward side to the east of Nu’uanu Pali Lookout. There was a Target there as well for us to stop at afterward to get some cough drops.
Leonard’s Bakery
While we had encountered mostly very friendly people on the trip, the guy at the Leonard’s Food Truck wasn’t among them. He ignored us at first and we almost walked away without ordering.
Malasadas are actually a Portuguese dessert that are popular in Hawaii. Leonard’s Bakeries are the most famous purveyor of these desserts. I didn’t realize until the trip that the Portuguese had a significant history on the island and malasadas are a part of that legacy.
After eating a malasada and shopping at Target, we STILL had more time to burn. So I found another quick, historic site to stop at. This time a heiau.
Ulupu Heiau
When Shelley and I went to the Big Island in 2003, we stopped by a pretty cool heiau near Kona. That heiau was significant in the rise of Kamehameha who grew up on the Big Island before leading a war on conquest.
With that in mind, I decided that it would be cool to see a heiau on Oahu before we departed Hawaii.
So what is a heiau? Well it’s sort of a Hawaiian temple made from stones stacked up into a structure, like a flat-topped pyramid.
The Ulupu Heiau was near where we were so I put the directions into Google Maps and off we went. My swim trunks were also still soaked wih only an hour left before we needed to be back at the hotel, so I hung them out the window to dry in the open air as we drove.
We arrived at the heiau which was situated behind a school building. It was somewhat confusing and not well marked.
Shelley and I walked down to observe the huge swath of volcanic rock that was the foundation of the structure. There wasn’t much there to see or do beyond see the foundation so we returned to the car, now ready to make our way back to the hotel to retrieve our luggage and head off to the airport.
Airport and Flight Home
We had some United lounge passes and at the Honolulu airport we were able to use them before they expired a couple weeks later. It was good to have an effectively free bite to eat and some beer before the flight home. We receive yearly passes with our United Explorer card.
The flight home was uncomfortable despite having extra-legroom seats. The 777 lacked the entertainment options we had available to us on the flight out. It was also freezing cold and we had to ask a flight attendant for a second super thin blanket. She also raised the cabin temperature a little.
It was an overnight flight and sleeping was virtually impossible. Oh well. You do the best you can.
Once we were back in Denver we were still dressed for the beach despite being back in the Front Range. I shuffled through our luggage for some warmer clothes after baggage claim to make the drive back a bit more pleasant.
Final Thoughts
We were all tired upon our return, but we had a really good time overall. I don’t know when we will return to Hawaii but Shelley and I are already discussing a trip for just the two of us.
I was glad to have my whole family together for one last vacation to celebrate my 50th birthday. Daniel is in college and will be pursuing his own ambitions and Evan will be a teenager soon too. We have enjoyed almost 20 years as a family together traveling to places all over the US and beyond. I’m proud of all we have done together and I hope the kids will have fond memories to look back upon.
Hawaii is a fun place. Expensive, but fun. Well be back again. And it won’t take decades to do it.
On our seventh day in Hawaii, we had a activity-filled day planned and had to be up and ready to go fairly early. While it would have been nice to get up a little later in the morning for a change, we also didn’t want to miss out on some of the activities in our itinerary by procrastinating. But we did get a good night’s sleep in the Lotus Hotel.
Koa Pancake House
We hadn’t had a sit down breakfast thus far on the trip, and since we were now staying in a hotel, this seemed the perfect time. After a brief discussion we settled on the Koa Pancake House, located in the same Hawaii Kai area where we had had dinner the night before.
We didn’t want to spend a fortune on breakfast and wanted something less touristy than what was available in Waikiki. Somewhere the locals would eat breakfast. And we found that.
We had macadamia nut pancakes along with bacon, sausage, and eggs. The serving sizes were plenty big too. They also had some guava and other tropical juices, which are a necessity in Hawaii.
With our stomachs full we set off on the less direct route to our destinations, driving along the eastern shore to take in the views of the coastline.
As we passed the turnoff for Hanauma Bay, I felt my sole moment of true disappointment on the trip. You have to make reservations to go to Hanauma Bay two days in advance and the bay is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Unfortunately, despite having time in the schedule the following day to go, it was unfortunately a Monday. So we would be missing out on what I had heard was one of the very best snorkeling spots in all of Hawaii.
Snorkeling had been a bit underwhelming thus far, though in Hawaii it can be outstanding. We’d just had some bad luck thus far.
But we still had beach time on the trip. Just not right now. We were on our way to a little bit of Japan tucked away in Oahu.
Byodo-In Temple
Once we made the decision to extend our trip a couple days on Oahu, we started researching places to go and things to do. And one of those places that we found that intrigued us was Byodo-In Temple.
The drive to the temple took us along the northeastern shore until we came to a westward turn inland that led to a cemetery. I didn’t know beforehand that the temple was located in a cemetery, and as we sought out a parking spot along the side of the road, it was a bit jarring to see the throngs of tour buses arriving and departing at the same time to a place that should be a place of quiet reflection.
Regardless of the location of the temple, the choice of outfits and behaviors of some of the tour guests were outright disrespectful. A Japanese Temple is not the beach. And the tour bus guests had little concern for behaving in a dignified manner.
Regardless, the fact that the temple has vendors selling souvenirs is also a bit weird too. Not something you expect at a religious site in a cemetery.
Anyway, the temple itself is very cool and the aura of the surroundings seems idyllic.
We each took a turn ringing the sacred bell (having to ensure that the tour groups didn’t shove past us in line) and then walked into the temple and each lit an incense prayer offering. It was very cool to see the Buddha statue inside the temple covered in gold leaf.
We walked through to the opposite end, enjoying the colorful koi in the surrounding pond and admired the temple structure and surroundings. My youngest son, Evan, takes a class in Japanese martial arts and he enjoyed this opportunity to experience some Japanese culture.
After a half hour we proceeded onward to our next stop, debating whether we should get something to eat before we spent several hours on our UTV tour. We decided we were fine without and could just get a snack once we arrived at Kualoa Ranch.
Kualoa Ranch
Kualoa Ranch is a huge ranch on Oahu in the rainier northeast of Oahu. It’s a place of majestic green mountains sculpted into steep cliffs and long verdant valleys. It’s also Hollywood’s favorite place to film movies set in tropical locations.
Kualoa Ranch has been used as the filming location for scenes in Jurassic Park and World (along with Kauai), Kong: Skull Island, Jumanji, George of the Jungle, and dozens more. It’s far more expensive and difficult to film in places like Costa Rica, Colombia, and Africa, so Hollywood builds sets at Kualoa Ranch, and those sets remain in place for visitors to enjoy.
We had wanted to do an ATV or UTV tour for a while as long as we got to do the driving. We found the Raptor UTV tour at Kualoa Ranch and decided that would be a great way to spend the afternoon.
Our tour guide’s name was easy to remember since her name is the same as one of our pet dogs: Sydney. She was energetic and she took our photos at several stops along the way.
As you can see from the photos we had a lot of fun at the Jurassic Park and World sets. When we were finalizing our trip plans we realized that with us going to Kauai and seeing the valley on the Na Pali Coast where the helicopter entered Isla Nublar, and going to Kualoa Ranch we were experiencing a Jurassic Park vacation of sorts.
With Halloween coming soon after we dressed up as characters in the movies and our dogs were dinosaurs. I dressed as Alan Grant and Shelley dressed as Ellie Sattler from Jurassic Park, and Evan dressed as Owen Grady from Jurassic World.
At Kualoa Ranch we saw the valley and the tree that Alan Grant and the kids escaped from the gallimimus herd, and several spots from the Jurassic World movies including the Indominus Rex paddock.
There were some great overlook spots on the tour as well, with impressive coastal views over Kane’ohe Bay. The island you see in the photos above is called the ‘Chinaman’s Hat’ or its Hawaiian name of ‘Mokoli’i’. The name Mokoli’i refers to the island being part of the tail of a huge lizard that was killed by a Hawaiian goddess.
After finishing our UTV ride, we cleaned ourselves of dust at the wash stations at the ranch and made a stop at the gift shop. Then it was time for more shave ice.
Kane’ohe Bay
The coastline near Kualoa Ranch is a reef protected area known as Kane’ohe Bay. If we had had more time it would have been a great place for a beach visit (there is a sand bar that you can even swim or kayak to in the bay).
But instead we had time only to enjoy the views and get more shave ice. This time from a food truck operation called Coconut Girl and Guys.
The shave ice was great here too and the people running it were really friendly.
After our cool, refreshing desert, we needed to head back to the Lotus Hotel in Waikiki to get cleaned up for our dinner reservations at 5PM.
Waikiki
It took about an hour to drive back from Kane’ohe Bay to our hotel at Waikiki Beach near Diamond Head. We took the more direct route over the center of the island instead of following the coast this time.
Tonight we were going to celebrate my 50th birthday with a dinner at Duke’s Canoe Club on Waikiki. It was about a mile walk (and run) from the hotel, but the Waikiki sidewalks were much more relaxed on Sunday than it had been the day before.
Duke’s Canoe Club
Since we were having my birthday dinner we spent a bit more and Shelley and I enjoyed all the tropical cocktails we wanted. We ordered some good appetizers and Shelley and I also bought the fresh leis they were selling at the restaurant.
I ordered ahi tuna and had a free birthday dessert with a candle brought to the table. When sunset came we gathered as a family for a photo in front of the beach. The final bill was a number higher than I usually spend. But you only turn 50 once.
On the way back we stopped for some souvenir cookies at Honolulu Cookie and enjoyed the statues and banyan tree on the path back to the hotel.
Tomorrow would be our final day in Hawaii with an evening flight home. Tomorrow would also be my official 50th birthday. My plan was to wake up early to enjoy the sunrise from a famous spot on Oahu.
When we were first making plans for this trip, we were thinking that we would only be visiting Kauai. As time went on, however, we started to think more about a visit to Oahu as well.
We already had a connecting flight in Honolulu and we had a day with no real commitments on the last day of the trip. So why not make that connecting flight earlier and spend a day visiting Pearl Harbor before our flight home? My wife and sons had never been there, and I was there only once, when I was 13. I had also never visited the museums there (we were on a tour that took us only to the Arizona Memorial).
Then as we started to do more research on Oahu, we found there were many additional activities that looked fun and exciting. We could go UTV riding at a ranch used in many movies including Jurassic Park. We could visit a Japanese Temple. There were many beautiful beaches and hikes and historic sites that we could visit on Oahu as well.
So after some thought, we decided to extend the trip two additional nights, giving us three days on Oahu. My son Evan would miss a couple days of school, and I would be celebrating my birthday IN Hawaii, instead of the day after we returned home. But in the end I think the trip plans seemed that much more complete.
To facilitate the change in plans, I used Southwest Airlines points that I had available to book an early morning flight for us. We had to get up early and drive down from Princeville to Lihue, drop off the car, and check in at the tiny airport. Arriving as always two hours early, we were the first ones there for our flight. Hmmm. Maybe we did have an extra hour to burn. Oh well.
I told my family that this would be the shortest flight I have ever taken at just over 100 miles, and it certainly was quick. The plane’s ascent was immediately followed by its descent. It was a 40 minute flight that didn’t even seem that long.
Though we were sad to leave Kauai (and I know we will be back again), the sense of being in Hawaii was still there, even if we were now in the most populous region of the state. The open air walkways carried a warm, tropical breeze and it felt good to know we still had a few more days to enjoy before traveling home for work and school.
While my wife and kids collected our suitcases at baggage claim, I went to pick up our rental car. This time it was a Mazda CX-5. A vehicle model we used to own and hopefully the luggage space would be better than the Chevy Malibu we had rented in Kauai. It turned out to be just as cramped. We had overpacked and that would not happen next time.
Oh well, at least we were here, had all of our stuff, and were on time to drive over to Pearl Harbor which is only a short distance from the airport.
Pearl Harbor
We are history buffs and Pearl Harbor is a place where history changed dramatically in a matter of hours.
I remember back in AP US History class in high school having a discussion about the strategic reasons for Japan’s attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor. Japan was already engaged with China and Korea. The Japanese objectives were creating an Asian empire. Why attack the US, a nation that had the power to defeat it?
Because they knew that war with the US was inevitable. The US had control of the Philippines and the Japanese empire could not advance on Southeast Asia without confronting both the US and the British Empire. The attack on Pearl Harbor was an all or nothing campaign, the Japanese Rubicon. The day after Pearl Harbor they would invade Hong Kong as well.
The attack on Pearl Harbor had to not only succeed, it had to completely cripple the US Navy and knock us out of the war before we had a chance to fight. And it was one of the most audacious and perfectly executed military attacks in history. They succeeded in catching our navy completely off-guard. The mission was a total success.
But the primary objective had failed. They sunk a few battleships, destroyed many smaller ships and wiped out much of our air force at Hickam Field. But the US still held Hawaii, and was now determined to fight.
As my teacher said, the only way the attack really succeeds is if they invade Hawaii and push the US back to the coast of California, something they didn’t have the manpower to achieve because they were already spread thin across the Asian front. So the war would be difficult and costly on both sides, but the end result was already predetermined: Japan would lose the war.
USS Arizona Memorial
The first stop for most visitors is the USS Arizona Memorial which sits above the sunken battleship Arizona. The shape of the structure is designed such that the center roof is lower to mark the defeat at Pearl Harbor, with the ends rising skyward to represent ultimate victory in the war.
It was our first stop at Pearl Harbor as well. Almost 1200 US Navy sailors were killed right at this spot and its only when you see the wall with all of the names that this number really hits you. One bomb that hit at just the right spot caused a massive explosion that sunk this mighty ship and took the lives of over a thousand on board who weren’t even expecting to fight a war that morning.
I had visited the memorial when I was 13 and it was good to take my kids there as well. The Arizona will slowly rust away as time goes on, but for now we can still look at the hull of the ship underwater and appreciate that it is a grave for those service members. It is sad to know that the last survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack have now all passed (for years you could still encounter them at Pearl Harbor) but at least this memorial keeps their memory alive for subsequent generations to appreciate.
We were also lucky that we could even visit the site, since it is part of the US National Park Service and we were visiting during a government shutdown. Luckily there are enough donors who care enough to support the site’s operation that is was open during the shutdown. We also donated at the museum to help keep the park open for more visitors regardless of what happens in Washington.
After viewing the memorial for the allotted 15 minutes, we returned to the ferry boat to return to the naval base. We still had a lot more to see and do at Pearl Harbor.
Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum
When I was a kid our visit to Pearl Harbor was on a tour that left out so much of what you can see and do at Pearl Harbor. The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum is among the best museums you can visit to really learn about submarine warfare.
The museum is comprised of the main museum building and the USS Bowfin submarine. The building has a large interior exhibit space that covers submarine warfare starting in World War II, then the Cold War, and into the present and future. We spent over an hour just on this section of the museum and learned a great deal more than I would have ever expected.
By the time we exited the museum building it was after noon and we were hungry. We still had the USS Bowfin to explore, as well as the other museums (USS Missouri and the Aviation Museum).
We stopped at the outdoor eatery next to the museum and took a moment to eat and rest. Even outside the museum there was a huge torpedo, artillery, a submarine scope and more and we spent some time viewing each and posing by them for photos. Afterward we walked a gangway to the USS Bowfin submarine.
The Bowfin was in shockingly good condition. The brass components are polished to a shine I would expect from a brass musical instrument. The Bowfin was commissioned during World War II and sunk over 40 Japanese ships. It was finally retired in the 1970s before being converted to a museum attraction in the 1980s.
We explored the lower deck and over the water line. There was a Navy veteran onboard that we spoke to briefly. I asked about the voice tubes that I had seen on the German U Boat U-505 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Similar voice tubes weren’t used on this submarine, mostly due to it being built later and being more modern.
After exploring the deck we stopped at the souvenir shop and I added a shot glass to my collection. We also posed for a family photo that was printed on a replica historic newspaper dated to Dec. 7, 1941 which we bought for $20.
Now it was time to take the shuttle bus to Ford Island. There was two more museums to visit.
USS Missouri
Battleship warfare largely ended with World War II, as aircraft carriers and submarines made them obsolete. But the battleship Missouri took decades to fully retire, even seeing service in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
You can’t fully appreciate the size of the artillery guns on a battleship until you see them up close. They are truly massive. The round conical structures you see protruding above the waterline at the Arizona Memorial are the artillery mounts.
The USS Missouri has several decks to explore and we managed to get separated several times amid the labyrinthine decks. We found the spot where a kamikaze pilot crashed into the ship and where he was given a burial at sea. We found the spot where the Japanese formally surrendered to the Allied forces and the documents of surrender.
It was interesting to see the living quarters as well. They were actually pretty large and spacious. There was a recreation room area that seemed like it would be a nice place to relax. It was effectively a floating headquarters at sea, on a ship that saw significant action in four wars.
At Pearl Harbor you can visit the ship where the US entered World War II and the ship where the war formally ended.
Before we returned to the bus, we were hot and tired and a dessert stop was available to us at the wharf where the Missouri was docked. We enjoyed some Dole whip and shave ice to cool down. It was hot out.
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
Our last stop was the Aviation Museum. We were starting to tire and we were hot, but we wanted to see this final museum of the day.
I wanted to see the Japanese zero airplane and it was among the first planes on exhibit as we entered. These were some of the best fighter aircraft of World War II and were technologically superior to Allied aircraft at the start of the war. It didn’t take long for the Allies to catch up and build even faster, more maneuverable aircraft, however.
The aircraft here are not only historical, but had individual histories as well. You see aircraft that were recovered from fields, swamps, and in various states of reconstruction. There was the wreckage of a Japanese plane that crashed on Nihau Island and the accompanying story of the pilot is told there too.
A B-17 bomber that lie in a swamp in Papua New Guinea and was recovered in 2013 is on display. You can see a Flying Tigers aircraft and dozens of Cold War jets just outside the hanger.
After a long day at Pearl Harbor, we boarded the shuttle bus back from Ford Island. My eldest son Daniel felt rushed, but to try to see every exhibit would be a matter of days, not hours. We needed to head to our hotel, unpack, and have dinner.
Waikiki
Driving from Pearl Harbor to our hotel we got to see the city of Honolulu from the freeway for really the first time. I may have been there at 13 years old, but really had no significant memories of the place.
The condominium towers and houses of Honolulu really make it look very different than cities in mainland America. Hawaii in many ways is a gateway to Asia, and this is obvious in the architecture and culture. We intend to visit Asia for the first time in a few years, and are just deciding where to visit first.
We took some time deciding on where to stay on Oahu. It seems like 90% of the hotels are concentrated in the Waikiki Beach area, with some scattered on the north and western shore. We considered staying on the north shore away from the busier Waikiki area, but eventually settled on the compromise of being at Waikiki at the quieter end near Diamond Head. It was a great choice.
The Lotus Honolulu at Waikiki
Hotels in Hawaii aren’t inexpensive and staying at a reasonably nice hotel on Waikiki, even in the offseason like October, will still cost $400-$500 a night plus parking and resort fees. Or more.
On Kauai we stayed in vacation rentals and could buy groceries to mitigate meal costs, but now that we were on Oahu and in a hotel, we would be eating out for every meal. But our hotel was right by the beach below Diamond Head peak, both of which we could see from our balcony.
After unpacking and taking a moment to clean up after a hot sweaty day, we considered our options for dinner. Waikiki is always a busy area, but on that particular Saturday there had been a lot more craziness due to two events that happened the same day (which I won’t get into).
Still parking was limited at the hotel and I was concerned that if we left our parking spot we might not have a place to park when we returned in the evening. Therefore I we decided to just try walking down the beach to one of the restaurants along the beachfront.
Well, the craziness was too much. Too crowded, too insane. After entering one crowded restaurant we made up our mind to drive to an area away from Waikiki for dinner. We had walked a mile from the hotel and so, to save time, I ran back to the hotel to get the car while Shelley and Evan waited. Daniel had decided to stay at the hotel and we’d get takeout for him wherever we ended up going.
I got to the hotel and drove the car past Kapiolani Park and hit gridlock traffic exiting the beach. Yikes. I met up with them after fifteen slow minutes and we set off for Kona Brewing down the road in the Hawaii Kai district.
Kona Brewing Company
Kona Brewing turned out to be just what we wanted. Totally chill environment right by the waterfront. Really nice waitress bringing us nice cold beers and delicious food. We started off sitting outside, but the wind picked up and we moved to a warmer spot inside.
As we were leaving we picked up some souvenir beer glasses from the restaurant store. It had been a busy and tiring day, but Kona Brewing capped the evening off well. Now we could head back to the hotel for the night before another activity filled day tomorrow.
If there was one bucket list objective that I had for our visit to Kauai, it was to hike the Kalalau Trail. I first read about the trail when I was planning to go in 2003, and in all the years since it had remained a future, unaccomplished ambition.
Once we decided that we would be going this year, I built a specific day into the itinerary for the hike. I wanted to give us enough time to hike a full eight mile roundtrip to Hanakapiai Falls, and so I planned for us to start in the morning with the rest of the day left open.
The Haena Park Shuttle
As a word of warning to anyone hoping to do this hike, or even enter Haena State Park to enjoy Ke’e Beach, Lamahai Beach, or Tunnels Beach: you can’t just drive in without a reservation. In fact, you are very unlikely to be able to drive in and park at all.
Due to visitation limits, parking in Haena Sate Park (where the Kalalau Trail begins) must be reserved in advance at this site. And by that I mean within the first couple minutes that the reservations open up 30 days in advance, at midnight Hawaii time. If you don’t get a parking reservation, you can still get a timed reservation for the shuttle that takes you to Ke’e Beach and stops along the way.
The shuttle reservations don’t sell out nearly as fast and you can choose between a parking area in Hanalei or the resort area in Princeville for the pickup location. But specific times (preferably in the morning) sell out quickly and so you still need to reserve as soon as the reservations are available: 30 days in advance at midnight Hawaii time.
Since that meant 4AM in my local mountain time, I set an alarm for 3:30 in the morning, 30 days before the day of our hike, made myself a coffee and made reservations for the shuttle for the four of us.
There is one additional benefit to the shuttle. If you reserve parking you are limited to 4 hours. In theory you could make two reservations for a total of eight hours, but if you reserve the shuttle you have basically the entire day as there are no time limits on your stay as long as you return on a shuttle. The last shuttle back is 6:40 PM.
On the day of our hike (our last full day in Kauai) I woke early and set about getting our gear together with ponchos for everyone and snorkel gear in my backpack as well for a post hike swim at the beach. Whatever we needed (sunscreen, mosquito repellant, lots of water, etc) I stuffed in the backpacks knowing we had a long day ahead
Overnight it poured rain and I had a bit of concern that the trail would be closed on the very day we were to hike. It isn’t unusual. Flash flooding is a common occurrence in Haena State Park and along the streams that cross the Kalalau Trail. Thus far we had been lucky to have had great weather during the trip, but mother nature had not looked promising that morning.
I kept checking the Haena State Park conditions page and was relieved to see that the park remained open as the first shuttles of the morning were to be leaving for the park. The park was indeed open for the day. Our shuttle time was 8:20AM. A quick bite to eat and we were in the rental car on our way to the Waipa Shuttle Park and Ride.
We arrived at the parking area and grabbed our backpacks. We checked in with the attendant and boarded the shuttle van, sure now that we would indeed be hiking that day, no matter the rainy weather overnight and into the morning.
It wasn’t until the shuttle left the lot that I fully understood just why the shuttles were really necessary. A few years ago an entire portion of the road washed away in a huge rain storm and the road was still being slowly rebuilt. The road itself is windy and the parking options at the end of the road are limited. If everyone just drove in and parked along the side of the road it would be a congested parking nightmare.
So yes, there is the overhead of making reservations, and if you aren’t on the ball with your planning you could miss out. But in the end the experience is better for everyone.
Haena State Park
Once you arrive at Haena State Park you are given an orientation talk. Almost everyone is headed for the Kalalau Trail, but due to the challenging terrain along the way and the various dangers that have led to the trail being labeled one of the most dangerous in the US, the park staff has apparently decided that they should give visitors a full understanding of what lies ahead.
About two months before we arrived in Kauai, we talked to a nurse that had done the same hike and raved about it. And she told us about a woman that had slipped on some rocks near Hanakapiai Falls and died. Her body was still there when she arrived at the falls, waiting to be transported out. Still she said we should absolutely do it. Just with a high degree of caution.
The primary dangers that await hikers on the trail are flash flood risks and falls on the wet, muddy terrain. There are sections of the trail, beyond Hanakapiai Beach (where most hikers turn around or divert to Hanakapiai Falls) that are on a narrow precipice above the ocean. A fall from the cliffs is certain death.
Likewise, just before Hanakaiai Beach is a stream crossing that routinely floods. When it does flood, if you are on the wrong side of the stream you must wait until it has returned to its normal calm flow before crossing. If you don’t, you’ll be swept away, probably out to sea.
And at Hanakapiai Beach, you don’t risk swimming. The attendants make sure you understand this is a very dangerous beach with rip tides that kill people every year.
So yeah, the Kalalau Trail is beautiful, but its got a reputation as well.
The Kalalau Trail
When you first exit the shuttle stop, we traversed a boardwalk past some taro fields. It’s rather picturesque and interesting to see the fields which hearken back to past centuries when it was grown in a similar manner by the native Hawaiians.
Once past the fields, we entered an area of rainforest that ends at the entryway to Ke’e Beach. I had heard the bathroom there was nightmarishly smelly online and by someone we talked to, but it was actually very clean.
After our quick bathroom stop, it was time to hit the trail. The first several hundred feet are a bit of a steep ascent, but being regular mountain hikers, it was pretty easy for us. What is different is the the humidity and the coastal views. Both were impressive.
Because of the rain, the trail was muddy. But the the traction was much better than what we encountered at Waimea Canyon. I always enjoy walking through rain forests, even if I end up getting rained on because it is such a unique environment and I love the mistiness of such a humid environment.
We hiked at times together and at times we ended up separated. My eldest son Daniel likes to hike fast and really wanted to get to the waterfall, while my wife and youngest son were a bit behind. I ended up in the middle, trying to catch up to Daniel who I finally met at the river crossing just before Hanakapiai Beach.
He told me the crossing was easier than it looked. The hop between rocks was as he said not as slippery as it appeared. We crossed and walked down to the beach, while a light rain fell.
After spending a moment at the beach, we returned to the trail where we debated continuing onward to the falls while the rain steadily increased. Shelley and Evan were still behind and I didn’t want them to be unaware of our continued progress, especially if they decided against crossing the river. I also wanted to make sure everyone was ok, since slips and falls are a common issue.
We waited for several minutes as the rain picked up and another concern hit me. Would the stream become impassable on our way back from the falls? In the end I told Daniel that we would need to start back and leave the falls for another day in the future. Reluctantly, unhappily, he agreed. He’s like me. We hate not finishing our journey.
On the hike back the rainfall came to an end and we saw the brilliant blues of the ocean from the other perspective. We even saw a rainbow over the ocean water created by mist and the spray of the waves. Eventually we met up with Evan and Shelley, who had already decided to turn back and were near the last downhill section before Ke’e Beach.
Once back to the trailhead, I took a moment to visit Ke’e Beach. There would be no snorkeling today as the surf was very rough. In fact the surf was so strong that it caught me unaware and my hiking boots got soaked. I trudged back to the trailhead and washed them off at a shower, questioning whether I should replace them soon after I returned home.
After cleaning ourselves up, we walked back to the shuttle stop. Just as we walked beneath the covered waiting area, a huge downpour ensued. It was enough for me to think that we might well have had issues crossing the river if we had gone to the falls. In all likelihood, we would have been fine, but it was a rather voluminous downpour.
Hanalei
We drove back to Hanalei after the hike to find some lunch. We decided upon Mexican food and found a good, and fairly inexpensive (for Hanalei) restaurant in the town, called Federico’s. We got some burritos and ate a good, filling post-hike lunch. Afterward my son and I took a photo by some wooden tiki statues.
From Hanalei we could see waterfalls cascading down the sheer mountain cliffs in the distance, fed by the ongoing rains far above.
While we weren’t immediately hungry, we decided to go ahead and get some takeout barbecue from across the street at Chicken in a Barrel. This would save us from having to leave the townhome later when it was dinner time. That barbecue dinner was quite good too.
I thought about taking a drive over to the Kilaeua Lighthouse just east of Princeville, but we ended up just relaxing the rest of the day at the townhome. Since we had a flight early the next morning to Oahu, and we had never really taken a moment to unwind, it was necessary.
Thus ended our time in Kauai. But we weren’t going home. We would be traveling to Oahu to experience more of Hawaii.
Our third full day in Kauai meant packing up and departing early in the morning from Poipu, as we were not only going on a morning boat cruise of the Na Pali Coast, but would be spending the next two nights on the north shore.
We needed to be at Port Arthur, Kauai by 8 AM which meant getting up and checking out of our room by 7AM. We managed to get everything including ourselves into the rental car on time, saying goodbye to a friendly cat that seemed to live in the Kiahuna resort complex as well, and started on our way.
We arrived a half hour early and checked into the Blue Dolphin Charters office. I chose Blue Dolphin from among the many charter companies based on the description of the tour (which included a snorkeling stop), the reviews, and the relative cost.
Since we were a half hour early we decided to get some coffee to kill some time and to feel a bit more alert after the groggy start to the day. We ended up driving back up the road to Kalaheo to Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Company. They made our coffees quickly and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the coffee shop (even if we were in a hurry).
After getting our coffees, we hopped back into the car and drove down to the Blue Dolphin parking area and grabbed our backpacks with our supplies for the charter cruise. The cruise would last until 2PM so we needed to be sure to have sunscreen and anything else we might need for the trip.
Blue Dolphin Charters
Once we were back in the office we waited while the crowd slowly grew. By the time the captain led us outside there were about 40 guests. We walked down to the boat and were advised that if we did not have close-toed sandals we should leave them on the dock for our own safety. Then we boarded the boat and waited for departure.
Due to the topography and currents, the first half hour of the cruise would be through relatively calm waters on our way to the snorkel spot on the south shore of Kauai. We arrived and the catamaran was anchored for snorkeling.
Shelley and I helped get our sons their snorkel masks and flippers on and then we all jumped into the open water. Evan was having difficulty getting his snorkel onto his mask strap so I swamp him back to the boat and reattached it, making sure he was able to use it properly before we swam away from the boat.
Able now to look at the underwater world, I saw that we were about 40 feet above a reef with scattered fish far below. I swam around looking for larger schools but didn’t have much luck. And then my GoPro battery began to die out as well.
For the next half hour I swam with the family in search of fish and for the most part didn’t find very many. Not until we were just about to reboard the boat did I at last find a number of relatively large wrasse near the ship. I recorded these fish briefly amid the turbid waters of snorkelers reboarding the catamaran.
I felt a little disappointed, but there would be more snorkeling opportunities on the trip. I would not have use of my GoPro for the rest of the boat cruise (I had spare batteries but forgot to bring them). But I did have both my phone and my EOS.
The South Shore
For the next 45 minutes we cruised along the southern coast of Kauai with the current driving us along. We took turns on the bow deck platforms enjoying the feel of the wind and surf and taking in the views of Kauai and the island of Nihau in the distance.
Eventually we came upon a pod of spinner dolphins and I took as many photos as I could from the bow, hoping to catch one as it leapt momentarily from below. For the most part, they stayed just below the waterline.
As we continued on we saw flying fish darting from the sea. I took rapid shots just hoping to catch any of them. I got a couple photos of them in flight.
The Na Pali Coast
Turning northward to follow the coast of Kauai, we were entering the Na Pali coast. The word ‘pali’ means cliff in Hawaiian, and Na Pali means ‘many cliffs’. An apt description for the region of Kauai that we would be entering.
If you are wondering whether you should spend the money to see the Na Pali coast on a visit to Kauai, the answer is an absolute yes. The scenery is incredible and I don’t know that you will find any stretch of coastline that can match it for dramatic beauty, not only in Hawaii, but in the world.
This actually wasn’t the first time I had seen the Na Pali coast from the sea. Way back in June of 2003 I took a kayak trip from Kee Beach to Polehale Beach. A distance of 22 miles. I got seasick along the way and spent the majority of that distance puking, but it was an amazing experience nonetheless.
From the boat it was much more relaxing and instead of puking I was able to eat pulled pork sandwiches and drink mai tais and beers. We were also lucky in that, since it was mid October, the seas would have been expected to be a bit rougher than they were. As we cruised along the coast we had fairly gentle seas. I think God wanted me to enjoy this moment with my family as much as possible.
After reaching the point of Kalalau Beach (where I remember our kayak trip made a beach stop) the boat was turned about for the journey back to Port Arthur. The journey back was about 1.5 hours, spent lazing about on the deck, enjoying the views, the drinks, and the sun.
Once back at Port Arthur, we departed the boat and walked back to our rental car. We had about 1.5 hours to drive ahead to Princeville.
Kapaa
Along the way, the desire for shave ice and souvenirs became too much to resist and we made a stop at the Coconut Marketplace in Kapaa on the eastern shore. There was a lot here to choose from and we found JoJo’s Shave Ice serving up our much needed cool dessert.
After eating our delicious shave ice, we walked around and bought some souvenir shirts, a shot glass, and other necessities for our travel needs.
Princeville
The north sore of Kauai receives more rainfall than the southern shore of Kauai and the scenery is even more dramatic. Many postcards have been made of the scenery from Princeville and Hanalei Bay and movies such as South Pacific were filmed here.
We followed Google Maps along the windy route to the Alii Kai vacation homes and after a momentary bit of confusion, we found our nicely appointed two bedroom condo where we would be staying for the next two nights.
Guarding the path, however was a nene.
Carefully walking past the hostile nene we unloaded the rental car and made ourselves comfortable in the townhome. We had brought our groceries from the other condo, which we unloaded from an insulated bag we bought at Walmart, and placed in the refrigerator. This would enable us to continue to enjoy some inexpensive breakfasts without the cost of dining out.
Out the back porch was a nice view of the cliffs on the center of the island and a family of chickens. Because in Kauai you are never far from a chicken.
We showered and got dressed for the evening dinner. After some discussion I decided upon the Kalypso Island Bar and Grill in Hanalei. Only that is not where we ended up going.
Hanalei
We drove down the hill into Hanalei which is a really cool, laidback town on the north shore of Kauai. It kind of reminds me of towns you might find in some third-word beach communities.
Since it was dark and rainy we followed the directions from Google Maps until we approached a restaurant that seemed to be where Kalypso Grill should be. We pulled into a parking spot and walked around. The host seated us and we got a table under the covered, outdoor patio.
We were trying to avoid overspending on meals (which is a common issue for travelers to Hawaii), but we were already seated and things seemed pretty chill. Plus it started pouring rain and nobody was interested in walking back to the car in it.
Needless to say, this restaurant was pricier than we intended. And it wasn’t the Kalypso Grill. It was Tahiti Nui.
The dinner was a decent, but for the price it was a bit much. One personal size pizza was $30. Oh well, we were celebrating my birthday. They also brought me a free birthday dessert (although the person who brought it wasn’t nearly as nice as the waitress who was working our table).
So, do I recommend Tahiti Nui? Yes, if you want a bit of atmosphere and a sophisticated vibe. For cheaper eats, there’s plenty more in Hanalei.
After dinner we drove back to the townhome and crashed for the night. We had an early day planned with a big hike the next morning.
Shelley and I decided to get a morning coffee before we left the townhome in the morning. We walked over to Little Fish Coffee across the road from the Kiahuna Plantation.
On the walk we saw a couple nene geese and felt fortuitous. We were having a lot of luck seeing Hawaiian wildlife.
After waiting in a brief line when the coffee shop opened, we got our lattes and walked back to the room to have breakfast with our sons.
Once everyone had eaten and showered we got in the rental car and drove to LIhue for our tubing adventure.
Lihue
Tubing Adventure
We arrived about a half hour before our check-in time at Kauai Backcountry Adventures. We took a stroll down outside but couldn’t find anything of interest to us so we returned to KBA to wait for our tour to start.
When it was our time for the tubing adventure we were given our helmets and headlamps and boarded an open-air truck to drive into the interior of the island.
The tubing journey takes place on a former sugar plantation. Sugar was once a major part of the economy of Kauai and Hawaii as a whole. But starting at about the time Hawaii achieved statehood, competition with foreign markets made the sugar industry unviable due to the cost of labor and shipping.
What is left is the infrastructure that once allowed the sugar plantations to thrive, including irrigation canals that were cut through the center of the island. And it was to these canals that we were headed.
Before we arrived at the canals, we were driven to a scenic overlook where we were able to view the cloud enshrouded Mout Wai’ale’ale.
After taking some photos of Mount Wai’ale’ale and the surrounding landscapes, we continued onward to the launch point.
Wet met some additional guides at the launch point and once the entire group was aboard a tube, we started the float downstream.
The journey downstream travels through several tunnels and through some beautiful countryside. The guides were friendly and fun and they even sang happy birthday to me in one of the tunnels 🙂
My son Daniel took a shine to one of the female guides that was about his age. He was starting to enjoy the trip a lot more and was finding that there were quite a few very attractive, fun loving girls. And Evan had a lot of fun bantering with her as well at the start of the tour.
Once the float ended we exited the tubes and had a lunch of sandwiches and chips. Then we boarded the trucks again to head back to Lihue.
Along the way we learned some interesting facts about the population of feral pigs on the island. There are more pigs in the interior forests than even chickens, though people don’t often see them.
Pig hunting is a popular activity for the locals who will use dogs to track and corner the pigs, allowing the hunter to make a kill using a knife.
Koloa
After returning to KBA and returning our equipment, we decided to make a stop at Walmart for some additional supplies , then drove to Koloa in search of our first shave ice of the trip.
The Shave Ice at Fresh Shave was really good. They add ice cream to it along with tropical fruits to make a really refreshing desert. We knew after our first shave ice it wouldn’t be our last.
We drove back to the townhouse and changed into our Hawaiian shirts. Next stop a luau.
Wailua
Smith Family Garden Luau
I had a hard time choosing a luau for our trip. I knew we wanted to go to one and there were several to choose from. I considered the Auli’i Luau in Poipu right on the beach. It would have been close enough to walk to from the resort where we were staying.
There is the Luau Kalamaku near Lihue which is at a plantation and includes a train ride.
There is one at the Coconut Beach resort at a venue that was the same as the one Shelley and I went to in 2003 when we were in our twenties. It was the first luau either of us had ever attended. We had a great and memorable time at it.
In the end I chose the Smith Family Garden Luau. The reviews for it were consistently good despite it being a bit less expensive and meant for larger crowds. It is at the Fern Grotto area along the Wailua River which is a scenic area. And they cook the kalua pork in a true underground imu. Some of the others just provide the cooked pork from indoor kitchens.
We arrived and walked over to an area surrounding the imu pit where we were welcomed. There was a large crowd around the imu and I didn’t get any photos of the imu ceremony, although it was done in a traditional manner.
The host of the luau introduced himself and explained how the Smith family had for many generations run the luau that we were now going to experience. They explained why they were Smiths and didn’t have a Hawaiian name. Ultimately they provide probably the most genuine luau on Kauai.
Once the imu ceremony ended we entered the very crowded dining area. It was at this point, as we searched for seating at at table, that I began to have doubts about my decision. We usually prefer smaller groups and a more relaxed environment. This was a much bigger event.
After getting seated and with cocktails in hand, we began to get more comfortable. We chatted with other families and told our individual stories of our times in Kauai. We told them that two decades ago Shelley and I had come to Kauai while still dating, and now we had returned with our kids.
We got our plates of kalua pork and more drinks and and as many desserts as we wanted. Evan volunteered for the hula lesson and did a great job.
During a bathroom run Evan encountered some feral pigs outside and ran back to tell us to come with us to see the pigs. We wandered outside and sure enough, some feral pigs were lurking by some back buildings.
We met a native woman near the pigs and she told us about her own experience owning a pig as a pet. As expected the pig grew very large and she sadly had to let it go.
I had never realized how many feral pigs were in Kauai or just how much they were a part of life there. Certainly though, I enjoyed the kalua pork for dinner.
After our conversation we walked quickly over to the amphitheater for the show. The show told the story of the discovery of Hawaii and other Polynesian Islands, of Pele, and featured numerous hula dances and a fire dancer.
Overall, the reviews for the show are mixed but I think it was a good show and we enjoyed it. Yes, this is a family show and the performers are not professionally trained. But they do give it their best and clearly love what they are doing.
Every luau is different and I don’t think you can go to Hawaii and not go to a luau. I’m glad we went to one and next time we are in Hawaii we’ll go to another one.
A 50th birthday is a pretty big milestone. And mine was coming up.
I usually don’t feel like my birthday is a big deal, but turning 50 is different. It’s the big transition from the youthful decades to the second half of life (though nobody expects to live to 100).
Despite that milestone, as a family we’ve also gone through a lot of ups and downs over the past couple years. Every few weeks a new challenge would emerge and so would the stress. It felt like a gauntlet and I longed to return to the simpler days of the past.
So with that in mind, it was hard at first to consider doing too much for my 50th. A roadtrip perhaps. Or maybe nothing at all but a few days of rest at home.
But early in 2025 I began to think about it more. I longed to go someone warm. Beaches, tropical weather. I thought about Belize, a place I went in 2002 when I was 26 and enjoyed as an adventure. I thought of the Yucatan in Mexico, and places father afield. It couldn’t be too complicated or be a place we were likely to visit on a subsequent trip in the next couple years. And it had to be a place that would be relaxing and fun.
And then I made up my mind. It was time to go back to Kauai.
My wife and I went when we were still dating in 2003. We were young and still figuring things out. We were adventurous and care free. We saw and did a lot on Kauai with a couple additional days on the Big Island. But we left a lot unseen and undone, never expecting that by 2025 we would still not have returned.
I viewed it as an opportunity for all of us to take one last family vacation. My eldest Daniel is 19 and in college. His only visit to Hawaii came in 2007 on a trip to Maui (our last visit to Hawaii). He was 11 months old at the time and had no memory of the experience.
My youngest had never been to Hawaii at all.
We were now a family of two aging parents and kids growing into adults, and I felt like we could all go to Hawaii as a family. The kids would get to experience it for the first time and we’d get to go back to a place we last experienced as two unsure about the direction of life twenty-somethings.
After we made our initial plans to go just to Kauai, we began to think a little more about extending our trip to include Oahu. Our flight back already had a connection in Oahu and only I had ever been to Oahu, when I was 13. The family wanted to visit Pearl Harbor and my wife and I found a number of additional things that we wanted to do in Oahu as well, including a UTV ride.
After some planning that removed any moments of relation from the trip, we had built out a fun eight day adventure for Hawaii. Evan would miss a couple days of school and my eldest would miss some class time, but we’d hit all the major stuff that we really wanted to see and do without feeling like we had any real regrets about what we didn’t do.
Hawaii is expensive and not a place we can travel to often, so we might as well do as much as we can within those eight days.
Day 1: Flight to Kauai
We are lucky to live near a major city with a major hub airport. We have a lot of direct flights that a lot of other places don’t. Denver International is a massive airport and not a relaxing experience, but it does offer a lot of direct flights.
We had a direct flight to Lihue leaving at noon. Easy. No getting up really early in the morning. No ending the work day and frantically packing everyone up and rushing to the airport.
We were all seated together in extra legroom seats and our seat backs had entertainment screens. The flight was an extra hour long though and for whatever reason United Airlines seems to have cut back on the beverage service. My wife and I might have ordered a mai tai, but instead they offered only a tiny cup of soda after seven hours in the air and never came by at any time between the lunch service at the beginning of the flight. Their loss.
Lihue, Kauai
Once we arrived we were met by the warm, humid air of Hawaii and all of the lush green foliage. And the hot sun. And a blue ocean in the distance just outside. That’s what we came for.
The tiny airport took only minutes to exit, but we had to rush onto the shuttle for the rental cars as a horde of people who arrived after us made it clear they were not willing to wait their turn.
Once we got our rental car we stuffed it with our luggage (we were honestly overpacked), and started on the ultra slow road to Poipu.
It was at this point that my eldest got cantankerous and irritable. For whatever reason he decided to pick a fight with my youngest in the back seat over nothing and I eventually lost my temper as well. This is my birthday trip. Shut up and get along.
After an hour of slowly proceeding through rush hour traffic in a place with only 60,000 or so people, we got through it and drove the rest of the way to Poipu.
Poipu
Early on in my planning I had decided that I wanted to split our time on Kauai between and south and north shore. I decided upon Poipu because of the popular beach which I wanted to be able to easily visit without a drive.
We found the Castle Kiahuna Plantation where we had reserved our VRBO and lugged our stuff inside. Once sort of settled, Shelley and Evan went to pick up a Walmart order back in Lihue (fortunately the traffic was clear on the return trip) while Daniel and I unpacked and tried to figure out a plan for dinner.
Daniel pulled out his laptop to work on a school project (still seemingly annoyed by the earlier argument and acting as though he regretted coming) so I stepped outside to find the beach. It was right outside at the edge of the condo complex. It was sunset and I took my first photo of the trip from Kauai.
I walked back into the townhome and decided that with darkness setting in we would be best off just getting Kenji Burger to go from Lihue, where Shelley and Evan were getting the Walmart order. When I relayed that info to Shelley she was unhappy, as she wanted something ore after a long flight. I just couldn’t find very much nearby and with it being dark I didn’t have a good sense of what was good (and not outrageously expensive).
They returned with all of our groceries for the next several days (which would save us time and money on many breakfasts) and the Kenji burgers. Once everyone was fed and able to relax the mood improved. Still, I wasn’t feeling that great after the grumbling and decided that it was best to just call it a night. We were, after all, four hours ahead of the local time zone and had no time to adjust.
Day 2: Poipu and Waimea Canyon
I struggled to sleep past 3AM. Eventually at 4AM I gave up.
I wanted to get outside and explore and despite it being dark, I did just that. Outside a cat greeted me, and then I almost stepped on a huge frog.
I wanted to find the path from the condos to Poipu Beach (which isn’t a straight walk on the shoreline due to the terrain), and found the passage in the darkness. It led to a cement walkway past a hotel and to the surf and sand.
I trudged onto the sand with my phone flashlight on and two little kids ran past in the dark on the beach. That was strange, but I guess it’s safe. I walked onward and found the crescent arc of Poipu Beach Park, but no turtles were visible to me (I was on the wrong end and couldn’t see them in the darkness). Still I had at least found the beach access way.
Returning to the townhome I found Shelley was awake and was eager to go visit the beach at sunrise. I told her about the passageway to Poipu Beach and we went together back to where I had been only moments before. This time we found the turtles.
Poipu Beach Sea Turtles at Sunrise
We enjoyed watching the turtles slowly inch their way back into the surf. I had been hoping to see the turtles which frequent Poipu Beach and we had found them early the first full day of our trip.
We stopped off for coffee and bought some Hawaiian bread across the street from the park, then walked back to the townhome where Daniel and Evan were still sleeping. Along the way we found this enormous snail on the pathway.
Reentering the townhouse, we found Evan wake and told him about our discoveries. He was eager to see them too so I took him to Poipu Beach (my third trip that morning).
We not only saw the sanil and the turtles but we found a couple sea cucumbers stranded on the shoreline. Evan and I gently push them back to the surf where they hopefully survived. We were proud of ourselves for rescuing the sea cucumbers.
After returning again to the townhouse, we fund everyone awake and I finally got a chance to eat some breakfast. I stepped onto the patio where we could enjoy the surrounding tropical foliage, numerous birds, and the horde of beggar chickens.
The last time we were in Kauai there were a ton of feral chickens running around. In the twenty-two years since, that number has now seemingly increased. They are literally everywhere you go.
If you are not familiar with the story behind the chickens it dates back to 1992 and Hurricane Iniki. Apparently there were a lot of Asian workers living on the islands that raised a certain breed of fighting chickens. When the storm hit, the chickens were set free and thrived on the island.
Because they are fighting chickens the meat is tough and so no one catches them for food. They have no natural predators on the island. The chickens have become a part of Kauai’s identity and now show up on souvenirs like shirts and coffee mugs.
Once everyone had eaten breakfast we strated off for Waimea Canyon.
Waimea Canyon
Kauai is full of scenic wonders that are pretty much unmatched in the Pacific region. Among these sites is Waimea Canyon.
The drive up to Waimea Canyon is a pretty steep ascent from the coastline town of Waimea. Once at the top the first viewpoints off that breathtaking vista that makes it worthwhile.
Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, and though it isn’t quite that deep, it’s still dramatic. We pulled off at a couple viewpoints, before finding that the main viewpoint area was closed. We proceeded on to the Pu’u’hinahina Lookout which wasn’t quite as impressive as the previous roadside viewpoints, but i did provide access to the trails.
Waimea Canyon Trail
It’s pretty rare that I take a hike and bring back no photos from the experience. But the Waimea Canyon Trail was one of those times.
The issue here was dense folliage and thick, sloppy mud. I couldn’t pull my camera or phone out for risk of getting it covered in mud. The first half mile down was reasonably passable, but after that the trail was a quagmire of wet mud.
Daniel and I traveled a full mile into it before we gave up. I was wearing old running shoes that provided almost no traction. After descending a couple hundred feet we had to go up a slope and I was sliding and slipping and holding onto branches and vines trying to stay upright. His hiking boots fared better but he was still covered in mud.
We hiked back up the trail, advising anyone without the proper shoes or clothing to not go much farther. Once back at the parking lot all four of us used a water spigot to try to clean ourselves up. My shoes were totaled and I pretty much decided that I would throw them away before the trip came to an end.
Kokee State Park
Since hiking wasn’t going to happen we continued on to Kokee Stat Park. Kokee State Park offers a view of the Na Pali Coast called the Kalalau Overlook. We parked and walked up to the overlook, our feet still wet from dousing them at the Canyon trailhead.
We also saw some of the light blue hydrangeas we had seen growing there in 2003. A our wedding a year later we had blue hydrangeas for decorative flowers.
Tired and hungry we decided to drive back down to find lunch. First we would stop in Waimea at a Big Save Mart, which a local woman at Waimea Canyon recommended for cheap flip flops (since we really couldn’t wear our shoes into any restaurant).
In Waimea we found the Big Save Mart and bought some flip flops, cleansing wipes, a couple cheap snorkel masks for the beach, and some pre-mixed mai tail and run punch cocktails to enjoy later that night at the townhouse.
After getting cleaned up be headed off to Koloa to enjoy a good sit down lunch.
Kauai Island Brewing Company
One of the things I love about Kauai is how rustic many of the towns are. Koloa is a great example of that. It’s a small, historic town on an island that feels like it could be in foreign country. There are no tall buildings on Kauai and everything in the rest of the world feels far away.
Our first impression of Kauai Island Brewing wasn’t all that great. We deicided to sit inside and were seated at a table in a busy passageway. But soon another family left and we asked if we could move into their more relaxed booth seat.
I don’t know why I didn’t take any photos of the food, but the appetizers were really standouts. We ordered calamari and poke. The calamari was huge (something we mainlanders can’t comprehend is possible) and the poke was so good I thought about ordering an appetizer for my entree.
I ordered a entree and honestly don’t remember what it was. I should have just ordered more poke and calamari. The beers were great too and much needed.
Poipu Beach
After returning to the the condo we changed into our swimming trunks and grabbed our snorkel gear before walking back to Poipu Beach (my fourth visit of the day). This time though I was going to get into the water.
While the sandy beach is great for lounging and turtle viewing and the water is warm, the undersea surface is a rocky, old coral surface. We didn’t bring water shoes and our feet got cut several times as we swam in the shallow bay.
Snorkeling at Poipu Beach
As the short video shows, there were plenty of fish to be seen, but we just weren’t ready with water shoes for the shallow.
Despite the cuts and scrapes, we took the snorkel gear back to the townhouse and went to the beach nearer to the complex: Kiahuna Beach. The beach was sandier here and easier to swim in, but there were still some rocky spots which hurt our feet. Nevertheless, we swamp for aout an hour in the surf.
I didn’t have any cameras with me which was unfortunate because a harbor seal swam right by us as we stood in the surf. It was pretty cool.
Puka Dog
To close out the day we walked over to Puka Dog to try out the incredibly popular hot dog spot in Poipu. We enjoyed them on the walk back to the townhouse where Shelley and I also poured ourselves some cocktails and relaxed on the porch.
After that, we had a big day ahead tomorrow and needed to get to bed to rested and ready.
I created a video telling the full story of our trip to Hawaii in October. I’ll be writing out the fuller travelogue in the coming days, but I enjoyed taking many of the short video clips and numerous photographs to put together this video.
