For Thanksgiving this year, Katie and I decided to take Penelope on a vacation to Hawaii. We had been wanting to go back ever since we visited Maui a few years ago, and the Thanksgiving break seemed like a good time to get away from the cold and rain of Seattle. We were very happy that Omi and Abuelito (aka, Jason's parents) were able to join us, and not just because we wanted some babysitters (although that was a big help!). In the past, we have generally spent Thanksgiving with my family and Christmas with Katie's, and this seemed like a great way to continue that tradition, but in a much nicer location.
Omi and Abuelito flew out to Seattle on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, which allowed them to break up an otherwise 12+ hour trip from the east coast to Hawaii. Penelope stayed home with them on Wednesday, which I think all three of them enjoyed. Then on Thursday (Thanksgiving day), we took off for Kauai (one of the advantages of flying from Seattle is that there are direct flights to all four main islands, on Alaska Airlines, obviously). We were a little concerned about a 6 hour flight with Penelope on our laps, but she did great. Katie, Omi, and I had an entire half row, so Penelope could easily move across all of us. There was a little fussing when it was time for Penelope to take her nap, since she wasn't used to the surroundings, but she settled down and took a nice long nap, which helped to pass the time. It was also great having Omi and Abuelito for additional Penelope entertainment and to take the load off our own laps (she is getting heavy!).
The landing on Kauai was amazing. We were on the left side of the plane, and as we approached the island, we flew right by these stunning cliffs right on the edge of the ocean. It felt like you could touch them. I wish I had had my camera, but it was probably better to just enjoy the view. After the plane, we headed for the car rental. Lugging around 4 checked bags, a baby, a stroller, a car seat, two backpacks, a diaper bag, and a food bag made us "those people" who no one would ever want to be behind in a line. But luckily for everyone else, we were so slow that we were the last ones in line. We got our car, and for $11 got upgraded to a mini-van, which really made me feel like a Dad. The woman helping us assured me that it was what we needed for all our stuff, and she was probably right. After installing the car seat, we headed to our hotel in Po'ipu, on the south shore of the island. It was a pleasant drive, and we were all happy to be on vacation in Hawaii.
After checking in, it was time for dinner. Although it was somewhat late for Penelope on Seattle time, she was in fine spirits and seemed to be enjoying herself, as long as we kept her well fed. For dinner, I was excited to find that the restaurant had a Thanksgiving special of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce, so I was able to have my Thanksgiving dinner in Hawaii. Everyone else went with more traditional Hawaiian fare, and Penelope was happy to have a little bit of what we all were eating. Then it was off to bed for all of us. It had been a long day.
The next day, we woke up early (still on Seattle time) and saw a beautiful sunrise. We decided that we would spend our first day in relaxation mode. We took Penelope to the pool to swim and play in the "sand" (they had some rocky sand surrounding the pool). She immediately took to playing with (and tasting) the sand, and she had fun in the water, too. After her midday nap, we went to a nearby beach (our hotel was on the cliffs, not the beach). We were scared Penelope might try to run into the ocean, so we put a life jacket on her. She didn't mind the life jacket too much, but in the end, she was more content to just sit there and play in the sand. And the sand really slowed down her walking, making her pretty easy to keep track of. Katie and I went into the ocean to play in the waves, but we came out after they got a little too big for us. Omi started a tradition that would last the rest of the trip. She filled up Penelope's bucket with water and brought it back to her. Penelope played with it for a while, then dumped out the water and asked for more. From then on, every trip to the beach also involved at least 10 minutes of bucket brigade time.
For our second day, we decided to visit Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii." The weather was overcast, and as we climbed in elevation, it started to get cold and rainy. We weren't really prepared for it in our T-shirts with no rain gear, but we were smart enough to have extra warm clothes for Penelope in the diaper bag, so at least she was comfortable. And we were definitely not the only unprepared tourists. It was a pretty cool canyon, but the view was hampered by the fog. As we drove back down, we stopped at an overlook that provided a really nice view back at the canyon. It also made for a nice backdrop for taking some photos of Penelope, who obliged to sit on a large rock while I snapped way too many photos of her. Her reward was to eat the small rocks and dirt that she found on the big rock. I don't know what it is about her and dirt/sand/rocks, but she loves it.
We stopped for lunch (with real food, not just dirt) in "Old Historic" Hanapepe, a one street, two block town ("modern" Hanapepe is a little bigger). We ate at a plate lunch place, and I had the Moco Loco, which Katie introduced me to the last time we were in Hawaii. Moco Loco is two hamburger patties on top of rice, smothered in brown gravy, with two fried eggs on top. Mmmm, yummy. We walked around town a bit to see the little shops and read about the old buildings. All of the buildings were the originals, and they had signs indicating what they used to be back in the day, which made for a neat little history lesson. Then it was back to the hotel for nap time. Unfortunately, though, Penelope had fallen asleep on the drive to Waimea Canyon, so she wasn't tired enough to take a nap. She ended up skipping her nap for the day, which made her a little cranky at times. Instead of napping, we went to Po'ipu beach, a five minute drive away. Unlike the other beach we went to, this one was nicely protected so the water was very calm. Penelope once again played in the sand and ordered around the bucket brigade. Since the water was calm, we let Penelope take her first steps into the ocean . She was hesitant at first, but was soon having fun splashing and playing in the waves. Penelope also got to have some shave ice, which combines two of Penelope's favorite things: ice and sweet stuff. She was hooked instantly. After the beach, it was off to dinner then off to bed. Tomorrow would be a busy day.
In planning our trip to Kauai, Katie and I decided that we would like to backpack along the Na Pali Coast. The coast is formed by a series of sharp cliffs that are hard to describe, but look really cool. I really wanted to try backpacking it, and Katie was interested because the views from the trail are supposed to be amazing. Also, it is a part of the island that is inaccessible to cars, so the only ways to see it are to hike or take a boat. There is an 11-mile trail, the Kalalau trail, that goes along the coast to a beach where you can camp, but the only way back out is the way you came in. Since my parents would be with us on the trip, we asked them if they would be willing to watch Penelope while we went backpacking. They agreed, so we were able to do the backpacking trip. We didn't want to stay away from Penelope for too long, and we weren't sure how Penelope would handle being away from both of us at the same time, so we decided to try to do the trip in two days with a single night of camping. That was a pretty lofty goal, since it would mean back-to-back days of 11-mile hikes, but we thought we were up for it. As a backup plan, we knew that we could camp at a half-way site only 6 miles in.
We borrowed some equipment from our friends Emily and Joe, so in the end all we needed to get in Kauai was some fuel for our stove (not allowed on the plane) and some matches. I also bought a hand-held GPS unit with my birthday money (thanks Kris and Pieter!) and used that to keep track of our progress. It turned out to be really useful in deciding whether we should push on to the end or stop half-way. We woke up early in the morning to get an early start on the hike. Luckily for us, Penelope woke up before we had to go. I was surprised by how hard it was to say goodbye to her, even though we would only be gone for one night. Being away from her was pretty difficult, and I was glad we decided to keep the trip so short.
As has become my custom on trips like this, I wrote in my journal after each day of our trip. Here is what I wrote (warning, it's long).
Today, Katie and I attempted the 11 mile Kalalau Trail along the Na Pali Coast. Sadly, we did not make it the full 11 miles to camp on the beach. The trail was too difficult for us to do in one day, so we hiked in 6.5 miles, then camped at a midway spot around the 6-mile mark. We didn't have enough energy to make it the 5 more miles before sunset, which would have been too dangerous and risky for us.
The trail started from Ke'e Beach, where we parked our car and put on our packs (thanks Emily and Joe for the loaners). The first two miles of the trail are very well maintained and a popular spot for day-hikers. We made excellent time over those two miles and felt pretty good about ourselves. The two miles ended with a a fairly treacherous river crossing to get to a huge beach with incredibly rough surf. Definitely not a beach for swimming, the waves were huge. After the beach, most of the day-hikers turn around, but we kept going. We had a permit that allowed us to camp at either of the two campgrounds. Our hope was to make it all the way to the end, but we had the midway campsite as a backup plan.
The hike from the beach to Hanakoa valley included the hardest part of the hike: a climb of 800ft over many switchbacks. The elevation was not that much, but the trail conditions were horrible. Lots of mud, and a very narrow trail, with sheer cliffs on the sides. The climb went pretty well but was exhausting. When we got to the top and started heading back into the next valley, we were optimistic that we were still on track to reach the end. The climb slowed us down, but we hoped to make it up as we went.
Unfortunately, the trail was unforgiving, and while the elevation changes improved, the trail conditions got worse. For many parts of the trail, it became about one foot wide and very muddy. Other parts were dry, but narrow all the way, with incredibly sheer cliffs. Looking down was scary. The difficult conditions slowed us down and sapped our energy, all the while we were thinking, "we have to do this again tomorrow."
At one particularly narrow and muddy point, one of my feet slipped off the trail and I caught myself with one leg kneeling and the other leg off the trail. In the process, my water bottle slipped from its holder and fell down into the valley, never to be seen again. Better the water bottle than me. I picked myself up, went a few more feet, and then slipped again, exactly the same way as before. That was a confidence shaker. Luckily, it never happened again, but I don't look forward to going through that section again.
While we did the first two miles in about an hour, the next four took us about 3 1/2 hours, including rest stops. With 5 more miles to go and less than 5 hours of daylight left, we decided it wasn't safe to go all the way to the end. By the 6-mile campground, we were moving pretty slowly, and I was concerned we would only get slower as we went. It was only about 2pm, so it was pretty disappointing to give up so early in the day, but even if we had made it, we then would have hiked the whole 11 miles back out the next day on very tired legs. And yes, this is me trying to justify our decision to make up for the disappointment of not getting all the way to the end. If we had an extra day, we probably would have gone for it and then laid on the beach the next day to recover.
At the 6-mile campground, we dropped off Katie's pack and my tent and hiked about another half mile to a nice viewpoint. From there, we could see both ways along the Na Pali Coast. It was really an amazing coast, and when we weren't trying to avoid falling off the trail, it was amazing to look at. Of course, some of the best views were actually from the easy first two miles of the hike, but being out along the edge of the cliffs was scary, stunning, exciting, and breathtaking all at once. Quite an amazing trail.
We returned to our campground and picked a nice site. Lots of bugs and no view like the beach campground at the end, but it would have to do. We got water from a nearby stream, and the water felt great on my face. I took a mini bath to get some of the dirt and sweat off, which felt really good. We treated some water for drinking on our hike back tomorrow, and boiled some for dinner. We had beef chili mac and canned corn (go pop-top lid!), and it tasted great. We had some creme wafers for desert. Yummy.
After dinner, Katie curled up in the tent to relax and read a book. I hiked up the trail to a nice clearing to watch the sunset and write this journal entry. The sun is just off the horizon now, so I'm going to take photos now (it's 5:45pm). Then I'll head back to camp and go to sleep.
Katie and I made it out of the Na Pali Coast today. Last night was super windy at the campground, and the trees made lots of noise. It was a bit hard to sleep, but the temperature was very pleasant.
We both woke up around daybreak at about 6:30AM. We had our standard camping breakfast (oatmeal) and packed up our stuff. We left our packs and did a short 1/2 mile hike into the Hanakoa Valley to see a pretty cool waterfall. It was our consolation prize for not making it all the way in. It was also nice to do some hiking without our packs.
After the waterfall hike, we put on our packs and headed back out on the trail. The weather was a bit overcast, hiding some of the views, but it felt hotter than the day before. While the trail was still difficult, we felt a lot more confident on it was somewhat fresher legs. Still, it was clear that we made the right choice to camp half way in. We were just not prepared to do the whole 11 miles to days in a row.
The hike out was mostly uneventful. We maintained our pace from the day before. We also noticed guava trees growing along the trail, so I started looking for ripe ones to eat as we hiked. About 3 miles in we came to one of the nicer viewpoints along the trail. We stopped for the view, and I bent down on one knee, and asked Katie to marry me, again. I had brought her engagement ring, which she left at the hotel, with me in my pocket. I had always wondered what it would be like to propose in some exotic locale, although in reality the surroundings barely matter when you are proposing for real, and I always enjoy coming up with ways to surprise Katie. When I re-proposed, she looked at me with a surprised/humored look on her face and said, "Of course!" It was a fun moment for us to share. Then we continued on our hike (and no, there will not be another wedding).
After four miles, we came to the end of the hard part of the trail. There was a nice beach, and we stopped to have lunch. Then we loaded up again to hike the last two miles back to the car. While the trail on this part was much better and wider, we were so tired by this point that it was still exhausting. My knees were ready to give out, while Katie's toes were on fire. We just kept pushing on, knowing the end was near, and happy that we hadn't gone all the way in.
At the end of the trail was Ke'e Beach. The day before it was not swim-able, but today it was perfect and calm. WE changed into our bathing suits and went for a swim in the ocean. It felt amazing to wash all the sweat and dirt away. A great way to end a very strenuous hike. After our swim, we loaded up the car and drove to Hanalei to meet my parents and Penelope. We were very excited to see her again. We had really missed being with her.
We all drove back to tour hotel in Po'ipu, fed Penelope her dinner, and put her to bed. Then the rest of us had our dinner. After eating, Katie and I went for a dip in the hot tub. That felt great, too. The perfect ending to our Kalalau adventure.
After our backpacking trip, we were very sore and tired, but we had one more Kauai adventure in store. Katie and I booked a helicopter tour to get a birds-eye view of Kauai. (Thanks Mom and Dad for sitting through the timeshare sales pitch to get us a discount!) Although the concierge who booked the helicopter for us said that Penelope could join us (what a bad idea), we left Penelope with Omi and Abuelito one more time while we went for the 1 hour tour. Katie and I were a little nervous about getting into a helicopter, given that they crash every now and then. I think for both of us what bothered us the most was the thought of being in an accident and leaving Penelope an orphan. Gruesome thoughts, I know, but it really had me worried and I almost nixed the helicopter plan because of it. However, we figured this was our one chance to see Kauai from the sky, and that really is a great way to see it. Much of the island is inaccessible by land or sea, so a helicopter or plane is the only way. We were also unsure of what it would feel like to fly in a helicopter, but it was way smoother than being in a plane.
Our pilot, Jed, was great. He had a reputation for "flying close" and he sure did. He got us right up to some of the waterfalls and cliffs, so that you felt like you could reach out and touch it. The weather was clear and calm, which made for nice flying. However, the best time to go is right after a rainstorm, because then all of the waterfalls are at their fullest. When we went, the waterfalls were not flowing strongly, but they were still very impressive. In the center of the island is the Wai'ale'ale Crater, which is ringed by waterfalls, and Jed took us right into the middle of it.
Kauai is small enough that in one hour you can tour the entire island by helicopter. We got to see all the places that we had already been from a new vantage point. Seeing Waimea Canyon from the air was really interesting, because it actually lost some of its grandeur. From up high, we lost the sense of perspective and scale that made it seem so huge. But it was neat to see the people standing at the same viewpoint that we had been at just a few days earlier. We also fly along the Na Pali coast, where we had just been backpacking. We saw the beach at the end of the Kalalau Trail that we had been trying to reach but never did. And the cliffs and ocean looked just as spectacular from the air as they did from the trail. It really is an amazing coastline.
Other notable sights included Hanalei Bay, on the North shore, and the interior of the island, which was surprisingly flat and pastoral. From the air it was clear how little of Kauai has been developed, and the island had a very peaceful feel to it. In the end, we were both really glad we did the helicopter ride, and we would strongly recommend it to anyone visiting the island. It was certainly a lot easier than backpacking.
After the helicopter, we went back to the hotel to spend some quality time with Penelope. With all our adventures, we had been missing spending time with her, even though it was great to get some "us time." I also wanted to get in some more beaching and relaxing, although there is really no such thing as relaxing at the beach with a baby. You always have to be watching her, and she usually wanted to be playing with us or ordering us around (ie, get me more water). We spent that afternoon and much of the next day at Po'ipu Beach, the nice protected beach that was a 5 minute drive away. Penelope got a second sampling of shave ice, and we had fun splashing in the water.
For our last evening on Kauai, Katie and I sent my parents to a lu'au, as a way of saying thank you for helping out with Penelope. They had a good time and enjoyed the food, dancing, and stories of Hawaii. Katie and I went to the beach with Penelope, then found some yummy Hawaiian-style roast pork at a local hole in the wall. We then set out to watch our last sunset on Kauai. We took Penelope's stroller "off-roading" along a very rugged path to the point that our hotel sat on. The skies were very overcast with thick clouds, so the sunset wasn't all that great, but I always love watching the sunset anyway. As the sun went down, it looked like a small fire burning on the ocean, and then after it set, the sun cast some really cool orange-red light onto the clouds. After the sunset, we went back to the hotel, ate our Hawaiian dinner, and put Penelope to bed.
The next day, the weather had turned rainy, a fitting farewell as we headed back to Seattle. Penelope and I went to watch our last sunrise together, then we all got ready and headed for the airport. Unfortunately, our trip home would not be as smooth as our trip out. We checked in our luggage and went to the TSA security line, loaded down with stuff as usual. When we got to the ID checker, she told us that our boarding passes didn't indicate that we had an infant on our lap, so Penelope couldn't go through. The woman sent us back to the ticket agent, who figured out that the Alaska Airlines website screwed us over. Apparently, infants are not allowed in the rows in front or behind an exit row (we knew they weren't allowed in an exit row), and our seats were in the row in front of the exit row. However, the website never told us that would be a problem, even after Katie indicated that we had an infant. It just printed out the boarding passes and ignored our baby. :( Since the plane was full and people were checking in, the ticket agent couldn't do very much. She moved Katie and Penelope to another seat so that Penelope could get through security, then told us that the gate agent would have to move us again so that we could sit together (getting all five of us together again seemed impossible, but at least Katie and I needed to be together).
We went back to security, loaded all our stuff on, and ran into our next issue. Not only did they go all out inspecting our baby food (they always at least do a wipe test, but this time they actually opened our bottles), they also gave the car seat a complete once over and flagged our carry-on bag because it had some specialty salt that we bought as a gift (apparently it looks dangerous under the x-ray machine). So annoying. After that, we had to pass through the agriculture check point. We had brought along some fruit for Penelope to eat, so she had to finish that before she could go past. We left Penelope with Omi to finish her fruit while Katie and I worked on getting our seats changed. I'll spare the details, but suffice to say that they were half-way done boarding the plane by the time we finally got our new seats assigned. Luckily a nice couple was willing to switch their seats so that Katie and I could sit together with Penelope and still be one row away from my parents, but the process took forever. Once on the plane, my mom was able to switch seats with the third person sitting in our row, so once again Penelope was able to spread out over all three of us. My dad ended up sitting right behind my mom, which was nice for Penelope to play peek-a-boo over the seats (much to the annoyance of the people sitting next to my dad). Once we finally got situated on the plane, though, we had a fairly uneventful flight home, and Penelope took a really good nap on my lap (after some minor fussing).
Omi and Abuelito stayed a few more days with us in Seattle, and Penelope got to enjoy even more personal day care. Then they left for New York, and Penelope went back to her normal routine. We all had a great time going to Kauai. Vacationing with a baby definitely made for a different experience, but mostly in a good way. Now we are off to Cleveland in a few days for Christmas and more grandparents!