Kauai helicopter tour and more beach fun

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!