We are off to Hawaii! We had planned this trip to Kauai last year and we were excited to get some sun. My parents were arriving just before us and were there to be our welcome party. Just to make things interesting, we purchased a new home a few weeks prior and our closing date was in the middle of the vacation - perfect timing, huh?
04/13/2025
Our house was in boxes, but we managed to put together three bgs of Hawaii essentials (sans a swimsuit for Tom that would need to be purchased there) and we were off to the airport!
We left home about 6 hours before our flight - I had a few lounge passes and this seemed like the perfect day to use them. No point hanging out in an empty house with a bunch of boxes… Sara loved the lounge - she ate every thing they had at least once and she got to try the famous Alaska Airlines lounge pancakes, made by the famous pancake robot.
Two out of the three of us got upgraded to first class while the third got premium class. Angela opted to take premium for the first half of the flight, but a miss-communication resulted in Sara and I spending the whole trip in first class - not the worst move for Angela though, our return trip was also upgraded to first class and it’s a red-eye. Sara had a blast in first class too - I’m worried that we are spoiling her now… :)
And for the last hour of the flight - she took a first class nap!
My parents picked us up from the airport and we were all in bed by 10p (2a PST).
04/14/2025
We slept in quite a bit the next day - finally getting up and going around 10a. This seemed like the perfect day to spend as much time as possible at the pool and that’s just what we did. Sara and I probably went down the slide 50 times while Angela probably joined us for half of them.
AFter some time at the pool, we headed off to get me a swimsuit and get googles and masks for Sara and Angela (who both misplaced their’s in all the packing). After that, we did the ~1 mile loop hike (walk) around the lagoon near the hotel - to help us all in getting over the jetlag.
At around 3p, we headed out for our fancy farm to table dinner at Common Grounds. We arrived early to do the waterfall hike - a short loop hike up to a small dam/waterfall creating in the late 1800s for the sugarcane harvest. It was a short hike, but we were the first ones to get there so we had the trail to ourselves for most of the hike.
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The hike took us past a small Buddha statue and up to a large swimming pool above the dam - too bad none of us brought our swimsuit.
After the hike, we got a tour of the farm - which was constructed as a sustainable food forest. The concept is pretty cool - with the farm sort of taking care of itself year to year with not a lot of maintenance (tilling, replanting, etc) required. The tour was a bit long, but informative
Dinner, unfortunately, was a bit lacking. The first few courses were ok, but the main dish (a braised beef) was served cold. The menu wasn’t accurate and we kept asking what was in each of the dishes - which required at least three people involved to figure out. We did’t hear from the chef once - which I feel like is part of the point of a dinner like this, to be brought along on the chef’s journey as he created the idea of this particular dinner.
We had a good time regardless - Woodard’s have fun no matter the circumstances.
04/15/2025
The next day, my mother booked an “Adventure Tubing” experience - eg a lazy river with a little kick. We got donned with helmets, headlamps, and gloves and we packed in a truck to be carried up to the start of an old sugar cane irrigation pathway. The pathway had been cut into the ground and most of the 2 miles was spent underground. I, unfortunately, didn’t bring my go pro so I only had these few photos before the tubing stared.
After tubing, we were trucked to a lunch spot and had some sandwiches before being brought back to where we started in the early afternoon - perfect time for some shave ice! The first of what promised to be many on this trip.
We did some swimming at the pool and my dad and I headed of to get some fish to grill for dinner - Swordfish with a mango vinaigrette sauce, which proved to be quite delicious.
04/16/2025
The hotel put on a bamboo rod fishing event in the morning for half an hour and we decided today would be a good day to try it. The lagoon is full of small Tilapia and the hotel staff had some bamboo poles and hotdogs for bait - and in no time we were pulling up fish. Sara caught 2 fish and a prouder girl could not be found. She even protested that this was the first fish she had ever caught - the actual number is more like 2 dozen after our alaska trip, but every day is a new day!
After ice fishing, we took a drive to Pui Pu beach for some snorkeling. The seas were a bit rough and she snorkeling was sub-par - but we did see a few fish and spotted a small eel before the current got the better of us. The highlight, however, was the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals and the sea turtles. There were two sets of seals that hauled out on shore and around 15 sea turtles. The lifeguards put up rope/cone barriers to keep people away while they rested.
The turtles were on the inside of this little bay and if you waited long enough - one or two would come in for a rest or leave to head back out to sea. The whole family waded out into the bay to watch them at one point or another.
We had lunch at the famous Puka Dog - a hot dog place recommended by Diane - and after some more after lunch snorkeling, we headed back to the hotel to do some games and puzzles. Grandma Joan brought a workbook of math puzzles and she and Sara did a few every evening.
We went to a little restaurant that Angela found on a food blog for teriyaki. It was in a commercial district and kinda hard to find. It was quite good, but it was a lot of food and we all had leftovers.
04/17/2025
I woke the next morning to head over to the gym (something I try to do every day when traveling, given how much time I spend on the road) and Sara was awake and chipper waiting for me on the couch - so I had her throw on some clothes and head to the gym with me. She was a pretty big fan of the elliptical machines, despite being a bit big for her.
THe magic of Kauai for me is the hiking and I finally got my wish today. We did the Waimaei canyon hike - a hike that Angela and I did way back in 2015 when we came here the last time. The hike was beautiful - walking along the canyon rim with several overlooks before we got to the rather underwhelming waterfall at the end.
Rain was on the forecast and it started in earnest the moment we got to the waterfall - the furthest we could have gotten from the car. The ground was mostly clay, and it got slick as the rain started to come down. Grandpa Jim and Angela headed back early and missed the real downpour - fortunately. Grandma Joan and Sara fell several times in the mud - and we were all going quite slow to maintain good footing.
The hike end up being less than 3.5 miles, but it was quite the adventure!
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We went to the grocery again and picked up some Marlin to grill with herb/lemon sauce. It was raining, so we ended up searing it inside - which is less magical, but still fun.
04/18/2025
After another workout with Sara (and Grandma Joan), we headed off to try to do some snorkeling. After a quick stop for shave ice/ice cream, we got blocked from going to the beach we wanted to go to in flash floods from another rainy day. I found a “secret” beach on google maps (so not that secret) that was a short hike from a parking lot in a residential area. The beach did not disappoint, although the seas were far to rough for snorkeling and surfers dominated this beach.
We all played in the waves for a while and we did some exploring - finding some fun little pools that were being filled by the surf. We spent most of the afternoon at the beach - not leaving until 3p or so. It was about an hour drive back home and we were all ready for dinner when we got back.
We went out to dinner at the resort restaurant nearby - Hululani’s at the Timber resort. We didn’t find out until we got there that it was a Michelin star restaurant - and it lived up to the name. I was quite impressed and Sara loved her “birthday dinner” - celebrated a few days in advance.
We were all in bed by 8p - bittersweet to be leaving Hawaii tomorrow, but exciting to move into our new home!
04/19/2025
We woke up around 7a and headed to the hot tub/pool for an early swim before heading to the airport. Alaska airlines sent me a scary text warning that agriculture inspections required that we arrive at the airport at least 2.5 hours early - which we did and made it to the gate in 27 min. Alaska!! We had a good time at the terminal - although Sara was quite disappointed that there was no Alaska lounge… Farewell Hawaii!!
