Celebrating 30 Years Together. . .

A long time ago Alan and I decided when we had been married for 30 years that we would do something special. . . you know, something spectacular. . So we decided to go to Hawaii. Just not any island, but an island that we have been wanting to go to for a very long time. Kauai.
Alan and I have been to Maui, Oahu, the big island of Hawaii, but my favorite so far is Kauai.  Why??? You might ask. Well. . . .

Maybe it's the pretty resort that we stayed at. We stayed at the Kauai Beach Resort. It is right on the beach, so of course, we took long walks on the secluded beach!

A tree tunnel to the entrance of our resort. That's when I knew I was going to love it!!!

Or it could be. . . The awesome waterfalls

This is the waterfall they used for the beginning scene of the show Fantasy Island.
Wailua Falls

Opaekoa Falls

Or maybe the really fun Luau, where we walked around some beautiful tropical gardens, and then ate really good and interesting foods, and watched a fun, and very entertaining show.




Smith's Tropical Paradise




Beautiful grounds of the luau - "The Giant" mountain in the background



Maybe it's because Alan and I love to hike. It's something we have done from the very beginning of our marriage and love getting outdoors and exploring this beautiful world of ours.

hike #1  To the top of a mountain, called The Sleeping Giant.

Hike #2  hiking along the top of the Napali Coast

Hike #3  The Alakai Swamp - the highest swamp in the world

Hike #4: Along the bottom and edge of the Napali coast - 2 mi in to a beautiful secluded beach

Hanakapi Beach

THEN:  2 mi more heading up the mountain to a beautiful waterfall. . .This hike took us a total of 8 hrs. We had plenty of water with our waterpaks and took a lunch that we ate at the waterfall.

Do not be decieved. . . These were all very, very, chanllenging hikes. . .notice by the 4th hike we have hiking poles that we bought at a Walmart in Lihue. After falling a few times, we decided poles might help, and they did!! At times I wondered if I was at "Boot Camp of Hawaii" I didn't remember signing up for that. . .but then the scenery would take my breath away, and I would forget about how my legs and butt were hurting!!

The Scenery and Sites were Amazing - Waimea Canyon/ Kokee State Park

The Kilauea Lighthouse - This is where we went whale watching also.  We bought binoculars at the Walmart too. We saw many whales passing by, flipping their fins up, Alan saw one jump out of the water. . I totally missed it.

The plants and flowers were awesome.

Or maybe it's the new adventure of ziplining through the Kauai Jungle tree tops. . . And facing my fears of height and hanging from a little rope. . . high up in the sky, over the trees.  We did a total of 9 ziplines. We stopped at a swimming hole and ate lunch and swam. There was a couple a little older than us that were service missionaries on Oahu at the Polynesian Center. They had some free time and came over to Kauai to check it out and do the zipline!! We had a really fun group of 6 couples.

We did not plan on matching, it just happened!  Go Yellow Team!!

The King Kong Zip Line - 1200ft

Or the Swinging Bridge that we had to cross to get to the other side. . .

Maybe it was the awesome snorkeling. . . we swam with a sea turtle at Anini Beach - I almost stepped on it. . .I thought it was a rock. We saw sooo many tropical fish at poi pu, I felt like we were swimming in an aquairum.

Or maybe it was the awesome beaches. . . There were not alot of people on the beaches. . We were there in Feb. I found out that March is their busy month, along with summertime.

Or taking a boat down the river to the Fern Grotto. . . lots of plants and banana trees

                                                               

One thing that we found out fairly soon into our trip was that Kauai is full of Roosters. They are everywhere and they are protected by the state. The also do not know that they are suppose to crow at the crack of dawn. . nope, these roosters crow whenever they want to. . .middle of the day, or middle of the night, does  not matter to these roosters. When I think of Kauai, I can't help but think about the roosters!!!                    

Roosters on the side of the road, middle of the road, in parking lots, along the beach or high in the mountains. Everywhere

BUT.....I Think the reason I loved Kauai soooo much is because. . .

We were together and having so much fun on this beautiful Island where there was so much to do. We were having one adventure after another and loving it. Other couples might like to just relax and sit by the pool or on a beach and read a book. Not us. . . It was one adventure after another. . . and we were loving it. It is such a wonderful feeling to know that after 30 years of being with someone -   that you could still be excited to spend time with them, to have an adventure with them, to laugh and talk and walk together holding hands along a beach and feel so much love for that person that you are with. I think when we celebrate our 60th we might then just sit by the pool or lay on the beach and just relax but then again. . . we may be ready for more adventures. . .who knows...      Happy Anniversary Alan!! I love you for eternity!!