Paradise

Sorry for the long delay in posts but as many of you know, we were on vacation last week. We're counting it as our 10-yr-anniversary trip; close enough anyway (our anniversary's in September).

Aaron's brother Jake & his wife Tiffany came with us -- great travel companions!

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about Kauai, the "garden island" of Hawaii, and share a few pictures as well.Kauai is the oldest on the Hawaiian islands chain, so it has experienced the most erosion, which means steep, spectacular cliffs and deep valleys. The wettest spot on earth is at the top of Mount Wai’ale’ale on Kauai. The top of this mountain is almost always shrouded in clouds and receives over 460 inches of rain every year! There are several major rivers and hundreds of waterfalls on this island, making it the most green of all the Hawaiian islands. There is plenty of sunshine along the coasts though; the normal daily forecast being “mostly sunny with a chance of passing showers.”

Kauai has a more rural feeling than the other major islands… there are about 60,000 residents spread among several small towns (in stark contrast to Oahu's 875,000). Although I would never want to permanently live in such a rural place, it is nice to visit. Everyone is friendly & strangers actually talk to each other... there is a definite sense of community, where people are aware & concerned about the people around them, instead of being absorbed with their laptops & ipods. The locals on Kauai have a lot of local pride and although they enjoy the tourism dollars we bring to their island, they make it clear (through bumper stickers -- all the locals seem to have bumper stickers) that they don’t want you to move there and are adamantly against any further commercial development of their paradise. But they are very friendly as long as you’re only there to visit.
It's a great place for snorkeling!

We spent a week on Kauai four years ago too, and feel that we're pretty familiar with that island now. Seeing many of the same sights twice is okay though, when they are as spectacular as these.

I highly recommend that any married couple, especially if you have kids, make the effort to get away and take a trip with just the two of you every now and then. It doesn't have to be as exotic as Hawaii, but just getting away somewhere together is great for any relationship. I feel like we've rediscovered how much fun we have together, like when we were dating & newlyweds. That being said though, we would like to take the kids with us next time we go to Hawaii. In a few years they will be old enough to help carry their own bags, not need carseats, and be able to enjoy & appreciate a fun trip like that more than they would now. We're already talking about the things we'd like to do next time, and what credit card mileage program we should sign up for!