Aloha Summary!

Thursday, September 2, 2010 – WEDNESDAY’S ARRIVAL!


Aloha from Kaua’i!! It’s now about 4:00 a.m. and I keep thinking of things to write in my blog so decided to get up and do some updating. Plus my head hurts. Dehydration headaches really dig deep. I think Vee has some Aleve or something…I’m gonna check that out. Hold please. (insert 80’s soft rock muzak here…”baaa baaa baaa baaa baa baa, I know this much is True….” Okay, I’m back and couldn’t find anything that would help. I wonder if that’s because I just looked at the bags without unzipping them. I hope Spandau Ballet was an enjoyable listen. 

Chicago drivers are mad hatters! I’m so thankful Matthew was behind the wheel because the only way I would’ve been able to drive through that visual torture would be by leaving for the airport at 4:00 a.m. for a 10:00 a.m. flight! Well done, Matthew, well done! Watching Velvet say goodbye to Jaydon and Matt not only tugged at my heart strings, it pulled so hard that I’m pretty sure I have to replace them now. Everyone was exhausted, including little Jaydon, because he woke up almost every 1.5 hours during the night because he’s sick. Matthew took him to the pediatrician after leaving the airport and also got himself checked out since he’s been sick, too. Matt was given antibiotics and Jaydon just has a minor cold. His ears, throat, chest and lungs are all clear, so that’s good. Velvet’s boys are on the mend!

I have forgotten the pull to look at twins and ask the question, “Are you two twins?” or the shorter version, “Twins?” We checked our luggage curbside and the gentleman assisting us did just that. “Wow. Twins?” Yes, yes we are. “What flight are you on?” United 0001. “Hmmm, let’s see, if I was on that flight I ‘d be going to Hawaii,” he said smiling. That’s exactly right! So we chatted a little bit about the vacation, gave him a nice tip and Vee said, “It’s good to be nice to the people who determine your luggage’s destination.”  Well said, Vee. Well said.

We go through security and Vee goes through just fine and I hear an authoritative voice, “Ma’am? This way.” I look and said, “me?” “yes, this way,” with the “waving to yourself” gesture. Okay, so I get to go through a different line…of which I am the only person. I go to walk through what seems to be an x-ray machine and am told to “please stop”, but it’s the universal gesture to stop. Like what crossing guards use or police officers directing traffic. So I stop in the middle of this “thing” and the employee running the machine started talking. He seems like nice guy. I try to keep it light, knowing he could potentially keep me from continuing on with my vaca. I was smiling and said, “Am I doing this right?” (I was just standing there. I wanted to make sure I was ‘standing’ in the right direction, whatever that was, just in case. ) He smiled and said, “Yes – put your hands over your head, look straight ahead and don’t move.” I laughed and said, “Got it”. So I chewed my gum and smiled at the camera. He looked at me and I said, “Sorry, I thought you said, “Say cheese”.  He laughed and said, “Ooh, you moved! I saw you chewing gum as well!” I was thankful he was such a nice guy. Security check leg one, success. So onto the next station - the “pat down”. I am standing facing Velvet and our luggage and looked at her like, “What’s this all about? Why didn’t you get this, too?” She returned the same quizzical look as if to say, “I dunno.” The woman was very kind and asked, “Is there anything I need to know about?” as she began the process. “Umm, I have a bad back,” I said, jokingly. She laughed and continuing on, saying, “Anything I need to know about up here?” (upper torso) So I responded with something that made her laugh that I can’t write here and as I was leaving she said, “Thanks for making my day a little brighter.” My pleasure. “Thanks for not detaining me.”  I looked at Velvet and said, “Why did I just get the security pat down and you didn’t? Every trip I seem to take I am “chosen”. Do I look like suspicious or something??” She laughed and said, “Well you know what those machines are, right?” I shook my head slowly…”nnnoo”, thinking, Oh great. What are they?? Apparently they’re machines that take a picture as if you had nothing on. I am horrified. “What?” Well that’s just lovely. My attempts at modesty have just flown out the window. Excellent. At least I was through without being asked to “come with me” by someone else. I know I have nothing to be concerned with, however, that kind of authority makes me a wee bit nervous.

Velvet here…I must interject for one moment. As we’re going through security, I’m thinking how great this is – no problems, we’re on vacation, Matt and Jaydon are on their way to the doctor, and oh look, here come my bags. So, I grab my bags and put my flip flops back on, and see that Dawn’s bags are on their way as well. But there’s a problem. No Dawn! I look around and think, “Where could she POSSIBLY have gone?! It’s the security line!” So, I grab all of her bags and get them ready to roll when I hear her laughing behind me. I turn around and she’s got her arms in the “cross” position being scanned by a TSA member. What the--?! Hmmm, okay. She did look a bit suspicious to me this morning! So, she eventually makes her way over to me, and tells me the story of her “pat down” experience as we grab our bags and make our way through O’Hare. Oh, and as a sidenote, I had to tell her about the new security scanner. I’d just read about it online because passengers were all up in arms that there are potentially thousands of nude-like pictures of them across the nation’s airports!

So with security mere seconds behind us, we decided to partake of some food to break our fast. The employees inside the airport weren’t as jovial, I must say. We stopped at a bagel shop and not a single employee was smiling. Blank stares. As far as the eye could see. “Next!” Someone places their order and stands to the side, cramping someone else out because everyone wants to make sure nobody else touches their “bag of yummies”. “Mine – that’s mine!” One customer asked the cashier about the contents of one of the bags and the woman actually said to her, without smiling or a hint of niceness, “I have no idea” and gave her a look as if to say, “pay attention, lady.” .

(Side note – I hear the waves crashing on the shore…wait..no…false alarm. It’s the jetting sprinklers for the incredibly manicured landscape.)

When we got on the plane, all we did was laugh. Disney was kind enough to begin the 8 hour flight with a horrific 2.5 hour movie called, “Ocean”, which I thought was going to be awesome. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. It felt like torture! I will say that the 5 extra inches of leg room for economy plus is worth the money if you are going on a long flight. At more than one point during the flight, I was so tired and so bored that I was trying to figure out how to use my travel pillow to the fullest advantage. However, I ended up just zoning out and pushing it against my face….only to be startled by Vee when I pulled it away saying, “peek-a-boo”.  [Vee here – here’s what happened from my perspective. I’m getting all adjusted in my seat, anticipating a great little movie about the ocean, and I see some commotion out of the corner of my eye. I look over, and Dawn has her travel pillow smashed up against her face. Just sitting there. I’m perplexed. I lean forward, thinking at some point, she’s going to “open” the sides of this pillow and see me staring at her. Nope. She slowly moves the pillow away from her face, and I look at her – dead pan – and say, “Peek-a-boo.” Not even an exclamation! She actually gets startled as if she didn’t know who was sitting next to her! It was awesome! I’m like, what are you doing?!? She goes, “I’m just checking this thing out!”]

The saving grace of the flight was watching Shrek 4 – can’t remember the full title but it was a life saver. Until they showed 2 hours of horrendous sitcoms that made you think “we’re gonna land soon!”, only to realize that you have to endure one more showing of “Parks and Recreations”. Who watches that?!?? As Vee says, “You’ve never seen it before for a reason. It’s dumb.”

Just when you think you are going to jump out of your skin from claustrophobia, we are landing! As we are getting ready to deplane, one of the flight attendants said, “You girls must’ve had a late night last night because you were out like a light!” No…just tired, thank ye. Then the infamous, “Twins?” question popped up, but was added with, “Ohh, and one’s prettier”…what the-?? Did she just say what I think she said?? As I am passing her she said, “Make sure you cherish your sister and love her always.” I looked at and said, “I do…” Then I squinted my eyes like I do, shook my head in disbelief and said to Vee, “what was THAT?!?!”

We had a 2 hour layover in Honolulu for our island hopper flight and Vee was captivated by the pigeon in the airport. She followed it around, even leaving our luggage “unattended”, but within 20 feet of me. Do I give her a hard time or just let her enjoy the bird? Bird enjoyment it was! [Vee here – in my defense, I’ve never seen a random bird hop around an airport before! I considered it “local wildlife” and had to capture it on camera!] I was captivated by the massage chair, which wasn’t that great. It was $1 for 3 minutes but I can’t say it was well spent. As people gathered for the flight, one guy standing against the emergency exit accidentally opened it with his backpack and you would’ve thought the world was coming to an end. [Vee again - The alarm was quite loud and pretty startling at first. But then it became like a false fire alarm in college. Just stay in your room. It’ll shut off eventually.] Okay, maybe just those of us sitting in the area where it was the loudest received the brunt of it. It wasn’t that big of a deal to either Vee or I, however, the negative reactions of others was interesting to watch. And hear.

When we arrived in Lihue, it took FOREVER to get the rental car. However, I will add that we were blessed twice already and we hadn’t even arrived at the resort yet. It took about 40 minutes standing in a very short line for the rental, which resulted in an upgrade, free of charge, because “I made the guy smile.” Our resort room was upgraded from a poolside view to an ocean view, no extra cost. Even though it’s not a “full ocean view”, it’s still an ocean view, nonetheless. There was a young couple standing next to me in the rental line who was staying for 4 days at the same resort who had no idea about anything on the island. It was a short stay before going to Asia for his work. So after reading the book, “Kaua’i Revealed”, I gave my own little synopsis of the island, what to see, and then gave them some magazines I’d picked up in the airport regarding the island. I think I missed my calling as an island tour guide. [Vee again - As Dawn was inside taking care of the car rental, I waited outside with our bags. Trying to find a nice place to sit and be comfortable for the 2 hours we were there was a little bit difficult. The first place I sat, the curb, was the only option available since there were like 15-20 people waiting in the same area I was. The burst of hot exhaust from the shuttle bus quickly destroyed any thoughts of just chillin’ while I waited for Dawn. I will have to hand it to God – He certainly made all types of people to make this planet go ‘round! It was a funny, and yet somehow scary, experience!]

We finally get the rental car and head out to the “full-sized” section of the parking lot. We select a nice car, can’t even remember what it was, and there’s no key to be found. I know the employee told me that the key would be inside the car so I ask the approaching employee about it. He wasn’t as friendly. “You have to get the key from inside.” “Okay…even though we were told the keys would be in the car?” “Who told you that?” “The gentleman inside – I don’t know his name.” Pause. Stare. Pause. “Do you have a contract?” What is this guy’s problem?? “Yes, we have a full-sized car – “ “This section is ‘specialty cars’. You need to get the keys from inside for these.” “Specialty cars? Oh – there wasn’t a sign showing-“ “All of these other ones out here are full-sized.” Again, I’m interrupted by this guy who is talking to me as though I’m the incompetent fool for not “knowing” these were specialt y cars CLEARLY parked in the full-sized parking lot. I’m wondering if I’m uber tired and this guy is actually nice but because I am lacking sleep, my filter is off a bit. After selecting a car from the “correct” section, we hop in the car and travel on our merry way! Yay! It is now 2 hours later than what we expected to be driving so it’s dark – or close to it. As I am driving in my exhausted and increasingly irritable state, being ever present to keep it in check so I don’t take it out on Vee and cause any unnecessary misunderstandings, I am reminded that the islands lack one thing I am used to while driving at night. Street lights. With Vee navigating, I am acutely aware of 2 things: Exhaustion levels are high and reactions to said exhaustion are the same. Definitely twins. It’s one of those things we used to say, “You do this…” and the other says, “No I don’t! You do!” “No I don’t! You do!” Ahhh, reality would say, “we both do”. 

The details are a bit foggy now, after recovering with some sleep, however, I vaguely recall the following: “you can’t turn yet!” and “TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS!” Maybe Vee can fill in the fuzzies.

[Hi there. It’s me…Vee. Fill in the fuzzies…of course! So, as Dawn described, it was dark. And with both of us directionally challenged, we actually made a wrong turn getting OUT of the airport! Yah. I know. So, we’re tired. Exhausted, even. Dawn starts talking directions – like north and south – and I get nervous. We get on the main road that takes us directly to the resort, and somehow miss the resort! Or maybe we didn’t even pass it. I’m not sure. The near-death experiences may have altered my memory. So, if you’ve never driven on Kaua’I – or any of the islands – they frequently have 3-lane roads. The beginning of the confusion! Once we figured out that we did, in fact, go the wrong direction to the resort, we end up at a stoplight to turn around. Easy enough, right? No. The far right lane has a fast lane while the inside lane – the turn lane – is separated by reflective dividers. The fast lane has a green arrow. The turn lane has a red light. Let me say that again. The turn lane has a RED LIGHT. But that makes no difference to Dawn the Adventurer! She continues forward and begins to run the red light, and scares me to death! All I see are headlights and possibly a chicken. I’m not sure. So, yah, I may have raised my voice and screamed, “YOU CAN’T TURN YET!” Just as Dawn said I did. The rest is a bit of a blur but we finally made it safely to the resort. As we turn to drive down this amazingly beautiful lane to the resort, I notice a car behind us flashing their brights at us. And that’s when I noticed that we didn’t have our headlights on!! AAAAAHHHH!! It’s a miracle anyone saw us in the dark! So, Dawn turns the lights on and we realized that because the dash lights were so bright, then the car lights must be that bright, too! WRONG!

Needless-to-say, it was already an adventure at that point! A nice couple gave us their really nice lawn chairs to use because they didn’t need them anymore. So that was a bonus. And then Dawn scored us an oceanview room. So, by the time we got to our room, we were thanking God for His supernatural protection! Seriously. We needed it! And that was just the beginning of things to come for us!]

We made it to the resort and once we checked in, we headed to the beach the next day. We weren’t there for long before the sounds of the crashing waves….zzzzzzzzz.

Thursday, September 2, 2010 – Dawn nearly drowned….or did she?!

Today was meant to be uneventful. The mission, should we choose to accept, which we did: Find a Target/K-Mart/Wal-Mart for swim gear, water and any protein for our hikes and adventures. After that, SWIM TIME! After breaking the bank at Wal-Mart, ravenous hunger pounced unexpectedly and the only thing on our minds was, “FIND A SUBWAY!” Instead of turning left out of Wal-Mart, which would’ve taken us directly to our destination, we traveled right, or north and thought we would find something in Kapa’a. There was one there, however, we missed it. About 30 minutes north, we get to Princeville. At the top of the island. I thought, “Oh man – there has to be something here…there’s an airport here!” With the hunger beast slowly devouring us, we decided to return south. That’s when we saw the Subway in Kapa’a. With sustenance consumed, the next stop was the beach! We found an awesome one (name is escaping me) just a few miles north of the resort, found a perfect spot and commenced to the water! As we entered the water, the waves force on our feet, ankles and shins reminded us to be cautious. Well, reminded me, anyway. I couldn’t get past the vertigo feeling of moving out to sea with each retreat of the wave. After stumbling a couple of times, Vee said, “don’t look down at the water – you’ll get dizzy.” At about that point, I stumbled a bit and bent down to catch my balance. As I touched the sand, the split nanosecond after my fingers touched was when I saw the wave from the corner of my eye. “Oh no…” Splash! Down I went! As I tried to get my bearings, another wave hit and I could feel I took Vee down with me. Not sure how she got up so fast but I couldn’t get up fast enough. Everything was spinning and I was getting really dizzy. I felt as though I were being pulled out to sea and while I am laying flat on the sand, I reach my arm out to take Vee’s hand to keep me from drifting out farther. She grabbed my hand but obviously wasn’t strong enough to pull me from a laying position to a standing one in 3.2 seconds before the next wave hit. After that niceity of having water shoved through my sinus canal, I stood up, got hit by another wave and said, “I think I’m done.”

[Vee here. Yah, that first beach was a doozie. It was only after Dawn’s near-drowing experience that the beach patrol told us of the drop-off just off the shoreline. Thanks, Dude. Now take your 4-wheeling behind outta here because you’ve done us no favors! But I digress. Back to saving Dawn’s life. The waves were pretty tough, and the retreating water was just as strong as the incoming waves. Sucked us right back into the water! So, Dawn is watching the waves come in, and retreat, and the movement of the sand that goes along with all of it. It is quite dizzying. One second I see her on my left, a wave hits, and the next second I see her on my right…reaching her hand up for help! AAAHHH! I can’t let her get dragged out to sea! So, I got to her as quickly as I could, and started to pull her back from the force of the retreating water, only to stop and realize – hey, she’s actually just laying in the sand! I was a bit freaked out as I grabbed her sunglasses, which miraculously remained close to us during the episode, and helped her to her feet. She started laughing and I’m thinking, “This is NOT funny!” Since Dawn almost drowned when we were 5 years old, I had prayed for wisdom and strength to know what to do in the event anything happened in the water. I prayed first and foremost, of course, that NOTHING happen in the water, but IF it did, then help me know what to do to help her! So, as this whole thing went down, I moved as quickly and deliberately as I could to get to her. So, an answer to prayer, most definitely. After processing everything, I hear her laughing! It took me a few minutes to regain perspective while listening to her laugh, but when I did, it was all good. We replayed the whole thing and laughed even harder when we realized she was just lying in the sand. Not moving. Ah-ha-ha-ha…LOL…hehehe…yah. STILL NOT FUNNY!]

We returned to the resort, ate our first meal of the day at 3 p.m. in silence and was out for the next 3 hours. A short walk along the beach proved to be all the energy we could muster and I don’t recall anything but sleep.



Friday, September 3, 2010 – Relaxation and Reflection

The adventure begins with a 5:15 a.m. rising to see the sunset. Somewhat disoriented, we trekked to the beach where apparently, we weren’t the only ones with the idea. If you’ve seen the movie, “City of Angels”, there is a scene where the angels go to the beach to listen to the sunrise and sunset. We decided to take a little walk on the beach before heading back to the room to get ready for the day and walked 2 miles. It’s so difficult not to pause and look in the ocean in wonder. What a majestic creation. After yesterday’s “near drowning” experience, the pull and magnitude of its workings makes me even more curious. Not curious enough to go back in with a high surf, mind you. Maybe something from the safety of an ocean tour of the island.  After getting ready for the day and hitting Subway, yet again, we decided to do a “low key” day and walk the 3.5 mile beach. It was beautiful – definitely not something you see in Chicagoburbia or the Midwest. Island bliss at its finest. Talking to someone with the exact same DNA as you is awesome because you get to hear a different perspective of yourself or your own thoughts. Coming from someone who is “the same, yet different”. After the 9 miles of walking for the day, I hit the pool Jacuzzi for 1.5 hours, hoping to have the jets give me a much needed foot massage. When Vee joined me, she said, “I had no idea you like jacuzzi’s so much.” “Neither did I.”  But I do now.

[Vee here. I agree – the 9 mile walk on the beach was amazing. The roar of the waves coming to shore, and the stunning horizon of ocean makes you take inventory of a lot of things. One thing it’s done for me is to help me let go of the stresses and strains the past 8+ months have brought. A lot of joy as well, but I’ve done a horrible job taking care of myself while learning to care for a new baby. I am deeply grateful to my family for stepping in and doing for me what I could not see enough to do for myself. I told Dawn that it’s amazing that God’s thoughts of us are more than the grains of sand that we see. I found this quite amazing considering my thoughts have been consumed in large measure by Matt and Jaydon. And God’s thoughts of me are so much more? Not something to understand. Only embrace. Help me find my smile again, Lord. And thank you for thinking so much about me.]

Saturday, September 4, 2010 – Daydreams vs. Reality

Today was a great day for the energy reserves to be topped off and ready for a new adventure! The 9 mile walk yesterday wasn’t planned, however, when you go to bed around 7:30-8:00 p.m. from exhaustion and wake for the beauty of the sunrise, 9 hours of uninterrupted and restorative sleep rocks to your core. I had a great day planned! After reviewing and reading up on the “gems” in my trusted “Kaua’I Revealed” book while doing laundry (Vee worked out), I picked 4 activities that I thought would be amazing. First, was the Wailua Falls. A short drive from the resort, when you go the correct way and not have to turn around, would begin the adventure! The road was very narrow and the landscape was high reeds, so we drove at “pawpaw” speed. Slow and steady to enjoy the surroundings. Well, ours was to avoid going off the road or across the center line. The drive was only 4 miles and we parked to see a “scenic lookout” before continuing onto the falls. When we looked over the ledge, I realized, “these are the falls”. I was disappointed, however, watching Vee’s face when she said, “Okay – now how do we get to the falls?” was priceless.  “Ummm, this is the falls.” “THIS is the falls?” Pause. Pause. “Well that was an anticlimactic moment.” We were wanting to leave a JP rock at the falls, however, we couldn’t get anywhere close. We will find the perfect spot, Tammy! The next leg of our journey was north to the Lighthouse. Wailehua something lighthouse. I don’t have my book in front of me so it’s all a memory game, really. We were excited to think, “this will be awesome! How cool will it be go to up into an actual lighthouse?!?” The first unexpected moment came with the $5/per person charge to get in. Not a biggie of course, just unexpected. It is after all, a bird sanctuary as well. When we reached the lighthouse, disappointment #2 set in. It was closed for renovations. Really? We walked around the area, not really “bird people” and stayed as long as we could, still amazed by the vastness of God’s beautiful creation, then decided to venture on. On the way out, I said, “Hmmm, I better take an eco break,” and thinking Vee would say, “Okay –let’s go back up”, was a little shocked when, in her very tired state, said, “gimme the key.”  With eco breaks taken and lunch in our tummies, (Subway, of course!), we headed out, with another bout of excitement, to the “Secret Beach” and “Secret Lava Pools”! The swimming shall commence in awesome surroundings! Upon navigating through the twists and turns to the entrance, Vee said with some disappointment, “Apparently the secret beach isn’t a secret anymore.” Cars were lined both sides of the road for about ¼ mile. Oh well – this will still be awesome! The long, steep, dirt and tree-rooted path down didn’t prohibit us from moving as quickly as possible to reach our destination. Upon stepping off the last step into the sand, our energy ramped up as we journeyed left to find the lava pools. 10 minutes into the walk across the now scorching sand, the anticipation is the only thing that kept us moving. We reached the very large and long lava rock field, which had to be navigated with some caution to avoid ankle twisting, we noticed 2 couples behind us heading in the same direction. “We’re on The Amazing Race to get to the pools first!” As we reached the end of the lava field, we saw 2 large pools and one MASSIVE and incredibly deep pool that nobody in their right mind would enter since it was open to the sea. There was a woman in one of the pools and as we looked into them, thought, “This can’t be it.” As we pondered the surroundings, the other 2 couples continued on and climbed up the side of the steep lava rock, sometimes teetering on a possible fall back down onto the rocks or into the lava pool just below. Vee looked at me and said, “I’m not doing this. I don’t like this at all.” I replied with, “Yah – I’m not really interested in it, either”, yet the pull of coming this far to see them kept growing. “I think I might climb it just to see….” Vee looked at me with serious reservations. “I don’t like that AT ALL…pause..pause…when did I become such a wimp??” “When you became a mommy – things are different now.” As I slowly made my way to the side of the rock, the woman in the pool said, “be careful – there are things that stick to you on the sides!” She showed us where she was bleeding from one “prickle” and how others had embedded into her skin. Well, that solidified any thoughts of going into the pools. However, I still wanted to see the bigger pools. So I ventured to the side of the rock, and started climbing. “Good thing I have my reef walkers on! They stick!” I just wanted to see the pools. If it was super cool, I had to get Vee up to see them as well. As I trekked across the 100 meters to the pools, I saw the waterfall and looked down at the pools only to see…..deep pools of ickyness. Sigh. Really? Nobody was venturing into them and heaven knows I wouldn’t be the first! What a letdown. On my way back to the mini-cliff, I was praying, “Please God – let there be an easier way down”. I repeated that over and over because I was frightened of thinking of having to climb down the side. “How will I do this? How will I do this?” I looked over and saw Vee and behind her was a woman walking towards the big, scary, deep pool. Vee said, “I can’t get over this way, I’m going to go around.” Or that’s what I thought she said, anyway. So I went the same way, thinking there was an easier way down. And voila! There was! As another couple was coming up, I was going down and thanking Jesus over and over!!! I turn towards where I knew Vee was and she was looking up the side of the cliff thingy where I climbed up. “Velvet!” “Yah?” I wait for her to turn towards me. “Velvet!” “Yah!?” I see her moving her head from side to side, looking for me. “I’m over here!” She turns around and I see relief and maybe a hint of agitation on her face as she realizes I am safe. Upon agreeing this wasn’t something to continue, we made the long trek back to the “Secret Beach” for some swimming. I’m not sure the “swim” could’ve gone any worse. After almost being knocked down 3 times by waves, we decided we’d had “enough of our gem adventure” and decided to leave. Once again, a trek across the scorching sand (not so bad in reef walkers, however, Vee wasn’t impressed with them like I was), we made it to the bottom of the trail to the top. When you have enough energy to conquer the world on the way down, realizing your reserves are fully depleted for the vertical hike up is a bit of a glooming thought. With a look at each other as if to say, “You ready?” “Yup.” “Let’s do this!” We started up the hellacious trail. All I can say is that for Vee to do a workout this morning on the elliptical and then doing this intense fat burning hike, she has to be wiped out! My prayer was, “Please God – let the hike up be as short as the return 3.5 mile walk on the beach yesterday.” No such luck. By the time we reached the top, I was in a foul enough mood to shoot daggers from my eyes if someone irritated me. (Anyone other than Vee, of course). It was probably the most disappointing experience and to make it worse, even though it was beautiful and amazing, the heat and energy depletion and realization of INTENSE THIRST made me just want to get in the pool and cool off. Literally and figuratively. When we returned to the resort, I did exactly that. Jumped in the pool and stayed there and in the Jacuzzi for as long as I needed to rebalance. After some much needed downtime, I sat on the beach and watched a couple get married on the resort grounds, not far from where I was sitting. It was a beautiful wedding to watch. I’m not really sure how to process what I was thinking, however, I am an avid lover of hope.

[Vee here. Oh yes, this day started with great excitement and expectation! We packed up all of our necessities – sunblock, swimwear, extra clothes, lawn chairs, everything – and headed on our way! All I could think of was sitting next to the waterfalls relaxing and enjoying the beauty. I was very excited! The winding road only increased the anticipation of coming upon these beautiful falls that took my breath away. Or so I daydreamed. I didn’t even see the falls when we drove up. I just couldn’t understand why the road ended and why all of these people are parked and hanging out here. Plus, there was a couple walking directly in front of us like the owned the place, and I wanted to say something that made sure they knew they didn’t, in fact, own the place! Nah. It wasn’t that intense. But it was a bit annoying. You know what I’m talking about? You’re driving somewhere and these pedestrians act like they own the road – walking all slowly and laughing and holding hands like they’re in love or something.  Anyway, we get over to the lookout, and see the waterfalls. They are very beautiful. I still wanted to get back in the car and get to the REAL water falls, so I said to Dawn, “Okay – let’s go to the waterfalls now.” She informed me that we were already there. I felt like the guy whose friends tricked him into thinking he won the lottery. What a letdown! Nothing at ALL like the book described!

But no matter! There is still much fun to be had today! Off to the lighthouse!! We’ll get to walk up inside of it and see the Pacific Ocean as far as the eye can see! I’ve never been in a lighthouse before! Forget about the disappointment of the water falls. There is still an adventure to be had!

We get to the lighthouse, pay our $5 admittance fee, and the gate guard said, “Okay ladies, you are good to go!” I stood still and looked at him. “I gave you a twenty.” So, he made some joke about me handing it to him all wadded up like a $5 bill. Yah. Right. Two and zero looks a lot like five. On the way up the hill to the lighthouse, we noticed signs that said, “Birds only past this sign.” I’m glad they had the sign there. The birds would be confused about where to go if it wasn’t. So imagine taking one step after another – up a hill – anticipating to see a stunning and huge lighthouse that you get to walk up in and look out over the ocean. Now, the reality check. The lighthouse was a stub and there was no way we could go in because, as Dawn stated, it was being renovated to it’s original state! But for the bird lovers, there were lots of kaw-kaws and hootie-hoos to go around! Ugh. Yes, disappointment #2. Oh, and let me just say, we were there for like 30 minutes, so Dawn had PUH-LENTY of time to take her eco-break! When she told me she was going to hike back up that hill, I was a bit raw. The whole, “Gimme the key.” Was absolutely right! I apologized immediately when she got in the car. Apparently, I was still very tired. Things come out blunt when I’m tired. 

Dawn forgave me and we were on our way to the REAL glory of the day…the Secret Beach and the Lava Pools!! WooooHooo!! We grabbed our bags, loaded up our anticipation, and off we went! Even though the “Secret Beach” really wasn’t a ‘secret’, we ventured down the trail with giggles and lots of “be careful” and “watch your step” shout outs to each other. Dawn’s book explained exactly how to get to the Lava Pools – which we wanted to swim in first – so we took a left, trekked over some very deep, hot sand, and made it to some lava rocks that took us the rest of the way. When we got there, we saw one pool of murky, yuckie water – like a big pool of standing water. The second pool called out to anyone who wanted to venture out to deep sea. Crazy-mad waves were crashing against the inside and although the water was a stunning blue, looked like it wanted to eat you alive! When the woman who was actually IN one of the pools got out, she showed us all of the sea urchins that were stuck in her leg! At least we think they were sea urchins! Tiny ones! That suck your blood! Yah – no WAY am I getting in THERE!

The cliff that Dawn ended up climbing was a bit of a drop off into a pool of water below it, so getting UP may have been easy but I was scared to death about her getting down! She climbed up and went on her mini-adventure while I analyzed the safest way for me to get to the other side of all of these pools to get where that cliff was. It’s hard to explain, but let’s just say my fear of heights and falling were rising to the surface pretty quickly! I made it over to the mini-cliff, stood on my tiptoes, and called out to Dawn. “Dawn?!” No answer. “Daaaaw-haawwn!?” I survey the scene to make a plan for how I’m going to help her down, and I hear a faint, “Velvet?!” I stand on my tip-toes again and answer her. I couldn’t see her but I could hear her. “Velvet?!” “Yah!?!?” Still can’t see her. Dangit! This is scaring me and I have no idea how to help her down, God! Then, I hear Dawn call, “I’m over here!” from behind me! I turn and look and nearly start crying. How did I become such a wimp?!?! Seriously!! Relieved she’s okay and not letting on how upsetting it was for me, we made our way back across the lava rocks to just sit on the secret beach and relax. Maybe even jump in for a swim. We spread out towels out, put our bag securely on top of them, and with our reef walkers on, headed into the ocean!

RAAAAWWRRR!!! CRASH!!! AAAHHH!! Yah – these waves are gonna suck us right out to sea! How come we can’t find a beach that is calm and peaceful where we can swim and frolick?!

By this time my reef walkers are FILLED with wet sand. Not kidding. I bet a good ½ cup or more of wet, heavy sand at the top of my toes. So, I decided to take those dang things off! Oh great, the sand’s so heavy it’s ripping the inside of the reef walker out. Dawn’s laughing and I start laughing as we begin walking and I realize…MOTHER LOVIN THIS SAND IS HOT!! No amount of self-talk can make that burn on the bottom of your feet feel better, let me tell you!!

We make our way up the sloping trail that we so joyfully skipped down, and nearly warned everyone we passed. Nah. Why spoil it for them? They’ll figure it out. Besides, I’m out of breath.

Hot faced, sweating, exhausted, and with our daydreams crushed, we were still able to laugh at the events of the day as we headed back to the resort for some REAL relaxing!

Definitely an adventure we will never forget!

Kauai, Hawaii

http://www.kauaibeachresorthawaii.com/

Another adventure begins!  I am so excited to be going to the beautiful island of Kauai with my absolute, most favorite person in the world...Vee.  2008 feels like long ago, so I am ready to get away, disconnect from the human race and reconnect with God without the hustle and bustle of allowing my daily life to intervene.  I think that's one of the reasons why I love going to islands on my vacations.  There are some things that are untouched by cement jungles, traffic jams, loud bass music thumping next to you at a traffic light and massive crowds.  I migrate to things that calms my soul.  Logically speaking, I can't think of anyone who would raise their hand and say, "Not me! I love the chaos!  I thrive on the drama!  As long as I can be surrounded by dysfunction, I'm happy!"  Reality would prove differently for some though and there's Grace in that.  There's always Grace in people's woundedness.  One of the things my getaways are about is to be in the moment and trust the miracle of it.  I struggle with that, even now.  If you look at my Facebook status, I have a countdown on how many sleeps and working days I have left.  My mind wanders ahead.  I know everyone does this.  Plan ahead.  Be proactive.  Think outside the box.  Hurry up and wait.  Get up.  Go to work.  Come home.  Go to bed.  Rinse and repeat.  Isn't that what we program ourselves to do?  How often do you hear or think, "Isn't there more than this monotony of life?"  We find ourselves "wishing" our moments, minutes, hours, days and years away.  My Pawpaw said to me once, "be careful not to wish your life away, granddaughter."  That was when I was 15.  A miracle moment.  When you realize you're in "real" love.  Miracle Moment.  When you realize the unconditional love of God.  Miracle Moment.  Your break throughs.  Ditto.  That's why I love traveling.  They are my Miracle Moments that remind me how to "live life" instead of wish it away.

So bring on the swimming, Vee!  This could be another M2!  I love the water.  I love the ocean and exploring it's beauty.  From the safety of the boat.  :)  I'm not a great swimmer, however, I will venture into the world of swimming with Vee.  She apparently LOVES it.  I find that funny.  Being an identical twin, there is a 95%  chance that we love or dislike the same things.  That's what I think, anyway.  Maybe she'll add a % or two.  Or maybe a decimal point.  So naturally, I was of the mindset that she wasn't keen on swimming, either.  To see her eyes light up when she says, "I LOVE SWIMMING!" was a definite moment of pause for me.  Hmmm.  Who knew we could be "the same", yet so different?  I love our individuality!  Surprised by it, but love it still the same.  One of my ultimate favorite moments in my life was when we were 5 and swimming at an indoor pool and she had this 'really cool thing to show me'.  She learned how to jump in from the side so to give her as much space and calm water as possible, I began yelling at the other kids in the pool:  "Stop splashing so my sister can jump in!"  I believe this was repeated about 10 times.  :)  I can say that if she has something cool to show me in Kauai, I promise I won't yell at any adults, or children, to stop splashing.