Kauai

The next island we visited was Kauai. It was a huge change from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki. Katy and Rob told us to look out for the wild chickens and roosters but we had no idea how inadequate our poultry preparation was! They were everywhere…on the side of the road, by your car ready to attack their reflections, basically they were there to great you at every stop in Kauai.

The island is tiny which makes for easy driving. There’s one road that goes around the coast so you literally can’t get lost. But as we found out, there is a downside to this. It was extremely dry while we were there and there was a danger of brush fires. One fire started and then jumped the road. The road was cut off by fire and no cars could pass. There was no possible way to get anywhere - no back roads, no short cuts, no other options! The fire department did a great job putting out the fire a few hours later and we were able to return to the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Kauai which was great. It was incredibly relaxing and was gorgeous. Pics: on the lanai, room view and pool area.
Kauai is called the garden island. There are beautiful views wherever you look. Here are some favorites:
Can you see a famous profile in the mountain? I read about it months before and Shawn wasn't quite sure why I was suddenly yelling "King Kong, King Kong, King Kong!" in the car. Then he saw it!
Waimea Canyon is known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is 10 miles long, 1 mile wide, and more than 3,500-feet deep! We didn’t know what to expect since we have never been to the Grand Canyon but it was amazing. Pictures don’t truly capture the immense size or beauty. The different colors of the earth on the canyon walls represent the many lava flows that formed it.

(For perspective, enlarge the picture below. Find the waterfall in the middle. Follow that line up the picture and in the middle of the green, you will see a small white dot. That's a helicopter!)

The summit of the canyon is Mount Wai‘ale‘ale. It is one of, if not the, wettest spots on earth and on average receives over 460 inches of rain annually. The steep cliffs cause the moisture-laden air to rise rapidly (over 3,000 ft in less than half a mile), forming clouds which drop a large portion of their rain in one spot. The sign below says "wettest spot on earth"...apparently it has some water damage. The second picture shows the clouds forming against the cliffs. You can watch them appear right before your eyes.