Taking on New Adventures

When Chuck’s work needed him to go to Kauai for a project, you better believe I was tagging along. Because of some projects I was on at my job, I couldn’t take the week off but getting up early for work is easier to swallow with the Kapalaki Beach views we had from the room.

We had a previously scheduled trip to Vegas and Napa the week after so decided to tag this trip on to the front end. We did our research and booked our flight.

Our first stop was overnight in the LA area. He had some work to do at two of the hotels in that area, so it worked out price wise for the flight to do it that way. We did the Saturday afternoon Delta flight from LAX to Kauai and although it was delayed 3 hours due to flight crew issues, we still made it on the island by 9pm local.

Sunday was an off day for both of us, so we took a shuttle back to the airport (quick 10 min drive, so super easy) and rented a car. We drove north and hit the Opaeka’a Falls to take in the views. Although I had been here on our last trip, Chuck had not and was really amazed by the magnitude of the falls, the water and the beautiful scene around them.

We then drove north and made our way to Princeville. We made a few stops to check out the scenery and then hit the shopping center in town to walk around a little. While we didn’t get to the beach or drive around some of the nicer houses, it was cool to see a different side of the island.

We made a quick stop in Kilauea for a bite and to walk around their little village. It was super cute and definitely had more of a “local” feel. I finally got some poke and Chuck had a snack as well before we made our way back south. We stopped at Taps and Hops in Kapa’a for a beer and some more snacks.

Since it was still fairly early, we decided to make our way around the south end of the island to go to Kauai Island Brewing Company in Hanapepe. We had been here before but this day was more crowded thanks to NFL games on the TV and the later time. Afterwards, we made our way back to Lihue and went to Rob’s Good Time Grill for a quick dinner before dropping the car off at the airport again.

We worked Monday through Thursday morning and I was able to get in some pool time, some walks and some great meals at the various restaurants on property and just across the street. While we definitely wanted to get off the property more, it wasn’t in the cards this trip. And that was ok because it’s so vast, has a beach and is next to a small mall with several restaurants.

Before our red eye out on Thursday night, we booked a last minute sunset cruise with Kauai Beach Bros. The boat took us up the Huleia Stream and we learned about the history of the area. It was a tad cloudy but as we made our way back onto Nawiliwili Bay, the sun started peeking out and we were treated to an amazing sunset.

While there was more work than we wanted, we really did enjoy the peacefulness of the island and the people. It was so relaxing working with the sliding door open to the lanai and hearing the waves crash early in the morning.

We are both lucky to have jobs that allow us to travel and continue to work while exploring some amazing places. I cannot wait for our return visit and hopefully next time, I’ll be able to take a day or two off to explore even more!