Waimea Canyon/Safari Helicopter Ride/Kalalua Trail

Every day you take the risk of dying...:-)..the last 3 days we increased our odds and thankfully survived...
My Brad pushes us to our adventure limits.
Well, we took the easy way of seeing the Waimea Canyon..we drove there and enjoyed the view from many vantage points. Spectacular! B,J,A,J, ...kind of glad we didn't do it the hard way..hats off to you for spending the whole day hiking it.
Enjoyed lunch at the Shrimp Station.....and dinner at a lovely restaurant down the street on the beach, ..
And yesterday, we embarked on a helicopter for another easy way to see the whole island of Kauai without hiking...still can't believe anything could look so beautiful!
Today...we dropped off Tran and Ainsley at Ke'e B each and B,N and I hiked the Kalalua Trail.. we began with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, this turned into focus and truly being in the moment while we focused on each muddy, slippery, rocky step to avoid falling, to the thrill of reaching our goal, the Hanakapi'ai waterfall and total exhaustion as we dragged ourselves back to the beach...after 5 1/2 hours of a gruelling climbs and descents. Our first destination was a surreal beautiful Hanakapi'ai beach, where over 80 souls lost their lives because of a dangerous undertow. Hard to believe something so pristine could be so dangerous. Once we enjoyed the view, we decided to continue to the falls...we were like mountaineers. Our Kingston would have been in his element. We climbed rocks and crossed at least 8 rivers and streams.I didn't care about staying dry, I walked in with my Merrels, which should earn a medal for the places they've taken me.
When we arrived at the base of the falls, and we could see it in the distance, Norm and I decided to look at it from afar and Brad continued the last 15 minute ascent on his own with the other determined hikers.
What an accomplishment! We are all proud but exhausted.
I'm writing this while my little Ainsley sleeps beside me, while mommy and daddy explore Poipu on their date night. It's been fun learning the Hawaiian names...and even more fun repeating them over and over again to Norm's dismay.
Writing the blog is helping us review those wonderful names.
Keep writing us to tell us how you're doing. We miss you! One more week of this crazy adventure! BTA are leaving us on Wednesday as they go off to explore Oahu.