Honeymoon!

It is almost impossible to believe, but Brent Tyler and I are now man and wife, and have been such for two whole weeks! The wedding went seemingly flawlessly...if there were any hiccups, I didn't know about them. I'm SO grateful (and humbled, really) by all of the help we were so graciously offered and given by so many family, friends, and friends of friends to make our big day the day of our dreams. Seriously, the wedding was beautiful and fun. 

And we had an awesome honeymoon. We left for Kauai, Hawaii on the Monday after we were married, so we spent the two nights between the wedding and departure at a very fitting place, considering where we met: Disneyland. Disneyland Resort's Grand Californinian Hotel & Spa. It was the coolest hotel I've ever stayed in. I've been in the lobby of the hotel before simply to look around, and it was always a really cool and beautiful place to me, but somehow it's even more cool, beautiful and special when you're STAYING there. And the rooms are so cozy, comfortable and luxurious.

Day #1

We woke up in our room overlooking Downtown Disney and discussed the possibilities of where to eat breakfast. Do we venture into the park to try out Carnation Cafe's breakfast selections or do we go to the Story Teller Cafe, the hotel's restaurant? Both of us agreed Story Teller sounded better, so that's where we headed. When we laid eyes on the buffet, we were more than confidant that we had made the right choice. Fresh fruit, bagels with cream cheese and salmon, ham cooked with cheesy potatoes and pineapple, glorious bacon, eggs benedict, omelets tossed to order, coffee cake, biscuits, coffee...yum yum yum. It was one of the most enjoyable breakfasts I have ever had. 

After breakfast we took a walk in Downtown Disney. Build-A-Bear Workshop caught our eyes and both of us were curious if they sold bride and groom outfits for the stuffed animals. Sure enough they did...we had to search two stories of animals, clothes and accessories, but there, on the second level, were bride and groom outfits. We were both hooked on the idea and got in line to build our bears.

That night we had dinner at the Blue Bayou. Brent had requested a table right on the water, and that's right where they placed us. After he seated us, our host commented to us, "What a perfect place for a celebration, like a birthday, or an anniversary, or.........a honeymoon." He smiled at us, we giggled, he left with a grin.

They didn't have the prime rib on the menu this time...instead they had the filet mignon. Brent was is heaven as he slowly savored his meat. He still thinks it was the best meal of the honeymoon. It was delicious.

The castle was all decked out for the holidays, but for us it was decked out for the celebration of our marriage. We saw it, gasped, and kissed.

We spent the rest of the night souvenir shopping away.

Day #2

We had no trouble deciding where to go to breakfast this day. The Story Teller Cafe was a duh. Unfortunately, I think we had chosen the absolute most delicious items from the buffet the day before, so this day we chose all the things we hadn't tried yet, and while the meal was extremely good, it wasn't as perfectly delicious as the previous day's.

After breakfast, we packed up our things and prepared for our Hawaiian adventure. We arrived at the airport about an hour and a half before our flight was scheduled to leave, but about five or six hours before it actually left. Yes, our flight was delayed. At one point Brent decided to take some mean photos of me. :)

Needless to say, we were pretty exhausted when we arrived on Kauai, and went straight to bed.

Day #4

We awoke to the cock-a-doodle-doo of one of Kauai's thousands of roosters. Apparently there was a chicken coop on the island back in the day, and when a hurricane hit the chickens got free, bred like crazy and the ecosystem on the island isn't able to tame their multiplying. Chickens are everywhere. I think we woke up to this guy.

Before breakfast we took a little walk on the shoreline fifty feet from our hotel room. Not a bad location for a vacation, huh?

Brent reserved a convertible mustang for our honeymoon. It was perfect for the mood and Hawaii's weather.
We found a nice little breakfast diner that met the needs of our appetites, and Brent decided he thought I looked so pretty that he needed to take a picture.

After breakfast we went back to the hotel to grab a few things before we went for a drive to see the west side of the island. I considered the wardrobe I had packed for the honeymoon, and realizing that I had brought more than enough cute outfits for the days we would be in Kauai, I decided I should change my outfit for the day...just to make sure that each piece of clothing in my suitcase got it's fair share of wear. :)

On our way to the first scenic lookout of our drive, we were intrigued by the red water waterfall off the side of the road. So we went exploring.

On our way back to the car Brent decided to chase me.
He caught me. :)
Our first scenic lookout stop was an overlook of the deep and vast Waimea Canyon. It was marvelous.

I believe the next couple of stops were also overlooks of the same canyon, but our last stop on our scenic drive was one of the most majestic and beautiful shorelines I've ever seen. It literally took my breath away, and unfortunately for those of you who have never seen it, the pictures do not do it justice.

On our way "home" to our little hotel, we made a stop at Poipu Beach to catch the sunset. Unfortunately, nature called me to the public restroom while Brent caught the sunset all by his lonesome self. I comforted myself with my loss by exclaiming over the whitish-green lizard I had seen perched on the public restroom roof. 

Right. Not as cool or romantic as the sunset.

Dinner was unremarkable but fun because we were with each other. We were both rather exhausted so we just found a little place near our hotel and went to bed.

Day #5

The next morning, I asked nicely and Brent let me drive the rental car mustang to our beginning destinations of the day. 
First, with Brent navigating, I drove us to a beautiful waterfall about ten minutes away from our hotel. Gorgeous.

Brent had scheduled a helicopter tour for us that afternoon!

Here we are in the helicopter with our headsets:

Liftoff was so cool! I like helicopter and hot air balloon liftoffs better than airplane liftoffs...so peaceful and slow.

The first half of the tour was simply amazing for me. God's creation is so breathtaking in Hawaii. We got to fly up close and personal to the waterfall used in one of the beginning scenes of Jurassic Park!

Unfortunately, while the second half of the tour was probably just as stellar, I was feeling very nauseaus, so I wasn't able to enjoy it as I would have wanted to. A half hour or so with my feet back on the ground and I was feeling fine again! Brent and I laid out on the beach for a while, dipped in the surprisingly cool water and then went for an early dinner at Duke's. We both tried out virgin daiquiris for the first time...so amazingly delicious! It was by far our favorite drink of the honeymoon.

Day #6

We started the day out was breakfast at Kountry Kitchen where I discovered that a macadamia nut pancake with coconut syrup is awfully delicious, though it would probably be better enjoyed as a late night dessert rather than an "energizing" breakfast item. 

We both had high hopes that a certain short hike on the east shore that we had read about in our guide book would be remarkable, but it was pretty much thoroughly unremarkable. Except, the slippery slippery mud that we slipped/hiked our way through was pretty remarkable. Here are some pictures of our journey.

We soon lost the trail, and realized we had lost interest in finding the trail, so we turned around eager for our next adventure: snorkeling at Ke'e Beach.

On the way to the beach we saw the end of a rainbow on the water. Wow!

This is the beautiful bay we were able to snorkel in. I couldn't believe how calm the fish were around humans. I could get within centimeters of them before they would get skittish and swim away. Such amazing little creatures.

See how clear the water is?

King Kong Rock was very prominent on our way home. This was by far my favorite rock on Kauai.

That night Brent took me to a wonderful little italian place for dinner. We ordered a LOT of food because it all sounded so amazing, and therefore had a LOT of leftovers to take home to our little kitchenet at the hotel. :)

Day #7

My favorite day of the honeymoon. We went on a guided kayaking adventure! I was SO in the mood for something really outdoorsy and active and this was perfect for the way we were feeling. We kayaked about a mile up the Waimea River, parked our boats, hiked through wonderfully gooey mud for which we were provided walking sticks for non-slippage, and we ended up at the base of a 100-150 ft waterfall. 

About 30 ft from the waterfall our guide took a picture of us sitting on stones dividing the hawaiian natives' king and queen's bathing pools. 

The waterfall was much like most other things on Kauai in that it was simply breathtaking. It fell into an extremely inviting pool which was at its deepest only 6-7 feet deep. Our guide provided us a delicious and refreshing lunch from his backpack, and after we had had our fill, we set out on the most terrifying adventure of our vacation...a treck around the perimeter of the pool, a treck that included walking behind the waterfall! 

It was actually a childhood dream-come-true for me. Ever since watching the part in Robin Hood as a kid where they go behind the waterfall to a secret hiding place, I've dreamt of finding a waterfall that I can actually go behind. Of course, there was no such secret passage way to a cozy little hiding place behind the wall of water, and the roar of the falling water was so loud and the mist  and eye-stinging droplets were so intense that the experience was much more terrifying than romantic. Terrifying but exhilarating. I am SO glad we got up the nerve to walk behind the water.

On our hike back to our kayaks, our guide took us on a little detour that led us to a clearing in the forest called the "Green View." Would you believe that all of the tall bushes in and surrounding the picture below are morning glory bushes? Just imaging what this place looks like in the morning or evening with those vibrant flowers filling the place!

We needed a long soak in the jacuzzi to clean off the mud from our hike, and when we were ready we mozied over to Duke's where I tried a virgin margarita and Brent tried a virgin mai tai, I believe. I think we both wished we had ordered the daiquiris again.

Day #8

This was our last day on Kauai. We had to check out of our hotel by 10:30 am, so we packed up our things into the car and didn't feel like doing anything that would get us sweaty or would require swimsuits. It was kind of a lazy, wonderful day. We started with a very late breakfast at a little coffee shop that is famous for their pastries, which were wonderful.

Next we made our way to the Kauai Coffee Plantation. An amazingly boring museum with a friendly giftshop and pretty cool souvenirs. 

We decided to spend the next hours exploring the south shore of the island, and on our way down drove through Tree Tunnel Rd, a stretch of highway with 500 elm trees lining the sides of the road.

I saw a sign for Spouting Horn, and because the information in the guidebook about the natural attraction had peaked my interest, I suggested going to see it. The boardwalk leading up to the attraction was filled with luring hand-made souvenirs, but fortunately our wallet was only opened once before we made it to the beautiful ocean "geyser."

When we got back into the car, I came to the conclusion that it was entirely an inappropriate idea that I should leave Kauai without having tried shave ice with ice cream on the bottom. We took about an hour's drive to a little truck that serves what our guidebook says is the best shave ice on the island, and our tastebuds agreed with us that the treat was well worth the long scenic drive and the four dollars we had to shell out for it. Wishing Well shave ice is SO GOOD. I'm craving it now.

After that it was pretty much time to get ready for a night on a plane. We caught a red-eye flight to LA, arrived at 5:20 am last Sunday morning, and have been getting into the swing of normal married life ever since!

More on married life to come!