Will And Jo In Kauai @willandjorisinkauai - Tumblr Blog

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I forgot to post this gem. I was going to write a blurb about the last day and a recap of the whole trip but I started med school two days after coming back and haven't had much time!!! Maybe at some point I'll finish it up. What a pleasant, awesome trip that was. Hopefully we'll be there again in the near future. Peace and love ❤️✌

Pictures from the plane

Airport

Last morning in paradise! Our hotel, I realize I never posted pics of what it looked like. Relatively forgettable. Oh and one last rooster before we leave!

Day 9 recap

Last full day already? Woah. Insanity. We ran out of breakfast food unfortunately, meaning we're going to get something gross from Starbucks. Can't believe those guys are getting rid of La Boulange, wtf. The slow roasted ham and cheese is pretty good. We go to the ABC store first (sort of like a CVS minus the pharmacy and add tons of touristy items) to buy some stupid cheap souvenirs in order to show the people we love that we care about them by giving them carefully selected shitty presents they never wanted in the first place (ah, the beauty of our consumerist capitalist society). We also wanted to buy those neat little Hawaiian-made spherical bottles of vodka. When I'm about to pay, some white hippie dude with colored dreads and no shirt on who looked like he had done too many drugs one night and had miraculously washed ashore on a Kauai beach from the mainland tries to buy $1 vodka shots. He politely asked the lady who was in the process of paying if she had 6 pennies -- he only had bills and the total for his 3 shots was $3.06. She gives him 6 pennies, and the guy at the register immediately tells the hippie man "I can't sell you those items now. This is technically panhandling and you're not allowed to panhandle in this store. It's not good for the clients." The hippie dude was a bit surprised (also probably stoned out of his mind and really wanted that vodka). He responded in true flower power fashion with a "Relax brother, this is actually good for the client, it connects people and makes them feel good about sharing". Priceless. I didn't really have an opinion on who was right or wrong, I was just enjoying the epic hippiness of their exchange, this topless, bearded/dreaded, no-shoes-on-ready-to-go-ride-that-next-wave dude arguing with some fed up store manager who was just trying to do his job (although, the hippie guy did cut me in line but I didn’t really care much). San Francisco is pretty darn chill and hippie, but this is next level hippie shit. I didn't know I would ever think that, but I realized in that moment that I could never live on this island. Landscapes straight out of heaven, friendliest people ever, but overall vibe is way too chill for me. I wouldn't be able to do anything productive! After getting our lame souvenirs, we proceeded to go back towards the canyon for one last hike with waterfalls, simply called the Canyon trail. 4 miles or downhill trail with fantastic views, including a walk along the side of the mountain, providing a crazy view of the canyon. Helicopter tours looooved this area. We must have heard/seen more than 20 of them going around in circles. Not sure why they picked this spot over another one. Don’t get me wrong; fantastic view, but I’ve seen more impressive ones on this trip so far. Maybe closer to the main helicopter base? A mile later, we reached the first waterfall. “First" because there were supposed to be 3 on this trail, the three sisters. Getting closer to that first waterfall was a bit tricky and my right knee will remember that one stupid rock for a couple of weeks. Very pretty sight, there was even a pond that we could swim in but I didn’t really feel like changing showing my ass to the world while changing into my swimsuit. Also, Will took a different path and wasn’t showing up to where I was for some reason. After 10 minutes or so I called him (yeah I’m not sure why I had better service in the middle of the Jungle than at the hotel either) and we had our first little argument of the trip. “Where the hell are you, I’ve been waiting for you?” “Idiot, I’m at the waterfall” “No you dumbass, I’M at the main waterfall” “NO you stupid shit, I’M at the waterfall!!” etc etc. It lasted a good 30 seconds then we both started laughing. I was shirtless at that point and some creeper was taking pictures at the waterfall I was at, and he kept trying to take pics conveniently in my directions (I’m probably just flattering myself and being delusional, but the waterfall was to my right, behind me there was some dried up patches of dirt and plants). So it didn’t take much convincing to go meet my brother ASAP. And that was an amazing decision. I followed the stream down and found my brother waiting there, where the second waterfall fell into a smaller pond, which then fell into the canyon. We found a spot near the top of the third waterfall and ate our gross sandwiches, and had a little photo session of the surrounding beauty (also the pics with the white flowers, where it looks like I’m pooping but really my brother just caught me making a funky face for the record and contrary to what he claims!). The way back was uphill the whole way, but not super impossible. I guess we’re finally starting to get in shape, on our last day! Great. The drive back was pretty uneventful, except for when we had to get gas. The station we got to was almost full, except for one pump. We waiting for a second, no cars were going to it so we drove around to get to the spot. I get out of the car and get my credit card out, then some woman in a flowery dress comes up to me and angrily tells me “I was waiting for this pump! That’s messed up!” It’s really not my style to maliciously take somebody’s spot in line so I was really taken aback by this attack. All I could respond was “ Wow wow wow, relax, I didn’t realize you were waiting! No need to get so intense m’aam, you could’ve just taken this spot when it was open.” She just got back in her car, waited for another guy to leave and was able to pump her gas next to me. Suuuuuuper awkward. I was NOT there to stir any shit so I left quietly, but she threw a “have a nice vacation!” my way, to which I still replied “thanks!” with a smile. She had the balls to tell me “Try to have some courtesy next time” !!!! Ugh. Whatever. She’s probably having a bad day (or a bad life) so I won’t respond. I pride myself in recognizing when I’m in the wrong and owning up to it, but this scenario kind of angered me. For a full 60 seconds. My brother and I laughed about it, got back on the road and enjoyed the amazing mountains we drove by one last time. We shamed ourselves in Panda Express again and watched Sinister, terrifying movie to watch in the dark. Also not the best decision the night before flying home tomorrow!

Goofing around (what do you expect)

These dragonflies were all over the waterfall area. My brother said they were poisonous which I didn't believe but it still kind of freaked me out a little bit so I stayed away from them after snapping some shots.

The three sisters (3 waterfalls downstream of each other), the third one falling into the canyon. Another breathtaking view. Also, that panorama in the middle must be the best picture I took on this trip.

Day 9: Canyon trail, walking along one side of the mountain, view of the canyon

Day 8 recap

Uber motivated today. We're doing a fat hike. Only three days left, including one where we're traveling so really only two days left. Let's do one of those monster canyon hikes. We open our bible for spiritual guidance (I’m talking about the guide we got on day one in case anyone was confused) and look for an 8-12 miler. We find one that seems to be a looker on top of a being a killer: the Awa'awapuhi/Nualolo loop. We get our shit together (somehow) and head back towards Waimea and the Canyon road. Keep in mind we’re on the East side of the island and those Canyon hikes are North-West, but there is no road that connects the North side of the Island to the West. In other words, we have to drive all around the Island, going South then West then North until we reach the hiking area. We did it when we did the Pihea Swamp trail and it wasn’t bad at all, 1h45 if you respect the speed limit (we did it in 1h15 both ways last time, mom please don’t get mad). Speaking of the speed, the main “highway” often only has one lane and the speed limit varies between 25 and 50. 25 on the highway! I actually laughed out loud when I saw that, thinking they must have been joking. We also only saw 2 cops on the whole trip so far so I don’t feel too bad about going a bit over 25. I was able to hit 50 a few times on those roads, not sure why peeps gotta be so up in arms about it. Anyway. The difference today is that it started pouring ropes and cats and dogs (I may be directly translating a french expression here, not sure), making the drive a bit more interesting. And less hot! It was fun to keep the windows open and get drenched in those flash-flood rains. I’ll definitely miss the whole water aspect of Kaua’i, getting wet without getting cold like infantile dumbos. Dammit San Francisco. The Awa’awapuhi trailhead was located a bit before the Swamp trail, and went towards the coast instead of inland. Meaning we’d get a bit of a change of scenery. A sign at the beginning of the Awa’awapuhi trail indicates that the Nualolo trail may or may not be closed depending on the weather. Oh my god, really? Fuck. Let’s try anyway, and worse case scenario it’ll be 7 miles there and back instead of a 10-mile loop. It’s mostly a steep downhill trail for 3.5 miles (meaning the way back is going to kick our little butts) with some cool views, but mostly recognizable vegetation. Hike was ok. 6 or 7 out of 10. And we got really sad when we got to the sign that said the Nualolo trail was indeed closed (whhhyyyyyyyy spongebob, whhhhyyyyyyy are you doing this to ussss).The view at the end though? 1 trillion out of ten. And much better than if we just kept hiking in that basic forest. We had the option to stop at the lookout with a barrier for a good view of the canyon, or go beyond the barrier and walk 200 feet on the skiniest, tallest ridge I’ve ever seen. Super dangerous, so OF COURSE we had to do it (starting to see a trend in stupidity from the Ramstein brothers?) Totally worth the risk. It would have sucked balls to slip and fall, but honestly I wouldn’t be too mad if this had to be the last fall of my life. It would have also sucked balls NOT to take the risk. We were sitting on top of the world, complete void 360 degrees around us (except for the tiny ridge back to the protected lookout), the tall canyon coast walls around us with the deep blue of the ocean behind. What a view my friends. Incomparable and breath-taking splendor. A couple from Pennsylvania with their 10-year old kid were crazy enough to join us on the ridge to enjoy the view. Fun fact: the mother was freaking the fuck out and kept saying how afraid of heights she was. Second person like her we see on this trip. What’s with people who have a debilitating fear of heights doing these coast hikes and getting mad at their traveling partners for wanting to see a view? All three somehow managed to get over, not without breaking a stress-sweat in the process, me included. The mother kept saying things to her son like “You’re always so clumsy, I don’t want you crossing over! What if you fall?” and I must admit I started getting really nervous too. Like who-do-we-call—if-we-can’t-find-the-body-after-he-falls kind of nervous. Everything worked out just fine. We conversed with them for a little bit (mostly about hockey teams, which I somehow miraculously managed to keep up with) and we decided to start walking back after finishing our gross sandwiches. Speaking of food, I’m getting a bit hungry right now. The walk back was, unsurprisingly, an ass-kicker. Not sure how I feel about hikes that go down exclusively the whole way one way, then up the whole way back. Good work out for sure, can’t complain. Another day hiking in Kaua’i, another drenched shirt! We got back to the car and drove to Polihale beach, supposedly the biggest/longest beach on the island. We were pooped so we didn’t stay very long, but had time to throw the football around a couple of times, get Will’s dry shoes drenched in sea water and sand by accident (“accident”), and find some douchey-frat neon sunglasses with “Kaua’i Meth Project” printed on them. Super romantic. We got some delicious fried-shrimp dinner and watched Django Unchained. Awesome movie by the way if you haven’t seen it. Some parts don’t really make sense but I don’t that’s not the point of a Tarantino movie. Tomorrow we want to go see more waterfalls.

Required beach time after the hike, Polihale beach at the end of highway 50 west

😱😰

Um, holy crap. I'm lost with words, I can't even swear here. We kept going on the first trail and got to this crazy lookout. We're on top of the world. Magical. Scary. Splendid. Terrifying.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhh!!! The Nualolo part of the hike is closed! Well, there goes nothing. What to do? There’s still another mile on the Awa'awapuhi hike, let’s do that and walk back. Still a good 6.5-mile steep hike total…

Wild chickens, monkeys in red shorts, and beautiful foggy landscapes

Day 7: today’s hike is called Awa'awapuhi and turns into another hike for a 10 mile loop! Yahoo! (and go Bears, Will represent!)

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