Back to some Hawaii today! It's so fun to relive our vacation through these pictures. Pretty thankful for our early mornings at the beach with our coffee in hand and coral in our pockets. I think my favorite part of this leg of the trip was how remote everything felt. We were the only people on this entire beach. Never mind that our bed and breakfast, and this beach, were right next to the 700-acres of land Mark Zuckerberg had purchased pretty recently, a thorn in many locals' side. We became quite familiar with his land, driving by it multiple times a day, and sure wondered what he was putting in the dozens of fancy steel barns he was building.
The trail to get to the beach took about 20 minutes of walking. And it was almost as pretty as the beach itself!
We had a super fun night together, just us two, before we would join our Farm Bureau crew the following day. We decided to spend it in Kapa'a and used Beau's vacation bible, aka, The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook, to score us a fab dining experience with a view to go with it. Now, we've traveled quite a bit in our almost fifteen years of being a couple, and I've come to expect that when a trip occurs, it's up to me to plan it. But this trip was different. I think the day after Beau officially learned he qualified for Hawaii, he ordered this book on Amazon. And he read it, cover to cover, a week later. He highlighted must-dos, dog-eared several pages, and soon became quite the expert on the history, the unique geography, and the top can't-miss sights and experiences of this island. He was my tour guide and I can honestly say our trip wouldn't have been the same without this guide. Highly recommend if you ever travel to Hawaii!
Sam's Ocean View for another round of fruity drinks and fresh island fish! Then market shopping and drinks and dessert at the neatest little restaurant/art gallery called Hemingway's Cafe.
We woke up one last time at the Palmwood and sadly said our goodbyes to this beautiful place we are so grateful to have stayed. Then we drove up to Hanalei one last time because I had my eye on a beautiful little church to spend our Sunday morning at.
Last year in London, Beau and I vowed to find a church to attend every Farm Bureau trip we had the chance to go on. There's something about stepping out of your comfortable and seeing a picture of God's community all over the world that makes you realize how big His reach is and how tied together we all are. So we found ourselves in a wooden pew at Waioli Huiia Church on a beautiful Sunday morning in Kauai. I knew I was in the right place as I sat on a bench before the service started to wait for Beau grabbing coffees across the street. While I waited, a sweet tan-skinned little boy in a Hawaiian shirt came up to me and handed me a flower he had picked from a tree on the side of the church. He didn't say a word, but stared at me with his big brown eyes and grinned a little when I stuck it behind my ear.
It's not hard to worship our great Creator when we're in a place like this! The service was a mix of English and traditional Hawaiian music, the Chinese-American pastor played the ukulele as the small choir sang along with him, and all the visitors from across the world had a chance to introduce ourselves and be welcomed by the congregation. The windows and doors to the church were all open, letting the perfect ocean breeze seep in, and I let my mind wander to what life would look like if we were to simply pack up our kids and move. It felt like the people who called this place home had it figured out.
After some post-church shave ice and burritos, we drove south to Poipu, our last destination of our trip. We checked into the Grand Hyatt Resort, marveled at the gorgeous change in scenery, and quickly changed into our swim gear and grabbed a beach chair. And we stayed there for most of the afternoon!
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