When we woke up to perfectly clear skies on Wednesday morning, we just couldn't pass up the opportunity to hop in our jeep and head back to Waimea. And this time, we had three of our favorite tag-a-longs - "Pamma", Kyle and Megan, along for the ride.
We actually thought we were pretty creative renting a Jeep Wrangler before our trip. Then we got to Hawaii and realized everyone rents a Jeep Wrangler. This was the circle drive at our hotel one morning. ;)
We are SO glad we decided to go back to the canyon! We headed straight to the lookout and we could see everything so clear. We were actually thankful to have a foggy day to explore followed by a sunny one - it made for two completely different scenes to take in.
It was so much fun having Mama Pam with us this day. Pam's husband, Dave, used to be Beau and Kyle's manager, but moved over a year ago. His wife, Pam, is an absolute kill and she is the only person on the planet who can give my hubby a run for his money! Kyle and Beau pretended she was our mom all day, and her motherly instincts came out quite often without their help. "ASHLEY, YOU ARE WAY TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE!!!"
And there she is - our first views of the Na Pali Coast. This area of the island is nearly completely uninhabited and the only way you can see it is by air or by sea. It didn't look real! And a few hours later, we'd be getting up close and personal with it.
I love these pictures! Just us in the clouds.
After tacos and shave ice for lunch, we dropped Pamma off at the pool and headed to Jack Harter Helicopters for the ride of a lifetime. When Beau first read all about Kauai, he was absolutely adamant that we needed to do a helicopter ride, specifically an NO DOOR helicopter ride. The tagline in his Kauai Guidebook said, "Going to Kauai and not doing a helicopter ride would be like going to the Sistine Chapel and not looking up." I was not convinced in the least bit and figured I would wear him down eventually.
Well, there we were, in Kauai, checked in and getting all the directions and details we needed to hop in a helicopter and not fall out. We had a 3:00 flight, the last flight of the day, and before we knew it, we were nervously running to our spots, hopping into seats, getting buckled in and equipped with our headsets, and giving anxious thumbs-ups to our adorably young pilot named Joshua. I felt like I was on the Bachelor, while also wondered if/when I was going to throw up. I was on the end and I felt like half my body was hanging out of the chopper! But there was no turning back now, so I took a breath and awaited what was sure to be the thrill of a lifetime.
I can't really begin to describe this hour other than to say it was one of the most terrifying, thrilling, and unbelievable experiences of my entire life. I have never felt so on top of the world, so utterly not in control, and so overwhelmed by such beauty! I had to remind myself to breathe multiple times! I will never forget once we got moving (we were traveling at speeds of 100 mph), when our pilot, Joshua, asked if we liked surprises. When we gave him a resounding yes, he smiled and got as close as he could to the edge of cliff before pulling back and shooting straight off the edge into the most beautiful of landscapes. I almost peed my pants!
Cue Jurassic Park music...they really were playing Jurassic Park music, along with some CCR's Fortunate Son. It was awesome!
We went deeper into the rugged inlets of the Na Pali Coast than I thought we would and got so close to some of the waterfalls that we could feel the mist on our faces. We did a big loop through the "Weeping Wall" one of the wettest places on earth. The temperature dropped about thirty degrees as he took us in a hug circle around the area and we counted 22 waterfalls. It was surreal!
The videos still give me goosebumps!
Honestly, I'm pretty sure all four of us could have soared on our own wings by the time we landed on ground. It exceeded all of my expectations and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. We found a great little bar afterwards, ordered some cocktails, and could not wipe the smiles off our faces.
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