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Tuesday, July 15th

We started out the day early with a drive down to the airport.  We had been told by everyone that the BEST way to see Kauai was to take a helicopter ride.  Leading up to our trip Derek was convinced that he would let me go, but sit the helicopter out.  But he was easily persuaded once we got there, and it turned out to be a GREAT experience for all of us.  This helicopter had windows from floor to ceiling and the island is SPECTACULAR!  We all had a great time.  It was a beautiful day…very clear…and the beauty of the island is indescribable.  After seeing the NaPali Coast from the helicopter I couldn’t wait to go to it in person (more on that on Day Five).

After the heli ride we stopped for some lunch.  When we went on vacations as teenagers I remember my mom asking us questions from a book called, The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock.  Actually, she used a “Jr” version.  It’s just a little conversation-starter type book with lots of get-to-know-you-better questions.  So I pulled it out on day three and it was so fun to hear the answers…some of them serious and introspective…some of them funny.  You just pick and choose – some questions are better than others, and some are skippers for sure.  I had a good time being the moderator of that game, which meant I wasn’t answering any of the questions, until they caught on and made me participate.  We did that everywhere we went on Tuesday, and we laughed and laughed.  It was a highlight for me.

After lunch, we headed to the south side of the island.  The men really wanted to SURF. During the winter the best surfing on the island is right by where we were staying, up in Hanalei Bay on the north side.  But in the summer, we had heard that the best surfing was in Poipu.  So we headed there to look for a surf shop that rented boards and gave lessons.  It took a little while, but we were persistent and found a surf school next to the Sheraton.  Matt and Derek got “schooled” while Dana and I lounged on the beach (I fell asleep).  I think surfing was more physically taxing than they had anticipated but they had a great time.  And – bonus – now they can say they surfed the waves of Poipu in Kauai!

We ended the day with more questions 🙂 and an early dinner at Brennecke’s Beach Broiler – which had great open air windows and a view of the beach.  Early to bed that night – we were tired!