Paradise

My favorite place to go is Hawaii. I know, cliche that I'm from Alaska and all I wanna do is go to Hawaii, but really, its the greatest place. Being from Alaska I've always been treated like a foreigner in the lower 48, and right there, not including Hawaii and Alaska at all, sows how similar we really are. Most of my family is from the mid-west and has never really travelled. When i show up down there, I'm this great novelty item that no one knows what to do with. But in Hawaii, well it feels like we're sister states. We're both removed form the rest of the US, economically, culturally and geographically. Both states are considered a different world by the tourists who visit. Going to Hawaii is a wonderful experience. Its a fresh, beautiful place to relax and enjoy a peaceful other world. I'm not much for the tourist-packed islands and towns. I prefer the quiet, smaller towns and hotels. Having only ever gone with my parents, i've never really had a say in where we do go, and so, we've always stayed in a fantastic, large hotel. I by no means however, mean anything close to the Ritz Carlton, Hilton, Princeville Hotel or the Taj Mahal of Hawaii(in my opinion), the Kea Lani in Wailea Maui. We've stayed in the great upper-middle class Timeshares that my folks purchased back in the 70s. To me, they were gorgeous and well worth the money I didn't pay until I bought it last year. They've always been close to if not directly on the beach, which to me, means everything when you're without a car. As wonderful as my hotels/condos have been, I try very hard not to be in them very long each day. Even when I went to Kauai and experienced the worst rainstorm in 100 years, we were rarely in the hotel room. I love to just walk around, taking pictures, buying Hawaiian-made trinkets, tanning, bird watching or collecting flowers. I love to snorkel or just relax on the beach. All four islands I have been to offered different atmospheres and allowed different experiences and levels of relaxation.

Kauai

This was without a doubt the weirdest trip I've ever been on. Kauai was a new place for my father and I, we'd both taken severel trips to Hawaii and wanted to try out a new island. It was his brilliant idea to try Kauai, the wettest Hawaiian island, in the middle of what could be considered monsoon season. We had all sorts of great adventures planned. Dad had taken scuba lessons and planned to get certified on the island, snorkeling trips are a must for us, a helicopter ride to catch beautiful scenery from a new view had been talked about, visiting the Fern Grotto, and just generally visting some of the most beautiful beaches in the wolrd. None of this happened. The helicopter ride did take place, however the fog was so thick we could hardly see any of the beautiful waterfalls, mountains or valley scenes. Kauai and Oahu were both used in the filming of the blockbuster hit Jurassic Park because of their exquiste waterfalls and lusious jungles. After learning this we hoped to view some of the famous falls and locations.

Unfortunetly the weather had something else in mind. For the 3 weeks prior to our vacation, the island had seen the most rainfall in over 100 years and it didn't let up the week we were there. Nothing looked as it should. Flooding had changed the landscape and look of the entire island. The waterfalls, no longer green and beautiful, had turned an ugly shade of reddish-brown and had tripled in size from the flooding. Most things were closed due to bad weather and the dock for the boat to the Fern Grotto had been destroyed by the excess water and boulders had blocked the river to the main cave, the marina let very few boats leave. All of this meant no scuba trips, snorkeling was dangerous and cautioned at every beach, the Grotto would not be available to visit, and any tours of the gorgeous Na Pali coast were limited and very hard to get tickets for. The only things we could really do were tours of museums and indoor historic sites as well as drive in hopes of outrunning the rain. At most points in the day there would be clear spots ont he island, but most of the time, we missed those locations by a matter of minutes and frequently were basking in a ray of sunlight and be in terrential downpour before we made it back to the car. Several roads were closed on a daily basis which limited how far away from the hotel we could travel and made us wary that we'd travel too far and have the road close behind us. On one day we did make it as far north as the road leads, to a beach called Kee beach, which was the location used as Skull Island in the 1976 King Kong. A peacful beach, it offers trails up into the jungle and is a frequent site of Monk Seal beaching. In fact, we saw 2 in the two days we visited the beach. Very nearby is a lavaflow cave open to the public and a very creepy cave. It reminded me of those old Scooby-Doo cartoons. It was long and dark and had tide pools and vines growing and smelled of old, wet vegitaion. The thing I loved most about going to this beach was that the road, when we first arrived, had a slight stream of water flowing over it at a very low point and a few hours later, on our return trip, the water had risen several feet and was rushing at the speed of a river. My dad waded across and let me drive the car through it so he could take a picture. He was then drenched up to the waist and the water was so deep that I couldn't see through the windows as it "rooster-tailed" and "finned" so high. It was the highlight of the day. We encountered several "of the beaten path" roads with similar attributes while on the island however that was the only one we crossed.

Although there was less sun than I'm used to on the Hawaiian islands, I never gave up on the tanning. I would be laying by the pool and feel a drizzle and just tell myself to wait it out. One time though, one of my favorite experiences it just started pouring and rather than run back to the room I jusmped in the hottub in the beautiful courtyard poolside. With the rain pouring so hard I couldn't tell which parts of me were in the tub and which weren't. That island was definetely unique. Chickens floating down the road, parking lots being closed due to 2 feet of water, rivers coming out of nowhere and flowing over roads, trees, boats and buildings being swept away to sea, marinas closing, getting drenched running to the car. I don't think I'll ever go back to that island, even though I realize that the weather was a freak incident, but I'm glad I did.