Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Happiness Happens Here

Today I invite you to click on over to Colleen's blog.  On the first day we were in Hawaii she and Ryan got some pretty great news.  Check it out.  But then come back...


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Welcome back!  Okay, I think we're at Thursday.  We woke up around 6 AM, damn roosters, once again. 

 
Today we were going to head to another beach in the morning and then on to an ATV tour of an old Sugar Plantation.  This was recommended to us by Nicole and Tony who have traveled to Kauai quite a bit.  We headed out excited.  Colleen had told us if we wanted to drive we had to bring our driver's licence.  Ryan and I were both excited to drive!  


Once we got there Ryan and I stayed at the car slathering him with sunscreen.  When we got over the ATVs only Ryan and Ryan were driving.  I was pretty bummed by this, because being a passenger seemed like a boring thing.  We talked to the kind people at Kipu Ranch and they worked it out so that Ryan and I could have our own ATV and Ryan and Colleen had their own.  Happy dance!


We were given helmets and handkerchiefs.  I also took goggles.  The trails were pretty dry and full of the famous Hawaiian Red Dirt.  We had AWESOME guides, and I wish I could remember their names.  They showed us how to safely drive the ATVs and stopped to tell us some Hawaiian history throughout the tour.  Halfway through our tour we stopped and they had snacks, macadamia nuts, cookies, and water or juice.  
Stole this picture from Colleen so you could see how dirty one got as they drove/ride
 Along the way we learned about different movies and TV shows that had been shot on the ranch.  We got to see the famous rope swing from Indiana Jones and were given the opportunity to swing on the rope and drop into the river if we want.

Now, this next part is a bit embarrassing, so I want you to remember one thing as you read/laugh.

I was the first one to volunteer to swing on the rope. 

There was also a boy, who had Aspergers, or something, who also wanted to go, so I let him go first.  It was my turn.  I was taken back to my rope swing days at Camp Luther and super excited to drop in the river.  (I had wore my swimsuit in preparation for getting wet this time.)  Well, let's just say that my upper arm strength is lacking.  I fell in the river alright, just not out away from the bank like I was supposed to.  I dropped in the water almost immediately.  I think everyone on the bank was a bit shocked because they didn't know I planned on dropping into the water.  It was pretty great.

Ryan Oakes also went in and dropped into the water.   I decided to go a second time, and thought I'd climb up a rock putting me up higher so I could grab the rope better and swing out farther.  Fail.  I scrapped my foot on the bank and dropped WAY earlier than I planned and came up coughing and sputtering.  Ryan, Ryan, and Colleen looked in shock, saw I was okay and then busted out laughing.  Punks!  But remember...

I volunteered to go first!

And my Ryan and Colleen didn't even try it.  So embarrassing or not, it was also fun.  And Ryan and I got to sport these amazing water shoes for the whole adventure.  I'll let you guess who's leg belongs to who... (hint: One of us tans, and the other one stays a pretty alabaster.)  ;)


The ATV adventure was Ryan's highlight of the trip.  Really, when it was compared to cookie tossing took the gold immediately.  I had fun when I drove and the scenery was pretty awesome too!




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A couple of things I forgot in earlier posts...

First, when we were on the sunset cruise, we saw dolphins in the water next to our boat  I was lucky enough to get this picture of one diving back into the water.  It was tough to capture them because you weren't ever sure where they would come up.  Once I got this picture, I stopped worrying about getting the picture and just enjoyed watching them.



Second, at the Smith Family Luau it was mating season.  We saw LOTS of boy peacocks strutting their stuff  for the ladies.



1 comment:

Colleen Oakes said...

Hahaha...I'm laughing now about your fail, but it was SO brave and fun and I'm so proud that you and Ryan were the only cool adults to do it.

The ATV tour was our favorite thing of the trip too, besides getting some great news :)