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Day #2: To the Tetons

Jun 19th, 2016 by

We awoke to a nearly cloudless sky and the sight of vast freight trains slowing rumbling by our hotel in Rawlins.

Rawlins, WY

 

After filling up the gas tank and grabbing a quick breakfast to go, we drove north from Rawlins on a route that was different than yesterday’s map, following US287/US26 thru Wind River Country:

New Route to Jackson Lake Lodge

 

I found the vistas to be surprisingly varied and rather scenic. On this route, we crossed the path of the Oregon Trail, as well as the Continental Divide at a few points. We stopped in Dubois for a picnic lunch along the Wind River and visited the National Bighorn Sheep Interpretive Center. 

Wind River

 

From Dubois, we drove through the Shoshone National Forrest and through Togwotee Pass at over 9,000 feet. It was actually high enough and still cold enough for Emerson to see and touch snow for the first time:

Togwotee Pass

From there, we had a short downhill drive to our first good glimpse of the Tetons:

The Tetons


We arrived at Jackson Lake Lodge about 30 minutes later, where we checked in, dropped off our luggage, and did a short hike up Lunch Tree Hill. Here’s a view from the trail:

View from Lunch Tree Hill


After this, we went to dinner at the Ranch House in Colter Bay. It’s kind of a casual BBQ place. Emerson really liked it, but Libby and I were underwhelmed. After dinner, we headed down to the marina for a look around — surprisingly big boats with some around 40ft. 

Colter Bay


We then came back to our cottage, which was still rather warm from the day (though it quickly cooled off over night). 

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Day #1: Flying to drive

Jun 18th, 2016 by

Today, we left for Denver to embark upon an epic, two-week road trip to visit the remaining 11 states that Libby and I haven’t been to:


Roadtrip!


We flew out of Tampa at 7:30 (a little early for the girls), connected in Atlanta, and arrived in Denver a little after noon (local time). All went smoothly and were pleasant enough. Once in Denver, we grabbed our luggage and took the rental car shuttle to National, where we could once again “pick any car” in the Emerald Aisle. Emerson advocated for a Ford F-150, but we settled on a fairly nice Jeep Cherokee. It’s spacious enough and comfortable, though performance is a little underwhelming.

From the airport, we headed to a nearby Wal-Mart for some road trip supplies that I didn’t want to lug from Tampa. After our brief shopping escapade, we pointed the car north on I-25 driving parallel to the Front Range. Traffic was a little heavy up to Ft. Collins.

We arrived in Wyoming around 3:30 and stopped at their fairly impressive visitor center:

Southeastern Wyoming Visitor’s Center

Dee, the Mammoth


Emerson enjoying Wyoming


From there, we picked up I-80 and drove west across some scenic landscapes. I especially liked the area around Medicine Bow National Forest and Elk Mountain. We stopped in Laramie to pick up dinner and then drove on to Rawlins, where we overnighted in a new Fairfield Inn. Rawlins is a fairly small, unremarkable town that kind of smells of gasoline (presumably due to the nearby refinery?). But, it’s a practical stopover point about halfway between Denver and Grand Teton NP. 

All in all, a good if uneventful first day. 

Today’s box score: +2 states (Colorado, Wyoming) 

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Day #10: Kauai & To Home

Mar 22nd, 2016 by

Since this was our last day, we changed our routine a bit to allow time for packing and a last trip to the hotel’s beach (as Emerson wanted to build a sand castle). This made for a fairly relaxed morning and we weren’t especially in a rush knowing our flight wasn’t departing until a little after 9:30 that night.

We checked out of the hotel around 11:30 and headed out to see some of the sights in central Kauai that I’d reserved for this day. This included visits to a couple of fairly impressive waterfalls, namely Wailua and Opaekaa Falls. 

    
 

Opaekaa Falls

 

From there, we headed down to Lydgate Beach Park. It has an impressive beachfront and protected swim area, but we were visiting to allow Emerson to play at the Kamalani Playground. And, while the playground is impressive, the Kamalani’s “Play Bridge” a bit further down the trail was unlike anything I’d ever seen. Needless to say, Emerson was very impressed:

 

Emerson loved this!

 
After the park, we visited the modest in size yet impressive in quality Kauai Museum. The collection provides an overview of native Hawaiian life, the state’s royal history, the island’s natural history, and a sense of the multi-ethnic backgrounds that make up Hawaii’s population today. 

 

Kauai Museum

 
Following our visit to the museum, we returned to our hotel to have dinner at again Duke’s (which is hard to beat in terms of quality and ambiance) and gelato at an excellent little place that we’d discovered called Papalani Gelato. This made for a short drive to the airport to return the rental car and get checked in. Our flight left on time and everyone slept fairly well en route to Los Angeles. 

I’m writing this final blog post at LAC during our 4 hour layover before heading to Tampa. Unless something interesting happens on the way home, I’ll probably make this my final post of the trip.

It was really good to return to Hawaii after all of these years and even better to share it with the girls, who really seemed to enjoy it. It’s much as I remembered it… though my memory was clearly more impressionistic than vividly detailed in some respects. We could have easily and happily spent another week, and I’m fairly confident that we’ll return in the future, if possible. 

Aloha and mahalo, Hawaii!

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Day #9: Kauai (North)

Mar 20th, 2016 by

Today, we made the drive to northern shore of Kauai to the Princeville, Hanalei Bay, and Haena State Park area. At a few points, we experienced a little drizzle but otherwise had good weather. The surf was really up on Kauai’s north shore, making for some impressive vistas:

 

Surf on Kauai


Unfortunately, pictures don’t really do it justice, as the scale of the waves (some 20 feet high at certain points) was difficult to capture. 

 

Not safe for swimming…


In Haena State Park, we visited the Maniniholo Dry Cave, which is safe to enter and explore with children.
 

Maniniholo Dry Cave

 
On our way back, we stopped in Hanalei for lunch at Puka Dog (a purveyor of Hawaiian style hot dogs that feature a special garlic sauce, tropical fruit relish, and mustard — all squeezed into a cored rather than sliced hot dog bun):

 

Puka Dog!

 
After this, Emerson and I shared a shave ice:

 

Emerson’s stawberry shave ice …


We spent the late afternoon at the hotel’s pool and grabbed dinner near the hotel.  

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Day #8: Kauai (South)

Mar 19th, 2016 by

Today, we headed for the southern side of the island. We started out by picking up some coffee and malasadas (a Portuguese hole-less, yeast donut that has been embraced as part of the cultural stew that comprises Hawaii after successive waves on immigration). The donuts were pretty good: very reminiscent of my family’s German fasnacht tradition and of a similar pre-Lenten donut origin.

We enjoyed breakfast at Poipu Beach Park, where we intended to swim and try snorkeling again. To make things easier for Emerson, I bought her a “boogie board with a window” to toe her around, and I have Libby some snorkeling lessons the prior day in the comfort of our hotel’s pool. This was a partial success: Libby found the snorkeling much more enjoyable, but Emerson struggled a bit with the board as we had a little surf to contend with.

After the beach, we picked up food for a picnic lunch and drove to Waimea Canyon, aptly called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and another example of the diversity of the Hawaiian landscape:

En route to the canyon…

 

Waimea Canyon


From Waimea, we continued up the road to Kokee State Park where we did a nature walk and got to see a glimpse of the largely inaccessible (unless you have a boat or a helicopter) Na Pali Coast:
 

Na Pali coastline from Kokee State Park

 
On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company and sampled a variety of their offers, all of which were pretty good. Indeed, I might join their coffee club. After a dip in the hotel’s pool, we picked up take-out Chinese and ate it on the balcony off of our suite’s living/dining room. 

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