Gidget Goes Hawaiian- Kauai & Aulani 8/2012 TR- 5/24 COMPLETE!!

[Princess Bette]

Hi Ellen! So glad you and your family are safe and glad you will be getting away for a while. Enjoy your trip! Our local utility company is making the news because they headed north from Alabama to help but had to return home because they aren't in the union. So sad...I know y'all could use the help. Maybe things will change and they will accept non-union workers.
Looking forward to more trip reports from you!

 

[anewmac]

hope you are having a WONDERFUL time!!!!! with a shower and electricity and no braids or rollers LMAO

 

[Beth D]

Finally caught all the way up!

Gosh those pics are so gorgeous. I may have to start DH on a 7 year plan, so we can go there for our 20th?

I wouldn't be much into the hiking, but more of the beach and snorkeling, as I am definitely a water child! Love living right on Lake Erie!

So loved the pic of the murphy bed, but where did Tyler sleep? Was the couch another foldout?

Glad you're all safe! We had some nasty wind here in OH too. My parents lost power for 24 hrs, and major waves on the lake 15-20 footers!

Hope you're enjoying Disney, sunshine and electricity!

 

[englishrose47]

Ellen I am sorry you lost power!!We faired much better !!But what a perfect time to leave it all behind !! Have a Great Trip!!!

 

[JKSWonder]

Hi all- nj is definitely a war zone- my whole town has no power, and is not expected to have any until next week or longer- trees are down everywhere , power lines knocked down- just a disaster. But we have been very lucky! However-

I don't think I have ever appreciated a trip to WDW more!

Our airport, I am happy to say, was the first to reopen- delays since yesterday are less than 15 minutes. I am having the car service pick us up earlier tomorrow than originally planned- cant wait to hang in the airport- I hear they have electricity and TVs and food there, we are all excited to see! Lol-

Ok- back to tossing out another freezer full of steaks!

If only I was at WDW too! Our whole town is out too...in fact, most of Long Island was out. We've been without electric or heat for going on 7 days now, without a clue as to when it will come back. One uncle and one cousin have lost their houses (both lived on canals on the south shore) to extreme flooding. Most of my family in neighboring towns are without power too, so we haven't be able to bunk with anyone else. Hotels are full and lines for gas are miles long. Its crazy.

If school wasn't in session (and if had the vacation days to take), I would take my aunt up on her offer of a vacation to her house in Arizona.

Laura- the lines are down everywhere- we need the help! And yes, Sean is coming- I think he is looking forward to electricity more than anyone- he started freakin a little today. But really, his whole world was shaken up- no school, no lights, no tutor after school, no work- too much for him. So glad we are going away!

We've been experiencing a little of this too. Michael was ok for two days. By day 3, he was sucking his thumb (hasn't done that since he was 4). By day 4, his OCD was in full swing. By day 6, he was having potty accidents. Thankfully, school started again today so I'm hoping that's going to get him back on track soon.

 

[podsnel]

Hi Ellen! So glad you and your family are safe and glad you will be getting away for a while. Enjoy your trip! Our local utility company is making the news because they headed north from Alabama to help but had to return home because they aren't in the union. So sad...I know y'all could use the help. Maybe things will change and they will accept non-union workers.
Looking forward to more trip reports from you!

Hey! Thanks for sharing that- Is it on the news? I'm hearing its just another rumor- I hope!

 

[Mysteria]

Hey! Thanks for sharing that- Is it on the news? I'm hearing its just another rumor- I hope!

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/sandyunion.asp

Hope you are having a great week at WDW! We were just in Scotch Plains and there was a lot of work going on. Both cutting trees and working on wires. Indiana crew.

 

[Princess Bette]

Hey! Thanks for sharing that- Is it on the news? I'm hearing its just another rumor- I hope!

It was first reported here that they were turned away due to not being union - however, there was more to the story. (always is!) The above link has the rest of the story.

Anyway, I think it is a shame that those men were willing to go and help where needed and were told to return home - esp. by their employer. I hope that all power is restored very soon to everyone. My prayers are with y'all.

Hopefully, your trip has been a wonderful distraction...can't wait to hear all about it!

 

[englishrose47]

I hope all have their power back to !!It sounds like some crossed wires (pun intended) for those non union electricians . It's sad that policy and politics get in the way of helping hands !! But the thought was there and that counts a lot !!

 

[eva]

just beautiful!!!!!!

God really knew what He was doing when He created Hawaii!!!

cheryl

Sure did!

I just did a search and found this wonderful trip report. We are going to Aulani in May. Ellen, Love Love Love your pictures and trip report. So far I am only on page 13. So back to reading!

Edited: Finally got to the last couple of pages and realized you are in NJ. So sorry to hear about all the devastation there. Hope you are safe and had a wonderful time at WDW. Can't wait to see the rest of your report. After reading your report, I feel I kind of know you and your family. Sending you and your family prayers. Take care!

 

[TALB]

Love your trip report! I have boys the same age and we are going to Aulani for Spring Break. i can't wait to hear what your boys thought of it. Please share any excursions you went on. I'm trying to decide which ones to book. Hope you had a great trip to WDW

 

[podsnel]

WELL...that was SOME BREAK between updates, huh? Sorry about that...well, not THAT sorry, because for 9 nights of it I was luxuriating in a Jambo GV (well, 5 nights) and then we moved over to BWV...and well, that didn't suck either! But as nice as that all was, nothing compares to a Hawaiian vacation...so, let's get on with it!

We were excited for our next day, which was Thursday, because we were headed up to the North Shore for kayaking, shrimp, shave ice, turtles and scuba! How's THAT for action packed? We had to be up there by 9, so we left by 8 or 8:15 I think. But first....I grabbed some coffee and some breakfast from the Olelo room-

Ok- it may not look like much, but that almond croissant? One of the BEST things I have EVER EVER EVER eaten- The top is cruchy, the pastry is light, and in the middle (I think) there is almond paste so it is super moist. Oh. YUMMMMMM..... I also picked up one of these for Tyler-

I think Pods had the bagel, and Tim had...? Not sure what Tim had, but I promise my string bean of a son did not go with out. We did hit a slight amount of traffice on the way up, but nothing like what we had seen the first night, so THAT was a HUGE relief! Here are some pics from our travels-

I had contacted Hawaii Eco Divers about today, and Ricardo and one of his friends would be taking care of us. Here is a link to Ricardo's website-
http://www.hawaiiecodivers.com/

Originally, I had contacted him when he turned up on a search for kayaking on the North Shore. His reviews on Yelp and TA were excellent, and I spoke with him several times before we booked. We were doing the kayaking, but he also suggested a full day of activities including some beginner scuba. None of us are certified, but both Pods & I have been diving 5 or 6 times- actually, the first time was on our honeymoon when we were on Maui- and it was the highlight of our honeymoon. Ricardo offered to discount our activities if we did both, so...who am I to say no to such a deal? The only hesitation I had was when we pulled up to the meeting place, and we were at a house. IMMEDIATELY, Tyler said, this doesn't feel right. We are going to someone's house? Are they going to use us for shark bait?

Well...we had nothing to worry about- Ricardo came out, and explained that business space is very restricted on the north shore, because of signage, and that's why we were meeting at his friend's ocean front home- which was a surfer's paradise. In the winter. When the waves are so high they come up to the cliff this gut lives on. It belonged to the totally awesome surfer dude we would be kayaking with. We hopped back in our car and followed the kayaks and the surfer dude to Waimea Bay-

Ahhhhh........

Ricardo's friend was going to do the kayak portion of our day with us- it is KILLING me right now that I can't remember his name! He was one of the most POSITIVE people I have EVER met.

He told us his story- I guess I should say he talked story, although he was originally from CA not HI and moved here a while back for surfing- a familiar tale in Hawaii. What was different about him was that a few years earlier, he had fallen off a roof into an unfilled pool- and broken his back. And was paralyzed. And was told he would not walk again. Or surf.

He beat all the odds, and in 4 months was back up on his board. He, and his doctors, attribute it ALL to his attitude. GREAT attitude. Like I said- a really positive, uplifting individual.

Does this beach look at all familiar to you? He told us this was where the plane crash was filmed for LOST (I LOVED me some LOST) and that all the plane stuff was laying all over the beach for a while, people would come by for pics all the time- very cool-

We had two single kayaks and one double- our miracle surfer dude was going to be accompanying us on his paddleboard.

There are some SERIOUSLY super-fit folks out there in Hawaii.....

We first paddled in the bay for a while before heading up the Haleiwa River and back to our starting point. We could last as long as we wanted to, which ended up being about 2 hours. Lucky ME, I was with Timmy in the double kayak. Which you would think would be so Mom could work LESS, with all the hunky men around.

Umm...that would be no.

Timmy looks so cute, doesn't he? And see how he holds his paddle so nicely out of the water? Umm...YEA. He got a TON of practice pefecting that pose. Wait! He paddled once!

I must have been REALLY fast with my camera to catch that, lol-

Up the river-

We took a little break- Tyler played fetch with this dog for a bit, the surfer dude said he is always hangin out there, waiting to play fetch with a coconut.

Pods says he doesn't care about kayaking, he does it for me. But he looks pretty happy, doesn't he?

Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

Time to go up the river-

Tyler is with me- LOVES kayaking, ever since our first time, which was at the Disney resort in HHI.

So you can see I was NOT exaggerating-

Pods has a real knack for taking the most picturesque photos

OK- doing better-

It was a great thing to do- the only downside was we only saw 1 turtle, and usually this area has tons. But there's no complaining about that- we'd have some turtle time a little later. While the kayaks got loaded back onto the van, I did some sea glass hunting- there was a lot of sea glass on this beach. Then we broke for lunch- said good bye and thanks to our totally awesome surfer dude, and headed into Haleiwa....

There is LOT of debate on shrimp trucks up there on that North Shore. A LOT. And there are soooo many to choose from! Ultimately, I chose Macky's based on Yelp reviews. I used Yelp a bunch on this trip. As well as Chowhound. Anyway.....

Here are the choices-

What I especially liked about Macky's was that they had this guy standing in front of the truck answering your questions and helping you order.

Also that it came with a little salad and you could wash up afterwards ina sink. We all got something different so we could share. Pods got Butter Garlic shrimp-

Tim got original, which is just plain-

I went with hot and spicy-

And Tyler had coconut-

Yummmm......

You can see they have a lot of tables- when we were there, many were reserved- that was for a tour group that came through.

Even that was very well taken care of- the tour was seated, and it looked like they had pre-ordered, because they were all brought out their shrimp without going up to the truck first. Tim was very happy about this lunch-

Well, we were all happy about it. (Would have been happier if we had used our Entertainment Book coupon, but, of course, I couldn't find my book before we left for HI, and I am pretty sure that actually having the book with you is key to actually using the coupons it contains, but...I digress). The favorite was a toss up between the butter garlic and the coconut.

Up next....Shave ice and TURTLE TIME!

 

[JKSWonder]

Timmy working on his awesome tan while Mom does all the work!

 

[podsnel]

Besides the North shore Shrimp truck debate, there is yet ANOTHER monumental decision to make when you visit Haleiwa- where, oh where, do you get your Shave Ice??? Matsumotos is the famous one- but, if you do a little research, you'll find that nearby Aoki's is just as good AND doesn't have a huge line- I don't know how you prioritise your vacay, but for me, less lines is a HUGE plus as long as I'm not giving anything else up in terms of quality.

Lots of choices-

Happy about lunch AND dessert, today!

Mine was yummy, I had a Tropical-

Tyler was happy too! I think his was sour apple and ?????

In case you were wondering....

Across the street is-

Aoki's-

It was a great choice for us, we all liked the Shave Ice here- second only to the one we had on the first day on Kauai. We still had time to kill between activities, so we headed back over the bridge-

And pulled over when we saw all the cars everywhere- at Laniakea Beach. Also called Sunset beach. Also should really be known as Hawaiian green sea turtle beach, because THAT is why everyone was there. For who knows what reason, sea turtles like it here...a LOT! It was INCREDIBLE!!!! They were sunning themselves on the shore, swimming in and out of the waves....very, very cool place to visit. Here is what we saw the day we visited- this was probably around 1:00 or so that day.

 

[podsnel]

CRAP! I hate my Dell! I did not mean to post yet! Anyway....

More turtle time.....

That snorkeler was trying to get away from the turtle, but the turtle kept swimming towards him. Literally, up and down the beach, people were watching all the turtles.

It was totally righteous, dude.

How it is on the beach-

Really makes you want to visit the North Shore, doesn't it? Chalk it up to yet another fascinating, unparalleled spectacle of nature in Hawaii....

Back at the surfer dude's house....

Ricardo was loading up his van with scuba gear. We followed him down the road to Shark's Cove-

Ricardo lined up all of our gear, and gave us a 45 minute (I'm guesstimating) lesson before we put on our wetsuits (which he supplied) and went down to practice in the water. OOPS! Time to upload- I'll be back later!

 

[lablady]

I'm so happy when I see that you've updated your TR! Thank you so much for all your wonderful pictures! We head to Aulani in 5 days and I'm just so excited!! I haven't been to Hawaii since I was a teenager and my DDs have never been so your pictures have really been getting us revved up to go!

 

[podsnel]

What you will be in my hometown! Darn it and I cant get to DL to see you.. SOMEDAY LOL. Where in Pedro are you staying? Oh and Tell Jim.. BRING IT Ducks are goind down! Fight on SC lol!



Stay safe my friend!

Loved hearing your story about how you and pods met that is such an great story, what is meant to be will be. You being the pea in the pod was just faite too how cute.

The resort is AMAZING. I agree it looks a lot like AKL and the Poly combined. Sounds like you had a nice relaxing day also. I was going to say Tylers outfit was cracking me up. Thats something that my kids would do too... with the "eh good enough" look. You never stear wrong of the good food porn too. it all looks amazing!

It is the same architect who did AKL and WL- so, yea- there are a bunch of similarities. This visit to AKV, tho- I felt like I was at Aulani. Wonder what I'll think of VWL in MArch with Tim?

Okay - it is August - you were planning your drive down the coast, so I thought you had planned a quick post anniversary trip! - for WDW on Friday!

Stay safe, my friend!




ETA: Didn't see that Drea wrote the same thing! - great minds, I guess! Or lots of prayers for your safety.

Thanks- we were fine, and miraculously so were all our friends- homes with damage at the beach, but still standing. Very fortunate.

Gorgeous! I would love to go there too. Add it to my list of places my husband will tell me no about!

You have to work on him, Jen- it is soooo worth the trip.

All caught up, Ellen!

I love your meet/fall in love story!

Thank-you!

And you finally made it to Aulani. May I say it's BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks so much for all the photos .. very much appreciated!

I hope you will go one day!

Checkin' in, I am doing a Marv, posting on otheres threads instead of updating my own

I do that, too!

 

[MEK]

CRAP! I hate my Dell! I did not mean to post yet! Anyway....

Darn it! I am driving up there and throwing that thing in the trash! It's always messing you up.

So welcome back stranger. Sounds like you had a great trip to WDW and a grand villa - not too shabby!

Kayaking in Hawaii looks way cooler than kayaking around here. Of course, you look like the only one doing actual work.

Lunch - yum!

Sea Turtle jackpot. Wow - they are so cool and bigger than I thought they would be.

Can't wait to see how the scuba diving goes.

 

[podsnel]

So glad your family is safe and sound and there was minimal damage. After experiencing too-many-to-count hurricanes down here, you realize that all those physical items (cars, furniture, house!) can be replaced but lives cannot. You say a prayer thanking God for your blessings, ask for help for your neighbors, patience to weather the cleanup and His grace to sustain you through it all....or at least until you get your internet connection back!

You really have your priorities straight- well said!

Oh, I stayed there in Feb and am returning in Jan, had NO idea about the murphy bed. That could come in handy, as the living room is my son's bedroom too!

They LOVE the murphy bed because they HATE to sleep in the same bed anymore, so that bed was a big hit!

Very well said and a great way to look at what life hands you.

EXACTLY!!!!

Ok, I'm caught up again after the dumb storm interrupted my DIS time. I hope you guys are ok and have survived Sandy. Sounded like NJ got hit the worst of everyone.

All good here- beaches, not so much.

Aulani looks just amazing. I hope we get the chance to see it. Love the room, love the view.

I felt like we scored big with our room. But I almost ALWAYS feel that way, LOL! I was just at the end of Jambo in the last possible GV, and I was even happy with that! I guess I'm easy to please.

As we all know, the idea that men hate shopping is a myth. We love shopping if it involves hardware stores, sporting goods, and golf pro shops. Anything else is pointless.

You make very good points.

You and Bill (saintstickets) have me totally freaked out about Oahu traffic now. I'm worried we're going to see nothing but brake lights the whole trip!

It will be FINE- just don't travel during rush hour and don't make a wrong turn!!