8 nights in paradise....

In May I went to Kauai with a bunch of friends. And by a bunch of friends, I mean, there ended up being 18 of us in a house together. Let’s just say having the 5 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms helped. The house was amazing… brazilian cherry wood floors everywhere and a 2.5 minute walk to the beach. Oh, and did I mention that it was free?

This is the view from the house we stayed in.

We had a blast riding the beach cruisers, sporting our beach wear, and cruising around in a 15 passenger van. So many fun things going on. We got to go scuba diving for free as well. I had never been before (didn’t need to be certified because of the short dive depth) and I loved it. Had the best time.

Also, there had been some talk that week of people going sky diving. I have a brother who had a roommate years ago who died sky diving, so it has always made me a little nervous, but on Saturday morning, my friend Dale came into our room and said that there were people going and was anyone in. I told him that I was in and he said, “great, they’re leaving in about 15 minutes.” All the way there I wasn’t really nervous about it. Kind of excited, actually. There were about 9 of us going, but only 4 people in the plane at a time (2 jumpers and 2 jump instructors). 2 of the girls went first and then Suzanne and I went next. Still, I wasn’t really nervous until we were in the plane in the air and Suzanne asked her jump instructor how high up we were.. He said we were at 2,000 feet. I’m sitting there thinking that we were just about there until she then asked him how far we were going and he said 10,000 feet. I threw up a little bit in my mouth, it’s true. When my jump instructor opened the door and I looked out, I thought, “Hmmm. Maybe I was a bit too hasty in my decision this morning. Maybe I’ll just head back down with the pilot.” (Although considering the plane and everything, jumping was probably just as safe as trying to get back to land in that tiny thing.) While I was sitting on the edge of the plane over the open sky below (later having watched the video of me, my jump instructor is high-fiving all around the plane at this point) I kept looking down and my jump instructor kept pulling my head back so that I jumped correctly. He did this a couple of times and the next thing I knew, we were falling through the sky. People have asked if it was hard to jump. Let me just set the record straight. I didn’t jump. My jump instructor did and I just happened to be attached to him. It was the craziest experience. I always thought my stomach would jump into my throat (and perhaps it’s because you’ve just jumped out of a plane at 10,000 feet) but I didn’t feel my stomach at all. Just felt like I was on the freeway with my head out of the window… And laughing all the way. Amazing. Loved it. After he pulled the chute (which is when I fully relaxed) we just sat sailing at a comfortable 10 miles an hour over the gorgeous blue water and green backdrop of Waimea Canyon. I can’t believe people would sky dive anywhere else. It was SPECTACULAR. We did a few twirls in the air and eventually landed on the grassy patch by the ocean. So great, so fun.

Other highlights from the trip: swimming in waves that were kicking our trash; sudden rain storms; the Hindu temple; going to church; kayaking to a waterfall; the rope swing; fresh pineapple, banana, coconut smoothies in the morning; Macho Nachos; 2 pina coladas from Kalypso’s everyday; and of course our Mexican Fiesta. Aint no better way to celebrate Cinqo de Mayo than with a guac-off, good friends, and some asphalt pie in Kauai.

Had a great time…..