Illinois Hawaii Part 3

Our Friday in Hawaii:

Forest booked us a doors-off helicopter ride in the morning.

I sat next to our pilot and guide, Kalena, in the front. Forest was on my right, next to the open door. Another couple from Texas sat behind us.

Hovering over the island in that helicopter was absolutely exhilarating.

Waimea Canyon from above:

The Nualolo Cliff Trail we hiked the day before:

This was our chance to see the Na Pali Coast, since the road to get there was washed out by flooding in April.

Hanalei Bay:

Wailua Falls from above:

Before we knew it, the tour was over. But still, it was $400 well spent.

Next, we drove over to see Wailua Falls NOT from a helicopter.

And then we grabbed some ramen for lunch.

Amazing.

Possibly even more amazing: Shave Ice from Tege Tege for dessert. Little did we know how lucky we were to get this treat--later we found out that this truck is only open part of the week with limited hours of operation, and some people wait in line forever to get their order.

Forest ordered papaya with lime.

I got blackberry. Each cup is an absolute work of art.

Hideaways Beach near our condo was the next destination. You can see our condos on the hill above me in the photo below:

On our way to dinner that night, we got to see an actual Hawaii rainbow.

I think my only complaint about the island of Kauai is that dinners are mediocre at best. It seems like the best places to eat are food trucks that close around 4pm. Here we are at Kintaro Restaurant:

As we ate our sub-par rice, dry sushi, and uninspiring tempura, we dreamed of incredible lunch options we might find the next day.