Aloha! Part 3 - Kauai

Alisha says:

Day 7: I had a bucket list of things to do on Kauai so we started checking them off. We first headed to Waimea Canyon, which is a really neat canyon that has also been called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. It is 10 miles long and up to 3,000 ft. deep. We did a hike along the rim that went to the top of Waimea Falls.

We then finished up the day with some really good snorkeling at Poipu Beach. It was like snorkeling in an aquarium, there were tons of fish. There was even a seal taking a nap on the beach.

Day 8: We drove to the north side of the island and hiked part of the Kalalau trail. To hike the whole trail is a 22 mile round trip (which I really, really wanted to do but usually requires camping out one night and since we were traveling with another couple we couldn't do it) But, the first couple of miles down to the first beach was so amazing. You get these incredible views of the Napali Coast and the water below is a really beautiful aquamarine color. I love, love, loved it! After that we were hot and sweaty which meant only one thing, beach time! We went to Tunnels Beach which is one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to. This was possibly the best snorkeling spot of our trip. You snorkel out a bit and then the ocean just drops off. It was a little eerie at first but we saw a lot of cool fish and even a few turtles that we got to watch and swim by for a long time. This was possible my favorite full day of our trip.

Day 9: The morning was filled with sightseeing. We stopped at the Spouting Horn, and then also took a walk along the cliffs by Shipwreck Beach. In the afternoon Dave and I took a boat tour of the Napali Coast. The company we picked was super, the boats were small (there was only 7 total people on ours) and the captain was great. The captain said that we were treated to an exceptionally nice day on the coast, he said it is usually cloudy, raining and windy but the ocean was fairly calm and the sun was shining. We saw some spinner dolphins. They came and were swimming right by the boat, a few even jumped up in the air for us. We stopped and snorkeled and saw more cool fish, turtles and two reef sharks! At first I was a little nervous but we had been told that you don't have to worry about them so we had fun watching them. The coast was amazing. Really scenic and beautiful. Our boat was also small enough that we got to drive in many sea caves along the way. On the return trip we saw a whale and her calf.  It was super cool!

 Waimea Canyon

 Look at that view, amazing!

 The beach were we turned around

 Tunnels Beach

 Dave getting ready to snorkel on our Napali Coast trip

 Incredible!

 Driving in one of the many sea caves

Aloha! Part 2

Alisha says:
Day 5: In order to explore the rest of Oahu we rented a car. The only thing they had left at the rental place was a mustang convertible which ended up being really fun to ride around in. Dave said driving it around was one of his favorite things, he had a huge smile on his face the whole time. First stop was the Dole Plantation to see some pineapples and eat some delicious dole whip. Then it was on to the north shore to play in the big waves.
Day 6: Dave and I got up early and hiked the Olomana trail. It is an awesome hike with some good scrambles and spots where you are walking on the spine of a mountain with drop offs on both sides. We had the whole trail to ourselves and never saw anybody else. The view at the top was spectacular and the hike ranked as my favorite thing that we did on Oahu. After packing up at the condo we had a few hours before our flight to Kauai so we did some more driving around/sight seeing. That evening Mike, Cherry, Dave and I took a flight to Kauai for part two of our vacation.

We love Hawaii!

 The Dole Pineapple Plantation

 It's so cute and tiny!

Red pineapples

Scrambling up the Olomana Trail, only one way to go - UP!

 Unbelievable views

 Dave loved the convertible

  Me, Dave, Mike, Cherry

Aloha! Part 1

Alisha says: What a great trip! Dave had an academic conference SIOP that he was presenting some of his research at in Hawaii so I got to tag along and we made a vacation out of it.
Day 1: We flew into Honolulu and got settled in at our condo in Waikiki. We were sharing the condo with five other PhD students/significant others so it was a bit crazy with all seven of us there but we hardly spent anytime there so it didn't matter. We spent some time at Waikiki beach.
Day 2: Started out with a nice walk along the beach. It was really beautiful with the blue water and Diamond Head in the background. Since we hadn't got our bike fix we rented an aqua trike and pedaled around for a bit. In the afternoon we hiked up Diamond Head with Chris and Sara for some great views!
Day 3: Dave and I talked a few of our condo-mates into getting up early and heading to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling. We arrived at 6:45 am and didn't even have to pay because we were so early. The bay was beautiful and not crowded at all. We really enjoyed snorkeling around and seeing all of the colorful fish. By the time we left the beach was getting really crowded and we were glad to have arrived early. Dave missed his formal graduation and the University of Arizona but the conference held an informal graduation for all of the students who were there. He has put in a lot of work to graduate a year early and I am super proud of him. He is now officially David T. Welsh, JD, PhD. or something like that, he's not to worried about being all fancy but he's earned it.
Day 4: Dave was presenting his research at the conference so I did some exploring on my own. I hopped on a city bus and went and hiked to Manoa Falls. I think they filmed some of the Jurassic Park scenes here.

Waikiki walk with Diamond Head in the back

 View from the top of Diamond Head with Waikiki in the background

Dave, Dillon, Mike, & Cherry at Hanauma Bay

 Dave's informal graduation ceremony

 Dave and Alec (one of his advisers) at graduation

 The Arizona crew at the graduation

 Walking to Manoa Falls

 Manoa Falls

Looking for a place to live

Alisha says: Our blog has really just turned into a travel log. Good thing I love to travel and explore new places. Our latest trip also had a purpose, we took a trip out to Seattle to check out the area and look for a place to rent. We are going to rent and Dave has been looking for months online at places. It seemed like once in a while something would come up that really interested him and then within a few days it was gone. The week before our visit Dave found a house that interested him so he quickly emailed the owner and set up an appointment. We had a few others that we wanted to also check out while we were there.

In order to get more a feel for the area we rented a condo in a cute neighborhood that turned out to be great. Luckily the weather was really nice most of the time we were there and we did a lot of exploring. We drove around countless neighborhoods and parks, went on two awesome 8+ mile hikes (Mt. Si and Solitude Lake), rode cruiser bikes for 50 miles on the Burke-Gilman trail, attended some meetings at the University, watched some rowing races and boat parade and ate at some really great places. We discovered our new favorite place to eat called Veggie Grill and ate there three times during our visit.

We ended up liking the place that we were most interested in and our lease starts in June. It is a small house that is three stories, so small and tall. It is in a great location, close to the University, bike path, shopping and a few parks. Seattle will be a big change for us, some things will be better and others not so much (traffic is crazy!)

Now we are back and things are starting to get real! I picked up a bunch of boxes yesterday and am starting to box stuff up. We have one more trip and when we get back from that we will be in full on moving mode.

 Dave's new office - Paccar Hall

The top of Mt. Si - The birds were really friendly

 Lake Washington

 Our cruiser day ride - Lake Union with downtown in the background

 The arboretum - There were lots of flowers in bloom

 Hiking to Lake Solitude

 Lake Solitude

 Watching the crew races through the Montelake Cut

A boat parade followed to officially start the boating season