Many moons ago my awesome friend Becky put together a small group to travel to the lovely island of Kauai.  I had been once before and was excited for a chance to go again.  It was an excellent birthday gift from Ben.  (Disclaimer: this trip was also booked BEFORE I knew Ben & I would be going to Kauai for our honeymoon a couple short months later.)

One of our first big adventures was a half-day boat and snorkel trip up the incredible Na Pali Coast.

No trip to Kauai is complete without seeing at least a bit of the incredible Waimea Canyon.  During the 5 minutes we were at the lookout it completely filled with fog and clouds.

The time difference makes it easy to wake up, brew some kona coffee, and walk to the beach to see the sunrise.

These guys were plentiful.  So were wild chickens.

Getting in a little beach time before the monsoon struck.

Our second big adventure was zip-lining!  A big storm rolled in that morning and threatened our outing, but the lightning was far enough away.  The heavy rain, however, was right on top of us.

All of the platforms and bridges in the following photos were washed away a few days later.

We all took a road trip to the north side of the island, right before it was closed for flooding (not that we knew it at the time.)  I have to say that I watched a lot of movies and read a lot on this trip.  That doesn’t happen often, and I was grateful for the forced down-time.

Cabin fever means heading out in the pouring rain for a soaking walk.  Our other companions were Becky’s sister Kathy, her husband Bill, and their delightful 5 month old Maryn.

Here’s the gang in front of our cute rental house in Poipu.

To be fair, it didn’t rain the ENTIRE time we were there, but it was enough to close roads and delay our flight home.  After we left, the island suffered a lot of damage and huge sections were closed down.

Here are some cute photos from home they sent me to keep me company.

Will, sporting the shark-tooth necklace I brought home: