Second Honeymoon Giveaway
October 2, 2008
Once there, there was a big sign that warns the hikers to make sure they have plenty of water since people suffer from dehydration on a daily basis. “Who cares?” I told my husband “let’s just go!” Another warning was to do the hike early since it would take hours to go back and forth and the last thing you want is to be stuck on a steep mountain with no lights. Did that restrain me? The lack of water, lack of light and criticism from my husband was not going to stop me. We went for the glory!
It was 3:00pm when we started the hike. The only item I brought with me was my handy-dandy camera with film. We started the hike and I was trying to “rush” through it, going as fast as I could without running. I took picture after picture since it really was an amazing view everywhere I looked. From time to time, I would look back and see my husband taking his sweet time and would kindly remind him that we had to be in and out of the trail before dark. I am too young to die on a mountain!
About an hour into the trail I noticed something funny; everyone was coming back from the trail and no one was going to the trail. We were the only ones. But was that going to stop me? Of course not. I asked a few hikers that were coming back how much longer to the famous “river/beach” and they said “about 40 minutes”. My husband was still lagging behind.
Forty minutes later, I asked another couple how much longer, “approximately 30 minutes” they replied. “30 minutes?” I asked confused. “They told me 40 minutes, 40 minutes ago!” We kept going. At this point I asked everyone I saw coming back from the trail. After a while, I asked only for amusement since the answer was always either 30 or 20 minutes, this was well two hours after I had asked the first time.
I lost my husband. At this point I was by myself and kept asking “how much longer?” and would get the same “20” or “30 minutes”. “Are you by yourself?” people would ask concerned. “Well, I started the trail with my husband. But at this point he might be dead”. They would give me a look of utter amazement and I would keep walking.
The trail is at times, rocky, steep, and narrow and for long stretches very muddy. So muddy that at one point while walking downwards I fell flat on my butt, hurting every muscle in my body. At this point, I decided it would be a good idea to stop and wait to see if my husband was behind me or if indeed I would be going back home a widow.
Ten minutes later, he appeared, somehow aged approximately 10 years. “Are you ok?” I asked, he decided to not answer, but rather give me the look of death. He only decided to speak to me once he saw my backside and laughed at the fact that I had obviously fallen flat on my fanny. “My love” he said sarcastically yet kindly, “you fell!” I immediately barked back, “Thanks Captain Obvious!” Mr. Suave continued, “that’s because you are not walking correctly, this is how you walk when it’s muddy.” And just like in a comedic movie just as he said those words and was supposedly showing me the proper way, my husband fell flat on his butt. We both laughed hysterically, and continued our journey.
This time 40 minutes later for real we came across a family and I asked how much longer. “You’re almost there,” the mom answered, “but it’s about to get dark so I recommend to take pictures and run back before you get stuck on the mountain”. Oh, this was serious. We rushed to the famous river/beach and it really was spectacular indeed. And to add irony to the story, my handy dandy film camera had run out of pictures! My husband was ready to strangle me, “how could you run out of pictures?” “I don’t know the view was so beautiful. I lost track of how many pictures I was taking!” And it was true; the view from above the mountain is spectacular. One side of the Kauai coast is visible and is simply astonishing.
We were so concerned about it getting dark and us being stuck on the mountain that we did not even actually go to the beach, we just admired it for 1 minute from the river and we started to go back.
On the way back, my husband was even slower than on the way there. I immediately noticed something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?” I asked him. “I’m not feeling well, I am very dizzy, and I need water!” Oh no! I guess there is a reason why there is a big sign that says to bring plenty of water. They weren’t kidding. “Honey, you can’t walk slowly, we must go fast before it gets dark or we will be stuck on this mountain! Just keep going” But he couldn’t, the Mai Tai’s got to him. I felt terrible. For the first time in my life, I was really scared and there was no one around to help. We rested for a minute and I forced him to keep walking. I walked by his side in case he got so dizzy he would get off balance and fall off the cliff.
Just when I thought he was not able to make it anymore, I prayed to every God, Angel, Fairy, and Gnome out there so that they could send people out there in case we needed help. Just then, we saw a group of people come behind us. I did not ask where they came from and to this day they have no idea how grateful I am that they were there. Once I saw them, I told my husband we had to stay with them thus he had to be strong and keep going. And he did. And we made it all the way to the end.
As a treat for enduring such a painful and near-tragic experience we decided to jump in the ocean at the foot of the trail which was absolutely striking. The water was warm and as soon as we jumped in the water, the sun set. Perfect timing.
When we opened the door of our cars I discovered something truly horrifying: roaches, and lots of them! These little critters wait until its night time to make their grand appearance and when I saw them I could not help but scream; something that annoys my husband to no end. “Screaming won’t help any!” “It’s a reaction! I can’t help it!” I was later told that since the North Shore of Kauai is so wet, it’s considered a paradise for roaches.
We made it to the hotel safely and cleaned up. We were hungry and wanted to go to town have a bite to eat. Not sure why I thought that by now the roaches would have a change of heart and decide to bother other tourists, but we returned to the car and this time there was double the amount of roaches in the car. I told my husband that I would rather starve than get in.
We decided to return to the hotel’s restaurant “Mediterranean Gourmet” even though I usually don’t go to the same restaurant twice since I like to try as many as I can. But under these circumstances, I was happy to return to this restaurant.
Due to the fact that it was near closing time, we decided to just order some appetizers and not annoy the waiter. The Ceviche was really tasty but what blew our mind was a few desserts that Nancy, the wedding coordinator sent over to our table after she spotted us. They were the Maui Pineapple Upside Down Cake and the Coconut Baklava. To die for!
We went back to our hotel room and went to bed.
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Photos Compliments of Island Echoes Photography
