National Park Week 2015

This week is National Park Week here in the States. And what better way to celebrate than to visit one for free! This weekend, April 18th and 19th all National Parks are free!

The US has 59 National Parks, hopefully one is near you!

{Acadia, Source}

I have been to a few, including: Acadia (Maine), Carlsbad Caverns (New Mexico), Haleakala (Hawaii), Hawaii Volcanoes (Hawaii), Hot Springs (Arkansas), and Redwood (California). I may have been to a few others and don't remember :) Here is a full list.

{Hawaii Volcanoes}

{Haleakala, Summit District}

{Haleakala, Kipahulu District}

 

Have you visited any National Parks?

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Osprey Customer Care

We bought our hiking equipment for our trip to Hawaii back in July or August of 2012, when we got to Hawaii in November and hit the trail we realized that our Osprey Hydraform Reservoir was leaking! But we couldn't figure out from where. - We did clean it before we left but the leak was so slow we didn't see it.

After we got back and after all the hustle from the holidays had calmed down I emailed Osprey's customer service. I gave them all the information they asked for and then got an email saying, "Your new reservoir is being shipped" AWESOME!!! All I had to do was mail the old one back! I was really impressed with their customer service and this makes me a happy customer of theirs! If you would like to purchase one, click the link below!

 



Osprey 3 Liter Hydraform Reservoir - Clear (Google Affiliate Ad)

Day 9: Swamp Trail & Day 10: Mainland Bound

Pu'u o Kila Lookout

Today we decided to take another stab at the hiking thing and venture on an 8 mile (possibly 10 if a gate was closed) hike. Well…the gate was OPEN!!! YAY!!! We started at the Pu'u o Kila Lookout (which is an easy walk to see the view to your left <---) and trekked 2 miles on the Pihea Trail until it crossed with Alakai Swamp Trail. The swamp trail was another 2 miles until we reached the Kilohana Lookout. WOW and AMAZING are the only things I can say to describe the views that I saw. We were lucky, it was a clear day and we were able to see Hanalei Bay from the lookout. We stopped to take pictures and have lunch and then we turned right back around for the 4 miles back to the car.

Pihea Trail

Swamp Trail

Kilohana Lookout

This hike was pretty treacherous, lots of slippery clay and 75 degree inclines to climb. The swamp did have boards for you walk on so that was nice and made it easier. Considering how slippery it was I only sort of slipped (I caught myself) and my husband slipped big time but did not fall. :P So the only thing muddy was our shoes! After that we passed JoJo's Shave Ice on the way back to the hotel and got some goooood shave ice! I think the best on the whole island! The building was a little sketchy but it was totally fine.

We stopped to get the next day's breakfast from Koloa Mills Ice Cream & Coffee and then back to the Sheraton to start packing up.

Day 10: Mainland Bound

We slept in (FINALLY) and then drove to the post office to ship home some of our muddy hiking equipment and presents we had bought for friends and family. After that we just chilled and took in the beach one last time before checking out late and heading to the airport around 2pm…where we waited again until our flight at 5:30pm. We got to Honolulu around 6:15pm and waited in the United Lounge (and snacked on the free food) until our flight…then we were on our way back home!

I hope you enjoyed our travels and pictures of Kauai! Did you miss a day? See the links below:

Day 1: The Garden Isle
Day 2: The Hike that almost Killed Me
Day 3: Journey to the North Shore
Day 4: The Sunny South
Day 5: Cruisin' the Coconut Coast

Day 6: Na Pali Snorkel

Day 7: Secret Gardens

Day 8: Where the Road Ends

Aloha and Mahalo Kauai, it was fun!

Day 2: The Hike that Almost Killed Me

2 miles in and we had 3.8 to get to the vista

Day 1: The Garden Isle

Day two began with a drive across the island to Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Park. We headed up pretty early since we had a VERY long hike to do. We stopped briefly at Puu Hinahina Lookout and then continued on our way to park at the Awa'awapuhi Trail head. Once we parked, it was 7:30am, we walked about 2 miles to the Nu'alolo Trail head and officially began the hike. We walked 3.8 miles to the Lolo Vista and had a lunch break. After that we backed tracked about .5 miles to pick up the Nu'alolo Cliff Trail, a 2.1 mile trail that took us the Awa'awapuhi Trail. We walked the .3 miles to the vista and then walked all the way back to the car, another 3.1 miles! That is 11.8 miles people!!!! Our pedometer read just over 11 miles but who's counting at point! After it was all said and done (we finished around 2:45pm)I would say it was a pretty difficult hike but well worth it for the views. This was the first real hike I would say I have gone on. I have taken long walks up and down rolling hills but nothing compares to this. I also think I had some bad inserts in by hiking boots and that also lead to my demise on the hike… Kauai 1 – Alexa 0!

Lolo Vista

After the hike we drove back to the hotel and washed up in time to have dinner at Rum Fire, the Sheraton's resort restaurant. It was Thanksgiving Day and they were only offering the buffet, which I was hoping they would offer their regular menu as well as buffets don’t make sense for me cost wise. They had the traditional turkey dinner and then they had sushi. My husband said the sushi was really good but my traditional meal was just okay. I also thought it was WAY overpriced.

Awa'awapuhi Vista

To stay hydrated we used Camelbaks, get yours here!

Mahalo! 

Norway in a Nutshell

So the Bergen trip was suppose to be the 1^st weekend we got to Norway but because of a huge conference or concert or something all the hotels and hostels were booked to capacity. So we went on this trip a few weeks into our time there. This trip consists of a train ride from Hønesfoss to Bergen on the West coast of Norway. We stay there for a few days and take a bus, ferry, and train back to Hønesfoss. So when picking how we wanted to sleep at the Bergen YMCA you could sleep in a room of 4 people with a private bathroom or sleep in a room of 32 with a shared bathroom! HA, Amanda and I opted for the 4 per room, Jack and Anne Marit (from class) opted for the 32 person room. We bunked with Leo (fun Turkish guy from class) and Marine (a wonderful French girl from class). Well Jack and Anne Marit realized what they had done and asked if they could stay with us; of course!!! So we pretty much had a hug slumber party for a few days. Our American teacher from Texas Tech that went with us and was also teaching one of our classes, had asked which ones of us wanted to take a hike up the mountain range (Mount Floyen)? It will only take 4-5hrs he said. So being the adventurous bunch we are we decided that this was a good idea…well not so much. The tram that they usually take to get up the steep part of the mountain was out of order so we had to hike up that part and then continue along the mountain range to our final destination. Well…the trip took about 7hrs (all effing day!), we ran out of water and had to drink from a natural spring, and none of us had any food left. Since it took all day we didn't get to see much of the city since the next day was Sunday and not a lot was open. So this is the place I want to go when I head back there, from what I saw of it, it’s an artsy little city.

the famous houses in Bergen

on the train ride to Bergen...snow in June!

Finally we are ready to head home! Taking the ferry was one of the highlights! We floated down Norway’s biggest fjord. Such still water and beautiful landscapes! We get off in this little town called Flåm. Then we got on this little, old fashioned train that twists and turns within the mountains and then we got on a normal train back to Hønefoss. We had 2 quizzes the next day so I tried to study but that just didn't happen…as a result the quizzes didn't go too well either :P

Finally at the top of the mountain

time to reflect?

the fjord

huge waterfall we saw while on the old fashion train