Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Whales!

After two vacations in Hawaii during whale season, I finally spotted the gentle giants! At the end of the day, as the kids were heading back into the water near sunset for more snorkeling, there it was. The plume of mist shooting up into the air. Then a black body, then tail. There were probably four whales together, and yes, I was quite far away, but they were surfacing and motoring around the island. I've never seen this. And I've even paid big bucks to be taken out on one of those "whale sighting excursions". Yea!!! I've always wanted to see this!
Anyway, first the kids swam in the hotel pool for a while. Here are Bob and Bobby by a little waterfall between pools.


Then we drove over to Waimea Canyon and Ko'kee State Park to hike to the falls. It was about a four hour hike and very beautiful, but also quite different from the Na'Pali hike. The kids loved the jungle. My calves are very tight.
While we were at the Waimea official "Lookout", a rainbow appeared inside the canyon:

Family pic:


But we were here to hike it, so we found the trailhead and began. Here is me with the kids probably getting a little too close to the edge:
We hiked about two hours to get here. On the way up, we met an Ottwa/Ojibwe Indian named Two Dogs, whom we hiked with for a while - super interesting guy. Anyway, he brought a drum with him and sang songs at the top of the canyon, and told us about them and what they meant. He also told us that Minnesota actually means "The Creator playing tricks with you". Makes sense considering that with all the lakes, you constantly have to drive around them whenever you are trying to get someplace.
He also said that a couple of elders in his tribe has passed away in the last year and he was singing for them. How cool was this.
Tomorrow our flight is at 11:30 p.m., so we have one more full day...

15 comments:

Tri Mom said...

Jenny! Thanks for letting me re-live our vacation from Sept. to Kauai! You've been to all of my favorite places. When you talked about Bob slipping and hanging on to some brush up on the Napoli coast I could just invision where you were. The Canyon...different but BEAUTIFUL! And yes..you were close to the edge. It was one of those photos where your heart skips a beat when you look at it. Enjoy your last day, and thanks for the stirring up some great memories. Here's to Hawaii!

Iron Girl Nyhus said...

Great family picture...

Laura

Carrie said...

The rainbow photo is so cool. Glad you got to see the whales. Now how about the dolphins? You seem destined to swim with the dolphins!

21stCenturyMom said...

For a split second I thought Bobby was sitting on the whale!

Love the rainbow shot and the whole vacation just sounds like magic!

You will need your sushi hat when you get home :-( Then again, you will get to sleep in your own bed which is always nice.

Tri-Dummy said...

Those pics look fantastic!!!!

Steve Stenzel said...

What a trip!! (and I recognize that black zip-up jacket from a little race this fall).

Happy New Year! See you at the Winter Carnival Half Marathon???

Supalinds said...

Great pics, I am so jealous.

Fantastic way to spend new years!!!

Fe-lady said...

Boy you are seeing much more than we did! And yes, If I had been there taking the pix I would have been freaking out that you were so close to the edge! Other people on the edge of things make me nervous!
Great photos and story about Big Dog or Top Dog...I have forgotten his name already! Sheesh!
Glad you are enjoying your precious time there with your precious family!
Oh-so cool that you saw whales? I have once in October in Maui. Even from far away, they are spectacular to watch!

Jumper 2.0 said...

I love reading about your vacation. Just about daily accounts too.

If only I could feel the warmth of the sun, then I'd feel that I was actually there.

See ya in about a week!

Unknown said...

Glad you saw whales. We were in Maui in March one time and there were whales visible from the hotel every morning...they came pretty close to shore and there were many of them. That year we also went on a whale excursion and got to see even more! It was so exciting!

I love your photos. Thanks for posting about your trip!

triguyjt said...

no more beautiful spot on earth than where you have been.
your family takes an awesome picture...
enjoy 08

trinick67 said...

WOW Jenny, I though we would hear about your trip when you got back, not while your on it. Cool, looks nice and warm, looks like fun.

Nat said...

Great photos. Looks like you're having a fun time!

Anonymous said...
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Bolder said...

happy new year!

omg, i thought bobby was sitting on the whale too!!

i'm shouting at the screen 'BOBBY, GET OFF THE WHALE BEFORE IT EATS YOU AND YOUR FATHER!!!'