Hawaii-Helicopter Tour, Church and More

Our first full day on Kauai we went on a helicopter tour of the island. Amazing, but I will admit, it made me, and some of the other flyers, very queazy!

We went on the helicopter tour with two of the other couples on the trip.

Our flight director/photographer was a character! Hang loose!

Lunch at The Feral Pig

It was tasty. But VERY filling! Between the helicopter and the Feral Pig, by stomach had too busy a day!

Back at the resort, Del rented some snorkel equipment. I had my fill of snorkeling on Maui a few years back, when I got tossed around like a rag doll, so I was a beach observer for this outing.

On Sunday, Del and I found an LDS church in Kolohea. It is always fun to go to church in a new spot, and every time we do it, we leave saying, "Yeah, I can see is being happy if we lived here."

I think that is because when you have a connection to people through Christ, you can feel at home anywhere. 

A few of the things that made attending church in Kolohea unique were...
-As we waited for the meeting to start, a nice woman came around and chatted with many people in the chapel, and she told us she takes a poll each week to see where the most visitors are from that week! Guess they are used to unfamiliar faces!

-As the meeting started they announced from the pulpit that if there were any General Authorities in the congregation, they were welcome to come up on the stand to preside at the meeting. President Uchdorf had been in the meeting the week before, and Elder Nelson the week before that. There actually was a General Authority in the conegregation on the day we were there. I did not recognize him, and forgot his name!
-At the end of the meeting, the congregation stood, and sang a traditional Hawaiian goodbye song to a family that was moving back to the mainland. It was beautiful, and so cool!
-Something that is not unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in any ward, and is very kind, is that the congregation shares their garden bounty. We were given an avocado from the bishop's yard as we left! One of Del's reps, Collin, challenged me to a guacamole making cook-off! I think we need to follow through with that!

On our way back to the resort, we stopped in Kalua for some shave ice. A little out of the normal routine for our Sundays that normally don't include shopping.

Bummer, I can't ever get the ice cream on the bottom, because they usually have macadamia and vanilla as options, and I worry about cross-contamination.

We had all day before our evening flight home. So we drove to the North Shore of the island. It is a pretty drive! Lots of traffic, because the road we took is basically the only route to get there! Princeville and Hanalei on the North Shore are beautiful spots. As is usually the case on the North, it was raining. The middle of the island of Kaui is the wettest spot on Earth! I did not know that!

We took our time, and stopped to take some pictures in Hanalei. This Church is so picturesque!

Hanalei Bay

So pretty. There was a river running through this valley and there were people canoeing on it. It looked so fun! M
Maybe next time!...