July 5

It's 31,500 steps later for me and I'm about ready to head to bed (even though the clock tells me it's only 8:30). Today we hit the road bound for Waimea and the road to the Waimea Canyon. As the crow flies, Waimea isn't actually all that far from Koloa (where we're staying), but of course, everything takes a little longer (and speed limits are much lower) in Hawai'i so you roll with it.

Adam found a new-to-us hiking trail, and after we'd hit the Waimea Canyon and Kalalau lookout points (which were both quite clear today -- they're the bottom left and center photos), we went adventuring. And an adventure it was: since we rented a four-wheel drive truck this time, he opted for a four-wheel drive only access road, and it was a stomach-churner. (Two notable points: he actually had to get out of the car to remove a fallen tree branch from our path, and one section of the road was badly washed out and resulted in a very bumpy ride that elicited a range of reactions, from me squeezing my eyes shut and holding my breath to Abby and the Little Boys humming the music from Indiana Jones. But I digress.) We arrived at the trail head for the Alakai Swamp Trail unscathed and set off for our 3.5 mile (each way... that's seven total for you number lovers out there) hike. The trail wasn't exactly what we'd expected: there were several steep climbs and descents, and it covered a wide range of terrain, from thick forest featuring heavy foliage to barren swamp land (which, as I read a few minutes ago, is actually the world's highest altitude swamp. There's your random nugget for today). We even climbed down (and then back up) a succession of steps that totaled 262.

At several points, I wanted to turn back. I wasn't sure that my knees-of-specious-quality could handle the inconsistent terrain (or the return voyage back up all. Those. Stairs). And I wasn't so sold on the succession of boards in various stages of repair that'd been set up to make the journey through the swamp less... swampish. (Though as an aside, both Isaac and Brady lost shoes in the mud (and recovered them, but there's nothing quite like the sucking sound mud can make when it's trying to eat a shoe. It was gross but totally made me laugh out loud.) Anyway, my desire to see something neat outweighed my frustration over the path, so we pressed onward, and it's good that we did, because we wound up enjoying a breathtaking view in person. (See the big photo.) Since it's a fairly low-traffic island destination, the Kilohana Lookout point is very small. But the impact is huge, and we were blessed that today was so clear that we could look out into the distance and see not only Hanalei on the North Shore, but also a little white dot that we're pretty sure was the Kilauea Lighthouse. Then on the way back home, we stopped by Jojo's for some shave ice (of course).

So to sum it all up, have faith, keep going, and you'll see amazing things in this life, even if it seems like those amazing things are taking a very long time to show up.