Lund Rover

Friday November 16, 2018 We had an even earlier start this morning to drive the 50 minutes to get to our helicopter tour check-in time at 7:15 am. After arriving they promptly told us to take a seat since the safety briefing wouldn't start until 7:45. (major eye roll) After a quick, but thorough, briefing we piled into a van with 4 other people and were bussed to the helipads. Once there they lined us up all nice and neat in our passenger order, we clipped on our fannypack-style life vests, were walked out to the pad single file and told to stand on the marks with our corresponding seat numbers painted on the ground. We were then ushered up party by party to snap a picture in front of the helicopter, before being boarded one at a time, in a very orderly fashion, according to our seat assignments. As we entered the helicopter a worker assisted each passenger into his/her seat, helped them strap on the safety belts, and made sure the headphones were in working order so we coul...

Thursday November 15, 2018 We woke up to blue skis and great weather, which was a first up in Princeville. Wanting to to take advantage of the good weather on the northern end of the island we decided to check out the public beach at the St. Regis; the hotel being only 100 yards down the road. We took our time getting ready that morning and found some cluuuuuutch beach chairs stashed away in the "beach closet" along with some old snorkel gear. After cooking a yummy breakfast and loading up we took off walking for the beach. Even with what seemed like a late start we still managed to arrive at the beach around 9am, and had it allll to ourselves. By around 10 am other beachgoers started trickling in and by 11 it was pretty crowded. Made for some excellent people watching though. Our favorite being a cute asian couple with a lady completely decked out in all things snorkel, INCLUDING water-wings haha. As the temperatures rose we decided to check out the reef; grab...

November 14, 2018 We had to wake up fairly early to drive the 40 minutes required to get to our check-in location for our Wailua Kayak Tour at 7:30am. Being used to MT (3 hrs ahead) made it not too bad for me though. We booked this tour up the Wailua River to the Secret Falls through Kayak Wailua. Overall we had a great experience with them; after checking-in, getting our kayak (a double+1 due to Johns "oversized" 6'4" frame haha) meeting our guide named Jason, and going over a quick safety brief and kayak 101 lesson, they bussed us to the dock and we took off up the river. We decided to do the 8 am tour because they have a cheaper "early-bird special," and I'm really happy we did. The morning may have been a bit rushed, but we were one of the first kayak groups in the water. We only saw one other couple kayaking the river outside our group. Going early also meant the temperature wasn't too bad either. Jason was good at pointing out coo...

Tuesday November 13, 2018 After long travel times that lead to a late night the day before we took our first full day on the island pretty slow. Our condo was located on the northern shore in Princeville, a place we’d soon refer to as “country-club mecca,” and we woke up to a pretty drizzly day. We decided to not let that stop us though, and after finding some umbrellas stashed in the condo, took off on a walk to explore the area. Our walk took us along a pretty green belt path with an awesome ocean overlook about 200 yards down the road from our complex. After snapping some pictures we continued on, skirting around the edges of a pretty golf  course, and through a neighborhood to the parking lot for Queens Bath. Our initial plan was to head right down the trail and check it out, but after one look at the trail we realized we weren’t quite prepared for the muddy endeavor. We decided to walk back, get geared up, and drive back to the trailhead. Unfortunately be the time w...

October 29, 2018 Our first stop Sunday morning was to a little pullout just inside the boundaries of the park called Panorama Point. Honestly I didn't have that high of hopes, but we figured we'd drive up the little road to see what we could see. I think we were all very pleased with what we found. The views were gorgeous! And very "panoramic" I must say. From there we decided to drive down Utah State Route 24 to try and find the Freemont River Waterfall. Unfortunately when we got to the pull out for the falls there was a signed staked up stating no one was aloud to go past the road barrier. Bummer. Heading back from the falls we pulled off a number of times. First was to the Hickman Bridge Trail to hike to the Hickman Natural Bridge. The weather was  perfect for hiking this time of year; nice and crisp and cool without being too chilly. On top of that we nearly had the park to ourselves AND got to witness the brilliant fall colors. It made for...

October 28, 2018 While driving to Zion National Park a few weeks back my sister and I noticed a road sign for Capital Reef National Park. I'm embarrassed to say that neither of us had ever hear of that park. My interest was peaked and during some down time a bit later I decided to look it up. It didn't take long for me to decide it was a place I should definitely check out while I was in such close proximity, only living about 3 hours away from the park. A quick text conversation with my younger sister, Shannon, and it was decided. Her, her husband Alex, and I decided to meet up there for another weekend trip. We met up at a hotel just outside of the park and hopped in to one car to check out the park. This was our first glimpse. This "first glimpse" picture also happens to be the only photo we took all day... so dumb right? Idk what we were thinking, and do apologize. Our first stop was to the Visitor's Center to pick up a park map and kind of plan ou...