I had always dreamed about going on the vacation of a lifetime, but so far I had never gone on one. I wanted to go someplace where I could see and do things that I would never forget. My parents are big outdoors people and so their idea of a great vacation is to go on a hiking adventure in some mountains somewhere. I myself am more of a sit back and relax in the resort kind of guy and so I was  surprised and very excited when I got the news that finally we would be going on the vacation that I had always dreamed of.

            For me the excitement started in January when my parents told us that we would be going to Kauai. This was probably in my top three of places that I wanted to go at least once in my life and I couldn't believe that it was actually real! When they told us we pretty much freaked out and started asking questions in a daze of happiness. But then they told us that we were going in exactly one hundred days and that subdued us just a little bit. Slowly the days passed by until finally it was the day for us to go to the airport and get on the plane.

            When we got to the airport I could barely contain my excitement! This was the first time I had ever been to Hawaii and I couldn’t wait to see all the fish and the animals and just everything. But the prospect of about an eight hour flight made me a little less eager to step on the plane. But I got on the plane none the less and it turned out to not be too bad of a flight. After about a half hour layover in Los Angeles, we were finally on our way out over the ocean to Hawaii. At about six thirty P.M. Kauai time, we landed in the airport and I woke up from a very long nap.

 My first impression of Kauai was how humid it was. It felt like I had just gotten out of the shower and all the hot steam was still in the air around me and I almost started to feel claustrophobic because the air was so heavy. After about an hour long drive in our rented minivan, we finally reached our resort in Princeville. The very first thing I did was put on my swim suit and go for a swim in the resort pool and then I went back to our condo and went to bed because it had been such a long day and I was exhausted.

The next day we took votes on what we would do first that morning and the unanimous vote was to go snorkeling. We drove about twenty minutes and eventually reached a beautiful beach with white sand and palm trees everywhere. The water was a sparkling blue and was the perfect temperature for swimming. While we were snorkeling we saw so many tropical fish and even a sea turtle! I hung around with the turtle for a little bit after everybody got bored of it and eventually I got close enough to touch it. But when it tried to bite me I swam off to find a friendlier thing to look at. After we got done snorkeling we ate lunch on the beach and lay out on the sand to try and add some color to our skin. We then went back to the condo and got cleaned up and then went to go look at the town and go shopping and find somewhere to go for dinner that night.

When I woke up the next morning it was to the smell of pancakes and bacon being cooked and I knew it was going to be a good day. That day we went for a hike through the rain forest to a secluded waterfall at the top of a mountain. And when they call it the rain forest they aren't kidding. It poured on us the entire time. The rain fell so fast and thick that it was really hard to see the even the trail or the person in front of you.  I don’t like hiking very much but when it started to rain I loved it! After we got back from our hike, we decided to go body boarding and surfing out in the hanaleigh bay. That was really fun as well and we got some pretty good waves.

The following day was one of my favorites while we were there. We rented kayaks and kayaked up a river for about six miles to a waterfall. What was really cool about it was seeing all the fish swimming beneath us and looking for animals in the thick trees that lined both sides of the river. This trip took us about three hours and by the time we were done we were all so exhausted and decided just to spend the rest of the day hanging out in our condo.

The next six days went by much like the first three. We snorkeled and surfed and hiked and swam and shopped all the way up until the day when it was finally time for us to go back to reality and the life that we live back in Centerville, Utah. When we stepped off the plane in Salt Lake, I was so depressed.  I wanted just to go back and live in Kauai and leave Centerville behind but still bring all my friends with me. Unfortunately that didn't happen and here I am now writing about the vacation of a lifetime and wishing I was there right now.