Our final stop on our Hawaii extravaganza: the oldest island, and without a doubt the least commercial of the islands we visited. While lots of people make it Oahu and Maui, not as many go to Kauai, but they should. (Although maybe then it would become commercial, and de-valued: hence the ever-present trouble of development and tourism.) This island holds the Waimea Canyon, one of my very favorite sites from all the islands, and lots and lots of green and rich red soil that will stain your clothes. I feel like our time on Kauai was rushed, but really our time on all the islands was somewhat rushed. Going on vacation is always a wonderful, eye-opening experience, but with places like Hawaii, at the end of the trip I am split between longing to go back to life at home and just wanting to go back to where I just was, get off the roads and wander around the forests and mountains for days.

Overall, it was a luxury to go and do all the things that we did, which I owe all to my mom and my grandfather.