Friday Flashback 11 ~ Kaua'i, Hawaii

{March 2007}

This was our vacation to Kaua'i in 07'.
I had been to the island of Oahu before this trip and I have to say that I liked Kaua'i a lot better.
It's a smaller, quieter island with a lot less people. And chickens galore!
We saw a lot of bumper stickers that said- If you love Kaua'i, kill a chicken.
We'd be walking into Walmart and they would be following us right into the store.
They were seriously everywhere! 
I remember the first day we got there it was overcast so we went running out
to play in the ocean without putting sunscreen on and we all got burnt!
That was not so fun but the rest of the time was a blast!
Our condo was right off the beach and the view
we had from our balcony was amazing!

Cori volunteered to be buried cause she's crazy like that.
My sister Kayla is crazy also.
Me, well I'm just regular.

We could probably be part time models if we wanted to.

My mom and I went on a helicopter ride while we were there.
We flew over waterfalls and around the coast to see
the whales jumping out of the water. It was really amazing.
The next day we were driving past the helicopter place and saw cop cars and ambulances.
We were wondering what the heck was going on
and found out later that night that there was a helicopter crash.
The pilot and three of the six passengers had died.
It was the same pilot that we had went up with just the day before.
And the three people that passed away were one of
each of the three couples that were on the flight.
One couple being on their honeymoon.
I was so sad when I heard the news. The pilot was such a nice and funny guy.
I remember being a little nervous, and asking him if he was ever worried about something going wrong
and not being able to coast to safety like a plane might be able to do.
His exact words were- I don't worry about that, I always plan on being home every night for dinner.
He told us stories of when he used to fly helicopters in the Air Force during the 20+ years he did that.
I'm so glad that we were able to get to know him a little bit.
For the rest of the trip I just couldn't help but think of him and his family.
And the spouses and families of the passengers that passed away.
I couldn't even imagine going through something like that.