Honeymoon Lesson #1

I know everyone wants to hear about the honeymoon, so instead of going day by day through the entire trip, I'll share some highlights through valuable lessons we learned while in Hawaii. Starting with a very important lesson #1:

Ocean Kayaking is the Most Dangerous Activity in the World
(You may even think you will die)

We are not new to kayaking, so after perusing the Oahu guidebook - I jumped on the kayaking as our first big activity in Hawaii. Yes, I will admit that it was my idea. We found a reputable looking rental company that would rent you the boat for the day, point you in the right direction and see you when you were finished. Upon rental, we were given the option of single kayaks or double. We immediately turned our noses up at the double since we've done this before in single boats and the double always looked ultra lame. Do we look lame? I think not. After signing our lives away and watching a safety video, we were told to look at the the "map" of the suggested kayaking route. This should have been our first clue, as the map looked something like a cartoon. Hmmm.

A short time later, we drug our kayaks on the beach to the put-in spot, only to be staring at massive waves that we somehow had to get past while sitting in a piece of plastic and using a flimsy paddle. At this moment the panic began to set in. I have no pictures of this moment, due to our camera being safely tucked away in the dry bag, but it looked something like this:

Now, I may not look strong, but I'm tough. And even more important - stubborn. So, I wasn't going to let a little wave keep me from enjoying the day. TB and I both somehow manage to get past the wake. Phew. Crisis averted, right? Wrong. I then encountered the wind. My stubbornness and 105 lbs was no match for the trade winds of Hawaii. I was losing ground and quickly saw myself being smashed against a sea wall. My mind seems to remember something like this:

At this point, I may have panicked. OK, I panicked. Big time. I began politely asking TB to help me (although he'll say I yelled) and all he could do was stare at me blankly. I realized at this moment, that although TB can help me do lots of things, I was on my own here. Realizing this was a lost cause, we bailed, drug the kayaks back down the beach to the kayak store and quietly asked for a lame 2 person boat.
With the aid of my new burly beefcake husband (hehe), we were finally able to go somewhere with the kayak. Our destination was an island and bird sanctuary just off the coast. We had a little picnic lunch, snorkeled and enjoyed the scenery (please ignore the calm looking water, it must have calmed a bit from when I first attempted to go at this in a single kayak):