Ok so we’re officially back. Will practically had to child-lock the car on the way to Lihue Airport to get me to come back. I was determined to stay!
Like I said before, when we were doing some research prior to the trip we came to the conclusion that hotels were really not our style and they were really expensive, yikes! So off we went, tents and sleeping bags in tow, we figured it was a way less expensive way to go that would also allow us to see more of the island.
Once we landed in Lihue, after an amazing flight, (thank you Alaska Airlines for taking such good care of us) we grabbed our rental car and headed right to the state office (only about a ten minute drive from the airport). After about an hour we were all set up with permits for the whole trip, and for less than $100 total! Some of the federal sites are more expensive than the state run ones, federal running about $20-$30 per night and state ones running as little as $5 per night! I’ll go over the differences in the sites in another post to give ya’ll the low down on the spots.
All in all we decided on four different locations. Since the airport is located on the east side of the island we decided to hang out there for the first few days and get the feel for the place. After that, the plan was to head up north near Hanalei Bay, and then over to the west coast near the Nai Pali Coast, then we’ll wrap up the adventure down south. More to come on all the details and explorations of each stop!