Our last full day on Kauai was jam packed with fun! We spent most of the day hanging out in Hanalei on the bay watching the teenage boys jump off the pier a million times. The bay is gorgeous and it’s a nice spot to learn how to surf so you can sit under the pavilion at the end of the pier and watch people try to catch their first wave. Your senses are on overload with all the colors that surround you. Brilliant blue skies and mountains covered in vivid greens compete with the tranquil blue-green water. It’s a lovely place and one that I will float off to in my dreams for years to come I’m sure. The only thing that pulled us away was our planned horseback ride at Silver Falls Ranch.

The ranch is near Kilaeua town and runs adjacent to the Kamookoa Ridge. The rides take you through all kinds of varied landscapes in and around the Makaleha Caldera. The ranch is absolutely gorgeous and even if you don’t take a horseback tour, I recommend driving up Kahiliholo Road just to see the beautiful properties along there. We booked the Tropical Trails Adventure which is a 3 hour trip. Our guide relayed lots of stories about the history of the island and also about the filming of the Jurassic Park movies. Lush ferns and wild orchids decorated the trail as we meandered around to Silver Falls. You’ll see that our beautiful blue skies turned dark and we had some rain towards the end of our ride. The trail quickly turned muddy and it was a bit of a slog going up and down the hills, but it was fun to really work the horses to find alternate routes through areas. Jason was following me and every time I heard some laughing I knew I had been hit with more red mud from his horse’s monster hooves.  Luckily, we stopped for lunch in one of the ranches cabanas at Silver Falls shortly after it started. Their bento lunches with warm teriyaki chicken and rice definitely hit the spot. After lunch we had the chance to take a dip in Silver Falls, but the only takers were the two (crazy) boys. I probably should just have changed into my suit and joined them because I was completely drenched taking pictures and video of them anyway. All in all, some wet jeans didn’t dampen our fun. I will however have a permanent reminder of the ride since my jeans now have a interesting red splatter pattern all along the back of them!

Here’s a little video of our fun!