Activities for everyone

I have talked before about the many great things that Kauai has to offer as activities. Hiking, Surfing, Shopping, Beachcombing, Snorkeling, fishing, the list goes on and on. If you have mobility issues they are striving to make things a little better. They are in process of creating a 10 mile long paved path along the eastern side of the island that is right along the coast for bikers, joggers, strollers, and us folks who spend our time on 4 wheels. In fact two miles are already up and running and I hope the next time I am there the rest will be too.

I also want to give props to this island state for creating a monster playground that has ramps, for kids or adults with mobility impairments to access multi levels of the structure. Built in the 90's Kamalani Playground is a giant wood play structure that has slides, caves, bridges, swings, and a place for mom and dad to sit and rest while the kids are playing. It is made of wood and has tons of things to look at and play with.

Now for the adventure lovers take one of the many downhill bike tours through Waimea Canyon. It starts at the top of the picturesque site and takes you all the way to the ocean. All down hill. Or you can take a charter to the Napali coast and walk on virgin sand beaches, on the way you will likely see turtles, dolphins, and maybe a whale or two. Sure you can hike to some of them but I prefer an ocean view on my way to secluded beaches.

All this just makes me want to go back. Maybe someday soon.

I LOVE Kauai!!!

Anini Beach on the North Shore

It has taken me a bit of time to gather my thoughts on what I want to say about such a great vacation. It started off a bit rocky (and rainy when we finally got there) but once we arrived at the house we rented it all just fell into place. This rental is very much the kind of house I wish I could own (the floor plan was great, and I would kill for the kitchen and porch), the floor plan was open and airy, the screen porch is where we spent most of the time while we were there, and my son loved running down the hallway as only a 2 year old can (feet slapping on the tile floors...GO!!). I will not lie, this place ruined me for hotels when I am in Hawaii. Yes it was not on the beach, but we were 10 minutes from a beach and we didn't have tourists puking by the front door. Kapaa is very central so we could explore both the north and southern part of the island (not the eastern though as my boy decided to have a tantrum). The amenities of being in a house far outweigh the small inconvenience of having to drive to the beach (which we would have had to do anyway as the western beaches are not very conducive to kids).

Now as I have stated in previous posts it wasn't totally perfect. The doors into the master bathroom were tight, and the guest bathroom my chair couldn't get through at all. Once in the bathroom I had to get creative with the transfers to get in the shower. All that being said if the owner of the house would let me stay there again I would do it in a minute.

Tree Tunnel headed to Poipu

Also something you do not get with a hotel, access to an owner. These folks were great hosts. They were there for the delivery of our crib/high chair, and when the TV didn't work they showed up with a new set so that my son didn't have to watch Thomas the Tank Engine on a portable dvd player. They were great! Highly recommend using the site VRBO also -- this is where we found this listing, and it was such a terrific experience that we will definitely do it again.

Lightening the Load

This is our first family trip. In fact for me this is the first time as an adult that I will have traveled with a toddler. I have discovered that if you have a kid or kids you do not get to travel light. My wife and I really do not want to be lugging stuff through the airport or have to check more bags than necessary. So after some research we have found a great alternative to bringing a caravan. Equipment rental. Now I bet there are some of you out there that are saying "duh, we have been doing this for years". For me it was a bolt of lightning. I called up Ready Rentals and told them that I wanted to rent a crib and highchair, they asked me when I would be there and the address of the rental and voila. It will be set up and ready when I get there.
You can do this with medical equipment too -- I may need to rent a shower bench.

This left us with some wiggle room for bringing something we don't mind lugging with us, my handcycle. I have searched high and low and there are very few places globally that rent this type of item. So I looked up shipping it (very pricey $300 and up for both ways), and then checked with our airlines. They do allow sporting supplies to be checked and my handcycle could be checked for around $75 each way (or we could ship it back as it is cheaper returning to the mainland).

We are less than three weeks out from our trip, and I am SO excited to post some new pictures from Kauai!

We Now Return. . . .

After a very long pause in my blogging status, I have returned to chat about accessible travel with a twist. While I was away I had some major life events happen. After several years we finalized our adoption of a beautiful baby boy. This led to me revamping my travels to kid friendly day trips, zoos, children's museums, and the like, that I didn't think would be that interesting. I needed to wrap my head around what this blog was going to become. I decided that I want to continue to focus on travels that are accessible, but also that are adult and family friendly. Now a year after my wife returned with our son we have decided to do a trip and teach our son the wonders of traveling. We are taking our boy to Hawaii.

We decided that we could all use a return to the beautiful island of Kauai. We have both been there before and really loved it. We started scouring the internet, talking to our travel agents, and talking to people who had stayed there before with kids. This is something new for us. We have always had to think about wheelchair friendly, but now we need kid friendly, and easy going too.

My wife who sparked this wonderful idea works with a woman who turned us onto the website Vacation Rental by Owners. It is a global network of home and condo owners who, as the website states, rent their properties out. We plugged in our requirements: wheelchair friendly (their term), kid friendly, and multi-room. There were many returns for our query. You have to be careful when going through them. You must know the measurements of your chair, what you are physically capable of doing, and most important look at the area. Figure out what is important to be around (i.e. grocery stores, resorts, beaches, or trails). Then start your search.

We were able to find several condos, and finally settled on a wheelchair friendly 3 bedroom home which sets us back a whole $175.00 per night. It is in a nice neighborhood, has a gas BBQ, beach toys and is 5 minutes from the beach. All for less than you can get a hotel in most cities.

We are less than 2 months from our trip and I will tell more soon about some very cool family friendly and accesssible tips as we find them.