The Hinckleys: September 2009

The month of August was an interesting one in the Hinckley house. It seems as though it is impossible to have only one stressful thing happen in the span of a month. The month started out with pain from having my wisdom teeth removed. It was annoying to not be able to eat some of my favorite crunchy foods. I really missed my crackers, popcorn, sandwiches, and cereal. While I was dealing with my pain from the gaping holes in my mouth, Dave began to have a major tooth pain from a badly filled cavity. We were a pathetic sight to see. There was definitely too much complaining going on in the house of Hinckley. Dave finally went back to the dentist and he was told that he need to have a root canal. We weren't really excited at the thought of paying for more teeth issues, especially because I had just gotten laid off from Nature's Way and we are trying to save money.

After we found out about Dave's tooth we were slammed with truck problems. Dave couldn't start his truck because of a bad battery connection. The cable in his truck was barely holding on when we opened the hood. One day we spent an entire morning trying to get it started to take it to our mechanic. FINALLY, we got it started only to take it to the mechanic and find out that we needed to pay about $300 to fix it.

We fixed the truck only to run into our next problem...I started to have a BAD allergic reaction to the amoxicillin I took after my oral surgery. At first, we didn't know what I was allergic to, but we thought maybe I sat it grass that had a chemical on it. The hives were mild at first, but after a couple of weeks I began to have hives from head to toe. I was miserable!!! I couldn't take enough Benadryll to fix my problem. At one point in time I sat in the tub covered in baking soda to see if that would stop the itching. Finally, after two visits to the doctor and a few visits to the chiropractor I was starting to get better. Dave and I are still behind on sleep from the past month.

Although we had a hard month, after writing this blog we realized that our problems weren't that bad and we are grateful for the opportunity to grow from our trials and experiences. We are both doing well now and are happy that the month of August has past. We are looking forward to September, especially because we get to visit Mom and Dad Hinckley and Scott and Sara at the end of the month.

Dave and I had the wonderful opportunity to go to Hawaii with my family the beginning of this summer. We had a blast and recommend that everyone visit Maui someday; it is fantastic! Thanks mom and dad for letting Dave and I tag along!

The first day we decided to wake up at about 3 am to go to the top of a volcano to watch the sunrise. That might seem really early, but there is a four hour time difference between Utah and Hawaii; it felt like 7 am to us.

The sunrise was beautiful! It was quite the experience. It was also very freezing because we were standing on top of a high volcano. I never thought I could be so cold in Hawaii!

After the sunrise we had a big day planned; we decided to drive the road to Hana. The road to Hana is a very famous Highway that is as beautiful as it is dangerous. The road was very narrow and curvy. There was even a time when we had to honk the horn before we went around a corner because if we didn’t we could have a collision with any oncoming traffic.

This journey was started with very apprehensive feelings. The Taylor family struggles with curvy roads and car sickness. Bryant was the first to get sick. Below is a picture of us showing him our sympathies.

We decided to brave the highway as there were very cool sites to see along the way. We began our journey the opposite way most people went. My mom read that one side of the Hana Hwy isn’t as twisty so we thought this would be best for our weak stomachs.

After miles of narrow unpaved road while traveling 15 mph we doubted our decision to go this way. We now understood why most people didn’t go this way. It was miserable! I think we all secretly wanted to be out of our huge fifteen passenger van.

Our first destination was the Seven Sacred Pools. We read in our Maui Revealed book that it was a must see. We hiked about a mile to get there and we couldn’t believe what we saw! The water levels were so low that the seven sacred pools were more like the seven sacred puddles. We were all so hot that all we wanted to do was jump in a refreshing pool. The water smelled so bad that we didn’t think it would be the wisest decision to jump in the pools.

Our spirits weren’t broken yet, our next stop was going to be the amazing Hamoa beach known for great body surfing! We all piled in the van and started once again on the bumpy highway. After driving for about 15 minutes we ran into the most horrific, unimaginable thing we have ever seen…

All we could do was laugh to keep ourselves from crying. It was very ironic that we chose the worst way to get to Hana and then we ran into a road closed sign. I said a quick prayer that we wouldn’t have to go back through the unpaved road.

My mom saw a man walking down the hill so she decided to ask if we could pass. After telling him that we would all go ballistic if we couldn’t pass he told her that he would go ask the workers if it would be okay if we passed through the construction. While he was gone I experienced the longest 5 minutes of my life! When he came back he said that we could pass if we could go unnoticed. My mom was so happy she offered him some of the candy we had in the car. I think he thought we were crazy, but I bet he has never drove to Hana in a 15 passenger van with sick people.

Finally after our terrible morning we made it to Hamoa beach; it was like heaven on earth! We had such a good time body surfing in the refreshing water that we didn’t want to get back in the van.

We drove for one more hour and we finally reached Hana only to find expensive food and cheap souvenirs. I don’t know if Hana was quite the destination we were all hoping for. We survived the rest of the Hana Highway and kissed the condo floor when we walked in. Thank you Hamoa beach for making our long day not seem as horrible!

I believe we all became closer after cheating death on the bumpy narrow Road to Hana. I think we all thanked Heavenly Father for paved roads in our prayers that night.

The rest of our time in Hawaii was quite enjoyable. We traveled to many different beaches and saw many cool sites. Some of the other highlights include a zipline adventure, exploring many beaches, seeing sea turtles while snorkeling, snorkeling at the molekini reef, and watching the sunset while enjoying dinner from Hawaiian Mixed Plate Restaurant. It was a fabulous trip; one that we will never forget!