Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

 

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm is a famous place in Pacific Northwest that celebrates tulip festival every spring. The festival usually runs from beginning of April to the middle of May. Every year it has attracted thousands of visitors. Due to the pandemic last year, Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm has operated with limited capacity last year. This year, the farm is fully open; however, tickets must be purchased online with no exceptions. This allows the farm to control the crowd and traffic.

We purchased our tickets a week early because it looks like the tickets get sold out pretty quickly. We got the sunrise pass ticket which allows us to enter at 5AM in the morning. This would allow us to take photos of sun rising above the tulip field.

We got to Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm right around 5AM in the morning. It was still dark outside but there were already 4 cars ahead of us. The air was chilly in the morning but not extremely cold. We could still see the mist above the farm field. The downside of getting here early is that the gift shop wasn't open until 8AM in the morning. So we stayed in the car until 5:30AM and headed out to the field.

Around 6:10AM in the morning, the sun rises above the horizon, right behind Mount Hood. We could see many photographers with the tripod set and taking lots of photos. It was a stunning experience to see the sun rise among the tulip. As the temperature was low at night, we could see droplets of water on the tulip flower.

Luckily, the weather was not windy on this day and 3 hot air balloons were launched. It was our first time seeing the hot air balloon so close in person. The hot air balloon flows right above the tulip field. Sometimes it even got really close to the ground and simply glide over the field.

As the day gets brighter, more people came in and brought their dogs as well. We saw a lady walking with 10 dogs! All 10 dogs were the same breed and very well behaved. The lady asked her dogs to sit by the tulip and not to move so that she could take photos of them. It was really cute.

Among the tulip field, there were also tractors zig zagging through the field. Some of these tractors look rather old. The date on the tractor indicated it was from 1950s. Although the tractors go extremely slow, we still had to be very careful not to get in front of it.

At the gift shop area, there were also food carts serving food for the visitors to purchase. There were even playgrounds for younger kids to play and have fun. The rest rooms are the portable ones behind the gift shop.

This was our first time visiting Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm at sun rise. We had to wake up every early for this but it was much better than we thought. It was not crowded there and we could take all kinds of photos we want. We really enjoyed our time there. We were also able to leave early and continue to do our chores during the day. Definitely recommend to do the sun rise pass for anyone who would like to visit!

Dry Creek Falls

 

Dry Creek Falls is a popular weekend getaway destination near Portland. Dry Creek Falls hiking trail is only about 2.5 miles long with little elevation gain. The trail head is located about an hour East of Portland and easily accessible by car. The parking area by the trail head has space for about 15 cars, but people can always park just a little further along the street.

We left Portland around 7:30AM in the morning and got to the trail head around 8:30AM in the morning. There were only 2 cars there when we arrived and plenty of parking space available. The hiking trail to Dry Creek Falls is along Pacific Crest Trail. The first part of the trail was a bit muddy but the trail was very well maintained.

After about 50 minutes, we got to the junction that intersects with another trail that leads to Dry Creek Falls. There was a wooden bridge that leads Pacific Crest Trail further, but the sign indicated that the way to Dry Creek Falls is on the right side. So don't cross the wooden bridge if you are heading to Dry Creek Falls.

When we got to Cry Creek Falls, the waterfall was taller than we thought with lot of water pouring down. There were also 2 dogs running around by the waterfalls, it was a great scenery. There was a concrete bridge built to allow people to walk across the stream of water to the other side. It was interesting that such concrete bridge was built. Not really sure what the initial purpose was.

We stayed by the waterfalls for quite a while to enjoy it. As we headed back down, there was a lot of people coming up. We were glad to have arrived early to avoid the crowd and enjoyed our own time by the waterfalls.

When we got back to the parking lot, we were surprised that the parking lot was not fall. We were not sure where people parked their car. Overall, Dry Creek Falls is a great trail to start the hiking season and getting our muscles ready for the future hikes in the year.

Cape Lookout State Park

 

Cape Lookout State Park is located on the West coast of Oregon. It is about 1.5 hours West of Portland. The park itself surround the Netarts Bay and many people come here to enjoy a nice picnic on a sunny day. There are also many camping spots in the park. The day use fee of the park is $5 and unfortunately Northwest Pass is not valid for Cape Lookout State Park.

We got to Cape Lookout State Park around 11AM in the morning. The day use parking space was huge. It can probably fit over 200 cars. But when we got there, there were only like 10 cars there and many of them actually just arrived. We looked at the map and noticed that many trails were closed. It was really unfortunate. Thus instead of hiking to the Cape Lookout, we went for a walk on the beach.

As we headed down the beach, we saw a guy gliding down with its para glider. It was quite cool. He said he came down from the cape. We wished that we came earlier to see him jump off the cape.

We then walked towards North to Netarts Bay. As we go further, the tide was coming in fast and rising. The sea water was getting really close to us and we often had to step onto the rocks to avoid getting our feet in the ocean. It was a fun experience nonetheless. We also saw a few dogs running around enjoying the ocean.

As we walked further, the tide was getting really high. If we continued to proceed further, we were afraid that we may not be able to make it back if the tide rise higher. Thus we headed back early.

When we got back, there were more and more people arriving. Many had picnic chairs and tables ready to enjoy a nice lunch by the ocean. 

Cape Lookout State Park is quite a nice place for family to enjoy. It offers many picnic spot for people and the sandy beach is a great place for family to have fun at.

Maui Hawaii Trip

 

Maui is the second largest island in the state of Hawaii and it also happens to be the second most popular Hawaiian destination for tourists. The weather on the East side and the West side of the island are quite different. East side is generally dry with lots of amazing snorkeling spots. The West side, however, has a lot of rain. The famous Haleakala National Park is located in Maui as well and the sun rise at the summit has always been the must go to place for visitors.

We did a 5 day Maui vacation during Thanksgiving. We flew from Portland to Kahului by taking Hawaiian Airline. Since COVID restriction was still in effect, we had to upload our vaccination card online first, then go to the gate at the airport to receive a wrist band indicating that we have been cleared to go. The whole process was quick and easy.

We arrived at Kahului Airport by 11AM. When we got off the plane, we could feel the humidity in the air and it was hotter than what we thought. We had to take this little tram from the terminal to the car rental center that is 5 minutes away. This time we rented car from AVIS. When we got to the rental counter, the lady asked us if we wanted a convertible at no extra cost, we thought about it and said we didn't want it because we plan to go to Haleakala in early morning. Then she gave us a Dodge Challenger. This was one big car for us to drive!

Since it was about noon, we first went for lunch. We looked around and decided to try out Kitoko Maui. It served bento like food and we liked it a lot. Afterwards, we went to Wailea Beach resort and checked in. When we were checking in, the server served us glasses of guava juice. It was quite refreshing. Also, the resort was quite large. It took us 5 minutes to walk to our room.

After taking a short rest, we headed to the shopping center across the street. There was this strong sweet smell coming from this ice cream shop, thus we grabbed ice cream from Lappert's Hawaii. It had some really special handmade ice cream flavor.

On the second day, it was the Thanksgiving Day. This was the day for us to go to Molokini for snorkeling. It was an amazing experience not just for snorkeling but also saw flying fish and whales. Afterwards, we just headed back to Wailea and enjoyed the beach.

On the third day, we woke up extremely early to go to Haleakala National Park. It was a long wait in the cold wind, but the sun rise was definitely worth it. When we got back down the mountain, we headed towards Hana. On the way to Hana, we stopped by Coconut Glen's for a quick ice cream snack. Then went to Huli Huli Chicken for lunch. The drove to Hana was painful due to windy road and some part of the road was in terrible condition.

On the fourth day, we went snorkeling at Kapalua Bay. We even saw a turtle! After snorkeling, we drove to Lahaina. It was a busy town with lots of people and interesting shops. It also had one of the largest Bayan Tree! We then went to Ululani's for the best Hawaiian shave ice. We loved it. On the way back, we stopped by Leoda's Kitchen for the famous pie. Afterwards, we went to Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood for a late lunch.

On the fifth day, we enjoyed an early morning walk by the beach and head back to the airport. Although it was a short stay, we enjoyed every moment on Maui. Maui was not as developed as Oahu, but we still enjoyed it very much. We will definitely visit again when we have the chance.

Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood

 

Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood is a food cart located at Kahului. It is very close to Kahului Airport, just about 5 minutes away. Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood serves both beef dishes and many other seafood such as shrimp, Ahi, and lobster. The place only opens 4 days a week however, and closes from Sunday to Tuesday. So make sure the place is open when heading over.

We got to Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood around noon. There was a lot of people there and the sitting area was full. When people were enjoying lunch, there were many chickens running around looking for food.

We ordered a steak & shrimp combo, and an Ahi plate. It was as pricy as any other place at Maui, so we weren't too surprised by the price.

We got our order after about 20 minutes of wait time. It took a while to get the steak cooked. Although we wanted to have the steak cooked with medium rate, the steak was more like medium well. We were okay with it since the steak was still quite juicy. We really liked the shrimp as well since it was very tendor.

The Ahi was not as good as we would have liked. We felt like it was a bit too salty for us. The plate did come with 2 larges pieces of Ahi however, which was really worth the price.

Ono Teppanyaki & Seafood is not a bad place to get lunch from. However, there were also many other choices at the same food cart area that serves shrimp, Thai food, and other local Hawaiian cuisine. We would probably try a different food cart next time.

Leoda's Kitchen Pie Shop

 

Leoda's Kitchen Pie Shop is a famous pie shop located in Maui. It serves various type of pies and mostly served with creams. Leoda's Kitchen Pie Shop is located about 10 minutes from Lahaina, right on the side of the road, but it is technically in the middle of a random place. Many people come here and grab the pie to go.

We got to Leoda's Kitchen Pie Shop in the afternoon. There was still a lot of people there. Although there was not that many parking space, but people just buy the pie and go. So there was always space to park the car.

While we were lining up, we were checking out the pies that we want to get. Each pie was about the size of a palm. We ordered 3 pies including Coconut Cream Pie, Chocolate Mac Nut Pie, and Banana Cream Pie.

The Coconut Cream Pie has fried coconut sprinkled on the top. The cream seemed to be mixed with coconut. This was not our favourite because the taste was more plain and not too special. The Chocolate Mac Nut Pie looked amazing. It had chocolate cream at the bottom, and topped with whip cream and macadamia nuts. We liked this one a lot. The Banana Cream Pie had a lot of creams filled with few pieces of banana in it. It wasn't as special as we were expecting and we felt that it had too much cream.

In general, Leoda's Kitchen Pie Shop was not as special as what we expected it to be. The flavor of the pie may be hit or miss because these pies have a lot of cream in it. So after having 1 or 2 pies, the taste bud starts to get tried of it. Also, the cream could be heavy for some people.

Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice

 

Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice is one of the most famous place to have shave ice at Hawaii. It is said to be the best shave ice in Hawaii base on the reviews. It has over 30 different flavors and you can also add toppings to the shave ice. Since this place is so popular, it is definitely something that we will not miss when visiting Hawaii.

We went to Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice located at Lahaina after having a great snorkeling experience at Kapalua Bay. When we got there, there was already a long line of around 10 people at the front of the store. While we were waiting, we checked out the menu to see what was available. The toppings that could be placed at the top of the shave ice includes azuki beans, which was the red bean paste. Other than azuki beans, there were also choices such as fried coconut and condensed milk cream. All these toppings looked so amazing to us.

We made 2 shave ice order. The first shave ice we ordered had mango, passion fruit, and coconut flavor. It also had azuki bean and condensed milk as the toppings. When the person was making it, it was shaving the ice to be a perfect sphere. Then he drilled many holes on top of the shave ice to allow flavored syrup to soak in more. The azuki bean paster was quite soft and sweet. When mixed with condensed milk, it was simply amazing.

The second shave ice we got had chocolate and coconut flavor, and included azuki bean and fried coconut as toppings. The fried coconut smelled so good. The crunchiness of the coconut mixed very well with shave ice. We really liked it.

Ululani's Hawaiian Shave Ice did not disappoint. It really was the best shave ice we have ever had. We would definitely go again and try different flavor next time.

Huli Huli Chicken

 

Huli Huli Chicken is a famous Hawaiian dish in Maui. Thie chicken is slowly cooked on the grill with special sauce poured on top of the chicken. On the East coast of Maui near Hana by Koki Beach, the famous Huli Huli Chicken is located there. It is so famous that the top chef Gordon Ramsay have visited this place and amazed by how juicy Huli Huli Chicken is. The video of Gordon Ramsay can be found on YouTube.

Since Huli Huli Chicken was so famous, we definitely had to try it when visiting Maui. We got to Hana by around noon and drove to Koki Beach Park. There were signs along the road indicating the direction to Huli Huli Chicken. The sign even said the place opens every single day. When we got there, there was already a lot of people. When we saw the closed sign hanging at the front of the tent, we thought all the chickens were sold out. Then when we saw rows and rows of chicken cooking on the grill, we figured that the owner was too busy and didn't have time to remove the sign.

We ordered the half chicken plate and it comes with half chicken, 2 scoops of rice, macaroni salad and green salad. We took our food to one of the tables along the beach. The breeze from the ocean felt so good, it was an amazing spot to enjoy Huli Huli Chicken.

When we opened the box, the smell of the chicken was so good. We immediately put a piece of chicken in the mouth and the chicken was very juicy. We loved it. The macaroni salad was really good too. There were potato bits in the salad. After having few more pieces of chicken, although the chicken was tasty and juicy, we started to find it to be salty. We had to drink a lot of water.

Overall, Huli Huli Chicken did not disappoint. We really enjoyed it and it is definitely the place to go to when visiting Hana.