I Love You, California!

It might sound like a match made in Will's heaven, but it doesn't always work out that way. Case in point, we were attending an event for Terviva in Downtown and had to park the monster of a truck in a tiny parking garage. Here is what that looked like: Upon returning to the truck later that night, a ticket had been placed on the windshield by the parking lot monitor for parking in two stalls. But what's a person to do when your truck is just that long? Fine on the ticket: $0. Winner.

There are two ways to Ka`ena Point, the Northwestern most point of the island. One way is via the North Shore, part of which we visited when my mom was visiting in October. The other way is via the Waianae Coast, which is the West side of the island. I had heard that it was a spectacular hike, and that during Albatross nesting season you can see many of the large birds nesting at the point. We also saw many flying overhead as we hiked along the water. They soared just above the surface of the water, it's amazing! I had no idea just how spectacular this part of the island is, and we were pleasantly surprised by what we came across at the end (keep reading to find out!). Will and I also planned to do a little trail trash pick-up. We didn't realize that the hike was on such rocky coastline. There was a lot of trash that had washed up and quite a bit from people being careless. We scoped things out on our walk out to the point, and did our pick up on the way back. Though it was ...

We've come to really enjoy walks up the hill to our neighborhood park. Not only is it a good little bit of exercise, but there are spectacular views to enjoy as well! We've been going with hopes of seeing some whales, but with no binoculars it's pretty tough. On this Saturday night we took up a bottle of vino and some cheese and crackers to enjoy while we watched the sunset. It got really windy and started raining on us, so we had to cut the sunset short, but it was nice while it lasted! Looking toward Koko Head (which is covered in clouds) and Kaihuokapua'a. Looking toward Waikiki with a little bit of Diamond Head on the left. Getting a little goofy. (Yes I'm wrapped up in a picnic blanket because it was blustery and raining and I've gone soft.) Smooch!

The monk seal calls the Hawaiian Islands its home exclusively. There are only about 1,060 living throughout the Hawaiian Islands, and only 153 of those live in the main Hawaiian Islands. Their population is declining and they are extremely protected under protection acts and state law. I had only ever seen monk seals at the Honolulu Aquarium but today when I went to our neighborhood beach one had come on shore to rest! It was neat to have wildlife to hang out with on the beach.

Rory loves to watch them! Pretty girl watching a pretty sunset.