I Love You, California!

Will's been working loooong hours lately, even on the weekends, and he recently got a couple of big deadlines met, so it was time to do a little relaxing. We took the day to play around on the North Shore. After breakfast at home we headed toward Haleiwa. We wanted to shop around for a few decorations for our new home and have some lunch. We found a couple of great pictures for our living room and had lunch at Bonzai Sushi. Will had been there before, but it was a first for me. After lunch we made our way up to Waimea Bay, a very popular beach and winter surf spot that we had never been to before. It's been a crazy hot summer so it was great to get out to the beach. Off to the west side of the beach there is a big rock that people jump from. Will went over to partake in that. While Will was rock jumping, I enjoyed a beach beer . . . that was made it Monroe, Wisconsin! Will made his way back to me, phew! We enjoyed the people watching and watching this guy kit...

Will and his colleagues have been working very hard out in the field these days. They're up to 25 acres and counting! Isn't it beautiful?

Some people you talk to will say that there is nothing to do on Moloka`i. We beg to differ! Even on day 4 we had a list of things to do and still didn't get them all crossed off. Guess we'll just have to go back! We started the day full on vacation style with drinks by the pool. I must give you some background about Moloka`i. The community is very much about stopping most development dead in its tracks. However, back in the 1970s several resorts and ranches (with deer, pheasants, turkeys, for hunting) managed to get built. In the 1980s one of the resorts was sold to a Japanese Real Estate group. They had big plans to expand the resort area by building homes, more golf courses, and more hotels. There was big push back from the community and after a struggle to find new buyers, the whole area shut down. There are about 150 condominiums that are privately owned and have continued to operate, while all of the resort areas like hotel rooms, golf courses and club houses, and res...

Today we explored the island of Moloka`i from the West side to the East side! We started the day relaxing, reading the newspaper and sipping coffee. After a while it was time to get going or our day was going to slip away. I packed some sandwiches for us and the beach bag and off we went. The first stop was Popohaku Beach, also known as Three Mile Beach. It runs along the West side of the island and was just a few minutes South of where we were staying. I read on a travel website that on Moloka`i a person can find salt within rock formations, scoop it out, dry it, and then have their very own Moloka`i salt. One of the places mentioned to find it was Popohaku Beach, so in addition to it being a beautiful beach, we were hoping to find some salt! When we arrived at the beach we took a look around and decided to head South along the beach, toward a large rocky area. We were looking forward to some beach walking. This beach has a reputation for being completely empty, and a person can b...

That's how we celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary and it was spectacular! On the island of Moloka`i there is a peninsula on the north side that was created by a landslide and subsequent lava flow from a volcano (a crater now exists). Back in the early 1800s it was inhabited by a Native Hawaiians and a thriving fishing village. Also around the time of the early 1800s Leprosy began to spread. A person from Asia, either a visitor or a worker on the sugar plantations, brought with him the disease. Since the Native Hawaiians living here at the time were so isolated, they did not have immunity to such a disease, among others, which lead to a widespread breakout of the disease. Little was know about Leprosy at the time so the reaction was to segregate those who had the disease. It is a terribly sad story, one which you could look into if you like, but people were brought to this peninsula, the towns of Kalawao and Kalaupapa, on the north side of island. This land area is unique in th...