I Love You, California!

Today our plan was to go down to Waikiki to enjoy some live music, drinks, pupus (appetizers), and of course the beautiful beach and sunset! Will got caught up working, sigh, so after he had been at it past when we were supposed to leave, I said, "Enough! Looks good! Let's go!" And being the smart husband he is, he listened : ) Looks good, right?! So luckily not too far off schedule, we got in a cab and headed to Waikiki! First we sat at the beach bar of Duke's and enjoyed the music there. Then we strolled down the beach and saw a beautiful sunset. Then we were off to a new place for us, the Kani Ka Pila Grille. There we were tucked away in what felt like a jungle, and enjoyed Hawaiian music while we had dinner. The evening ended with a stroll along the beach. It was a beautiful evening!

About a year ago Will and I hiked out to Ka`ena Point from the West side of the island. Ever since then it's been on our to-do list to ride our bikes out to this beautiful Northwest tip of the island via the North Shore. (There is an access road on both the West and North sides until you get to the very tip of the island where turns into a bird sanctuary. The Wai`anae Mountain Range runs in the middle, so one must choose to get to Ka`ena point via one side or the other.) So finally we woke up Saturday morning, threw the bikes in the back of the truck, and made our way up north. We had a little picnic overlooking the ocean before we rode up to the point. The trail is about three miles long, and bordered on one side by the Wai`anae Mountains and the ocean on the other. The road has been pretty torn up over the years from non-permitted people driving on it, but it made for fun trail riding conditions! On our ride up we were treated to sights of Humpback Whales splashing with...

The school system that I work for, Kamehameha Schools, owns a majority of privately owned land around the state of Hawai`i; some of it agricultural (like where Will is planting on the North Shore), and some commercial, where the lease money is used to operate the schools. There is a neighborhood in Honolulu that is "up and coming" where Kamehameha School owns quite a bit of the land and is partnering with the city and others to redevelop the old warehouse district. There are new condos, shops, and restaurants that are helping to create a new vibrant part of the city, Kaka`ako. One of the new buildings in Kaka`ako is called Salt . It is a multi level structure with storefronts facing a courtyard area. Soon the storefronts will house shops and restaurants, and the courtyard will be a gathering area and host occasional events. On this Thursday night Salt hosted a preview event featuring some of the stores and restaurants that will be opening in the complex, as well as some est...