I Love You, California!

From about a year after we moved to Hawai`i we started noticing a monk seal resting on our local beach, Kaimana. We came to find out that her name was Rocky and she liked to come relax at Kaimana Beach while she shed her skin after birthing her babies over on Kauai. This year was special because she chose to give birth to her pup in the waters off Waikiki and raised her at Kaimana. For about six weeks Rocky and Kaimana (they named the pup after the beach) could be spotted at Kaimana Beach and the area right next door by the Outrigger Canoe Club. We were lucky to be able to make it down to see them. They were so cute! Once Kaimana was weened at about 42 days and Rocky left her on her own, NOAA moved Kaimana to a more remote beach on Oahu. It's sad to see her go, but best to have her away from all the people near Waikiki. And here's Will, still sporting the Tiger Beer shirt Charlie and Sue gave him how many years ago?!

This weekend was the Hawai`i State Farm Fair at Kualoa Ranch. I've seen it advertised in years past, but we never got around to it. This year, though, Terviva was part of the fair! Terviva is going to be partnering with a big land owner and former sugar cane operators on Maui for a large planting of Pongomia. This group had a booth at the fair and wanted to show off pongamia. Will went up on Saturday to drop off a small tree and seed pods and meet with the people at the booth. On Sunday, I went back up with him to pick up the tree and seed pods, and while we were there we visited the other booths, had lunch, and explored around. I had some pad thai (perfect Farm Fair food, right? but it was one of the only vegetarian options) and Will had Lana`i venison chili. Then we explored a little more, visited the plant sale and saw the animals! Will is pointing to the plot of land where his trees will be planted on the former sugar cane land on Maui. Lots of interesting fruit! ...

Monday was a quick day of travel for us, only from Chicago to Oakland. (There's a reason I didn't mention our trip getting to the Midwest. We had so many flights and it took forever! However, we got our tickets for free with points so I can't complain too much.) We were originally planning on spending the evening with some of our Terviva friends, but they ended up going out of town for the weekend. But after a week and a half of being around lots of other people, it was refreshing to have a night just to ourselves. We walked around Jack London Square and took our traditional picture. We saw this window painting, too. Go Warriors! We were hoping to go to one of our favorite restaurants, The Fat Lady, but they were closed, probably for the holiday weekend. So we went to our second choice, Lungomare. Here we got to watch the boats go by and the sun set over the marina. It was a perfect night in Oakland before heading back for Honolulu tomorrow.

Chicago has been rebuilding and developing all along the Chicago River downtown and there are plans to expand the updates all along the river throughout Chicago, which is wonderful because the riverfront has such potential to be absolutely stunning. Before going to the Riverwalk David took us on a tour through his office. It was fun to see where his magic happens! It was a nice day for a walk but it was HOT! We stopped for a little treat before we headed back home for some lunch; we had lots of leftovers from dinner the night before. We spent the afternoon putzing around the house and relaxing outside, hoping for a storm to come through but it headed farther north. Later that night we put on our comfy clothes, snuggled up, and had Lou Malnati's deep dish pizza while we watched Skull Island. (When Mere came to visit in Hawai`i we got a little peak of the set of Skull Island, so it was fun to see it in the movie.) It was a perfect night. We were sad to have to leave ...

A Midwest trip wouldn't be complete without a trip to Chicago. (And a Cubs game for that matter but sadly they were on the road this weekend.) We drove down with my parents on Saturday. We had lunch, relaxed outside, and walked around Meredith and David's neighborhood before Mom and Dad went back to Madison. Later in the evening the four of us relaxed on the back deck and David BBQ'd some delicious salmon and steak. Mere made an amazing salad and we had ourselves a feast!