I Love You, California!

When we got to the North Shore last night it was dark so we were excited to wake up and see where we were! We slept in a bit and then enjoyed breakfast on the lanai. Will getting his morning coffee fix! We were loving the condo but we couldn't wait to get out and explore the little towns of North Shore Kauai. We stopped at the Hanalei Valley Overlook to see the taro fields. Farther along Kuhio Highway we came upon another lookout of Hanalei Bay! On our way to Hanalei town we passed over one of many one lane bridges. It's a good thing we were coming up today and not two nights ago; the bridge had been closed due to flooding from the storms! In Hanalei we visited a few shops and galleries, but then we were hungry! We had lunch at the famous Tahiti Nui, where George Clooney was to film part of The Descendants movie. We had pizza and drinks! Taking in a beautiful view with lunch. We spent most of the afternoon walking the...

This month Mom came to visit! It had been about a year and a half since her last visit so we were excited to have her come and show her many of the places that we've come to love since then. Thanks to a four day holiday weekend Will, Mom, and I got to do some island hopping! We knew Mom would fall in love with Kauai and we hadn't spent too much time exploring there ourselves, so we didn't think twice about booking our weekend on Kauai. Mom came to Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon, and we took a couple nights to settle her in and get re-packed and ready for Kauai. We left early Friday morning so we would still have most of the day to explore. By the time we got out of the airport, into our rental car, and down to Poipu on the south side, it was lunch time. We took Mom to one of our favorite spots with a beautiful view, the Beach House Restaurant. A storm had just passed the day before and that day so it was a little gloomy, but the good news was that that cleared up by th...

We're trying to be a little less "routine" these days and get back to fully enjoying and taking advantage of the Hawai`i life, so we're trying to do something out of the house once during the week. Last Tuesday we went to our Farmers' Market that we haven't been to in ages! Even the ice cream guy, Jerry, asked if we had moved away! Took this pic of a huge avocado for Hawley! Then we said, why don't we go to the beach during the week? So we did! Today I came straight home from work, packed a picnic, and met Will down at Kaimana, our neighborhood beach. snacks Cheers to Hawai`i Life!  It was a sunny, warm evening, with an okay sunset. Yes, we are spoiled, and this was just okay. Through the looking glass - a.k.a. my vino glass The "okay" sunset. It fell into the clouds rather than the water, but I guess it's still pretty ; )

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!