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Hawaii Home on the Hill

Pro Bowl

Sunset/Booze Cruise

Chinamen's Hat - Drive to the north

Sandy's Beach

Byodo Temple

Waimea Bay

The Countdown Has Begun!

With only two weekends left of my Hawaiian life I am desperate to pack as much as possible in.  We had a full house over the weekend with two friends of Jenn's, three friends of Em's, and two friends of Tim's.  Gladly, we escaped the weekend with everyone getting along and a lot of fun was had.  Friday night was pretty relaxed.  Tim threw both Kelli and I in the pool and then sadly, Kel fell and gashed her knee open.  She is on the mend though and ready to hang out with me tomorrow on our day off!  Saturday I hung out at the house soaking up the sun, swimming in the pool, and cooking while each of the groups were out in the island hanging out.  They all got back to the house around 1 and we fired up the grill to eat before heading down to Waikiki for their famous booze cruise.  Everybody was a little shocked that Jenn and I had not done it yet.  It was amazing - the view of Waikiki from the water is unbelievable and we were able to spot some whales as well.  Afterward, we headed to Dukes to partake in some of their famous Mai Thais.  It was a riot for all.

Sunday was spent relaxing and preparing for the work week ahead but I was lucky enough on Tuesday to squeeze in with Em and her friends on a flight around the island.  He took us all over Oahu and then over to Molokai.  It was one of my most favorite things I have done here to date.  The island is just so beautiful.  He spotted some whales playing around in the water so flew down close to the water to check them out - of course I went crazy over it.  See captions below on all the things we were able to see.  We got to see all the sights while listening to Bruddah Iz :).

We caught a portion of the whale as he was going back into the water

Kaena Point (most western point of Ohau

Chinamen's Hat

Lepper Coloby on Molokai - 12 Leppers still love there!  Moloai is inhabitted by 6000 residence who all live off the agriculture the island brings in - pineapple and coffe.  They do not like white people much and are very protective of their land.  No resorts on the island and public beaches are for locals only - I wanna go!

Papaula Falls on Molokai.  This island bears the brunt of the ocean so the cliffs are staggering.  One waterfall plunges 2900 feet straight of the island and into the ocean.

molokai pali



Fell Behind! So Much Has Happened!

We have all settled into our new home pretty good and it's so nice to have someplace to call home until I head back to Chicago.  We spend our nights making dinner, hanging out by the pool, doing some work, and chilling.  When weekends come this place is the party pad and there is always at least one or two people sleeping over which is a ton of fun.  We've made some awesome dinners, played stupid games, looked at the stars, and drank a lot of wine :).  Last weekend was really packed.  Josh landed Thursday night and after I picked him up from the airport we headed back here to chill out and catch up on life.  Friday after work Josh came over while we made dinner and relaxed.  We went to bed fairly early since we were headed out to Maunawili Falls Trail in the morning.  After the hike we took off for downtown Waikiki.  Sunday was packed full of Super Bowl festivities at the house.  We had the set up for the tv's pretty good so we could watch it poolside or in the living room.  The chili cook off was pretty fun and I came in second place - only to lose to my boss which I guess is pretty par for the course :).  So the weekend countdown has begun and I'm having so many mixed feelings about my return.  I will so miss it here.

At the end of the hike there was a waterfall and watering hole where some of my friends jumped off (another) 50 foot cliff.  I opted for the much shorter 15 foot cliff - haha.  The scenery was of course unbelievable.  Most of the hike was pretty 'jungly' - climbing around trees, wading through water, climbing up hills, etc but it was all worth it.

James put on a pretty good spread of food for all of us when we returned from the hike.  Burgers, steak salad, veggies, and mojitos.  He is welcome to come here and cook any night - it tasted amazing.

After dinner Saturday night Jenn and I met Josh downtown Waikiki for some Mai Thais and good conversation.  What a day - I was exhausted by the time I got home and in bed.

The girls cooking for the Super Bowl visitors

CDM Gang watching the half time show