Rainbows

I've never been at a place that rains so much while the sun is out and vice versa. I found a dead Leprecan at the end of this rainbow. He was hit by a car I think.

That night we watched the sunset through the bottom of a wine glass. Monday morning since the water was flat we did a short swim in the bay, grabbed a shower, almost died when the cabdriver fell asleep at the wheel, then a quick flight home.

Hanalei Bay

Friday I rented a big foam top board and played in the waves. I still suck but I did stand up on the damn thing every wave..

Saturday the swell went down and it was cooler with showers so we did a lot of reading, relaxing and wine drinking on this great porch of the B&B.

Sunday I went on my long run and spotted a couple whales close to shore. Here is a picture I took of one just for you Buz.

Cycling and surfing

Weekend before last I entered a bicycle time trial out on the North shore. It's a race against the clock, lowest time wins. I was torn all week whether to break training to prepare for it, or just train right through it. I never really made up my mind and my results reflected my indecision.

It was fun getting into the race mindset again though. Our bike club got to show off our new jerseys which turned out awesome.

Presidents day weekend Marianne and I took off to the island of Kauai. We stay on the North shore there at a bed and breakfast on Hanalei Bay. Just like Oahu's North shore this place is also surfers heaven. The lack of traffic and crowds make it even nicer. Not a great picture, but check out the waterfall on the right side of the mountain.

Pearl Harbor, Chinatown and Waikiki

We are definitely staying busy. Toured the battleship Missouri which is awe inspiring. Walked around Chinatown and had lunch on the beach at some hotel on Waikiki. Even saw the world famous Hickam medical clinic. It was our first visit to Waikiki since we moved here. Too many people and too much shopping for my taste.

Our Chinese fans

I'm flattered that someone in China enjoys our blog but I've noticed that your viewing always seems to coincide with worm propagation attacks on my computer.

So if this applies to you.... you suck!

I promise it's a humpback whale

So we saw a lot of whales breaching and blowing all over the place but capturing it on the camera was hard due to the distance and my camera. The white foam is a whale I assure you.

Later we went to Bellows beach for a super bowel buffet and ice cream, then stopped at the Pali overlook on the way home. We better slow down the pace or I don't know what we're going to do the rest of the time.

Whale watching

We then drove over the H3 to the windward side. The views coming down the mountain are worth posting. We did the hike to the Makapu'u lighthouse which is a perfect place to spot whales which winter here.

Sunday

After pigging out at the luau the night before we woke up early and walked to the farmers market in Mililani for some salad makings.

After the beach at Ko'olina we drove up the street to the luau at paradise cove. It's a great setting right on the beach with Hawaiian crafts and activities before dinner and a show. I leaned to kill a bale of hay with a spear and Mom learned how to braid a flower braclet from ti leaves. We watched the sun set on the water and enjoyed the food and entertainment. Especially the hula dancers. wow.

Saturday We drove over towards the West side of the island to the Ko'olina resort and enjoyed the sunshine.

Mom's visit

After the beach we went for a walk in the forest above a place called Pupukea were we spotted this endangered primate eating a banana

A visit from my Mom

My Mother, Louise, came to visit us for two weeks without any arm twisting whatsoever. It's nice to see her and catch up with what's going on in PA. The timing was perfect because they're getting some serious cold weather there now with temps around 9 degrees and windy.

We picked her up from the airport Thursday night with a lei greeting. Friday her and I went to the North shore for some wave watching.