Airbrushed Sunset

One of the great, great perks of my new house: watching sunsets over the ocean right from my lanai.

The clouds look painted onto the sky.

Gorgeous.

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Oops.

I think the brownies were still a little too hot to decorate...

But Bryan still loved his birthday treat.  What a guy!

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Growing Pains

My little herb garden is really going off! 

This is a photo from last week:

And this is a snapshot of the herb garden today:

{From left to right: Cilantro, Basil and Thyme}

{thyme}

{basil}

{cilantro}

When I first planted these herbs, I got overexcited and dumped the full seed packet of each herb into these 4 and 6 inch pots.

As you can see, my seedlings are a little crowded--but I'm too attached to thin them out!

A week after starting the pots, I decided to get a bigger planter and plant the seeds with a little more care.

I spaced out the basil and cilantro a little more carefully.  Now that I've got a few sprouts, I planted a few more seeds in between the rows that are already growing.

I hope everything turns out okay!

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Happy Thanksgiving

A little ditty from Adam Sandler about the joys of Thanksgiving.

I hope your Thanksgiving is cheery and bright and filled with delicious foods.

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Thursday Fun Day at Poli Poli

A handful of us have Thursday off regularly, and last Thursday was no exception.  Our friend, Will, usually spends his Thursday upcountry at the disc golf course at Poli Poli.  Occasionally, Bryan will join him.  When Bryan comes back from their excursions, he always tells me how beautiful it us up there, and how I should come with them and check it out.  Last Thursday, I decided to take him up on the offer.

Will and our friend Sean piled into Will's Toyota truck with Will's dog, T-Bone, and Sean's new puppy, Makena.

Bryan and I followed closely behind in my car.

{On our way!  With T-Bone keeping watch}

We headed north up towards Haleakala.  The day was overcast, but the clouds and coolness were welcome after the heat and glare in Lahaina.

{Looking down towards the rest of the island from up on the banks of Haleakala}

The drive up to Poli Poli is a fairly steep climb, and unfortunately, my little green monster of a car had a little trouble making it al the way.

We overheated!

{the boys assessing the situation--you can see Bryan laughing under the hood}

We waited for the car to cool back down, and then we left it on the side of the road and continued up to the disc golf course in the back of Will's truck.

{lots of orange moss on all the trees around the course}

{scaring cows away at the first hole}

Disc golf is similar to traditional golf, but instead of playing with clubs and balls, players throw a disc (similar to a Frisbee) from a tee box towards a "hole."  The holes around the course are a type of basket that are raised up off the ground.  As the players progress down the fairway, the player must take each consecutive shot from where their disc has landed.  This makes the game very interesting if the disc has gotten caught in a thicket.  The last shot of the game is the putt when the disc is thrown into the basket.

The Poli Poli course is a dramatic course with gorgeous views (when the clouds lift) and steep climbs.  I got a serious workout simply from hiking around with the guys--and they were carrying coolers with them!

{view from the first tee}

{Will and Bryan up on a hill, working the fairway}

{crazy plants galore on the course}

{and, of course, plenty of cows.  Seriously.  A LOT of cows!}

We came across small groups of cows all afternoon.  Many of which did not seem at all perturbed by us  sending discs right over their heads.  We got a big kick listening to them moo.  Many times, we couldn't even see them in the distance because of the fog, so they sounded like faraway ghosts.

Our favorite moment of the day occurred when two cows decided they had enough of us and the dogs, and they galloped off down a cow path aiming for T-Bone.  I have never seen that dog move so fast.  He took off loping down the trail, constantly looking over his shoulder to see if the cows were still in hot pursuit.  He finally left the cow path and headed back uphill to where we were all standing, and the cows continued down the trail.  Poor T-Bone!  We all got a great belly laugh at his expense.

{all the boys resting before teeing off.  From left to right: Jay (unofficial grounds keeper), Will, Sean and Bryan with T-Bone and puppy Makena up front}

{Will teeing off}

{Bryan sending his disc flying}

{Sean in action}

{and of course, more cows}

{a mom with her baby}

{a small Buddha tucked behind a tee box}

We were up on the course for about 3 hours.  During that time, Jay managed to put a disc in my hand and gave me a few pointers.  I was terrible!  But it was a great introduction to the game.  I was impressed by the camaraderie up there.  We ran into Jay when we first parked the cars, and we had him join our group, and then we ran into an older gentleman out on the course, and he joined up with us as well.  It was a great afternoon.

After playing, we piled back into Will's red truck and drove back down to where we left the car.

{T-Bone and Bryan}

{cows on the ridge}

{Look at Makena's ears!!}

The little green monster had not caught fire in our absence.  The boys replaced her coolant and looked her over and deemed her safe to drive.  Bryan and I followed Will's truck down into Makawao where we ate a feast of epic proportions at the always popular Mexican restaurant, Polli's.  I may have overdone it.  We got their Happy Hour nachos (amazing!), and I picked at my Fish Burrito, most of which had to be packed up and taken home.  Those nachos did me in.

Another great Thursday Fun Day with the gang!

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Chocolately Goodness

My girlfriend Shaina put together a surprise engagement party for our friends.  It was a wild success.  Of course it would be.  There was a chocolate fountain there.  Chocolate fountains make any event a wild success.

And yes, that is my handiwork.  I melted the chocolate and filled the fountain.  Not bad for a chocolate fountain first timer.  I'm a genius!

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Good Eats

It's always great to discover a new great spot.  Yesterday, our friend Will, introduced us to Java Jazz--a dizzily decorated hole in the wall in Honokowai with amazing food.

{wine bottle chandelier}

{a working fairytale waterfall right inside the entrance}

{novelty salt, pepper and sugar caddy}

{ye have been warned!}

Java Jazz serves breakfast (all day), lunch and dinner, cocktails and apparently kick ass coffee.  I don't drink the stuff, so I can't attest to it, but there was a healthy stream of java junkies coming in and out for their coffee kick while we ate our meal.

Bryan got the island famous Huevos Rancheros, Will got Bonnie's omelette (goat cheese, tomatoes and spinach), and Kimo and I both ordered our own steak Fantapano (a fajitas stuffed burrito).

Delicious!

We're definitely coming back here again.

But until then, I'll be cooking some pretty tasty meals at home--if I do say so myself.

Yup, it's the return of the perfectly poached egg.

I made garlicky kale with tomatoes layered on Leoda's buttery bread topped with poached eggs and homemade honey mustard vinaigrette.

Yum!

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Launiupoko Reservoir Trail

Shaina, Ashley and I went for an afternoon hike in Launiupoko.  The trail starts at the reservoir and then cuts back into the valley.

We started a little too late in the day, so the heat was definitely an obstacle.  It was great to check out a trail that's so close to home, and I definitely want to come back and explore this one a little further.

We made it to the reservoir.  T-Bone, Ashley's red hound dog, plunged right in.

T-Bone was the most indignant that our hike was so hot.  He shot into the water and swam around the reservoir, lapping up water at the same time.  Impressive.

The ducks wanted to come over and see if we had any treats for them, but T-Bone kept them at bay.

{Looking back towards the trail leading into the valley}

{T-Bone taking up the rear}

We finally coaxed T-Bone out of the water, and he reluctantly followed us further up the trail.  Unfortunately, he pooped out, so Ashley took him back down to the reservoir while Shaina and I explored a little further.

{Shaina posing next to a crazy tall plant.  She says that it's a relative to a yucca plant}

{Seriously.  This thing was huge}

We made it back to the mouth of the valley.  The temperature immediately dropped a notch.  The valley acts as a wind tunnel, and it brought welcome breezes down from the mountain.

I got a kick from all the great plants along the trail.  We passed a clump of dried out coffee plants.

After exploring the beginning of the valley trail, Shaina and I turned back to meet back up with Ashley.

We took the private road back down to our truck--the faster route down for T-Bone than subjecting him to the trails.  On our way down, we admired this beautiful home built up on the hill.  You can tell that they have a ridiculous view of the ocean.

{The girls hiking back down to the truck}

{I'm rocking those Revos}

{This goat has a killer view}

Once the truck was in sight, T-Bone trotted right up to it--grateful for the respite from the hot trail.  Although we had to cut the hike disappointingly short, we were all excited to check out a hike that is so close to Lahaina.  I can't wait to get back there.  I plan on starting either earlier or later so the sun's not quite so brutal at the start of the hike, and I also plan on wearing exercise leggings or jeans--the tall grass on the valley trail is tall and scratchy.

Who's with me?

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