Hi Emily!

YAY Great Dallas Friend #2!

A week or two after Jennifer left, Emily came out to visit me! I was so blessed this month with their presence.





Emily and I had a much less disaster-prone time together, which was probably due in part to t he fact that I was too tired from Jen's trip to plan like a crazy person. More relaxing for everyone involved.








When Em got in, she and I snuck over to a cove to catch a few rays of sun while we could. Then, we grabbed a quick bite at the outdoor cafe, and enjoyed the sunset.

The first day, we decided to jump right in and go hiking on the Nuuanu Pali trail. I was a bit skeptcal, becuase this specific trail had trashed my knees in the past, but I know Em loves hiking, so we had to do it. Actually, this is the trail that Jen and her friend got lost trying to find. Apparently I suck at giving directions.

Excited doggies in the car

Yea! I found the trailhead.




We basically just hiked and tried to catch up with each other. 10 months is a long time. Here's a view of Honolulu





Crazy vines! I'm sure most of you who know me well are laughing right now, becuase you know I barely made it through upright.

Hiking action shot.

The first of the strawberry guavas were coming into season, so we kept our eyes peeled from them while we were on the trail

Hi Em!

You don't have hikes like this back in TX.

Em likes Banyan trees just as much as I do. This one is a monster.

For some reason, this shot makes me think of the Lion King.

Here, Em points out that she is surrounded by cliffs on either side.

We were planning on swimming in the Ginger Pool once we were finished, but after 5 miles or so of hiking, we were tired. And that pool couldn't have melted before yesterday. Brrrr. The dogs liked it, though.

Day 2 - Chill

For our second day, we decided to rest from the first. Armed with snacks, margaritas, and books, we headed out for an adventure up the windward side of the island. I have been this way only once before, so I was excited about seeing something new.

Lo and behold, when we stopped for some gas, I smelled ambroisa.

Ok, it was BBQ, but it was REAL SMELLING BBQ. All BBQ out here is Korean BBQ, which is nothing like BBQ and involves rice and soup. What?! Crazy Koreans.

Anyway, I was so exicted I made Emily eat there for lunch. BBQ! It wasn't the best ever, but it was still pretty good. Heaven. We took our treasure to the beach, where I soon devoured it.

YUM. Now if I could just find a decent Mexican place....

La'ie - the beach

Ok, so La'ie was a little rough today, and we got knocked around a bit playing in the ocean. We managed to retain our swimsuits, so it was still fun.

After a relaxing day of nothing, we headed back to pick up my sister from downtown - she had just dropped her car off to ship it back to the mainland.

While we were there, we did the Tantalus Drive - basically a road that winds around a beautiful area - hence the zillions of mansions up there. It has some good views as well:

Um, Courtney and I ninjias? I'm not exactly sure what is going on here.

After that, we grabbed some dinner at a place I knew by the docks that had great fish. I think this was the official start of the Em Tries to Eat Her Weight In Seafood marathon. It was amazing. I think she never had anything else but fish (except at breakfast) after this.

Day 3 - North Shore!

I jove the North Shore. Hello Dole Plantation! And dorky pictures. Awesome.

Em gets her bearings

Mahalo! Em picked up the lingo quick. I wonder if she still said 'mahalo' for a while after she got back.

Say hello to Em's favorite part of the islands. Shrimp shacks. I think she managed to eat here 3 times? That may be as much as I have eaten there the whole time I've lived here. It was my first time for Macky's though - they had been parked somewhere else for a while, and I hadn't seen them.

This is Waimea Bay, and was Em's favorite beach on the island. I must say that I agree. In the summer it is great. Beautiful and pristine, it can get a little crowded. The more adventurous can jump off the large rock, or try snorkeling nearby. Em and I opted to lay around and do nothing. This became a theme of the trip.

Yay Em! I miss you, girl.

Of course we got snocones

On the way home, we decided to stop for some sushi - although we wanted to stay out of the pricey places, so.....

Genki Sushi! Basically, Conveyor Belt Sushi. It is an Experience. Everyone should try it, just for fun. You sit at the bar and watch the parade of fish - you can tell how much something is by what color plate it is on. Just grab and eat!

I'm not sure if you can zoom in on this thing, but this machine fascinated me. It basically spit out litle rice bricks so they could make sushi fast. Ha! Crazy. I am easily amused.

We fell into a pattern in the morning - I usually slept in until 8 - 8:30, and Em was alomst always up at like 6. So, she would take her Bible and the bike and head on down to the coves in the morning to relax and be with herself. Eventually I would get up, try to get ready for the day, and give her a call and we would be off. It worked out pretty well - I'm glad she found something to do in the mornings. It was one of the times I was glad we live on a resort.