Valentine's 2010

What a fabulous Valentine's Day we had!! The weather was beautiful - even early - so we got up and headed out before 6:30am to head up to the North Shore. Check out that sunrise over Chinaman's Hat Island. Such Vanilla Sky!!

We had heard about a cool hike up towards Punalu'u...called the Hau'ula Loop. We parked by the beach park and walked up the street where the trailhead was supposed to start. When we couldn't find it, we asked one of the friendly locals where the trail started. (There were several "Kapu" signs along the road which freaked us out. "Kapu" means "Forbidden"...as in, don't step foot on this land or you will be shot or eaten by Hawaiian ghosts...seriously...you don't screw around when you see those signs). The guy was so nice and told us where to go to find the trail head...although Will was still a bit spooked. ;)

Here's Will stepping through the beautiful ironwood trees.

It's hard to see here...but this tree across the valley was covered with bright orange blossoms and filled with the happiest birds we've ever heard.

Here I am at the top of the ridge with a very confusing sign. Which way should we go?!?

The ridge across the way was so pretty - so untouched and pristine, it was gorgeous. But seriously...where is the path!?!

A little further on, we saw the ocean! Yay ocean!!

Wild orchids along the path.

The forest at one point totally reminded us of hikes in California...full of pine trees and the gentle shushing of the wind. These were all Norfolk pine - softest and sweetest of the pine family.

After our awesome four-mile hike, we drove to Hale'iwa, grabbed a sweet surfer bagel from Kono's and headed up to the end of the world (Oahu style). Past Camp Erdman (where they filmed many scenes from Lost) and past the pavement, we ended up at some amazing tide pools where we played, ate spicy edamame (recipe available upon demand) and watched humpback whales frolic just offshore.

After playing at the North Shore for a while, we looked at the clock and saw that it was only 1pm!! We still had a whole day ahead of us!! So, we gathered up our last bits of energy and headed to Lanikai Beach to relax and (finally) lay down for a bit.

What could be better than seaweed salad, some tasty beverages (wink wink) and my boo?

Maybe one sassy pigeon and a wily mynah bird to join the party.

Now we're snuggled in some blankets, (it's a chilly 73 degrees here), ready to watch some sappy movies and enjoying some champagne, caviar and ahi poke. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!! Happy Valentine's Day!! Love and aloha to you all!!