Day 12 -Beach Day

Yup today was a beach day, rather a beach morning. After a quick breakfast off we went to Kawela Bay.

Since our first trip to Oahu 8 years ago, we’ve wanted to go find this bay. Eight years ago, we didn’t because we heard it was trespassing to get to and well being newbies didn’t want to chance it. Over time we’ve gained some self confidence and learned that this area isn’t kapu, we went for the morning. We walked the beach, we walked the trails behind it, and we floated; what a lovely spot.

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We spent over 2 hours here which was a record for us. We packed up and went to look at two possible rentals on the north shore for next trip. One of the rentals we’ve been eyeing since our 2013 trip and the other since 2015. We needed to get a feel for them and see their proximity to a beach access point.

After scouting them out we went to North Shore Soap factory to pick up a few more goodies for gift boxes.

We then hopped over to Costco and Safeway for a few more items. We finally landed at home around 3 p.m. only to pack up the last remaining boxes and get them sent off.

We needed dinner, so we finally decided to try Aloha Brewing. The beer was decent, the vibe was non existent and we ordered a fruit and cheese board, the fruit on the menu said local fruits. The platter came out and we identified almost everything coming from Costco. The food prices were sky high, so we only had one item.

We left after one beer and the platter and went over to BeerLab HI, where we knew the beer was good and the vibe was great. After the one beer at the BeerLab HI, we realized we were DONE for the day.

We came home, I wrote, Mike checked the rental prices for our next trip and well let’s put it this way, prices have gone up and one of those houses is no longer a contender. We cleaned up and well usually sunset follows, but guess what? We are to darn tired to walk over to the beach, so sorry no sunset. And oh wait a minute, the sky is beautiful tonight, figures. Mike is taking one for the team and walking part way to the park to try to get a sky photo.

August 15, 2018 0

Day 4 – Finding Focus and Making a Plan

Most days on vacation lack focus (except for sunset watching on island vacations) or a plan, today was the exception. We had a mission, a trip to the North Shore Soap Company, our entire day would focus on and around that visit.

Before we get there though, Mike had a run, very short. We had breakfast of eggs, swiss chard and coconut toast topped with nut butter. While eating breakfast we watched parents walk their keiki to school, usually with the keiki lagging behind or crying. It was the first day of school here in Hawaii, I felt the children’s pain.

After that is was pack the bags and off we went. As we dropped into Wailua, my heart always skips a beat, for me it just beautiful this side of the island. Pictures from an Iphone can’t capture it.

First stop was the beach across from Dillingham airport, just for a quick picture and to see if anyone was kite surfing today.

Nope, so we headed to “Horse Beach” or rather Makaleha Beach to sit for a bit. This is one of our favorite go to places to watch the planes “poop” people out and it is always empty of people on the beach. We set up our new beach canopy that we brought with us and went for a walk.

Last time we were here, five years ago, the beach was level and flat, not today, also the trees were cut way back and the horse land around the beach was for sale (not to self, purchase powerball tickets to buy two lots here when we win). We sat for a while, enjoying the views and snacked on some goodies. We aren’t sit on the beach for hours kind of people, but today we made it over an hour of sitting.

After that time, our mission was at hand, we had to focus on getting goodies for the gift boxes for people who made large monetary donations to our Oahu HeartWalk on Saturday. Shameless plug here, if you donate $200 or more we will send you a gift box. Just click on the link on the words, Oahu Heart Walk.

I also needed some lotion and soap, because we only brought enough to last a few days. You see, eight years ago we discovered the North Shore Soap Factory and we have not used another soap bar or lotion since. I order directly from them!

After that we went over to another gift place to pick up a few more items for the gift boxes. We then headed into Haleiwa to stop at North Shore Goodies for jams and coconut peanut butter. We also needed food. We tried to find parking for Wailua Bakery for lunch, but no luck so we continued on our way. We had another gift giving focus to stop at, North Shore Macadamia Nut Company.

We thought we would head back into Haleiwa to grab lunch somewhere and then we spotted it, another coffee place, Island Vintage Coffee. We had been searching for decent coffee tumblers to take to the beach, we found some on amazon the other day and placed them in our cart, well we walked in there were what we were looking for, with the islands on them and in HOT PINK, oh yes I did purchase it. We ordered a turkey panini with a frozen coconut mocha and picked up another bag of coffee for the house. That sandwich was probably one of the best we’ve ever had.

We had plans to stop at Costco and Foodland on the way home, but two small farm stands called to us, we stopped and picked up some more fruit. Thus we crossed the big box stores off the list for today.

At this point it was late for us, after 2, so we made one last stop at Green World Coffee Farm for more goodies for the gift boxes.

We headed home in somewhat rush hour traffic. Once back at the house, I unpacked and Mike walked to the beach for a swim. I thought I would take a nap, but that frozen mocha had kicked in.

We prepped dinner of slaw with chicken, ate and headed off to sunset, which always seems to be our true focus every day on island vacations for us.

We found our focus for the day, not always our strong suit to have a “plan” and stick to it, but today we did and we survived.

August 7, 2018 0

Surfers from Sun Up to Sun Down

Our morning started with a ride to Diamond Head Beach to make sunrise, even though it is only 1.3 miles from the house, we made the decision to late to walk. The sun was rising and the surfers were catching waves. Great way to start the day.

We needed to run up to the North Shore today to go to Green World Coffee Farms to pick up more coffee and to stop in North Shore Soap Factory. Our first stays on Oahu have been in the North Shore in Mokule’ia. There is something about being in the country that brings us pure happiness. As we descend down into Waialua, our smiles just grow.

I know when most people hear North Shore, it means going to Sunset Beach and the Banzai Pipeline, but we avoid that area with all the people that go to watch the surfers. Instead we went to some of our favorite beaches on the North Shore; Mokule’ia Beach Park and Makaleha (256A) or the beach we call “horse beach”.

Mokule’ia Beaches are untamed and wild.

Why do we call the next place “horse beach”? Because the horse’s pasture line the beach access trail.

While here we settled in for a bit to watch the planes from Dillingham Air Field poop out people.

After the viewing we headed into Haleiwa to grab some lunch and see what has changed in two years. We lunched at Kono’s. We really wanted a VJ’s burger, but the parking was insane, so we headed up the street. We’ve enjoyed Kono’s in the past, but this time it wasn’t as good as we remembered.

Our next stop was home via Honolulu Beerworks. Needed to grab some beer swag before we headed home. If you enjoy a good craft beer this is the place to go. Parking sucks, but the beer is worth it.

We headed home to get a nap in for me before sunset. Decided to watch the sunset from where we watched sunrise this morning. Though this time we walked to Diamond Head Beach. Good thing we did, parking was full with surfer vehicles. Sunset wasn’t grand but the people watching was. Watching the surfers bob up and down, looking for that wave was all the entertainment we needed.