Spectacular Views

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June 18-19
Yesterday I didn’t do much…motivation was lacking, but truthfully I was pretty excited about my book. I woke up and took my time in the morning. At 10:45 I walked down to the yoga studio for another hour and a half Power Yoga class with Dorian. Again I was the only one; again he kicked my butt. It is truly the most challenging yoga class I’ve taken.

After yoga, I grabbed my Starbucks coffee and headed back up the hill to the house where I remained for the rest of the day. It was nice to read all day, and I was disappointed when I reached the end of my book Water for Elephants. I really enjoyed it.
Oh well, back to Atlas Shrugged for the time being.

Today I woke up at 7:30, got dressed and packed as quickly as possible and ran up to Diamond Head to catch the #22 bus out to a new hike I found. This one is called Makapu’u; right across the street from Sea Life Park. The bus ride up there was gorgeous and I saw a bunch of locations that I will need to come back and visit: like the Blowhole and Sandy Beach. But when I saw the beach at Makapu’u point, I knew I made the right choice for the day.

The beach looked just like paradise….islands in the distance, palm trees, crystal blue water and hot sun. But first things first - the hike. Makapu’u has two sides to it. On one side is a paved road that most people use to hike up and down, and on the other side I had read that you can also climb the rocks along the ocean side to get to the top. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone doing it, and I couldn’t see a defined trail, so I went the safe paved way. In retrospect, I wish I just tried, but it didn’t matter much. The paved trail is about a mile long and it winds around the mountain and along the coastline. At the top is an incredible lookout point and if you go slightly higher, you can get to the very top where there are a bunch of WWII shelters/lookouts built in. I took a bunch of pictures and hiked around the top for a while before heading back down.

On the way down, there’s a place where you can veer off the paved road and hike down to the ocean along the back to a point called Dragon’s Nostrils. It’s a bed of lava rock at the base of the mountain where there are tide pools and a bunch of blow holes that blow frequently when the tide is high. It was just too tempting, so I hiked down to get a close up view; even considered getting into the tide pools where people were swimming and jumping, but I wasn’t wearing my bathing suit and the beach just down the road was calling my name. So after a few minutes I hiked back up the steep hillside to the path to continue my way back down. In all, I probably spent a good two hours on Makapu’u point.

Finally, it was beach time. I changed into my suit and found a spot to lie down. The surf was much stronger than I expected and watching people body board was quite entertaining. Let’s just say that I certainly wouldn’t have been out there on my board. Although incredibly beautiful, this wasn’t really a swimming beach, but I enjoyed laying out on it. Check this one off the list.

My transfer bus pass had already expired, but I’ve noticed that they really don’t care much. It happened to be the same bus driver as the morning, so he let me back on without paying any more; yay another $2 day. One guy on the bus was talking about how inexpensive and good the food is at Rainbow Drive-in, a diner near my house. I’ve been wondering about it…it’s always busy, but I’ve never walked up close to see what they serve. I guess I’ll have to give it a try. Maybe tomorrow?

I got home sometime around 2:30, and I was tired. I talked to roommate Tiffany for a little bit. She mentioned the previous roommate stopped by today and wanted to know if I’m keeping the bed & TV she left in the room. I guess it’s time to pay up; she finally caught up with me…the TV I could care less about; I haven’t turned it on since I got here, but the bed is an absolute must. It bothers me that the box spring is sitting on the ground, but there’s not a chance at all that I’m sleeping on the floor in this place. I’ll pay the $50 bucks.

My big Friday night plan was to get to 6:30 yoga, but I fell asleep and when I woke up, I just didn’t feel energized enough. I still need to get to the grocery store if I want to have anything to eat tomorrow. I’m down to half a bag of baby carrots, 5 graham crackers, mini cliff bars, and a jar of peanut butter. It’s time. I need something of substance to eat. I think I may actually treat myself to a good meal - something over $5!

That’s it for me here. Tomorrow morning is another Niketown run which I’m excited for..and if I happen to get up extra early, there’s supposed to be a great farmers market down the street that I’d love to see. Hope all is well with you. Thanks for the comments! *ps...there are two pages of photos on this post, so click next to see the rest. they're beautiful

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Photos

Me on top
self portrait

Makapu'u Point
The most eastern point on the island

Rabbit & Turtle Islands
Manana Island and Kaohikaipu Island (also called Rabbit Island and Turtle Island)

Dragon's Nostrils
The tide pools are at the right...pretty cool when the waves crashed over

Makapu'u Point
view from the lookout

Makapu'u Beach
in the morning...only one man out on the beach.

View of Rabbit Island
In the winter Jan-April, this is supposed to be a great place to spot whales

Makapu'u Beach
view from the lookout at the base of the hike

Me on top of the WWII shelter
The man taking my picture told me to do a "buddha pose"

Top of Makapu'u Point
If you look closely, you can see many WWII shelter/lookouts built into the rocks.

At the very top
I'm sitting on top of the WWII shelter at the very top of the point

Comments

[peter]

Jen, Some truly amazing pictures! I have always wanted to go to Hawaii, and am trying to convince my beautiful bride that we should go this year for our 25th wedding anniversary. OMG!! 25 blissful years already. I have always wanted to see the USS Arizona. But, I have my work cut out for me since Val doesn't like the idea of crossing the ocean. Anyway, enjoy your trip and I'm glad to hear that Greg is spending some time with you. Enjoy, Peter

[Laura]

Wish I could be your hiking buddy!
You're right Jen, these pics are gorgeous! Lucky, lucky you. Do you think I could have done that hike without muttering, or at least thinking, "I can"t? How does it compare to the Camelback hike we took last visit? If you make it to Denver before summer's end, I'd love to do the hike at "Hanging Lake". I've seen the sign so many times on I70 just east of Glenwood Springs. Usually I've been with Randy and we both know how much hiking he likes to do! Sandy was here last night and we talked a lot about fitness stuff, biking, Body Pump class, hiking, etc. She volunteered to do it with me sometime. Let's all do it! I mentioned that I was having a BBQ for a pre-Father's Day celeb. Turned out Jeff and Sandy were the only ones to come. Nikki remembered after I completed all of my food shopping (really no big deal Nikki :-) ) that she had made previous plans to have friends over to her house for dinner. We all sat at the kitchen table (a very unusual event!) since it was chilly and rainy outside. All in all the evening went well and there was much to talk about. This morning Brady asked Randy to pick him up in his Mustang and take him to the annual car show event in Arvada at the rec center. I will follow and pick up Nik and Nav (hey, cute little nick-names...) and join them for awhile. Afterwards Randy will meet Jeff and do a motorcycle ride while I get some exercise in and maybe walk around the lake at Clement Park a few times. Right now the sun is shining bright and the sky is clear and blue. Looks like a good day! You have a good day too and oh, BTW Eat some REAL food once in awhile. You are looking pretty SKINNY! Where is the protein? Oh yeah, you're eating peanut butter. Okay, but how about some FISH! Really Jen, be nice to your body! You are burning lots of calories, so don't forget to fuel up! I love you, mom

[Laura]

P.S.
Just a quickie footnote...I was reading through some of the posted comments and I find it fasinating and quite cool that people you don't even know are reading your blog! I wonder how they come upon it.....Maybe you'll write a book someday Jen, or discover some other way to put your writing talents to use!

[Jen B.]

Explorer Jen
You pictures are adding to my to-do list! I know exactly where these places are located, but we haven't stopped! So are you thinking of teacher training for yoga once you return? You could get certified and teach yoga full time. It sounds like you are well on your way to that point! I did make it to - and through - my second hot yoga class. Monday will be my third. Did you get to eat something that cost more thn $5? I am hoping so. We went to the Roaring Fork for HH last night (all night during the summer!) and I though of you. Just find some great happy hours some place and you can eat well for cheap. I will send you a couple links later. Where are you off to today? Can't wait to hear....

[Crystal]

Keep them coming!
Jen - I am so proud of you and your adventure!! I am not much of a blogger back, but I have read them all!! Have a wonderful time and be safe. We will be leaving for Aruba with Brooke and Nate on Thursday night for a week. Happy 4th early. I am sure you will have some awesome fireworks out at one of the resorts.