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Saturday: Sacred Pools & Pipiwai Trail
Our last day in Hana dawned just as beautiful as every day before it, and we were able to watch the sunrise over Hana Bay. 
We started the day with a hike to the Red Sand Beach, which is striking, next to the blue water, black rock, and green plants. It’s also an unofficial nudie beach. Apparently, it was once a legal nudie beach, but no longer (we did see people there reliving the old days.)
After the Red Sand Beach, we went for breakfast a Tutu’s Snack House on the Hana Bay, and then stopped at Hasegawa’s General Store for snacks to take on our adventure that day.
We started at the Seven Sacred Pools, or the Several Not-So-Sacred Pools, as we like to call them. A short hike in, and a scramble over the rocks, and I jumped in. To FREEZING water. Freezing. I lasted about 2 minutes, and my swim in the not-so-sacred pools was done. We sat for awhile, enjoying the sunshine, and watched a couple do a little cliff diving. Really, we watched the guy do some cliff diving, and cheered his girlfriend on, as she teetered on the edge. In the end, she proved herself more woman than I, and made the jump, living to tell the tale. (Thank goodness. That would’ve just ruined the day)
After the several not-so-sacred pools, we hiked the Pipiwai Trail, a 4 mile roundtrip loop trail to a waterfall. The first half of the hike out to the waterfall, while beautiful, was not exceptional. We did see a gorgeous old Banyan Tree, and stopped there to eat a snack and take a break from the heat and humidity. 
After crossing a bridge strung over a pretty canyon, we crossed into one of the most incredible hikes I’ve ever done. Our guidebook spoke of this hike, traversing through a bamboo forest, but I had no idea what to expect. 
We started the day with a hike to the Red Sand Beach, which is striking, next to the blue water, black rock, and green plants. It’s also an unofficial nudie beach. Apparently, it was once a legal nudie beach, but no longer (we did see people there reliving the old days.)After the Red Sand Beach, we went for breakfast a Tutu’s Snack House on the Hana Bay, and then stopped at Hasegawa’s General Store for snacks to take on our adventure that day.We started at the Seven Sacred Pools, or the Several Not-So-Sacred Pools, as we like to call them. A short hike in, and a scramble over the rocks, and I jumped in. To FREEZING water. Freezing. I lasted about 2 minutes, and my swim in the not-so-sacred pools was done. We sat for awhile, enjoying the sunshine, and watched a couple do a little cliff diving. Really, we watched the guy do some cliff diving, and cheered his girlfriend on, as she teetered on the edge. In the end, she proved herself more woman than I, and made the jump, living to tell the tale. (Thank goodness. That would’ve just ruined the day)
After the several not-so-sacred pools, we hiked the Pipiwai Trail, a 4 mile roundtrip loop trail to a waterfall. The first half of the hike out to the waterfall, while beautiful, was not exceptional. We did see a gorgeous old Banyan Tree, and stopped there to eat a snack and take a break from the heat and humidity. After crossing a bridge strung over a pretty canyon, we crossed into one of the most incredible hikes I’ve ever done. Our guidebook spoke of this hike, traversing through a bamboo forest, but I had no idea what to expect. 
The trees and shrubbery which had surrounded us disappeared, replaced with high stalks of bamboo and little else. The bamboo stretched 70 feet above us, gently swaying in the wind, clanging a haunting melody that moved past us in quiet waves. We made our way down the wood-planked trail, and at times, the bamboo grew so tall that it closed in above us, dropping the temperature 15 degrees, and taking us from afternoon sunlight to a dim, deep forest dusk. I could have spent hours in this enchanted space, listening to the bamboo softly speaking on the breeze.
At the end of the bamboo forest, we came to the falls. Towering 200 feet above us, we ate lunch close to the base of the falls, enjoying the fine misting spray of the water.
The Pipiwai trail was the most unique hike that I’ve ever done, and I would recommend it to anyone.
At the end of the bamboo forest, we came to the falls. Towering 200 feet above us, we ate lunch close to the base of the falls, enjoying the fine misting spray of the water.The Pipiwai trail was the most unique hike that I’ve ever done, and I would recommend it to anyone.Friday: The Road to Hana
There are two days of honeymoon pictures left to share. Friday was the day we drove the Road to Hana. The road to Hana is two lanes, comprised of many one-lane bridges, hairpin turns, steep Cliffside drops and 600 turns. I’d been warned by many about the steer-wheel gripping fear that is the road to Hana, but didn’t really have any anxiety at all. Maybe it was growing up in northern California, making twisty drives to places like Stinson Beach and Yosemite that prepared me for this drive.
Aside from it’s infamous legacy as one of the more frightening roads in America, the road to Hana is beautiful. The greenest part of Maui, the road to Hana is also laced with waterfalls and picturesque views.
After stopping for a lunch of hotdogs at Halfway to Hana, we continued on the road. 
One of our more impressive side tours was the road to Nahiku. Touted in the guidebook as being the greenest part of the Road to Hana (plant-heaven, I believe they described it as), it was certainly impressive. The trees grew high over head, nearly surrounding us in a tunnel of green. At the end of the road is a beautiful view of the entire Hana coastline that we had just driven past.
As we neared Hana, we stopped to visit the lava tubes. Lava tubes are created when lava from volcanic vents forms a river that crusts over on top, and are capable of transporting lava over 20 miles. Luckily, these lava tubes are long extinct, and armed with flashlights, we journeyed in to the dark. Underground as far as we were, there was no natural light at all, but we used flashlight to see the various textures and geologic patterns created by the lava that originally flowed through the tubes.
Back in the car, we had one last stop to make, at the famous black sand beach at Wai’anapanapa State Park. Very much not a swimming beach (reinforced by the copious numbers of signs posted by the Hawaiian government), it was a beautiful study in color, with the black of the sand (really small pebbles of lava rock) contrasting with the green of the plants and the blue of the ocean. I’ve never seen anything like it before. 
Aside from it’s infamous legacy as one of the more frightening roads in America, the road to Hana is beautiful. The greenest part of Maui, the road to Hana is also laced with waterfalls and picturesque views.
After stopping for a lunch of hotdogs at Halfway to Hana, we continued on the road. One of our more impressive side tours was the road to Nahiku. Touted in the guidebook as being the greenest part of the Road to Hana (plant-heaven, I believe they described it as), it was certainly impressive. The trees grew high over head, nearly surrounding us in a tunnel of green. At the end of the road is a beautiful view of the entire Hana coastline that we had just driven past.As we neared Hana, we stopped to visit the lava tubes. Lava tubes are created when lava from volcanic vents forms a river that crusts over on top, and are capable of transporting lava over 20 miles. Luckily, these lava tubes are long extinct, and armed with flashlights, we journeyed in to the dark. Underground as far as we were, there was no natural light at all, but we used flashlight to see the various textures and geologic patterns created by the lava that originally flowed through the tubes. Back in the car, we had one last stop to make, at the famous black sand beach at Wai’anapanapa State Park. Very much not a swimming beach (reinforced by the copious numbers of signs posted by the Hawaiian government), it was a beautiful study in color, with the black of the sand (really small pebbles of lava rock) contrasting with the green of the plants and the blue of the ocean. I’ve never seen anything like it before. By way of introduction
While visiting Fairfield, my parents took Jeremy, my sister, and me out for a very delicious dinner at a restaurant in Napa called Bottega. Before dinner, we wandered through an adjacent store called Napa Style, in search of the same pig bowls that my mother had just gotten for Christmas, and which I got a big kick out of.
Success! There was still a whole table of gold and red pig bowls, from which I adopted a red pig platter. I would like to introduce Reginald, the newest addition to our family. He’s joined by Marvin, the camera-shy small red pig bowl we also adopted that night. Reginald’s inaugural meal was spicy noodle stir fry – which he served with the appropriate level of panache. 
The Christmas Finale
For New Years, we went to Fairfield to spend the holiday with my family. We played a lot of Super Mario for the Wii and Band Hero – all in all a really fun trip. We did manage to make it to midnight on New Years, some of us more willingly than others (Jeremy would’ve happily gone to bed at 9:00 if we’d let him). I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have, but here is a family portrain and a few of Kali and Liv. 
On January 1, Jamie brought David and Ava over. They are both getting so big, it’s amazing how fast the time goes. David is pretty shy, and took a bit to warm up to everyone, but Ava was crawling in to laps within 30 seconds of meeting us. I got David, budding dinosaur enthusiast, a dinosaur kit – and we spent the entire visit looking at dinosaurs with him and Ava. 
On January 1, Jamie brought David and Ava over. They are both getting so big, it’s amazing how fast the time goes. David is pretty shy, and took a bit to warm up to everyone, but Ava was crawling in to laps within 30 seconds of meeting us. I got David, budding dinosaur enthusiast, a dinosaur kit – and we spent the entire visit looking at dinosaurs with him and Ava. 
Front Yard Gets a Lifestyle Lift
After our triple-threat Christmas, Jeremy and I went to Home Depot the next day to put couple of Home Depot gift cards to good use, (thanks Katie & Mel and Gramma Anita!).
The project:
The result:
The supervisor:
The project:
The result:The supervisor:
It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon
We had three separate Christmas celebrations over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year, (with one more to come at New Years) spending time with family and having a wonderful holiday.
Christmas Eve was spent with Steve and Stephanie over a traditional Italian dinner, cioppino and fontina fonduta. After we ate ourselves into a food coma, we exchanged presents and then took a picture in front of the tree:
Christmas Eve was spent with Steve and Stephanie over a traditional Italian dinner, cioppino and fontina fonduta. After we ate ourselves into a food coma, we exchanged presents and then took a picture in front of the tree:
After dinner, Jeremy took Kali to her mom’s house for Christmas Eve. The next morning, while Jeremy went to pick her up, Garlock, Brooklyn, and I checked out the Christmas tree and it’s abundance of gifts.
Kali’s Christmas from us revolved around a new desk and chair for her room, and all of the accessories to match. She also got a new toy to play with from Gramma Cindi and Poppy.
Jeremy and Kali got me a telephoto lens for my camera, which means no one, no matter how hard they try, will be able to hide from me anymore! (Insert evil laugh here).
Kali and I got Jeremy a new backpack for his backpacking trips, and a camelback (which is a fancy water bottle for hiking) to fit inside. He wasn’t very excited about the gift at all.
Walking into the kitchen to grab a couple of screwdrivers to help Kali assemble her desk, I had to take a picture of the aftermath of our Christmas celebrations. Garlock thinks Christmas is just fantastic – everyone sitting on the ground, happy, throwing paper and ribbon around. Way up on his list of favorite things, I’m sure. 
After spending a bit of time playing with our new toys, well Jeremy played with a toy, Kali and I tried to decipher IKEA assembly instructions, we headed over to Teri’s for the Robertson family Christmas gathering. Trevor, Alexis, and Kali took up station next to the Christmas stockings, very patiently waiting for the festivities, and by festivities, I mean a madness of flying wrapping paper and exclamations of joy: 
All in all, a great holiday. We’re looking forward to heading up to Fairfield for our post-Christmas, pre-New Years family celebration. In the meantime, Kali has been spending a lot of time getting her new room addition just the way she likes it:
Kali’s Christmas from us revolved around a new desk and chair for her room, and all of the accessories to match. She also got a new toy to play with from Gramma Cindi and Poppy.Jeremy and Kali got me a telephoto lens for my camera, which means no one, no matter how hard they try, will be able to hide from me anymore! (Insert evil laugh here).Kali and I got Jeremy a new backpack for his backpacking trips, and a camelback (which is a fancy water bottle for hiking) to fit inside. He wasn’t very excited about the gift at all. Walking into the kitchen to grab a couple of screwdrivers to help Kali assemble her desk, I had to take a picture of the aftermath of our Christmas celebrations. Garlock thinks Christmas is just fantastic – everyone sitting on the ground, happy, throwing paper and ribbon around. Way up on his list of favorite things, I’m sure. After spending a bit of time playing with our new toys, well Jeremy played with a toy, Kali and I tried to decipher IKEA assembly instructions, we headed over to Teri’s for the Robertson family Christmas gathering. Trevor, Alexis, and Kali took up station next to the Christmas stockings, very patiently waiting for the festivities, and by festivities, I mean a madness of flying wrapping paper and exclamations of joy: All in all, a great holiday. We’re looking forward to heading up to Fairfield for our post-Christmas, pre-New Years family celebration. In the meantime, Kali has been spending a lot of time getting her new room addition just the way she likes it:
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