Aloha!

Aloha Ohana!

Well, as of today I have officially lived in Kaua'i for a month! It's crazy how fast time has flown by and all the things that have happened - good and some not so good - but an adventure nonetheless and an experience I will hope to share with all of you as best as possible while I'm here, miles and miles from you.

Some of the things that I have done since I've been here:

Kipu Falls - This is one of my new favorite places because it's nearby the house and it's just such a cool little place that you can't NOT like it! Remember the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Ark, when Harrison Ford swings on a vine or something across the water? Kipu is where they filmed that and I've swung from the rope myself! Danny Hale, a friend of ours we recently met here on the island (he's our age and moved here from Farmington, UT with his family ten years ago) goes to Kipu nearly every day, so last time I went with him and he had his own swing he'd tie up high in the tree. I wish I had had a video camera because this guy is seriously Tarzan, he'd swing and jump and do flips out of the TREE (even I thought that was crazy, and I'm the one who's jumped out of a plane...)

Secret Beach - This beach is located towards the northern end of the island (we live on the east side) and you have to hike down a very steep trail through some jungle and when you get to the bottom, there's just a beautiful stretch of light sand and blue waves. The problem with this beach, though, because it's a bit more secluded, is that people think it's cool to walk around sans clothing. As Kim and I were hiking down the trail, a man on his way back up told us to walk down to the freshwater springs, so when we got down there we saw them a short distance away and headed in that direction - until some guy, who was standing in one of the pools of water - decided to remove his shorts we were grateful his back was towards us, in the least). Both Kim and I spun back around on the spot and decided we weren't really interested in going to the the springs and found our own secluded spot on the beach to relax and avoid anymore unnecessary incidences similar to that.

Hanalei Bay - Kim and I didn't spend a lot of time here yet, because it's on the north shore, but we met up with our friend Chad there a few weeks ago and he showed us around. We saw the mountain that is famously known for being the origination of the song, "Puff the Magic Dragon," and we had stopped by the grocery store to get some stuff to have a bbq, and saw the girl who had had her arm bitten off by a shark just a few years earlier at Hanalei Bay. It was very beautiful up there, and when I go again I'll be sure to take more pictures.

Poipou Beach - Poipou is on the south shore, and this is my favorite place to go on days off and to catch some sun. A lot of surfers and boogie boarders frequent the area, so once I learn how to surf I'll try it there before the winter swells come in. It's fun to go out swimming there to, because there are pretty big breaks out in the water. I went with my roommate Sherry once and she didn't know you were supposed to swim UNDER the waves when they crashed over you...she tried to swim over it but ended up getting pummeled by the wave. She was okay, but she didn't try to do it that way again....lol.

Four-Wheeling - Kim and I make friends with the locals that work and live around here. It opens up more opportunities for us to have as many different experiences as possible. Our friend, Freddy, is the maintenance guy here at Anchor Cove (the mall where our store is located). He is very down to earth and told me a few years ago he used to be an alcoholic beach bum and all he did was drink all day. He decided one day he didn't want to live that life anymore and stopped cold turkey and hasn't looked back since. He works three different jobs, and probably sleeps less than an hour a day because of them. And what does he do on his days off instead of sleep? He takes his bikes out to go four wheeling! We went out to this place just for dirt bikes and the like (if any of you have seen the red dirt here...it stains and gets everywhere...) and rode around for a couple hours. It was a lot of fun, but man, were we dirty! The next day I was still cleaning dirt out of my ears!

I've done a few other things, but I wanted to at least share those things with you all for now. Even though I'm only working a typical full schedule, I feel like I have little time to do much because of running. I either run in the morning before work and try to cram in as many miles as I can, or I go right after work when I'm scheduled in the morning so I can finish running before the sun goes down. The sun begins to go down around 7pm, and it's dark here at night (not very many light poles around this area...) so I'm not too keen to be running in the jungle in the pitch black of night. But I enjoy having such beautiful scenery to keep things interesting, and some days it's hard to get up to run when I'd rather lay at the beach, but I know that Honolulu is going to be here sooner than I know it and I have to be ready for it!

I hope all is well with everyone....crazy that all of us are in so many different places. I think it's a great idea that Darcey started this, so I hope the rest of you join in cause it's hard for all of us to keep in touch as well as I think we all would like.

Love you all very much!!