Maui 11

I promise that we are almost done with the Hawaii photos. Just this batch and then one more. And then I will have to totally leave our tropical honeymoon behind. *sob*

We spent just one night in Hana and the next morning the weather was fantastic - blue skies, no rain. After bidding all of the resident spiders a not-so-fond farewell, the Jeep was loaded up and we were off!

The front porch view from our Hana accomodations. A rocky beach and rough surf but really pretty.

Instead of driving back to Central Maui the way we came down (northern route), we decided to to take on the southern route of the Hana Highway. The road was still winding and not any shorter, but worth it - because when would we come this way again? The route took us past many cattle ranches - apparently back in the early 1900's this part of the island was a bustling beef hub.

Narrow 2-lane country highway with amazing vistas.

During our travels I noticed that all of the cattle had a little friend or two. Some of these white cranes or storks or ducks would even hang out atop the cattle's backs. It was pretty adorable.

Haleakala National Park extends down near Hana too and we took the opportunity to explore the Kipahula area. The Park Service runs a Visitor Center here with books, information and a few displays.

Traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoe. If you look closely at the photo (click to enlarge), you'll see a huge wasp sitting at the bow of the boat.

Most people come to this area to swim in Oheo Gulch. It's just a short walk to the multiple pools and mini-waterfalls. Have to pay to enter since it's located inside the national park.

On the trail to Oheo Gulch.

Almost there - the freshwater pools run out into the ocean.

Oheo Gulch. Can you see the bridge in the distance? We drove over it to get into the park.

Tiny people down below - this was a steep dropoff.

This next set of photos is from our hike up to Waimoku Falls. At this point I was so hot and had to keep slathering myself in sunscreen. And then we took off to see the falls on an uphill trail!

Nice to walk through shaded portions of the trail. The Hawaiian sun is HOT!

Remnants of an old pulley system across the way- there was a matching stone structure on the other side.

Since the day prior had been wet and rainy, the trails were all muddy and quite slippery in places. We stopped at a tiny fenced overlook area to take photos of Waimoku Falls. My pictures all had tree branches in the way because I am afraid of heights and wouldn't lean out over the cliff to take a clear photo. My husband on the other hand was fearless and took some really great images.

A view of the falls from way up high - D's photo.

Downhill on the way back - yay!

I think these are called painted eucalyptus trees.

What I'm working on - March edition

Going to take a quick break from Hawaii photos...back to those later this week.

With our boost in daylight hours from daylight saving time (5 minutes, 44 seconds today!) everyone has been feeling the benefit of the longer days. I definitely have spring fever and can't wait for the season to really start here in Alaska. My annual "wash every sheet, blanket, comforter and pillow" extravaganza will happen sometime in April so here are the other things keeping me busy in the meantime...

This lovely blue pussywillow canvas caught my eye in IKEA years ago and my sister managed to track one down using San Jose Craigslist for a quarter of the cost. Her boyfriend Gabe removed it from the wood frame and mailed it in a tube to Anchorage. I figured it was time to rescue it from dustbunny purgatory under the bed. I had an old canvas that I removed from its frame and stretched this one over instead. It was larger than the frame but I just cut the excess and used my staple gun with gusto! If you don't have a staple gun, you are MISSING OUT on fun craft projects!



Not sure where to hang it yet, but it's nice and big.



My sister and I have a little shop on Etsy: Sumie & Sukie Boutique. It's a bit sparse now but I've been working on some new jewelry pieces and fun clothespins.

Necklace pendants. I love working with pretty paper.

Colorful clothespins.

I have lots and lots of pretty jewelry - but it's never enough, right ladies? I needed a better storage solution for my dangly earrings and came up with this framed option. The mesh is an old black screen that I cut up and framed. I'm on the lookout for a nice wooden version that I can paint and then staple mesh onto. My post earrings still live in my jewelry box since there's no way to affix them right now.

One of my very good friends at work is having her third baby (and she's only 32!). We're all so happy for her but she's been having some tough times lately, so our supper club is hosting a very special baby shower for her in 2 weeks. I've been working on a "diaper cake"- basically it's a structure created from diapers and decorated to look like a cake. And I have ordered a bunch of items from her gift registry for all of us to chip in for. I'm so excited!

My diaper cake creation. The diapers are hidden under the patterned the tissue paper overlay. Still needs some finishing touches.

Nine months is a long time between a wedding and ordering photos but what can I say, I got busy and it was a rough fall and winter, to say the least. So I finally sat down a couple weeks ago to upload most of our wedding images to Adoramapix.com (recommended by my wonderful photographer brother-in-law Doug). The prints arrived very quickly and look really great. I could not believe how affordable it was compared to the printing costs from our wedding photographer (Chugach Peaks) - although I did order prints from Chugach as well since we had some free ones as part of our package.

The photos look great in the frames I got on sale from Michaels, Joann Fabrics and Kohls. Now it's time to figure out which images will go in which frames. To my mom & Mim - I have prints to send you both too!



Ok - I'm on my way to craft night with the ladies. Happy Wednesday everyone!

Maui 10

After being disappointed by the nonexistent blow hole in this same area (the tide was out so not enough pressure to push the water up and out) we moseyed on down to the Black Sand Beach. The seas were rough and only a few people were braving the rough surf.

This plant was very large and people have been carving their names into it for a long time.

Even found my name (spelled incorrectly)!

The beach was gorgeous - black sand all around.

A neat little cave that we crawled into. It's technically a lava tube.

The water surges 1/3 of the way up the tube as the waves come through.

Isn't this amazing? Ancient lava walls with a tiny window to the sky.

A lava cave wall where it meets black rocks on the ground.



I guess some people have tired to turn this into a nude beach. My husband made me take this photo in front of the "No Nude Bathing" sign.



These little rodents are everywhere - finally D asked a park ranger what they were. Turns out they are mongoose.

We always saw these birds in pairs. They run after everything - cars, other birds, people, mongoose. Fearless!

Orange kitties! Feral cats were all over the place too. D wouldn't let me pet any of them. :-)