Aiea Loop Trail

Rach and I went on a little hike today.  The Aiea Loop Trail.  After a little confusion about where the actual entrance to the trail was, the iPhone got us there.  The hike was only 4.5 miles or so. We encountered little elevation changes during the hike, but did find some pretty good photo ops  (all via the iPhone). 

This is a pic just before the rain moved our way.  You can see the H3 highway as it snakes towards the tunnel to Kaneohe.

This is a pic of a possible field of marijuana (probably not, but it would have been interesting).

The rain clouds did open up on us about half way through the hike.  We were muddy and thoroughly drenched by the end of the hike.  Rach and I live for that kind of recreation, so it was an awesome morning (just a little sarcasm there). 

Crazy Gold Pants

I'm all about being your own person and expressing yourself and all that nonsense.  However, these pants just scream, "LOOK AT ME.  I AM WEARING CRAZY A$$ TIGHT GOLD PANTS.  I'M DIFFERENT!  I'M A WEIRDO!"

Our Beloved Integra

I bought my 1994 Acura Integra back in 2000.  It has served me faithfully since then.  Rach started driving it when the Lebaron died in 2004.  It was shipped to Hawaii in 2006.  Last Friday it hit 200,000 miles on the odometer.  Such a faithful little car.   I shall reward it with a paint job and some new wheels when I get back to NJ.  I will drive this car to at least 250,000 miles.

The Hike

K. Falcon convinced Rach and I to go on this hike with her, Dave, Jen, and John.  I was told that it was an intermediate level 3.5 mile hike.  Sounded good to me.  Everyone knows I LOVE to get up early on the weekends and really just attack the day.  Take this island by the horns and squeeze every last ounce of fun out of it.  

Minor detail though:  The hike was 3.5 miles...each way.  And the ending point was on the top of this mountain ridge that I have always looked up at while driving and said to myself, "Gosh that looks so high.  It's practically in the clouds.  I wonder how anyone would ever get up there?"

It really wasn't that bad though.  The first 3/4 of the way was a pretty easy stroll up some switchbacks.  The last 1/4 or so was straight up this ridgeline.  There were some stairs involved, and Rach almost passed out about 100 feet from the top.  

Rach rehydrating after making it to the top.

Rach and I at the Kuliouou Trail End sign

One of the better pictures

You could see all the way from Kaneohe to Waimanalo to Koko Head to Hawaii Kai to Diamond Head.  So, instead of posting a billion pics, here is a short video to give you an idea of the view (have to give Rach credit for the creative cinematic idea).

 It was really windy up there and the audio didn't really do the scene justice, so I added a little Coldplay.  (That's how Rach knows I'm gay...name that movie)

Free weekend?! Sign us up.

Bri & I participated in another "Marriage Retreat",
aka free weekend at Turtle Bay.

I won't bore you with pics, but check out this sweet view from our room.

BONUS: went to a luau and sat at the table next to Daniel Dae Kim, aka Jin from "LOST"
DOWNSIDE: he was a jerk...and his wife an even bigger jerk.

Whats that? Don't take your photo?!

Okay...so not the best picture, I don't have Ethans discreet picture taking skills, BUT its proof.
3 years, and we finally met a cast member from one of our fav shows.

FYI Mr. Kim, no one noticed you but US..you could have been cool and just taken one lousy pic.

Wine and Cheese

Carlos and Emily invited some friends to their house for a "Wine and Cheese Tasting." I was a bit skeptical at first, because I had never attended such an event. Also, I was worried because Carlos told me it wasn't dinner, but just little appetizers and stuff. Rach and I were pretty hungry going over there, and I thought we were definitely going to be forced to hit the Wendy's late night afterwards.

Boy was I wrong. They had all these delicious meats, cheeses, and appetizers. We did not leave hungry. I really liked the format of just eating a bunch of little things instead of one big meal.  I was scared of the melon wrapped with some kind of thinly sliced smoked meat, but it was pretty tasty. The bruschetta was delectable, and I ate about a pound of fresh mozzarella.

I have no idea what kind of wine we had, but I drank it and it was good.  You can tell by looking at the pictures who the real wine afficionados are because some of us held the wine glass by the stem and some of us held it like a beer glass.  Amateurs.

For dessert Midori brought Bearded Papa's cream puffs, which are my absolute favorite.  Addam said they were awesome, and he would know because he, "F'n loves pastries!"

The spread.

L to R is Jason, Midori, Emily, Me

Me, Carlos, and Addam (notice how Carlos is gazing at me)

Rach's pimp face and Carlos's regular face

Kate Falcon's Birthday

OK. First, I have to say please don't send any kind of hate mail saying, "Get out of town! Her name cannot be Kate Falcon! There is no way you know someone with a badass last name like FALCON!" Believe it people. I've seen her drivers license.

Kate invited us and some friends to the Turtle Bay Resort to eat dinner at a restaurant called Lei Lei's. The food was delicious, and the company rather pleasant.  I had the filet mignon, of course, and Rach had the crab stuffed salmon.

This is Kate opening her gifts from Rachel and Jenny.

The gorgeous ladies I had the pleasure of spending the evening with.  (especially the one second from the left)

Kate and the guys.  I put this up because it is the most awkward "ooops we're not ready" photo ever.

This is me wearing Kate's scarf. She had it with her "just in case." I asked her if the "just in case" was like just in case she needed to disguise herself as a pastel colored ninja, or a sand storm suddenly blew in, or if you get invited to a Lawrence of Arabia costume party?

America's Next Food Network Star

Did you watch this season? The guy who won, Aaron McCargo Jr., was from CAMDEN, NJ!


We loved this guy, and the 1st episode of his show, Big Daddy's House came out last week. Best part, he actually cooks with ingredients whose names you would recognize & prolly have on hand.

We tried his spin on chicken fingers with salad. Instead of coating the chicken with bread crumbs, you use chips...I believe he used spicy nacho chips, we had some sour cream & cheddar chips on hand, so we went with that. It was very tasty!

Pound your chicken

The 3-step coating process.

Coated & ready to fry.

Frying.

Serve & top with your favorite dressing.
Enjoy!

I highly recommend watching the show! Check it out Sunday night.

Happy 100 Posts!!

This was a gift from a patient. It's a "Haku" from Kauai, aka a Hawaiian flower head lei. I wore it all day at work...I felt like a cross between a princess & a hippy =)

This pic doesn't do it justice. The colors are gorgeous, the flowers smell spectacular, & they look so perfect everyone thought they were fake. I felt very honored to be given one!

Cat Cave

We always put our comforter on this basket that we keep in the corner of our room, because it is always too hot to use it. Today the comforter happened to form a little cave that Zoey took a nap in.



As soon as I took Zoey's picure (with my iPhone), Chloe jumped into the same little cat cave for her photo op.


Weird. Them for posing in the cat cave. Us for taking the pictures and posting them on the Internet.

iPhone

I finally convinced Rach to let me get an iPhone. These are some of the pics I took today when we went to Roy's. The restaurant is situated on a golf course with some really good views.

This is the view of the 18th hole from the bar.


The view from behind my beer glass.


The food was so good that we forgot to get a pic of my honey mustard beef short rib. This is Rach's macadamia crusted swordfish.


The delicious chocolate souffle with ice cream.

Foghorn

This is what I did at work two Fridays ago. Can you figure out which one is me?

Princess Chunky

This 44lb. cat was recently found in Voorhees... Shes 2 lbs shy of topping the world record.
I think shes adorable.

Check out article HERE

P-I-M-P

Saw this guy when we were on the way to eat Korean food for Will's last dinner. Needs little explanation, but you should note that his loafers match his gym shorts.

I'm a lazy blogger, what can I say

So I will just post some pics from my Mom, Jim, & Brandons Trip out & some new things we did, like...
-Went on a submarine ride (down over 100ft) and checked out some sunken ships, planes, etc. -Went to Kualoa Ranch & did the "Jungle Expedition" & "Movie Set Tour". Its where they filmed Jurassic Park, Lost scenes, You Me & Depree, 50 First Dates, Windtalkers, George of the Jungle, and Godzilla...to name a few. -Went to Iolani Palace & saw the King Kamehameha Statue -We also rented a boat again...it was a good time!

Brandon, Brian, Zoey & Chloe


Submarine pics...

Someone just lost their 2 front teeth =)

106 feet deep at this point..

Waikiki Beach

Iolani Palace & the King Kamehameha Statue

Grillin at the Shorebird

Building sand castles at Lanikai Beach

Brandon & I got up early & went to Waimea Bay to watch Bri's P.T...they played football at Waimea Bay. Can you see Brian?

Rented a pontoon boat again & spent the day out at Kaneohe Bay

Kualoa Ranch
Jungle Expedition
Overlooking Kaneohe Bay from the ranches 4000 acres
Movie Set Tour... Jurassic Park shot
Favorite show ever!!
Me on Hurley's Golf Course from LOST!
Brandon swinging an imaginary club on the course

Godzillas foot print... apparently they had to fill some of it in, cos' the ranch cows kept fallin in it. lol
Spot in 50 First Dates where Sandler waited on the side of the road every day for Drew B.'s character to drive by....
View from the ranch grounds.

Not too much else goin on in our lives... let see...
Brian started another semester, his LAST semester =) Yayyyyy babe!!! I'm so proud of you!! Unfortunately, 3 classes & workin FT is a bit much, soooo he will be hard at work this next month & some

I'm back to work, no more vacations for me...not till November!!

The kitties are alive & well at the moment, although we have made quite a few vet visits this past month...keep your finger$ cro$$ed. The girls get more health care than I do. We still love them, even if they are slightly defective.

Ughhh thats it, pretty dull.

Miss you all..keep posting, we like to know whats going on!

ps- sorry for the overload of pics, I can never make up my mind which to cut.