Family shots...

My family was here for Christmas and New Years.  This means I had my tripod in tow and had my picture taken more times that I'd have liked.  Thus, it has left me with a bunch of 'group' shots from various places around this island.  Here are a few...plus a couple other pictures from their circle island tour.

Christmas Eve around the Charlie Brown Tree.

Christmas Day in Waikiki after church.

Jerry, Laura and Beth on the lava flow rocks (Spitting Cave of Portlock).

Their picture with the cave below...can you see them way over there?

Laura and the Spitting Cave

Laura found a coconut!  She was very excited.

Sunrise at Kailua.

Sunrise at Kailua.

Us all posing with Chinaman's Hat Island (The politically correct name of the
island is Mokoli'i, but no one in this state is politically correct).

Shave ice at the famous North Shore shop, Matsumoto's

Sunset at Kaena Point

Mahalo for visiting.

Exploring with Laura...

As mentioned earlier, I had a few family members visiting the islands over the holidays.  Laura flew in after her semester was over, so we explored the island for a week before the 'rents arrived.  Here are a few pictures.

As is our tradition: Sushi time!

I little blurry...oops.

The next 4 pictures are hiking at Manoa.

During our hike we passed an area where they had been filming the second Hunger Games movie earlier in the day.  Unfortunately, they had wrapped up shooting for the day.  Security was not happy about me taking pictures, and they'd probably be less than thrilled about me posting pictures about it (shhhh, don't tell them).  I'm not sure, but I think the big white balls (approx. 7-8 feet in diameter) are lighting props?

We made time to visit Laura's favorite beach a couple times: Diamondhead beach.  It's a locals beach and has a great lighthouse.

We found this little guy on Diamondhead Beach.

The day before the 'rents flew in, we when hiking at Monawili Falls.  President Obama and his family actually hiked the same exact trail 2 days later.  We just missed them. Laura tweeted them a few times, and we tried really hard to invite ourselves over for dinner.  Although, Laura set some rules: I was not allowed to sit next to President Obama during dinner because (and I quote from Laura) "you have too many unfriendly questions."  What?  I may not be his biggest fan, but I think my questions were pretty tame.  I only had a few, such as: When was he going to fix the fiscal cliff issues?  What his exact plans were for our second amendment rights?  And last but not least: How could he get me on the CBS show Survivor?  He has to have some kind of pull, right?  For the record, I did like more of his fiscal cliff ideas, but Laura didn't think that would come across well.  We decided it was in everyone's best interest for me to sit next to Michelle since I really like all of the health initiatives she's undertaken.  Unfortunately, they never got back to us about which date would be best for us to attend dinner.

sorry, iPhone made this picture look funny?

Mahalo for visiting.

Kaua'i Part 4: Lighthouse and Kaua'i Coffee...

Some other pictures from Kaua'i might pop up on my blog but the is my last dedicated post about Kaua'i.  This post has pictures from lookouts, the Kaua'i Coffee Company and a lighthouse.

First up are the overlook pictures.  The first two are from an overlook near the north shore.  The third picture is from an overlook near the south shore. 

I was exploring the island one day I was there and I passed a sign saying Kaua'i Coffee Company was down this side street.  In Hawaii, I always stop at Coffee companies, because a coffee company is synonomous with free coffee samples.  Who wouldn't want samples of some of the world's best coffee companies?

Left: Old fashioned coffee mill                 //         Right: Old fashioned coffee roaster

Coffee beans.  What?  Did you think they were brown or black in color?  Not until they are harvested and then roasted.

Coffee Trees

Lastly, I went to visit a lighthouse.  At first it looked odd, almost like it had a big extermination tent around it (you see a lot of those tents living in Hawai'i).  Turns out it was being reconditioned and had a protective tent around it during remodeling.  

A picture of the planned restoration back to the 1913 condition.