Horse Farm Diaries

What can I say other than it was a good day.

There is a Duke size hole in my heart. I can’t tell you how much I will miss him.

Good night Duke! We love you so.

Every now and then you find something spectacular hanging out in your backyard.

And some backyards are luckier than others.

All I can say is…

what a magnificent bird!

Today is the last beach, the last day. I have a lot more photos of my trip and when I have time to go through them and put them on flikr, I will let you know.

Here is our last beach on my last day. I just wanted a place to sit in the sun. Chuck thought he’d take advantage of the waves and show me a good boogie board place.

It was a beautiful beach and a lot of people were in the water.

According to the literature, the Nuuanu Pali Lookout (”Cool Height Cliff”)overlooking the 985 foot cliffs of the Koolau Mountain Range, is one of the best views on O’ahu. It was here in 1795 that King Kamehameha and his warriors defeated the O’ahu armies by sending them over these steep, forested cliffs and claiming his victory and uniting the Hawaiian Islands. The breathtaking sight and the gruesome history of the battle fought here is enough to cause a chill to run up your spine. Add to that the incredible winds that often pass through the Pali and you may be swept off your feet!

Chuck and I really enjoy looking for things in tide pools. We also tried to learn the name of one native plant along our trail.

Here is the plant, but I forgot the name.

Here’s Chcuk walking the lava, looking for interesting things.

He found a sea cucumber.

A very interesting creature. Some cultures eat these little guys, but we put him back.

One of our favorite activities is going to Kapiolani park at sunset. We usually start with a stroll or swim and end with a bottle of wine and the sunset.

We walked out onto a pier—waikiki beach to the right,

Diamond head to the left,

And lots of palm trees behind us.

To top it off in the end, a beautiful sunset.

And of course, another wedding.

Chuck and I went to the Makiki Arboretum Trail and took the Makiki loop. We also took another loop that went through this trail. It was spectacular. It is really interesting to go from a very dry climate to a very dense green jungle climate. I know I said I wasn’t going to post too many photos and this is why the post is so late in coming—but trust me, I only chose a few of the hundreds I took. I’m not even sure these are the best few, but they show you an idea.

Here I am with Safari Sam at the beginning of the trail.

These are in no particular order, but the trail was beautiful. I could, and did, take hundreds of photos. Unfortunately my battery died towards the end. Each part of the trail took on a personality of its own.

It seems like every hike you take in Hawai’i, you end up at the top of a ridge. This is looking out at Diamond head. I am not sure what is happening with my camera, but the colors are really flat. You can hardly see the ocean in this photo, but it is really blue.

Hawai’i has a pig problem they are trying to get rid of. There are signs that inform about the hunters and dogs in the woods. Duke would have a field day, except the pigs hang out in groups of 10 to 20 and weigh about 150 lbs. I wanted to see one, but not a herd of them.

There were bushes of this beautiful flower. We haven’t identified it yet, but we will. If anyone out there knows what it is, please let us know.

Here it is up close.

Look close and you will see the cameleon, or cameleon like creature.

The size of some of the plant’s leaves are just amazing.

January 31, 2009 was a very sad day on the farm. Tabu, we will remember you forever.

Chuck and I went down to the beach to enjoy a beautiful sunset with juice, crackers, cheese and grapes.

It was an absolutely beautiful evening.

And while we watched the sun go down, a newly married couple came into our line of view for their wedding photos.

We felt like we were part of the family.

What a magical moment.

And when the sun was down, there was the moon and palm trees over our head.