Beach Day and Beach House

On one day of our honeymoon, we decided to dedicate it as a "beach day". We definitely hit the beach throughout our trip, but his was the only day that we spent most of the day at a beach. We started at the local beach near our condo in Poipu. Great waves and SO MANY TURTLES. It was amazing.

Then we adventured out to Polihale Beach, which was a fairly long drive to the west side of the island. Despite only having a little hatchback rental car, we managed to drive all the way out to the beach - not gonna lie, there were times, we thought we'd get stuck in sand road on the way out! But when we got out there, it was gorgeous. The beach stretches for 17 miles, so it's not hard to find your own little secluded section. The only downfall: there is no shade and it's insanely hot. I had to go into the water to cool off every ten minutes, at least. But we made the best of it and had a little picnic, lathered on the sunscreen and soaked up the sun.

After our beach day, we went back to our condo to get ready to go out to the Beach House Restaurant. We received a very generous gift card from Joe's coworkers, so we felt quite spoiled. The meal was absolutely incredible. We had swordfish and gray snapper, plus a few more tasty treats! If you ever find yourself in Kauai, you have to go here. It's mouth-watering delicious!

Sunset just before dinner at the Beach House!

Our Date-a-Versary

We hit the four year milestone back in November and even though we have a new "official" anniversary, we decided that we'll continue to celebrate our Date-a-Versary for years to come. Because really, who doesn't like a good excuse to make a really nice dinner and open a nice bottle of red wine? And maybe if I'm lucky, the flowers will continue too :) 

I love you, Joe!

Flashback to Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3!

Maha'ulepu Trail

When I tell people that 1) our honeymoon was relaxing and 2) we went on four hikes, people tend to question #1. Yes, we like a good hike, but we truly did balance our days out with some beach time or other more relaxing activities. It's just that if I spent an entire day on the beach, I would resemble a lobster. Sooooo hikes are a nice break :)

The Maha'ulepu Trail was more of a beachside stroll - it started at Shipwreck Beach and followed the shore north, going down to private little beaches and back up to a cliffside. Bonus: it was so quiet; we ran into maybe 4 people the whole time!

The greenery and geological formations were beautiful.

We hiked down to this natural little pond and waded for quite some time - watching the waves crash right in front of us!

Taking it all in.

We even found a second home!

Joe was pretty stoked about it.

One of the beaches with some lava rock.

E+J!

(we totally changed someone's hard work into our initials...)

Kalalau Trail

One of the things that appealed to me the most about Kauai was the abundance of hikes. I had heard so many amazing things about them - the breathtaking views, outrageous greenery and of course, a little sweat never hurt anyone. With a little tip from Maddie (who heard about it from Kimber who heard from Erin), we decided to give the Kalalau Trail of the Napali Coast a shot. No, not the part that earns it the title of one of America's Most Dangerous Hikes. Nope, we opted for the abbreviated, safer version.

Two miles in to a secluded beach, then two more miles into this valley that ended with the Hanakapi'ai Falls - 300 feet of waterfall that fed into a natural Olympic-sized pool! This is seriously the kind of waterfall people dream about - it was absolutely mesmerizing.

After a little dip, rest and snack, we hiked the 4 miles back out. It was a grueling hike, but I think we had mentally prepared for it since so many people had told us about it, so we managed :) If you ever find yourself in Kauai, this hike needs to be at the top of your list!

Views, views and more views. 

See the little microscopic person? The picture doesn't even get the whole waterfall either!

We took a dip at the falls. It was FREEZING.

 Secluded Hanakapi'ai Beach

We treated ourselves with shaved ice after the hike :)

P.S. Back to blogging! Hope I can keep it up again this time!

Zip n' Dip

As soon as we decided on Kauai for the honeymoon, I knew I'd have the opportunity to check something off of my 30 before Thirty list. (More on that later!) Thanks to Merith's suggestion, we discovered Princeville Ranch Adventure's Zip n' Dip tour: a series of 9 ziplines with a little dip in a waterfall-fed swimming hole. It was so. much. FUN!

You do eight full zips, then have a little swim/lunch break, then tackle the King Kong - a 1200'  zip across a 10-story-ish deep valley. It was incredible. Climbing the tower to get to the ziplines was not so incredible in the wind - it has to sway at least a foot in each direction! I'm not even afraid of heights, but it gave me the jitters - I felt safer on the zipline than the tower! So if you ever find yourself in Kauai, give this adventure a go. You won't regret it!

Those helmets are hot, huh? 

Joe getting pumped for the first zip!

 (picture take upside down, so I felt it was necessary to share that way too!)

 Dip time!

The King Kong tower!

Queen's Bath

Let me tell you, when you have five months of pictures to share, it's really hard to know where to even start. So for now, I'll leave you with this photo Joe snapped of my admiring Queen's Bath. It was a little rough in the water that day, so we didn't get to go in, but it was just so pretty! I could have watched the waves crashing there all day. If you're ever in Kauai, be sure to check it out!

Honeymoon Teaser

Eventually I'll do an official honeymoon post, but for now I'll leave you with one of the many sunsets we witnessed in Kauai. It was pink, purple, orange, blue and yellow and the way it reflected off the water made your jaw drop.

Is there another place on earth that regularly has this good of sunsets daily?! I'd like to know, so I can add it to my dream travel list. Wouldn't that be amazing? A travel quest for the world's best sunset?! Oh yes, one can dream.

I'm baaaaaack!

Holy moly, it's been since July! Clearly, that's the longest I've gone since I started this little ol' blog back in 2009. I'd venture to say that 2013 has been one of the most eventful years, yet not well documented on Petes Speaks. (Speaking of, I'm technically no longer a Peterson, but I'll always be a Petes in the eyes of many. Or at least Maddie.) 

So for the next few months, I'll try to keep you posted on some things current and also catch you up with what's happened in the last three months. Like maybe the fact that I GOT MARRIED. Yeah, I'm pretty darn lucky.

Friday Date Night

Last Friday, Joe and I planned an heading up to our local Phinney Farmer's Market for a little dinner and to peruse the fresh eats (berries, veggies and fresh bread galore!). We had some delicious food from the Istanbul food truck - I got the chicken schwarma, which was fab. We also treated ourselves to some homemade popsicles from Six Strawberries. The strawberry rhubarb pie is to die for!

One thing led to another and we decided that after more than a year of living in our neighborhood, we'd go on a little pub crawl. So after the market, our next stop was the 74th Street Alehouse where we got two tasty local brews.

Then we headed to Prost for a couple of our fave German beers. They have one with "banana notes" that I always get.

Next, we headed to Bleubird Creamery because I heard they sold Rachel's Ginger Beer, but they were all out. (Wah wah) But luckily, they have their own little brewery, so we decided to share a beer float! Theo chocolate stout with theo chocolate ice cream. By far, the BEST decision of the night. (As evidenced by Joe's excitement below?) It was phenomenal. Seriously, I'll dream about this float for months.

We wrapped up our night at Carmelita, which is slated to close in September. We each picked out a refreshing cocktail. Mine had muddled cucumbers in it, which gave it quite a nice flavor.

All in all, a fantastic date night! Now I can finally tell our 80-year-old neighbor that we did a neighborhood pub crawl. Apparently, when she went on a crawl, she wound up trying her first jello shot?! It seems like our night was slightly more tame than hers :)

A Day Trip Escape

For Memorial Day weekend, we got the itch for a day-trip adventure and an escape from the city. In Seattle terms, that translates to: Bainbridge Island. It feels like an escape, but is only a 30-minute - and gorgeous! - ferry ride away. When we got there, we promptly picked up some coffee, then leisurely walked the downtown and along the marina, and even did a little wine tasting. 

Then we thought we might drive north to catch the Kingston ferry for a little change of pace. Along the way, we found a hole-in-the-wall pizza joint (yum!) and a casino. Yes, we hit up the Clearwater Casino. We each allowed ourselves $10 for slots. Well, lady luck was visiting because after paying for a beer a piece, we still left $10 ahead! Score. 

When waiting for the ferry, we got the obligatory ice cream cone. A perfect way to end a day of gluttony :) All in all, it was another fantastic day spent with my sweets!

Woodinville Winos

For the Memorial Day weekend, Joe, Steph, Erin and I headed to Woodinville for some afternoon wine tasting. We only made it to three - my favorite was Patterson Cellars - before we had to call it quits to get some food in our bellies. So we switched it up and headed to Redhook Brewery for lunch on their patio. It was one of the nicest days in a long time, so it was nice to soak up the sun for a bit. 

Considering how close Woodinville is, I really don't know why we don't do this more often. I mean, yes, it makes you want to take a nap by 4pm, but I think we all deserve that on occasion, don't ya think?

P.S. Remember that one time we ran from Ballard to Redhook? Yeah, that was rough. Driving for wine trumps running for Redhook, hands down.

Makin' Bubbles

A couple weeks ago, we babysat Johan (Joe's nephew; my future nephew) while his folks were entertaining a friend from Sweden. Well, not surprisingly, we don't really have a lot of 5-year-old toys aside from the Kinect, but we didn't want to stay cooped up inside on such a nice day. 

So we improvised. We mixed a little dish soap with water and pulled out a cookie cutter, funnel and tea strainer to make BUBBLES! I think we spent a solid hour seeing who could make the biggest bubble. It was cute to watch these two together; they have a lot of fun :) Maybe next time we should make a giant bubble maker, eh?

Johan popping one of Joe's giant bubbles :)

Blowing bubbles takes some major concentration

 

 Yep, I think that's the face of a happy boy. Mission accomplished.