Turkey with the fishes.

I have not had a traditional thanksgiving in a few years so I decided to continue with the tradition this year. I had several lovely offers from people to join them for their thanksgiving day feast. As much as the offers were appreciated I had my own plans. I was put on a wait list to go diving with my local dive shop. It must have been a Thanksgiving day miracle because I was offered a slot on the boat that ended up only having three other divers on it including the divemaster. A small group is always preferred when diving. We saw some eels, cow fish, and I learned what a cone snail is. This is a snail you don't want to mess with, see what national geographic has to say about this beautiful killer: Cone Snail.

After a beautiful drive home along the west coast i took a nap on the couch before joining some friends for the tail end of their Thanksgiving feast. As I am not one to dig into the turkey I feasted on the sides that remained. 

A day underwater and with good friends, I think I have a new tradition.

Mokulua Islands.

I took my first trip to the "moks" via kayak. Moks I made the trip with a friend who shared the kayak with me and a roommate who powered himself over on a stand-up paddleboard. It was quite windy but we still managed to get to the island in record time.

Once on the island you can do some exploring on foot. On the backside of the island I lost a slipper to ocean. A wave crashed into the sharp lava rock we were walking on and stole my shoe from me. My roommate stepped up and gave me his slippers as he chose to "hawaiian up" and go barefoot on the sharp rocks. We spider monkeyed our way up some more rocks to find a good place to jump over another rock and into the surf. It took some coaxing and Johnny was in the waters below to assist me if necessary but I managed the leap and even did another one sans roommate in the water.

My friend and I had a beer on the beach before jumping back in our kayaks and making our way back to our other island. This time we were going with the wind and able to catch a few waves to make the journey even easier. We loaded up the water-crafts just as it started to rain. Our final views as we walked to the car was of a double rainbow framing the Moks.

Another successful weekend of island life. 

MIA

I know i have been gone for a while but it has been for good reason, my family was in town. They were only here for a short period of time but we did our best to fit as my island style as we could. It all started to with a low key dinner at a local joint that had been recommended by my roommate. They were pretty exhausted from their trip from one coast to another and then to the middle of the pacific so we did not do much else that night. Sunday was dedicated to some tourist activities: aloha stadium swap meet to buy aloha gifts, diamond head hike, and Duke's on Sunday.

Diamond head is more touristy than beautiful and fall from the best hike on the island. You get some nice views of the skyline but it is a large hot crater otherwise. Duke's is always a good time to hear live music and see good friends. My family was able to reacquaint themselves with one of my LTs and meet the other one for the first time.

Monday I had to work for some of the day so my brother and I went on our own hiking adventure while my parents drove to the north shore to see the waves, we are reaching epic heights and soon surf competitions will be on island. The hike that my brother and I went on is the site that Jurassic Park was shot at.

Tuesday I had to work even more than I had wanted so my family got to explore the island on their own for a while. They finally made it to my side of the island (windward) which gives more picturesque views. We had lunch at my favorite pizza joint and headed straight to the beach. There is nothing like eating a quarter of a pizza before running around in a bikini. 

After my brother's favorite meal on the island (sushi) they all met my roommates over ice cream and pie. This was unfortunately their last evening on the island so we had to say our farewells. Luckily I will make my journey home for christmas.

It was great to get to share my island with my loved ones. 

I have to give photo credit to my dad and brother. I left it up to them to capture our adventures.