We had a wild night on Friday bar hopping in Ocean Beach to celebrate a friend's birthday, which was really refreshing because I thought I'd aged out of Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach. It was an 80's theme. We did not dress up although in a way I felt like I did because I was wearing a romper. I think it's important to note that it's my very first romper ever. Well, not ever, but the last time I wore one it actually was the 80's and I was about 10 years old. It's one of those things I kept saying, "Oh yeah, I need to get one of those," but never did. At first I wasn't sure if I liked them. Then I wasn't sure if I wanted to take down my top to go to the bathroom. Then I wasn't sure if the trend was going to die and I'd be stuck with something I didn't want to wear. Then it seemed like they just wouldn't go away so when my mom spotted a cute one while we were at Target, I tried it on and was sold on the comfort and versatility. It's not to tight or too short.
Someone had an extra gold chain for MJ so we fit right in. Bar hopping and dancing wearing a romper with ballet flats was positively liberating. These flats are amazing. The goal was to find a pair of ballet flats that felt like house slippers and these are it. I'm already looking for a pair in nude or taupe. I felt comfortable. I felt like me. We had a great time. I'll have to reconsider Ocean Beach and Pacific Beach for fun nights out without the downtown pressure to dress a certain way. Oh, and the prices. At the first bar we hadn't eaten so I was going to wait and not order anything but when the waitress put two beers in front of him and asked for $7.50 I was all over it because you can't get a single drink for less then $10.00 downtown and that's what Uber is for. We left the driving to them. Sometimes the downtown scene is just too much with all the heels and the tight dresses. I have nothing against either. Not true. I'm pretty much over heels that hurt. I refuse to suffer anymore. Anyway, I love downtown and I'll go back, but the change in scenery was nice.
I think the same could be said about Dolci Cafe Italiano Rancho San Diego. It's one of those unassuming little places in a strip mall that you see on your way to the grocery store and say, "That place looks cute,
we need to try it," and then promptly forget about it until you see it
again and say, "That place looks cute, we need to try it." Well, we finally tried it on Sunday. This is our last weekend at home together for the next month and we wanted to go out for breakfast. Coast? or local? It was hot. It would have been nice to head out towards the beach, but then I thought about it. Local, because all the hot spots would probably have long wait times without a reservation. And then there is the parking.
We love the vibrant restaurant scene in San Diego but sometimes we just want to drive to a restaurant, get out of the car and eat so it's
always nice to find cute non-chain restaurants without all the hoopla. We were seating in the covered patio area which was nice. The Italian sausage was juicy and the french toast was perfectly moist in the middle and full of flavor. And the prices! My french toast was $9.00. Our bill was only $35 and that includes three mimosas. Two for me. I can't wait to go back to try lunch and dinner.
The gymnastics world is all a buzz because the road to Rio has officially begun with the 2015 US Secret Classic and continues with P & G Championships this weekend. What makes it even more exciting is that there was not one, not two, but three members of the 2012 US Gold Medal winning Fierce Five team back in the mix and very serious about going for a second Olympics. In a sport where you peak at 16 if not sooner this is unheard of in gymnastics and hasn't been done since Amy Chow and Dominique Dawes did it in 1996 and 2000.
Kyla, McKayla, Aly, Jordan, Gabby
Here is an update on the gymnastics darlings from London.
A photo posted by Jordyn Wieber (@jordyn_wieber) on
After London everyone except Jordan Wieber was certain about coming back. She was the it girl that year and everyone was expecting her to win the All-Around and she didn't even get to compete for it. I was so, so sad for her. Aly Raisman edged her out for a spot in All-Around finals and then Gabby Douglas went on to win the whole thing. Out of all of them Jordan suffered the biggest disappointment and would have the most to prove by coming back for redemption. She didn't commit, but she also didn't rule it out. She was not eligible for collegiate competition having gone pro, but secured a place as gymnastics team manager at UCLA. She continued some training there but could not find the motivation to mount a serious comeback and officially announced her retirement earlier this year. I think she is enjoying college life and that California sunshine too much to go back to the cold of Michigan and the daily grind of gymnastics. Who can blame her?
McKayla Maroney made made it clear that she loved gymnastics too much to give it up and was serious about continuing onto Rio. She did some acting gigs and appearances after London. I feel really bad for her because she made a valiant effort to continue. She got injured on the post Olympic tour, but came back and was competing at a World Championships in the All Around just a year after the Olympics. Having been known as a vault specialist in London it was a really big deal for her. Having missed out on a Vaulting Gold that really should have been hers it was also a really big deal that she won it at 2013Worlds the year after. She was looking so good and was so determined but she had injury after injury and a few surgeries. Her body just wasn't having it and it looks like she's down for the count. If she's not in the mix now I don't imagine it's possible for her to even dream about coming back now. I don't think there has been an official announcement but the only thing I've seen from her lately is sexy selfies on Instagram. But really, what is with the sexy selfies? It's pretty much all she posts. According to an interview with Marta Karolyi she is having some ongoing medical issues with her heart.
Kyla Ross never left the gym. At fifteen she was the youngest member of the 2012 team and just getting started so it was no surprise that she didn't skip a beat and was right back to serious training. She was the only one of her teammates not to turn pro and do the full post Olympic tour. She only did West Coast dates so she could continue to train. She's continued to be a fixture on the US National team winning medals at every Worlds and Nationals. She would have been girl on top but Simone Biles came onto the scene and bumped her out of a World All Around title in 2013 and she has placed 2nd to her at every nationals. She has only had a few minor injuries which is amazing in this sport where you expect to get injured constantly. She has stayed the course and I will be so disappointed if she doesn't make next year's team. She has had to deal with a growth spurt and has been criticized over and over for doing the same skills from 2012. Marta loves her for her consistency and pretty gymnastics but the rest of the pack is catching up and I don't think Rio is possible unless she upgrades her difficulty. Her gymnastics continues to be solid and she is right in there with the young whipper snappers coming up provided she upgrades.
Aly Raisman did Dancing with the Stars and all kinds of fun stuff after the Olympics. She got her own leotard collection from GK Elite and was recently featured in ESPN's 2015 Body Edition. My goodness that girl is fit. They all are. She needed some time off to live a normal life for a little while, but her intention was always to come back. She had an amazing Olympics walking away with a Gold on floor and a Bronze on beam in addition to team gold, but just missed out on an individual AA medal medal. She started training at the end of 2013 in Massachussets with her same coach, was back at US National training camps at the end of 2014 and competed at City of Jesolo Trophy 2015 in March. I love her. I love her attitude, her consistency, and her personality. She has had so much success and yet remains humble and hard working. She is still full of power, but really needs to clean up her form which has always been one of her weaknesses. I really want her to make the team. I want EVERYONE to make it!
The third Fierce Five member who is making a comeback is none other than 2012 All Around Olympic Gold MedalistGabby Douglas. She basked in the post Olympic glory as well, with TV appearances and magazine covers. She had a movie made about her life and slo got her very own GK Elite leotard collection. She moved to Los Angeles and then got back in the gym mid 2014. She originally went back to Chow's who trained her through the Olympics, but then bounced around to a few other gyms before settling down at Buckeye's in Ohio. She was looking kind of flaky, but has stayed put. It was announced earlier this year that she was going to have a reality show set in LA, but I haven't heard anything else about it. She went back to training camp around the same time Aly did and had the first comeback meet at Jesolo last year as well. She is looking really good. I have mixed feelings about Gabby. I loved her underdog story from 2012 and her gymnastics, but found myself put off by her cocky attitude in interviews right away. I don't know what it is, but arrogance is just not a likable character trait in my opinion and she oozes it. I though she had toned it down a bit when I watched a few interviews while she was training for her comeback, but no. It's back. I want to like her a lot more than I do, but her gymnastics speaks for itself. Physically, she hasn't changed much since 2012 and her gymnastics looks really clean and solid.
The it girl of this Olympic cycle is undoubtedly Simone Biles. She wins everything. She is the 2013 and 2014 World AA Champion and not even Alya Mustafina from Russia could beat her. She is a machine. She is powerful, solid and while she does not have long graceful lines she is very clean. The girl is seriously blessed with natural talent for this sport, plus she is a work horse. Everyone, including the former Olympians are chasing her and it's pretty much a given that barring some bizarre unforeseen circumstance she will be on the 2016 team. I expect her to win too, but Jordan's story and Mckayla's fall when she was a sure thing for Vault gold is a cautionary tale. You never know. Not only is she good, but she has the most adorable personality ever and always looks like she is having fun. There is not an arrogant bone in her body. She committed to UCLA, but then announced her decision to turn pro on July 29th. I don't blame her. Gymnastics is expensive and if things go the way they should she will make enough money to finance a college education and then some. It can be a risky move, but she WILL get endorsements and make a ton of money provided she continues doing exactly what she's doing and doesn't get hurt.
How did they do at Classics? Simone Biles won of course. Gabby Douglas came in an impressive 2nd, just 2.0 points behind Simone who has been known to win by so many points that she could fall five times and still win. Aly fell on floor and came in 5th. Kyla, who only competed bars and beam fell on an upgraded bar move. It's basically Simone Biles and then everyone else, but the rest of the pack is catching up with Kyla. She needs time to get comfortable with upgrades so I hope the fall doesn't send her back to her safe moves.
It is absolutely ridiculous how deep the US team is right now and how hard it is going to be to make the World team this year let alone the Olympic team next year. Next year!! It's less than a year away now. As much
as I love a good comeback story and want all the veterans to make it I
don't see that happening. And you know what? I want to go to Rio too. I am getting so excited that it getting so close and it is just killing me right now that I've been shut out of two ticket request phases and that when they finally did live sales I was in Kauai without my Visa card. Gymnastics is one of the hottest and hardest to get tickets around. I got the email that day, but if you weren't trying to get tickets within minutes of going live they were as good as gone. I can still go if I want to see Taekwando or Basketball, but for me it's gymnastics or bust.
The last two days of our vacation featured a beach day at the gorgeous Hanalei Bay and a pool day at our hotel. The water of was warm, clear and shallow. The waves were just enough to make me jump but not enough to scare me too badly and once again I saw no fish!! It was the 4th of July, but I doubt the beaches were no more or less crowded than any other day. What are you going to do on the 4th didn't really feel like a thing because people are doing the same thing that people are doing in Kauai every other day. The Beach, the pool, relaxing. That night MJ grilled burgers that we ate with french fries from the hotel bar and grill. We ate from there once and the food wasn't all that good, but the fries were perfect. There were only two places to see fireworks on the entire island and we really didn't feel like seeking them out after a long beach day so we spent a nice night in the jacuzzi drinking wine instead.
We circled the entire island during
our stay. Our hotel was on the South shore in Koloa. Our Catamaran
boat tour took us from the South all the way up the Napali coast on the
West shore. We went biking in Kappa on the East shore and then went
even further to the North Shore for Hanalei Bay. We covered Kauai as best we could in the amount of time that we had.
The last day began with shopping and ended at the pool. The moms really wanted to hit the little row of shops in what would be downtown if Koloa could even be considered a town, so we turned in our beach rentals and went straight there. MJ went into exactly one store with us and then parked himself in a bar for the duration, which was very smart. I'm not a big shopper so I was mildly interested when we started out, but started getting antsy after the first hour and a half when it became clear that they intended to peruse every single square inch of every single shop. It was our last day and I was ever so anxious to get to the pool. I tapped out towards the end and sat with MJ until after almost three hours they were done.
Finally we hit the pool where I could lounge, read, eat giant steak fries and suck down a cocktail--or two. Every time we go to Hawaii we take the latest flight out that we can get. It's really nice to have that last day to soak up every minute of Hawaiian sunshine that we can before it's time to go. And soak it up, we did until the designated time that would give us enough time to change and get to the airport with a little extra time to spare. We went to the locker rooms and showered away the sand for the last time. I was so sad to see my mom go at the airport, but so grateful that she was able to come and that we were able to spend such an amazing time together.
When I mention that we invited our mothers to go on vacation with us, I usually get a raised eyebrow or two and a questioning, "Well, how was that?" Well, it was fine. MJ and I have been fortunate enough to go on a lot of vacations since our 2010 honeymoon and we have two more next month. Since we had spacious hotel accommodations we decided, why not? I treasure our alone time together on vacation, but also thought it would be awesome to experience Hawaii with both of them. His mom has never been on a 'real' vacation before and it was something that MJ really wanted to do. My mom has been on vacation recently with my Dad and actually had already been to Kauai years ago, but I can't remember the last time we even traveled together. Growing up our family vacations usually consisted of a lot of time traveling by car and/or visiting family out of state, so I have never done anything like this with my mom. She is the best. I loved having her there.
MJ was definitely outnumbered, but he handled it like a champ. The moms had their own room and bathroom. Everyone got along fine and they liked all the plans we made. In the mornings we ate breakfast in our hotel and got ready for our
day. Now that I think about it we only went out to eat twice and both of
those times were on the same day. Breakfast on the way to hiking and
the luau. In the evenings we went back to the hotel and ate either take out
or whatever we picked up from the grocery store and watched TV or a movie until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore. MJ and I got sleepy at night way before they did, and I'd say we were the old ones, but we also had a tendency to wake up earlier. Our mother's have only seen each other a few times so it was nice for them to have the chance to get to know each other better. There is a thing or two I could say (isn't there always?), but I won't. It was a really pleasant and relaxing trip for everyone and I'm so glad it worked out for all of us to go together.
And that concludes my Kauai vacation recaps. Phew!!
Warning: Hazardous Cliff! The ground may break off without warning and you could be seriously injured or killed. Stay back from the edge. Well, we can't say they didn't warn us.
Friday was our only other early wake up call. We set alarms, woke up and went to breakfast at Kalaheo Cafe & Coffee Company to fuel up for our hike day at Waimea Canyon. I had delicious french toast and coffee. I was ready to go.
We hiked the Canyon Trail to Waipoo Falls which is 3.4 miles round trip. I was disappointed that it was so short because I love hiking in the wilderness and like to challenge myself but it turns out that it was plenty long enough. The terrain was rugged. The boulders in the ground were
quick to roll under our feet and we all lost our footing more than once. Some parts were so rough that the trail seemed to run out and we had to figure out where to pick it up again. Other areas were so thick with bushes and undergrowth that we had to push our way through without really being able to see where we were going. It was awesome!!
The views are spectacular. They call Waimea Canyon the Grand Canyon
of Hawaii and while I've never been to the Grand Canyon I do believe this has to be the next best thing. Standing on the cliff looking across the massive canyon to the other side is like being on the edge of the world. By the time we
made it to this look out point we were pretty worn out, so it was a
perfect resting point to take a break and take it all in.
I don't ever
plan to, but sometimes my thoughts go morbid. I think, what would
happen if my foot slipped and I fell? What if someone came out here with a devious plan to push someone else over the cliff? There is no railing, no safety net and nobody watching. The answer is obvious. There is
absolutely no coming back from that, but it's just so crazy to think that
something like that could happen. Did happen. There was a
cross memorial marker at the very edge of the cliff. I had a general idea, but I wondered what
happened. Who was this Devin Conrad Goetsch?
These days, we don't have to not know anything so later, when I came across
the picture I googled the name and found his obituary from almost exactly a year ago. So sad. It seems he was a
hiker just like us who lost his footing and went over the edge. Seeing something like that makes you feel very small, but also very lucky to be alive because it only takes a second for something horrible like that to happen.
After we rested up and had a few snacks we kept going and made it to the waterfall. It looks like the end of the road. The pot at then end of the rainbow. We probably would have stopped there, but another group told us that we could keep going to another waterfall. MJ's mom decided to sit that part out and waited for us there, and it was a good thing, because it was one of the toughest parts of the hike. The trail thinned out considerably and there were several areas that required climbing.
I don't know how MJ managed to get over there without falling, because those rocks were slick. Like, slip and slide slippery slick. He made it look easy enough, but right after this picture was taken I fell in. Water. That's why I bought the sandals. I tried to be more cautious and find solid footing but it was like rubbing my shoe against soap suds. then I had to figure out how to get out without taking another dunk. From this waterfall you can see the backside of the big waterfall Waipoo Falls. The ones we actually got to see were small, but they are still so lovely to look at.
The way in was a lot of downhill so you know what that means on the way back. Lot's of inclines. Lot's of huffing and puffing and lots of pushing ourselves to keep on going. All together it took us around three hours to finish the whole thing and our legs were so dusty we probably could have written our initials in them.
On the drive back to the hotel we saw these red dirt hills on the side of the road so we pulled over to check it out and found waterfalls in the middle of a red dirt desert.
I love, love, loved hiking Waimea Canyon and would have loved to go back and tackle more trails, but there are only so many days in a vacation. Plus, I'm not sure if my knees could take it. I wasn't sore the next day so maybe I am in shape, but my body was definitely worn out. When we hiked in Maui I was covered in mosquito bites, but this time we actually used the off spray instead of just bring it with us (what a concept) and I only had a few.
Luau's are fun, but they are expensive so I kind of feel like if you go once you probably don't need to do another. We'd all been to one except his mother so MJ surprised us with tickets for Luau Kalamaku at Kilohana Plantation. This one had a wide variety of really interesting local vendors. We all bought something. I don't remember our last Luau having an open bar, or being all you can eat buffet so that alone made this one better. They guys got beaded necklaces. The flower lei's were beautiful, but it was so hot and humid I had to take it off. I went back to the bar a few times, but was too stuffed after round one of food to do more than pick at my second attempt.
Dinner was really good, we enjoyed the show and that night like every other night before it I fell into bed in a cloud of exhausted glee and slept like a rock.
The retired mothers are used to sleeping in, but us working stiffs have internal clocks that naturally set to earlier so we were usually up before them. The morning of day five in Kauai, we took an early walk around the hotel grounds. MJ wanted to pick up breakfast and look for sea turtles. This is their hang out spot. We saw some our first day there, but no such luck that morning.
One of the first things we did when we got there is find beach rentals. Our hotel didn't have it's own beach. Shipwreck beach was right next door in front of the Hyatt, but it's not very swimmer friendly so we knew that we would be spending our beach days elsewhere. I do not enjoy baking in the sun and I like to be comfortable while I lounge so we got chairs and umbrellas from Boss Frog's Snorkel Shop for the week.
We spent our first beach day at Poipu Beach because it was close and snorkel friendly. Parking was really tight. MJ did that magic trick that guys do where they drop off the ladies and then conjure up a parking space out of thin air. There isn't a lot of sand and it was pretty crowded but we found a spot to set up. As the day went on the waves started to creep closer and closer to us. We weren't quite ready to leave so when that one wave came that made me jump and grab my stuff, we relocated to an area further back.
I spent hours shopping for those darn bikini bottoms and will probably never wear them again. When you go in the ocean and it looks like you have dropped a load it means you got the wrong size. That may be acceptable when you are five years old, but not so much on a grown woman.
This has to be one of my favorite beaches ever. The water is shallow and I saw no fish in my immediate area. Plus, it has this really cool little sandbar that allows you to walk out to sea and sit in a patch of sand in the middle of the ocean while gentle waves wash over your lap. You can see it in the background in this pic. As the day went on this area filled up with water as well and there was probably no sand left on the beach after we left.
Looking back I realize that there weren't very many pictures from our beach. I am always the main photographer. If I don't take the picture or ask for a picture that often means it doesn't get taken and sometimes I just can't be bothered; but you get the idea. Just another gorgeous day in Kauai.
Anything and everything you do in Kauai is taken up a notch just because of the amazing view and even when you can't see the view everything is just better because you are there. We spent our 4th day in Kauai biking.
We rented bikes from Kapaa Beach Shop
and it was just $15 per bike for the whole day. We were able to park
our car there which was helpful since parking is tight in this area and Kapaa Bike Path was right behind the building. We started out going North and then doubled back to the end of the path to the South. The path is a very even 8 mile stretch along the coast with a perfect ocean view the whole way.
We came across a little beach hut to rest. There was an inviting beach below so we locked up the bikes to climb
down there and take a look. It was deserted. Not a single person there
but us and it was gorgeous. The waves here were super powerful so I
don't think it's very swimmer friendly (or non swimmer friendly) but man, oh man did I want to get in. I wasn't wearing a bathing suit but it was so deserted and I was so hot that if the waters had been more friendly I would have considered going in my undies.
There was one mishap. MJ took a left down a wide dirt path and us
ladies followed. He's a dirt biker. We aren't. It was easy enough for
him to ride down that path and it looked easy enough too, but as soon
as I started down I could see that it was steeper than it looked. I followed first. I let
my feet off the brakes for one second and started to lose control so I
turned around to call out behind me that you have to keep your feet on
the brakes and before I finished getting it all out I heard yelling as
my mom crashed to the ground. I lost focus and took my foot off the
brakes again and almost fell too. I was going fast enough that breaking was
going to make me crash, but slow enough to get my
feet on the ground, fill my shoes with gravel and stop myself. My mom was a real trooper. She dusted herself off and kept going. Within a few hours she had one of the biggest blackest bruises on her thigh that I've ever seen.
One of the things I loved most about Kauai is the lack of people. This is our first time coming to Hawaii in the summer so I was worried that it would be crowded, but the bike path was mostly empty. We only saw a few other bikers so for the most part we felt like we had the path to ourselves. I kept wondering where are all the people? We stayed at The Point at Poipu and even there it seemed deserted. There are cars on the roads and yeah, you see people out and about but it never felt like much and that was fine with us. The island is the furthest North from the big Island and based on what we've experienced in Oahu and Maui, the most remote.
Then we came to the end of the path and I said, "Nooo, is that it?" I was physically exerted, but enjoying it so much I didn't want it to end. I had no concept of time for most of the time we were there so I couldn't even tell you how long we spent on the path.
We turned in our bikes and then stopped for food to take back to the hotel. We found out the hard way that there isn't a whole lot to choose from nearby. We passed a McDonald's on the way in from the airport but kept going because we figured there would be something closer, but no such luck. The roads are remote, windy and there is not much around. We ended up having to call in an expensive order for pick up to the one nearby restaurant. The next day we stopped at the only grocery store in town to stock the kitchen. Poipu is barely even a town because there just isn't much around and what's there is very spread out. There is this one little row of shops and restaurants that I would say is the main "hub" and that's it. We stopped and MJ found this weird little fish shop, but there was nothing on the menu for us. We kept looking and found these two food trucks where we had the choice between Thai and Mexican. We went with Thai. I got chicken Pad Thai because that's the only Thai food I know to order and it was delicious. I'm still amazed at the delicious foods that come out of those little trucks.
By this time we had been in Kauai for four days and had not yet gone to the beach which is insane. Those turquoise waters were calling my name. The next day would have to be a beach day.
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