in the reANIMATED world of B..

Billy Jean is in town for some pre-holiday celebrating. It's been awhile since i last seen her. I think the last time was when they had their grandma or grandpa's funeral which turned into a semi-family reunion.

CHILLIN' IN LAVENDER UNDER LAVENDER

PEAS IN A POD

God made Sunday the day to relax. And we did everything but, but it was cool. The day started off by taking a trip upcountry to the Ali'i Kula Lavender Farm. Attempting to find it we passed it by a few miles, quickly realized it, made a U-e and made our way there. If you've never had the chance to go there, do it. Though it's not my particular cup of tea, the place was beautiful. Beautiful scenery, great smelling, cool and breezy, and just a nice relaxing place to visit. We walked around and took mad pictures of each other as a little memento. It was fun. I enjoyed it. And we were off.

THE WORLD AT MY BECKON

We were supposed to go hiking up in Polipoli but that changed because Anabelle was a bit apprehensive about her car making it up that hill. Though we didn't get to hike up there, we were all chill about it. We had other spots that we could have gone to. During our town bound trip, Anabelle and BJ decided we hike Iao Valley.

The last time i went up to Iao Valley was about 8 months ago. I get a weird feeling up there because it seems like everything changes yet nothing has. It was like being in Hana without the long agonizing trek. After arriving and doing a quick inventory, we dodge the tourists and make our way uphill to the little lookout. Up, over, and through the railings, our hike is officially underway. Since we last hiked the Waihe'e Ridge Trail, I forgot how tough it is to get into that hiking groove. It took me a while simply because this path unlike the Ridge Trail is so much narrower and a lot rockier. Though it wasn't as muddy as the Waihe'e Trail, there were a lot more roots to watch for. The weather was cool; it was sunny yet it gave just enough of a breeze to stay content. Majority of the hike was spent hidden beneath the trees. Only a few yards did we spend time in the sun. We hiked along Iao stream which provided us the sounds of the flowing water below. It was a great distraction from having to concentrate on how long a hike we were in store for.

THE TERRAIN

FRUIT FLIES FRUIT FLIES FRUIT FLIES FRUIT FLIES

They were everywhere. They feasted on the many guavas that were on the trees and splattered on the ground. The fruit did bear a bit of a stench but it wasn't to the point of it being unbearable, you just got subtle hints of it. And the flies weren't all that bad. There were enough of them to have the irritating buzzing sound in your ears but not where they'd be flying in your mouth and making you slap yourself as if you were a tard.

There were many forks in the trail which made it a bit interesting. Normally, you'd see or maybe 2 forks at most. This trail, however, was pretty stacked with them. At first, my main concern was that we wouldn't stray too far off course and have a tough time finding our way back. Wondering whether we took the left or the right at this particular fork. As we ventured on, we came across a few people that were on their way back. One particular couple wasn't familiar with the trail and turned around way too early. Luckily for them, just when they decided to turn downhill, we came up and convinced them to turn around. Towards the latter part of the hike we had took a turn, unbeknownst to us that it was a wrong turn that lead us to a steep, stepless ascent. After battling it, we find out that our destination is right around the bend. we go through some type of hedge with somewhat sharp limbs that are scraping us like crazy. This lasted for about 30 yards.

PHOTO OPP

We follow the trail slight right and reach our destination. It was a great sight from the belly of the valley. We realized that we hiked around a small mountain which gave us our current bearing. Iao Needle was nowhere in sight. We didn't seem to be as high up as i thought we were going to be but nonetheless, the view was great. The lost couple we found on the way up ended up beating us because of our many breathers slash which-fork-to-take decisions. As they left us, 4 girls who ended up being from New York joined us. After a few pictures taken and a breather, we ventured back.

THE DESTINATION
THE REACTION II THE DESTINATION

The walk back was quite interesting because we ended up finding that on our way up, we took the longer tougher route. We realized that the steep, stepless part of our hike was us taking a wrong turn. We realized this when the 4 New Yorkers ended up passing us. AND WE'RE FRICKIN LOCALS. We of all the hikers on the hill should have known this. LMFAO. Oh well, life goes on. Some of the hike, when we were looking for our checkpoints, we never ran into; this particular stream really. For a few moments, we were a bit frightened but we knew that ultimately we'd end up at our starting point, which we did. The sight of Iao Needle was in sight and getting bigger and bigger with each step. Before you know it, the railings we hopped were in sight. After hopping them we take a seat and take in the moment. The moment of accomplishment.

The Lavender farm was great. The hike was even more beautiful. The fact that i could chill with the Paet sisters without them fighting was best of all. A BEAUTIFUL DAY ALL AROUND.