Soooo Barn Animal

August has been an extremely excellent way to end my summer. My roommate Neal arrived for a week of beachy fun all over O'ahu and a visit with Tutu and Papa on Moloka'i. He and my friends had an absolute blast, and I got to jam a bunch of really fun activities into only a few days: Maunawili Falls, Teddy's Bigger Burgers, Waimea Bay, swimming and ping pong at Ka Home Maluhia, and a trip to Pearl Harbor. Then Dad, Jay and I flew over to California to spend a wonderful week with my grandparents in Mammoth. We embarked on our longest backpacking trip ever, from Reds Meadow to Lake Edison and beyond. Walking the 50 miles through the Sierra mountains was pure bliss(ters). Good fun. With school starting again in a week, now is a good time to reflect not just on the past couple weeks, but on how lucky I feel and how bright the future is.


On our first day we hiked Maunawili, ate at Lanikai Juice and braved the jellyfish at Kailua Beach.


Neal, Amy and I paddling on the marina on our whirlwind of a first day.


Hiking Manoa Falls trail!


Eli and Sierra crossing the illegal fence into Manoa Falls.


Neal and I enjoyed multiple waterfalls.


Moloka'i sweet Moloka'i!


Sarah, Amy, me, Zoë, Cindy, Neal, Keala and Kai at sunset.


Cousin Eli was also there, it was quite fun (as you can see).


One morning we got up early and found a Hawaiian monk seal asleep on the beach!


An unusually stormy Papohaku Beach.


On our last day we tried to go to Kalaupapa Overlook but all we saw was Hurricane Felicia.


Neal, Sierra and I with raging surf in the background.


Starting our adventure: Gramma ("Sarge"), Dad ("Strummer"), Jack ("Bookworm"), Jay ("Pyro"), and Bob ("Red").


Dad took lots of pictures too, and he has some really good videos on his Facebook page.


Our second campsite was next to the freeeezing Purple Lake.


I could not stop taking pictures of Virginia Lake.


Climbing the very high, very steep Silver Pass!


We were blown away by our third campsite, which had a stunning view of Ritter and Banner, our very own lake/pond for swimming, and excellent stargazing at 11,000 feet.


Lake Edison! We spent a night at a lodge where there were actual showers! And toilets!!


Climbing Mono Pass - as Gramma said, it's like the surface of the moon.


Dad and Ruby Lake.


We saw a bunch of family friends at a bluegrass concert near Mono Lake.


Jay and I making the quintessential stop at In N Out Burger on our way back home.


The Smarts at the Toilet Bowl.