Life of Larisa or LOL

After the rain comes rainbows and... brown water.  Yep.  Paradise is not perfect.  Our rainy season has impacted me more than usual this year since my hiking schedule has become dependent on the weather.  Due to recent rains, we have also experienced a lull in beach outings.  The sun may be shining, but the water is brown and brewing with bacteria from sewage leaks, spills and runoff from the mountains during recent heavy rains.   Since swimming, paddle boarding, and boogie boarding weren't really an option, I lucked out on taking another hiking adventure with my boys over the long President's Day Weekend.  We compromised on getting outside to walk/hike/jog by also making sure it was not a strenuous, challenging, adrenaline rush, cliff hanging, rock climbing trail (you know, the best kinds). So we found ourselves at Kawai Nui Marsh .  The trail along this Kailua marsh land is flat.  There is a sidewalk and gravel path parallel to the sidewalk.  It's the per

Third time is the charm...for a blog write up on this uphill hike in Hau'ula.  The first time I did this hike was in August when I organized a group of moms from a hiking group I belong to on Facebook, to meet one Tuesday morning after school drop off.  Several of us met up (some of us meeting for the very first time) and made our way up the paved path that led to a water tower (where we began to take a wrong turn, but quickly corrected ourselves), and into the woods, up to some heavily eroded red dirt hills, through mud, more forrest, and finally up to the ridge line. The first time around, the path was unknown and it was unclear how far we had to go.  I was working in a limited time frame (school pick-up and the trail is far from home) the first time up, so I hiked at a quick pace to be sure to get to the end of the trail where three old World War II Bunkers are located.  The first time I hiked to the first bunker,  it reminded me of the second bunker at the Lanikai

...just a few of the things to love about Ka'ena Point Caves hike on the westside of O'ahu. Happy Valentines Day...from rainy, thundery, O'ahu.  As I sit on my couch binge watching Keanu Reeves movies (annual heart day tradition), I decided to multi-task and hop on the computer to recount another recent hike I completed.   Ka'ena Point is a well known state park located at the farthest tip of O'ahu where northern and western shores meet.  I have hiked both the north and west trails numerous times, to include adventures to the Pillboxes at the top, checking out the infamous heart shaped rock, visiting the albatross bird sanctuary, experiencing sunset, seeing monk seals, and whales breaching in the open ocean---it's a hiking play ground. But of course, there was still something else I had not heard of or yet explored---the massive cave at the end of the trail before the bird sanctuary.  Ka'ena Point Cave was a super adventure (not to