Aloha, bitches!

I'll be sending out some micro-blogs for the next week.  I'm currently in Maui and LOVING IT.
Here are some pics and quick summaries of what's going on.

At SEA waiting to board the flight to Maui

Kona on the flight!

In flight fromage

It was dark when we landed so this was my first view of the ocean in the morning.

Early morning on Kehei

Jet lag makes for early mornings

Sugar cane fields.  They look different from the ones in south Louisiana.

This is what you see from random parking lots on Maui...

From one of the Farmers' Markets.  GOOD GOD PINEAPPLE.

People here are so nice and my god.  The pineapple.  We just inhaled an entire one and dripped juices everywhere.  It was worth it.  

More updates to come.

Spring Sprang Sprung

Pow!  Flowers!
Hoorah for sunshineyness.

Cherry blossoms starting to come out.

Happy nose flowers (yes, this is what they are)

TULIPS

Camellias.  The trees here are as big as houses.  There's some kind of mutant growth hormone in the Seattle soil. 

Full bloom cherries

Artsy Fartsy Nose Flowers

For some reason I want to bite these flowers... 

Amazing day

MOAR NOSES

A sea of pink

A brave hyacinth

Not sure what this guy is but I like him.

Old timey trees

Zen and the Art of Not Falling On Your Face

There are so many beautiful places in the world and it seems like we have a disproportionate number of them in the Pacific Northwest.  I was recently lucky enough to get to go on a yoga retreat (aka hippy camp) over on Whidbey Island and the entire drive out there and the location itself were just stunningly beautiful.  Driving north out of Seattle on I-5 is a lovely jaunt; there are mountains everywhere with snow on their tops.  Eventually you head west toward the water and go through Deception Pass (unless you take the ferry, which we did on the way back).  Good God, Deception Pass is one of the most unbelievably beautiful places EVAR.  And I was there on a slightly cloudy dreary day (shocker right?) when the mountains weren't as visible as they would have been on a clear day.

FYI

Deception Pass Bridge

Amazing trees

Looking north, where the strait meets the Pacific

Where the waters meet

Looking straight down

Water meeting and mixing

People kayak through here

From Deception Pass we headed on into Whidbey Island to the yoga retreat.  It was held at the yoga lodge and was absolutely amazing.  Friday - Sunday with a bunch of awesome people and awesome instructors.  We had yoga classes and fun with sounds from crystal bowls.  The food was amazing.  And the trails through the forests were gorgeous.  I also may or may not have almost gotten lost when out on the trails alone during a 'silent morning' hike.

Old Cabin on the Yoga Lodge's property

Where the campers set up

Crystal bowls

Our yoga studio

The pond

Amazing view from our studio

Forest trail

Mossy carpet

Fraggle rock 

Looking toward the sauna

Getting ready for class.

After the yoga retreat was over we headed back to Seattle.  Instead of taking the Deception Pass route back we headed south and stopped at a wine tasting room.  We were hoping to stop at several but, alas, I had to get back in time to pick up the furry monster from the kennel.  After the wine stop we boarded the ferry and headed back into the city!  All in all it was a fantastic weekend.

On the Ferry

Mountains in the background...heading into the wind.

  

Southern Breakfast!!

I guess this could have technically been part of the Beer Fest post since this happened on the same day...oh well.  So, we found a place that serves a real deal southern breakfast.  And all was right with the world.  This isn't the type of place to have one of those fancy schmancy 'websites' so here are the pertinent details.  The name of the place is the Silver Fork and it's in the either Columbia City or Mt Baker area.  Not really sure which b/c I've seen it labeled as both.  It kind of looks like this place has been around since the 70s b/c it's rocking the old school wood paneling.  Things that rocked about this place; they leave a carafe of coffee at the table, the servers are a ton of fun, it isn't as whitebread as Seattle tends to be (yay diversity!), and they have grits.  GLORIOUS GLORIOUS GRITS!  The eggs and bacon were great too, as were the hashbrowns.  But really, I can get these things in a ton of places.  I cannot, however, get grits anywhere I want.  I will be returning to this place.
There's also an amazing Ethiopian restaurant near here but I'm totally blanking on the name.

Mmmm...Beer...

Things that are awesome:  Belgian Beer festivals.

A couple of weeks ago we went to the Belgian Beer fest down at Pier 66 and it was fanfreakingtastic.  Also, beery.  http://www.washingtonbeer.com/belgianfest/ We managed to leave our program at Quinn's after the beerfest but I tried to get most of the Saisons that were available.  Sadly, I can't remember now who made what so I don't want to accidentally link to the wrong place.  Needless to say there are some fantastic Belgian style beers coming out of local Pacific Northwest breweries.
Next up, the Cask Beer Fest.  http://www.washingtonbeer.com/cask-beer-fest/