:)

Last night we took a look at all the little shops on the main strip in Waikiki. There are tons and tons and tons of t-shirt shops! We headed towards the beach to catch the sunset. There, we saw a crowd of people sitting on the grass, and a stage and lights set up. We found a perfect spot to view the sunset, cute surfer boys, and a free! heritage program where the mayor spoke and dancers danced the story of the islands through traditional hula.We were thrilled :)
We headed back to our place, ate, and crashed out.
This morning we headed to Manoa falls using Hawaii's public transportation. We waited on a bus bench and we discussed our game plan on meeting people, and meeting our future hawaiian boyfriends, and why we are a good-catch, and while discussing such matters we were simultaneously applying deodorant and sunscreen...we might as well have been clipping our toenails and plucking stray hairs. WE HAD A GOOD LUAGH AT OURSELVES once we realized what we must look like... Anywayssss we must say, OAhu's public transportation is  a bit classier than good ol' Portland's. And we didn't get lost today. In fact, a girl was  nice enough to tell us that there was another stop that would take us closer to the trail.

The hike to the waterfall was basically an easy going muddy buddy. Over rocks and roots we went! At the top the view of the waterfall was quite  amazing! We just did not get enough of hiking soooo we decided to take a side trail. Good idea at the time... Lets just say that the muddy trail just got muddier and more narrow. Kayleigh being the deligent walker that she is wanted to try and keep her shoes as clean as possible so she was weaving in and out of the mud puddles. Bec gave up after she flung mud from her sandal to her face on the previous trail :) Well long story short Kayleigh was using some bamboo for support and ending up slipping and doing the nature's version of an eliptical for a few seconds before sliding to the trail. Hilarious. Proud of ourselves for not peeing our pants then and there!

After our hike back to the main road we stumbled across an arboretum (that is now pronounced abor-tree-um... okkk maybe you had to be there for that one). This was a gorgeous little path that led us to an inspirational view. After our rest.. Off to the city we gooooo. Back to Waikiki for some relaxation on the good ol beach!

It was the most perfect day for the beach! So super sunny, not a raindrop in sight...NOT. As we were were beebopping our way to the beach it was a raining and a raining. All the other beach goers were running back to their hotels, but not us. There we were headed to the waves with our snorkel gear in tow. The rain stopped when we got there and we enjoyed a lazy afternoon.

We had a date with the lady who is renting us the condo so we went to get a money order and rushed to meet her at 6pm in the lobby. We nearly had a collision with a jazzy red lexus but thankfully it saw us and embarrassed the heck out of us by honking at us :( oopps A guy came up behind us though and said,"Has that happened to you guys alot here? I don't know what it is about Hawaii but I've done that too, just walk right out in front of cars". hahaha As we continued our walk back we scored some coupons for happy hour! (we gratefully snatched out of the guy's hands).

We met with Irene, got the keys to our "permanent residence" (so excited to really unpack our bags), had dinner and that puts us where we are now, sitting on our lanai, enjoying the breeze and beauty of Hawaii!

Goodnight and aloha! :)

in Paradise

We made it safe and sound last night around 7pm. It was dark when we arrived so we could not see too much. We are staying at the Island Colony hotel/condominiums in Waikiki. As we drove through town, the streets were BUSY with people shopping at all the high end shops. It kind of had a Vegas feel. We were very tired so we went to sleep and were early to rise this morning! We were eager to get the day started. We got dressed, headed out the door about 8am, and began to do what we know best...WALK :) We didnt have to walk far though.Our rental is centrally located, which is ideal! Our jaws dropped when we got to the beachside of town. The water was gorgeous, the waves were out of this world, and the surfers everywhere. 
We had not eaten since 4 the day before, so food and coffee was on our mind too. We stopped and ate Crepes at "Crepe House". They were very yummy and the coffee  was amazing alone. After breakfast, we found us a spot on the sand to set up camp. This is where we spent much of our day. We layed out, people watched, swam, took a nap...and repeat :) Then we headed back to our room to change clothes and visit the local food pantry. Talk aboutsticker shock... we heard that meat, milk, and bread would be pricy but just about everything was. Apples were $2.49 a pound, oatmeal was $6.49 , and a loaf of bread was almost $5. It's wasy to say our baskets were light when we left. There is a big farmer's market wach Sunday, a "Chinatown", and another midweek market where we can get local produce that is fresh and at a better cost, so we look forward to that.
And as of right now... we are relaxing for a bit and pondering an evening jog.
We will post some pictures later!
We send lots of hugs and kisses!
<3 Kayleigh and Bec

HI Bound

Aloha :)
We are up and packing!
Our flight leaves Portland at 1pm and then we stop over in San Francisco...then we are on our way to Oahu! (We land around 7 pm their time)
We rented a place at Waikiki Island Colony. Mom's and Dad's, we will have all the important info: phone number and address, crime rate, unemployment rate... ;) later.
Love you all and will be in touch soon
<3
Kayleigh and Bec

2 for 1

Friday! End of the tough work week for most and we respect you, we do! As for us we are lucky enough to say that we got a nice start by hitting up the food carts for breakfast.. Went to Brunch in a Box. It basically offered fancy and delicious egg sandwiches... After we had our wiches we headed out to Mt Tabor Natural area. This is a little park tucked away in Northeast Portland. It is home to two reservoirs which was a new sight to see to both of us. We hiked  for an hour and a half and wanted more so we decided to make our way to "The Butte". The bus ride took forevvvverrr but we finally made it. At first, we felt like we were just hiking dirt trails in Texas but it turned into a gorgeous view of the mountains. We were in the park for about 2 hours. So by the end of it all we were some very tired puppies. We made it back to our neighborhood, stopped by Fred Myer's for some refreshments and pretty sure we were both passed out by 8:30!

Saturday (Bec's B-day eve)
We slept in, got a late start to our day but felt that the sleep was much needed. Our plan was to make it to Voodoo doughnuts again, but when we got there, the line was too long and we were not feeling patient. We walked a little bit and found an Irish pub/restaurant. We both ate a lunch that kept us full for hours!Next, we made our way to the oldest brewery in Portland, the Tugboat brewery, where much to our disappointment, it did not open till 5pm. Soooo we headed to the Saturday Market for some entertainment. There was food, beer, and vendors of every kind. The best part of it was the people watching :)

The Saturday market had everything to offer and we had to keep a tight hold on ourselves in order to avoid buying everything is sight! We window shopped and wondered in amazement for hours.. We decided to head out to Gresham, where we passed on Friday, because we saw super cute little shops. Guess those packed up and left sometime before the afternoon because they were nowhere in sight! Back on the MAX we got and headed to a local spot in our hood that had amazing happy hour offerings and pizzzzzzaaa. Once we got there we found a delicious local beer (Session) and friendly faces. We chatted with the owner (Luke) and enjoyed our goodies :)

After UFO Pizza we decided to go ahead and get Voodoo doughnuts in order to avoid the morning line.
And this is where our evening ends. Tomorrow is Bec's b-day so there will be much celebrating! Miss you all!  <3
Kayleigh and Bec

Had a late start this morning! Took our time getting up and drinking our coffee! We had a bite to eat and we were off!

Head to the Oregon Zoo! Both of us were excited to hear you get 1.50 off with our MAX ticket! Wooo :)
We loved seeing all the animals, but were disappointed in the exhibits...
We passed through several without seeing anything :( We felt that it did not live up to its potential.

After the Zoo we went into Portland's city center and ate at "Taste of Paris".
We timed it just perfectly because we got there during happy hour! It was happy hour for food and beverage! Bec got a fancy french burger and Kayleigh ordered mussels cooked in chorizo...with french fries! We got cutsie drinks as well :)
Afterwards we made our way to Powell's Bookstore. Biggest bookstore ever! You could spend a day and a half there.
Then we made our way to a MAX to go back to our humble abode  and rest when we passed a placed that served gelatao :) And, well, it was delicious.
Theeen we took the MAX back to our place. We stopped by Fred Myers for a few necessities and took a timeout.
We rested for about an hour and decided that we wanted to go to Festa Italiana. We got dressed and poured us some wine to drink on the patio before we headed out. Well, our host came out, we chitchatted and before we knew it, she was along for the festivities as well :) We were anxious, and excited and nervous about her joining us. But she is a very sweet, laid back, and motherly type. We were more concerned about being on our best behavior.
     We got to the festival, bought some wine and pasta and enjoyed the music! The festival was held in Pioneer Square so there was a lot to see! It was a blast. We saw the cutest Italian couples (prob hitting the 100s :) dancing their life away! It was a perfect ending to a fantastic day! Of course what is next?! We hopped on the MAX and headed home. Only this time our host drove to the stop so no walking and walking for us tonight!

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Day tree :)

This is going to be pretty short and sweet.... Here is what we did in a nutshell

Woke up and headed to Voodoo donuts which is delicious btw!(there wasn't a line at 9am!) After our not so healthy RASBERRY ROMEO AND CAPTAIN CRUNCH DONUTS, we headed over to the awesome awesome farmers market downtown.The vendors were real strict on not making the first sale until "the bell" rang. Buuut we were able to sample foods, and sample we did! All the different fruits, veggies, cheeses... it overwhelmed us.We  bought some cherries, peaches, strawberries, and fresh salsa and headed home to have a fruit/veggie buffet!

After we did that we headed out for our daily hike! As we were meandering our way to the trail we discussed how some boys in our life, past and present, and how they never notice the little things or give good compliments, and Bec decided the next guy that said nice things to her she would not let go (remember this detail for later :). Oh by the way, Council Crest is where we decided to checkout today! Absolutely beautiful!!

After hiking all day we retired to homebase for a few minutes to freshen up for dinner! We met Bec's cousin Denise and her partner Tonya! Awesome awesome people :). We also met several of their friends and went to dinner at the Shed. Once more very tastey!

As we rode the bus home Bec found her soulmate... Who cares if he was one of the deranged locals, he told Bec she was one Hot Ass MOFO... She'll take it :) Just joshing...still in search of that summer fling. Maybe tomorrow at the Italiano Festival :)

We got home later than planned tonight, but we made it home safe and sound :)
Good Night!