The first stop on our first trip back to the mainland was obviously Vegas. It was an immoral weekend of steak, booze, gambling and fighting… and that was just in our hotel room, ZING!

Bought a custom leather springer seat a few weeks ago and it finally arrived yesterday. One step closer to the bike I obsessively daydream about all day.

Bye bye stock seat.

Miso did absolutely nothing to help.

As you might know, Darlene and I occasionally head down to feed the feral cats on the southern beaches. It’s dry, dusty and filled with thorns sharp and long enough to penetrate your shoe and up into your foot. Most of the cat colonies there are pretty wild and seem to do pretty good on their own but there was this one cat who was obviously an outsider. She was just as interested in our affection as she was the food and she lived in a different part of the woods, separate from the main colony.

We have wanted to take this cat for months but couldn’t due to the no pets clause in our lease. It was hard to leave her there on the beach but there wasn’t much we could do. Our landlord is a big animal lover and when she heard about our trips to the beach she came with a couple times and got to meet Miso. When we were there with her a couple nights ago, out of the blue she says “if you promise to keep her as an outdoor cat you can bring her home.” As much as we want Miso to be indoors with us we knew this was a great option for her!

The next day we went to the pet store and bought all the necessary things, including a big cage for her to spend the first couple weeks in. It’s going to be a slow process but we need to make sure she knows this is her home. I don’t think it will be a problem though, she is already very bonded to us, especially Darlene.

So anyway, we headed over to the beach that night, excited and nervous about bringing her home. Well, it wasn’t an issue because after waiting until dark Miso never showed up. We were so prepared for this moment and now it wasn’t going to happen. So the next night we headed back hoping for the best but I was feeling very pessimistic about it. Just as I said to Darlene “I don’t think we are ever going to see her again,” Miso comes trotting across the road, excited to see us.

She like to eat directly from the bag of food so we took a chance and placed it inside the carrier. The next thing we know, she has walked right in and the door was closed. A huge weight was lifted and Darlene finally had the cat she wanted so badly. I wanted a cat very badly too, but this was a really big moment for Darlene because she had already forged this incredible bond with Miso.

Last night, after gobbling up some canned food, she slept on the lanai in her giant cage right next to the sliding door. We both crammed ourselves onto the couch and slept for about an hour at a time, getting up to check on Miso any time she would meow at us. She handled the whole thing really well and has spent most of the day on Darlene’s lap. Friday we go to the vet and hope for the best.

Welcome home Miso!

One of the hardest things for Darlene to sell before we moved was her KitchenAid mixer because typically you stick with the same one for your entire life. However, selling her old mixer allowed her to finally get the color she wanted most… Pistachio! For her birthday I bought her the ice cream attachment, which has proven to be a dangerous acquisition for our beach bodies. Our first batch was classic chocolate chip and it was pretty much the best chocolate chip ice cream ever. Then Darlene made some strawberry for a friend’s birthday party. It was awesome. Last night I whipped up some chunky peanut butter with big chunks or dark chocolate and it is insanely good. The moral of the story is, good ice cream is super easy to make and I am no longer impressed by all those “fancy” ice cream places. Take that, fancy ice cream industry!

Our first batch of chocolate chip.

These are just a couple pretty photos Darlene took :)

For the record, I know nobody but me will care about this. In fact, I don’t even know if anyone other than my mom even comes to this site.

From the first minute I owned this motorcycle I wanted to change the tank to get rid of that giant “Forty Eight” logo. For a stock bike, this thing looks pretty good so I’m not sure why Harley failed so miserably with this weird logo. So, I planned a big weekend of modifications! I need to give Darlene a HUGE thank you for helping me, without her I don’t think I could have finished everything.

So here’s what I did…

• Removed the tank
• Stripped the paint off the tank
• Moved the coil and ignition to open up some space over the engine
• Removed all the plastic pieces hiding wires
• Re-organized the wires
• Lifted the tank 1.5 inches
• Rerouted the wires under the tank
• Sealed the tank with an aircraft/nautical lubricant to prevent the raw steel from rusting

We did have to troubleshoot a leaky seal around the fuel injector, but once that was figured out the bike started right up! I love the new look after all the mods and I already have a long list of future changes. Next up, a new seat!

We didn’t quite put an official Harley post up yet here but, well, Kent bought a Harley. I love seeing him so excited about a purchase. He looks so happy after he comes back from a ride. He has lot of modifications planned, so we will get some before and after shots up soon. We got an incredibly important element in the mail today. Our Gremlin Bell has arrived. What does it do? It wards off all of the evil gremlins.

It was so wonderful to have my mom stay with us for 2 weeks! The time flew by and before we knew it she was heading back home. We did too many things for me to go into too much detail but some of the best moments were just having her here in the house with us hanging out and playing Yahtzee. I think I will  let the photos speak for themselves. I will also break up the trip into a few posts so this one doesn’t end up being too huge.

This first batch is kind of a random collection in sort of a random order. More galleries to follow below this one.

After a beautiful 40 minute ferry ride from Lahaina we landed on the amazing island of Lana’i, one of my favorite places in the world. We rented a jeep, which is a necessity if you want to see some of the more remote beaches (most of them) and we stayed at the charming 10 room Hotel Lana’i, built in 1923. We stopped at the Blue Ginger for lunch, which was recommended to us by the hotel clerk/concierge. We visited the Mike Carrol Gallery, which is Lana’i’s only art gallery. Mike Carroll’s wife, the gallery director, recently organized and built Lana’i’s first and only Animal Rescue Center. She invited us to visit, and without thinking twice about it, we made it our first stop. You could hear the purring of 300 cats as soon as you pulled it up. It was definitely Darlene’s heaven on earth.

Next stop was Shipwreck Beach, a beach known for its high winds which caused many shipwrecks, including the enormous World War II Liberty Ship, one of the few concrete hull ships in existence. We spotted a sea turtle resting or giving birth on the beach, either of which is a rare sight.

After our beach adventure, we stopped at The Four Seasons Lodge at Koele for a few drinks before dinner. The grounds included a koi pond and orchid greenhouse. We had dinner at Pele’s Other Garden, and it was some of the best Italian food we’ve had since moving from Chicago.  Who knew? We played a highly competitive game of Yahtzee before turning in for the night.

The next morning included a visit to the tidal pools at Manele bay, Sweetheart Rock and some snorkeling before we had to catch our ferry back home to Maui.

Lana’i, we miss you already.