Our Studio

We were fairly warned by the owners of our rental (that live on site during the summer) that it would be wise to arrive before dark. We figured we had been up that way before and we could find it. We tried, however, to make it before dark but it just didn’t happen. After the whole car situation and then loading up on the essentials at Walmart and Costco (sunscreen, sunscreen and sunscreen) time got away from us. We also forgot that it takes nearly an hour from the east shore, Lihue, where we flew in from to meander at the Hawaiian speed limits up to the north shore. So we almost made it before dark but we didn’t quite.

We got to the road just fine and found the address but there are 4 rentals at this one address plus the owners house so we were poking around in the pitch dark trying to be quiet (hah-I’m sure they heard our car rattle and shimmy in from the end of the block) and not go to the wrong door. Somehow, Ryan luckily found it and we only ended up knocking on two doors mistakenly (just kidding!).

Close Quarters
It instantly brought us back to a reminiscence of our first one bedroom apartment. However, our first apartment was bigger but you certainly couldn’t hear the waves crashing but rather the noise of a busy street and drunk college students stumbling by...oh those were the days! So I’m thinking our studio is probably less than 300 square feet altogether. It is 'two stories' with a ladder-like staircase leading to the ‘master bedroom’ on the 2nd floor. I’m pretty sure one of these times I’m going to fall down the ladder face first as it is very steep and doesn’t have a handrail at the top! I’m no contractor but I’m pretty sure our place is not wheelchair accessible...

Really, it’s everything we will need for a month long stay on the North Shore. A mini kitchenette, a toilet room (yes a toilet room with an accordion closet door for extra privacy 🙂 a small eating area and a bedroom with a bed that takes up the whole width of the room (it’s really fun trying to make the bed-haha). The all that searching was worth it!

Showering Outside
The best part is having an outdoor shower-yes, an outdoor shower. Much nicer than a camp site one though. No quarters needed and plenty of hot water and tropical noises/sites. It has quite the view of our neighbors (aka our new pets). Why yes, didn’t I tell you we have about a dozen cows of various ages, a couple dogs, 6 or so horses and many, many, many birds! They all live right behind our back fence. It it like living on a farm! It’s cute because I think they must smell the food and they wander over almost every night during dinner. I have already named a few of the cows, ‘Buttercup’ and ‘Butterbull’.

Night Horses
Last night as we were watching the stars in the back yard (in the pitch dark again) I heard a noise in the field and I wanted to see if it was Buttercup or Butterbull coming over for a visit. No, it was one of our horses and I accidently shone the flashlight right in his eyes! I guess I scared him more than he scared us because I really scared the s**t out of him- um, yes, literally (it was an unfortunate event as we were trying to enjoy some dessert).

I’m sure we will really appreciate our spacious house when we return home. Cooking in a kitchenette no bigger than most peoples bathroom countertops is an interesting challenge. Good thing there is a barbeque or else I think we would be going out to eat a lot more. I guess being in a ‘primo’ location on the North Shore has its trade offs, but so far it has been very much worth it. I mean, we are practically outside most of the day anyways!