We made a new friend in Hawaii.

I finally had an ideal chance to play with my ND and polarizer filters… and capture some wonderful shots (like the one below) at the same time.

I have been looking forward to this day for quite some time. I have been itching to get myself back to Hawaii, but realistically (especially now that I am fulltime at my job), that most likely won’t be happening until my birthday next year. Since I can’t have Hawaii for the time being, I’ve been itching for any beach scenario, really. There’s nothing like digging my toes in the sand and finding my peace there while listening to ocean waves crash.

Karri decided we needed to return to this spot– we actually camped there together back in 2005 not too long after I first met her. I agreed. We started inviting a handful of our friends… and voila! We’ve got a killer group coming to our little camping adventure. I’m so excited that I am up a lot earlier than I really need to be… and can’t go back to sleep. Perhaps I’ll build a playlist on my ipod…

Look for more coming soon at my deviantART account: sarahdope.deviantart.com

A lot of you have probably seen some on Elissa and Karri’s profiles, but in case you haven’t, I have added them to my site’s collection.

Alicia, Elissa, and I swimming through Wameia Falls on my birthday, otherwise known as the waterfall from LOST. Karri snapped this right before I fell back into the water.

More from my cameras coming soon…

Managed to squeeze in a few minutes to upload a few. Trust me, waaaaay more to come when I have more time!

Click here to see what I’ve uploaded so far

Time to head out for my weekend with Rikets!

-Sarah Dope

So we have all returned from Hawaii! I know we obviously didn’t get a lot of blogging done while we were out there, but hey, we were too busy staying active on the island. When we have time, we’ll start posting photos and video footage soon… Just give us some time to recoop.

And perhaps give me a week considering I won’t be recooping at all this weekend.

Why?

Because I will be out with The Gun Slingers Tour this weekend featuring my boys in Rikets and Butcher Jones!

If you are around the following cities… please come hang!

May 15 2009 8:00P @ Slide Bar …… Fullerton, California
May 16 2009 8:00P @ The Cheyenne Saloon …… Las Vegas, Nevada
May 17 2009 8:00P @ Hogue Bar Michals …… Newport Beach, California

SEE YOU SOON!

-Sarah Dope

Hi there! I just wanted to check in from Hawaii…

We have just hit Day 3, and this trip has been PERFECT already.

This trip couldn’t have come at a better time for all of us. We all needed to RELAX for a change. No stress about work. No stress about personal problems. I made a couple simple rules for this trip… NO negativity. NO stressing about ANYTHING. Everything we have to stress about at home in L.A…. STAYS IN L.A. Worry about it when we get back… Anything that might be stressful out here? Take a breather, calm down, and just let things run it’s course. Go with the flow. No mentioning names or subjects that have been draining our mental capacity back home. It all stays in California.

Maybe that makes me sound like a hippie or something… but eh, whatever. I’m enjoying every minute of this!

We arrived on Wednesday afternoon. Elissa, who used to be DEATHLY TERRIFIED of plans, actually did an incredible job on our flight over. We were all quite impressed.

We got in, picked up our luggage and rental car, and drove to the location of our “new home” for the week. From there, we went straight to the beach to snorkel and swim. We had decided that since it was our first day, we wanted to chill a bit before we’d start our week of festivities.

After a bit of time at our “yard,” we moved on to grab some appetizers and a few cocktails at the restaurant/bar nearby… enjoying ourselves at a table ON the beach as the sun set. My buddy Phily (who is currently out here working on some rad projects) eventually joined us. Next was the HEATED POOL AND HOT TUB at night. Ahhh… gotta love it.

Once the girls and I returned to our Villa, we were pretty wiped out and still running on our Los Angeles time. Needless to say, we all crashed pretty “early.”

Yesterday (Day 2), Karri and I woke up extremely early to take a walk on the beach and grab some breakfast. Our waitress was fantastic and kept giving us free coffee… and even packed us a to-go cup of the grounds to take back to the villa!

On our walk back, we took some time to linger and watch some surfers before getting back to our spot and just chilled on the patio, enjoying the GORGEOUS weather while we waited for the other two to wake up.

Elissa woke up first and decided to take some time alone at the beach while Alicia was still sleeping. Alicia eventually woke up and joined Karri and I on the patio. Somewhere in that hour, Elissa cut herself on a rock. Of course. We can’t leave her alone for ten minutes….

When she got back to the Villa, we got ready and headed out to our first stop: Shark’s Cove. Climbed down some crazy rocks and snorkeled. As much as we wanted to go through the underwater tunnels, the current was too rough for the day to be able to do that in a safe manner. It was fun nonetheless and we saw some interesting little fishies swim around us.

After Shark’s Cove, we headed for the town of Haleiwa. Somewhere in that mix, I had checked my Twitter and noticed my buddy Alex (from L.A.) had tweeted “Aloha.” So I texted him… and ‘lo and behold, he was randomly in Hawaii, as well! Did this trip just get even better? YES. YES IT DID!

We arrived in Haleiwa and grabbed some Hawaiian burgers from a place that I cannot spell or pronounce… then shaved ice at Matsumoto. While waiting in line, Alex and his sister rolled up to say hello. We hung for a bit, scarfing our faces.. before we parted ways. The girls and I headed for Wameia Bay to do some body surfing and lay around. Alex and his sister eventually re-joined us.

Karri was the first one to leave the water and sunbathe. Alicia and I joined her after almost getting swallowed by one giant wave… and Elissa outlasted us all.

As the evening came upon us, the girls and I headed back to our villa after picking up a whole lot of groceries. Somehow, we ended up having a small little party of grilled goodness, beer, and rum with Phily and his cousin for most of the rest of the night. It was a good get together.

I started to wind down and ended up crashing around midnight Hawaiian time.

Annnnd now here I am. Woke up at 7, made some kona coffee, and enjoying the weather with Elissa and Karri… waiting for Alicia to wake up so we can start our third day.

Today’s plan: snorkeling in our beach, then afternoon horseback riding through the LOST and Jurassic Park sets!

Crystal waters and white sands, here we come!!!