Mostly Pics: wedding & grand canyon

In California I was able to attend my cousin's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. At sunset on the coast. I'm sure if you ask Heidi than she will be extremely happy to show you pics and share her experience. The pic on the left is of my dad and I. The right is of dad and Heidi. She is so beautiful!

After the wedding, Hoover Dam was visited and then it was on to the Grand Canyon. My father and I went to the South Rim of the Canyon and easily spent the day there. The hiking trails are a little extreme and I would definitely recommend doing research before starting one. The rafting was one of my favorite parts of the visit. Pics are from the rafting trip and then from above a section where we were at Horseshoe Point.

San Fran y Yosemite

San Francisco is a great city. There was so much to see that I didn't have time to see everything. I was able to ride on the trolley and spend some time at the parks. At one point I think I should have seen the cast of Full House, which I remember being a highlight of TGIF on the tv when I was younger. There was a bus tour I attended that hit the highlights of the city, but all of the everyday parts of the city that I would have liked to spend time were skipped. Makes sense because everyone was a tourist and I actually learned a lot more about the history of the city than I've ever known. It was definitely a place I would like to spend some more time visiting.

Driving over to Yosemite I realized that California is very brown, hot, and ugly. I'm not a fan. Asking a few locals along the way, the only time the grass is green is during the spring. Keep in mind I am here now in August - can you believe it's already August? Where did the year go? So I think I have decided that I am definitely an East Coast woman. The two places I have enjoyed the more have been Missoula, Montana and Portland, Oregon. And that has mostly been because of the amazing people I have met in the areas.

Yosemite was very interesting and relaxing to visit. The views were amazing and something for everyone to experience. The waterfalls are breathtaking and the Mirror Lake was lovely to see. I was fortunate enough to spend the morning and most of the afternoon at Mirror Lake. The lake is seasonal and looked more like a couple of rivers with ponds, but still a sight to see. There was a nice little beach area where only a few people were until the afternoon, when it turned into mostly families with little kids - so I split asap. :-) The pics are illustrating where I spent my time around Mirror Lake and Yosemite Falls. The path to the Upper Falls is the way to see them but make sure you have enough supplies to spend the night along with a backcountry permit. Hiking is always better when you can spend the night out in the wilderness in my opinion.

Portland

There's so much to say about the city. Amazing people, food, music, and a great location in the state. It's only a few hours from hiking, the coast, and Seattle for baseball. The pic to the right is from the top of Multnomah Falls. There are pics of the actual fall on the net so I figured I would post this one. The temperature is great but the lack of sunshine sounds disappointing. Fun to visit but not so much for me to live there. Jobs are hard to find, even though the feeling is though people don't really work - they do it just isn't the normal hustle and bustle city living.

Ok...enough with the technicalities. I had a wonderful time there and met some special people. If you ever have the opportunity, leave downtown and visit the surrounding neighborhoods. There are so many great little shops and restaurants. I think I have gained 10 pounds since first getting there - very different from my usual peanut butter and banana sandwiches. I definitely got spoiled with the local fare. And bonus, there's always a local microbrewery around to have some of Portland's finest beer. The second pic is from this little park overlooking the water. Very beautiful and you wouldn't even know it's there unless you have someone to show you.

I thought driving to the beach and down the coast would be like the East coast. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was much better. There are so many overlooks and access points that you can basically pick any spot you want to spend some time. My favorite part was the lack of people. Definitely not as crowded as East coast beaches which allowed me to just hang out and read my book in between walking along. Between the regular sand beaches you get the spectacular views referenced in my pic. So lovely!

Chinatown, Seattle, and Portland

The Chinatown in Vancouver is world class. The food was some of the best that I have ever had - of course I haven't been to China. I almost was able to eat the whole lot which was probably either impressive or disgusting to my waitress who kept telling me I ordered a lot of food for one person. :-) After eating a ton of food I walked around Vancouver and had a wonderful experience. The Celebration of Lights just happened to be going on Saturday night and the fireworks from China were amazing. It was also Gay Pride weekend so I was able to see some interesting people. Brings a smile to my face just thinking about it now. I wanted to take a picture of the outfits I saw but was too afraid of getting my ass kicked. Stuff right out of the movies. Ha!

I really enjoyed my time in Seattle. Pike Place Market was fun and it is always neat to see fish go flying across the counters. The Space Needle is a must and offers great sights of the city and water. The wait time when I was there was 2 hours to get to the top, but it didn't actually take that long. The pic is a free one that they take before letting you see outside, which offers an amazing view of downtown, the water, and the mountains. The highlight of my time in Seattle was going to a Mariners game. The ticket was only $11. Can you believe it?? So cheap! They won but based on the reaction of the crowd it doesn't happen that often.

Portland is a nice town to visit. It really reminds me of Richmond, which is very surprising. I'm having a hard time trying to picture what 9 months of cloudy and rainy weather is like. Everyone is helpful, nice, and probably on some sort of drug. There are a ton of outdoor activities to attend, including free concerts during the week and a Saturday Market next to the river. I walked to the rose garden and I'm planning on going to the Japanese Garden in the next couple of days. Last night was the Portland Timbers game (MLS). I looked into getting a ticket but they were a hundred bucks to I opted out. I ended up at a sports bar, one of the only ones in town, and watched Portland beat LA which was very surprising since LA hadn't lost since May. It was still exciting to see Donovan and Beckham play. I'm beginning to think I'm good luck for the sports teams.

Glacier National Park/Canada

Everyone should visit Glacier at least once in their lives. There is only a small portion of the park that you are able to drive on. Most of the park's made up of trails that you can hike, bike, or ride a horse.

It gets pretty cold at night. I think when I was there it got down into the 30s at night and up to the 70s during the day. They had just opened up the Going-to-the-Sun Road because they had so much snow over the winter.

In 1850, Glacier Park had 150 glaciers and today there are only 26. This is a pic of Jackson Glacier. You can see it from the road. It's pretty amazing to see the feet of snow that's next to the road while driving along the mountains. So while driving from Seattle up to Vancouver, we get the privilege of crossing the border. That means Border Patrol. I had a horrible experience trying to get into Canada. I know that some people can do their job and be pleasant but the person I had was not. One word: Jerk. It really made me want to turn around and leave asap. Then with the help of my big bro, I thought about what people have to do to get into the states...must be such a hassle. Who knew going to Canada for the weekend could be so unnerving. Lets hope the rest of my Canadian trip goes better!

Weekend of Activities

So the Bitterroot and Potomac Valleys are wonderful places in Montana. The farmer's market was filled with an assortment of live music, arts and crafts, and veggies. It was a good weekend to go because it was also Art in the Park and Daly Days. Daly Days is a town celebration for their founder. There's a Daly Mansion that basically looks like a Georgian Mansion that was just plopped down in the middle of the Bitterroot Valley. Add some humidity, roaches, and more mosquitoes and you would think you were in Georgia. I was able to go to a bluegrass festival with my friend Margie. It's pretty awesome how the banjo players are able to make it look so easy when they are playing a thousand notes a minute (slight exaggeration).

Next it was up to Missoula and the Potomac Valley for the Pro Mountain Bike Race at a local ski area. The difficulty of the race was pretty amazing considering the bikers were riding up where people normally ski down. When talking to some of the spectators they were commenting on the world championships in Switzerland and how one of the bikers either participated in it or is planning on it. Pretty awesome.

Today I'm hanging out with some very cool friends. We took their dogs to the river yesterday and today we are thinking of going tubing down the river. Dependent upon the weather of course. :-) I'm still having a blast in Montana and I hope everyone gets to experience the state at some point. Love you all.

Montana hiking

The hiking in Western Montana is wonderful. Low humidity, mountains, and snow in July. I'm really enjoying the Bitterroot Valley. As far as I know this includes Missoula, Hamilton, Darby, and towns below. There are a ton of hiking, camping, and horse trails in the area with spectacular views. Wildlife is prominent here also. I have heard a lot about Bears, Elk, Mountain Lions, and Wolves. There are so many wolves here that they have a wolf hunting season. Luckily I haven't seen any of these during my hikes, although I take my bear spray with me when I go and make lots of noise.

I've spent most of my time close to Hamilton. There's a local restaurant called BJs that is a great place for breakfast. I recommend the breakfast special, no matter what it is for the morning. For lunch I would highly encourage you to visit The Loft. Their curried zucchini soup was fabulous. Nap's grill is famous for their pure Montana beef burgers. I haven't eaten there yet but I'm planning on it in the next couple days.

The highs are in the 70s and 80s with lows at night in the 40s. So it does get a little chilly when camping but coming from Virginia with the heat and humidity I love it. Make sure you bring layers.

The best hike so far and the hardest I've done is Trapper Peak. I highly recommend this hike but make sure you have adequate time and water. The peak is a little over 10,000 feet in elevation and even in July there's snow at the top. It is very steep so good hiking shoes/boots are a must.

Mount Rushmore & Yellowstone

So my drive out West was long but I was able to visit the Badlands, Mount Rushmore, and then Yellowstone. The drive from Mount Rushmore was beautiful. I recommend checking what is open before going because when I went the Presidential trail and the Sculpture's Studio were closed due to Pine Bark Beetle spraying. Learning about the history and seeing the old videos were interesting. It costs $11 to park 1 car but you can see the mountain from the overlooks on the drive. Just saying...


I went to Yellowstone and saw the major attractions: Old Faithful, waterfalls on hikes, mountain sides covered in flowers, and wildlife. I'm trying to remember everything I saw: Grizzly bears, Black bear, Cinnamon Bear, Elk, Bison, Osprey, Coyote (or wolf - I couldn't tell the difference while driving), and this thing.

The campgrounds fill up quickly so I ended up staying just outside of the park and then returning for the day. It was easy to leave and return - and a lot cheaper. The next time I visit I will try again to see the wolf pack and some big horned sheep - both of which seemed to elude me this past time. On to Montana...

Kailua and Hanauma Bay

Did another bike trek yesterday.

Biked from Diamond Head to Kailua Beach. Stopped off in Hanauma Bay to go snorkeling.

Google says its 27 mi but felt more like 50.

Here's the route (gotta click 'View Larger Map' to see highlighted path):


View Larger Map


Update: 7/16/08 - Pics loaded on Flickr here.

My New Apartment

What a lovely breeze!

The big windows in the living room face East which also happens to be the direction the wind usually blows from. The slats under the windows let the breeze in to play and I am thoroughly enjoying it.

This is the new view from my desk (actually a papasan chair). Its a pretty quite street; few cars, mostly people riding bikes or walking dogs. Not sure what that white complex is at the top of the hill on the right but it might be the community college. Will find out this Sat. when I head that way with Carly to check out the local farmer's market. (Shout out to Elaine for hooking us up! Hope you're enjoying Sunny CA...but you should still come visit!)

I'm sharing the place with 2 other peeps although one of them is away for the majority of the time. Nick speaks 6 languages and teaches ESL at UH. Gone off to Australia for a bit. Casey is a cool chica with a stupendous handshake. Seriously, its the kind of grip that makes you say, "Golly!" (Well, maybe you'd say something cooler than that...stop laughing!) Maybe its all that Capoeira she does.

I'm excited to be much closer to the beach. Gonna head out tomorrow morning to see what conditions are like down in this area. Its close to where I took my first lesson, which is good and bad. From what I remember there were a lot of reefs... I'll just go where the other surfers are.

Also looking forward to being so close to Kapiolani Park. I've heard you can find pick-up soccer games pretty much every day. I'll put that theory to the test tonight. :-)

Speaking of soccer if you didn't catch the Euro 2008 tournament, you missed out. Some absolutely incredible matches. And this from someone who usually can't stand watching soccer. If you get the chance its well worth it to check out the highlights (or the entire games if they're available). Congrats to Spain for going undefeated throughout and beating Germany in the final. They really were the best team. Also have to point out the amazing job Turkey did to make it to the semi-finals. 4 times they came back from being down to win and advance. Twice in the final minutes of the match. In fact, most of the goals scored in the overall tournament came after the 76th minute of play. Exciting stuff!

Bugs!

Butterflies, beetles, spiders, and more. Courtesy of the Bishop Museum and the Hawaii Public Library System's "Catch a Bug" program - designed to introduce students to the study of insects.



I caught the show at the Kaimuki Public Library last Sunday. Entomologist Shepherd Myers did a great job explaining the basics and keeping the crowd of youngsters (and us adults) enthused.


Reminded me of when I was teaching the younger ones English in South Korea. Changes in tempo and regular opportunities for action are key.


There is actually quite a lot to learn about these little suckers. For example, the Blue Morpho butterfly above never looses its coloring and will remain the same iridescent, vivid blue for hundreds of years.

This Goliath Beetle is one of the largest of its kind, clocking in at about 4 inches. These guys are so big that they sound like a mini-helicopter when they fly.



This was one of the biggest bugs on display. Some kind of katydid, if I remember correctly. Unusual for its straight wings; most insect's wings unfurl, like a ladybug's.





Next up, The Hercules Beetle!
a.k.a "The strongest creature on Earth"

It can lift 850 times its own body weight! Impressive and pretty scary if you imagine meeting a man-sized one of these in a dark alley.






That's the extent of the shots I got. Only one I didn't get that I really wanted was a really long walking stick. Apparently they are the longest insects on Earth and can grow to be longer than a foot although these were a 'mere' 9in.

I'm looking forward to visiting the Bishop Museum sometime soon. There is a whale exhibit going on now and I'd like to see more weird bugs.

The Bishop Museum has the 6th largest collection of insects in the world. How many does it take to be the '6th' largest...?

...13.5 million

Board and Sling

In all of the excitement I forgot to mention I bought a board!

I've taken her out twice now and she's a beauty. Used but in good condition. Cleaned her up yesterday which took a while. Its hard to get old wax off...

8.5 ft with a slightly concave bottom and tri-fin set up. Cost $325 - a good deal.

Really enjoying her. Makes catching waves more exciting. Not sure if its the design, length, or fin set up but she seems to really take off.


Even though she's smaller than a longboard, carrying her to the beach for the 10 min bike ride is no joke. The weight itself isn't so bad but any kind of breeze and I felt like a kite. After the first time I decided to check into carrying options.

Was hoping to find a reasonably priced surf rack for my bike. No such luck. McCully Bike's (a great, nearby bike shop) wanted $115 for one. Considering that's more than I paid for the bike, I declined. The real issue is I wouldn't be able to recoup the cost when I eventually sell my bike.


Checking online I found this nice sling bag by Curve. $35 seems reasonable but I couldn't find anyone who sold them and I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped.


So, I figured I'd make my own.



A quick trip to Walmart for supplies. I was originally thinking about just using straps but they were having a sale on those Ozark Trail outdoor chairs so I picked one up. Disassembly was fun!

The basic idea is to use the part you sit on as the wrapper and stitching on the nylon straps. But using the standard XP approach I tried out the simplest thing first; just tying it all together. Looked up some knots online. Double Fisherman's knot is very effective.

The bottom part already had two reinforced holes so those two were easy. The top part didn't have them but there were two short straps that the arm sections were connected by. Luckily I cut off the arm pieces in the right spot so I was able to tie my straps to the existing little ones. It actually worked quite well and testing assured me it wouldn't rip apart so this morning I tried it out.

Success!

Much easier to handle than before. I will probably use the arm fabric as a shoulder strap since it did get uncomfortable after a while.

Total cost of Version 1: $16.34

Diamond Head Park

Did the hike at Diamond Head Park on Sunday. Not much of a hike really, sidewalk on the flat parts and handrails on the steep parts. Maybe half an hour?... Does get pretty steep in some sections as you can imagine hiking up the inside face of a volcano crater.


I didn't even realize Diamond Head was a crater until I saw it in Google maps when preparing for this hike. Was hoping for a bike trail but no such luck. Here's a couple of short videos that gives an idea of the layout: clip1 - clip2. Videos pan W to NE and NE to S.

The views from the peak (in the south-west corner) are spectacular.


I got a better view than most by climbing on top of the concrete roof. Relaxed up there for about 20 min and snacked on some peanuts. Nice breeze too.



There's a pretty lighthouse on the southwestern shore.

On the way up I saw what I think was a ferret. Didn't get a shot of it though 'cause some other people came up and scared it away. Was about 2" wide, 2' long (including tail), tan colored, whiskered, ferret-like.

Someone mentioned how the crater reminded him of Toledo, Spain. Definitely similar. Kinda scrub-brushy with lots of dry, brown flavor.




Here's a shot of the inside of the crater with Koko Head in the background.






On the way back down I snapped this pic of a flower that caught my eye in a bunch of cactus. A bit different than what I expected to find in Hawaii.





These last two photos give an idea of how the city has progressed up into the ridges. This is the Kaimuki and Maunalani Heights regions with UH just visible on the left. The second shot is a close up of the Maunalani Heights with some beautiful mountains in the background.

Tantalus

Did the Tantalus/Round Top run. Beautiful scenery. Thank goodness for granny gears.

Here's the route I took.



I'd heard it always rains up in the mountains and when I started out it looked like today would be no exception. Weather held out for me though. Just a couple of light showers towards the middle of my trek, much appreciated by that time.

If you're heading up I recommend going up Round Top and back down Tantalus as I did. Roads seemed smoother on the Tantalus side so its nicer when going fast on the way down. Round Top has better photo ops too so it provides plenty of excuses to stop and rest.

Near the top of the first ridge you'll find Puu Ualaokua Park (marker 'B' on the route map). Park entrance is much steeper than the rest of the ride but the views are worth it.




After enjoying the sights, continued on. Reached the crest (!!) and started on back down... Or so I thought. Once you go past a few houses the road turns a corner and starts rising again. That part sucked.


Eventually reached the last crest and started down the Tantalus side. Lots of pretty houses around. Quite a few shacks too. Definitely didn't seem like everybody up there was loaded. Did see a fair share of Mercedes and one Corvette. Also almost got run over by a cop car. Guess somebody's house alarm went off. I'm sure the really expensive places are off the private little side roads scattered about.

Most of what you see on the Tantalus side is green. Everything is green. If I had to climb anymore I probably would have been too. As it was I was very happy to be heading back down.




Got some good shots of the Punchbowl and the Harbor. It was getting a bit hazy but got a nice one of the whole Waikiki area.

After my ride I could only think of one thing, Thank goodness for Chinese buffets...

Soccer!

Lucky I found a pickup game...I was starting to go through withdrawal.

Quite the international crowd. People mostly referred to by home country ("Brazil", "Mexico"). Some of these guys are _really_ good.

Apparently there are games in Kapiolani Park every T,W,Th, and Sat!


PS. Krazy glue is amazing stuff. Fixed up my separating soccer cleats right quick.