What's Next...

boy am i eating my words. for years i have made fun of, scrutinized and bashed anyone for spending their money and travels on hawaii.

as a "world traveler", [reader, please do not take me seriously on that one] i always felt that my hard earned money and experiences would be better spent in distant lands, among aborigines, touching stones from ancient rome, breathing grecian air, you're getting the picture. but if the opportunity arises for any sort of adventure, i sign up! hawaii was no exception. if it weren't for good ole marwood, i would have still heeded those standards. my parents gave me the option to come if i could get work off. 10 days off work and a $800 flight, i was set.

kona

oh kona, you make me want to call in sick and fly to you every time i wake up at 5:40am for work.

i remember flying into the island and seeing the mars like atmosphere and thinking, "crap, this looks like a god forsaken desert wasteland". wrong. once you drive past the lava rocks aka mars rocks, a tropical oasis opens up and you forget everything about your previous life. driving up to our condo, i kept pinching myself thinking it must be a dream. our condo was one of the most beautiful places i have ever stayed in.

my days consisted of 10 things.

1. breakfast on the patio while whale watching

2. watching kelly & michael

3. jogging along the beach with my mom and sister

4. squeezing into my swimsuit and grabbing a towel, hat, and flip flops

~~5. applying suscreen~~

5. laying out and reading

6. snorkeling

7. laying out and reading

8. snorkeling

9. sipping on a pina coladas (yes, multiple)

10. taking a shower and making dinner with the family

it was an envious life that lasted to short.

in between my very productive days we also took a few day tours around the island.

kilauea volcano

we visited madam pele. the sulfuric acid from the lava would turn into gas and come up through vents in the earth's crust. we were smart enough to stand right by them so i got to walk around smelling like a giant fart for the rest of the day.

the glow from the lava was breathtaking. you only see pictures or videos of this kind of stuff so to see it in real life was amazing.

akaka falls

so, this first picture is not the falls, that would be pretty pathetic but this was on the drive to the falls so i figure it could have it's moment of glory.

this reminded me of something i would see on tarzan

or jurassic park

or swiss family robinsons

or jungle book

for some reason my ears decided to poke out this trip. i can't tell if it is because i'm slowly turning into dumbo or if i sleeked my hair back so tight they had to protrude out of default.

we even had time to stop off at the mauna loa nut farm! i'm nuts about nuts!

mauna loa aka macadamia nut heaven! i might have bought two boxes worth of chocolates

i have no butt? i don't know what you are talking about... wait... where did you get this photo?

maddy doesn't take hawaii seriously. and we have a dead foot for a dad

wining and dining maddy for her big 1-8 birthday! sushi and urchins were a must.

is there anyone who can tell me what kind of bird this is?! i spent about 2 hours searching google and every bird identifying site there is. i got nothing.

manta ray night dive

one of the most amazing experiences of my life. i had no idea what manta rays really were until i found out we were doing this dive. as a marine biologist wanna be, i was surprised these friendly giants don't have more of a following. they are one of the most graceful creatures and although they are an alarming 15 plus feet, they evoked no fear.

cool fact: no where else in the world can you take this night dive to watch manta rays feeding. it is only offered in kona. apparently the cove the dive drops you off at is special in the way that it is protected from the open ocean, the lack of other predators, and the amount of plankton that accumulates there.

while traveling over there we also got a free whale watching excursion. the little buggers were so fast we couldn't really get a full video of them breaching but seeing it in person is something you will never forget.

to attract the manta ray towards the group, they rigger glow sticks and a flash light to pcp pipes attached to a surf board. the lights attract the plankton which in term attract the manta rays. the manta ray could care less that we were there. they got so close to us they even slime-d my mom. her whole wet suit had this mucus residue on it from when one glided past her.

it freaks you out a little when they open their gaping mouths and you can see straight down their boney spine.

on a related note, that is one skeptical fish.

i would easily say this makes my top ten most memorable experiences of my life.

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since running the ragnar in september, i haven't been able to get san fran out of my head. our feeble attempt of seeing the city included a stop off at lombard street and crossing the golden gate bridge... which was covered in it's typical fog. although, i must admit, running the golden gate bridge (a bucket list item) was definitely an amazing experience.

september 2013

well, my co-worker and friend, devaun came up with a brilliant idea to take a trip out there. a $107 plane ticket and reservation to grant plaza hotel later and we were set for a four day trip.

sidenote: can i just tell you how amazing john wayne airport is? it's approximately 4 miles from my place and from start to finish, it only took us about 20 minutes to get through security and lining up at the gate. easy peasy.

we got to san francisco by 9am and hit it hard for 4 days straight

it just so happened my parents were visiting the same city at the same time. even funnier, our hotels were literally less than one block away and if we stood out of our windows, we could see each other... only difference-the ritz carlton ain't no swanky establishment like the grant plaza. sorry guys, perhaps in about 20 years you'll be able to afford the luxury devaun and i experienced.
both of our hotels were situated in chinatown [the center of town] so we pretty much walked everywhere.

empress of china- the chinese must have heard i was coming

you probably thought i accidently mixed up my taiwan pictures with san francisco pictures. wrong. these guys were chillin' right outside our hotel

i swear, they never age

hop on hop off

i'm going to let you in on a little secret of mine. if you want to become the ultimate tourist, hop on hop off is where it's at! i swear, the only reason i know about trivia regarding big cities is due to these geeky tours. well, san francisco was no exception. to add to the nerdiness, we not only took one, but two of these tours. consider me a walking encylopedia when it comes to san fran. if you want to know how the cable cars brake, i'm your source. if you want to know where ghostbusters was filmed, i'm your woman. my brain houses all of san francisco's secrets. not really, but i freaking love those tours.

it was weird, everyone kept asking us if we were locals

okays so maybe all my bus photos are of this tower... which name has presently slipped my mind

just call me rick steves

city life

'nuff said

photo cred: nikki stout

free chocolate square every time we went in?! forget about it!

the palace of fine arts for one fine lady

devaun and i made sure to set aside time for a little place called...

sausalito

words to live by

i sorely regret not taking more pictures of sausalito. this little town north of san francisco took my heart and salted it with love, as devaun will tell you. cute shops, beautiful houses on the hill, gorgeous sailboats with a harbor to match, breathtaking view of san francisco. it was the city that kept on giving. it is one of the few places in the world that i would not stick my nose up to if my husband had to move from southern california.

until we meet again saus...

haight ashbury

so, i guess you could say we are hip. i mean, we practically blended in with the hippies... until they realized i showered that morning, i am attracted to the opposite sex, that i don't sing songs at parks, and that i tend to keep my clothes on.

this pictures brings me so much joy

let's get a close up of these lovers to the left...

there we go

quintessential hippie life

the painted ladies or the pink ladies as i like to call them

my girl j jop's home once upon a time

summer of love

golden gate

magestic golden gate, you are the most perfect bridge i have ever laid eyes on. whenever i visit you i can't stop staring. all my pictures somehow have you in it. thank you for being so american, so californian, and so san francisco-an.