Stuck in the sand

We rented four-wheelers in Florence and went driving around in the dunes. The machines were pretty lame...not enough power, automatic, the rear brakes had been disabled and they could have used better tires for sand because they sure like to get stuck a lot. But we still had a good time and the dunes were beautiful. Time well spent!

Abort Mission

Not everything has to work out to make a successful vacation. We tried to do an overnight backpack trip and failed miserably. The forest had recently burned, so we were greeted by relentless hot sun instead of shade trees. We carried a tent, food, water filter, sleeping bags, beer, etc. for two miles uphill when we hit unmaintained trail. Poison Oak grew to eye level, and we could not continue to our destination. The steep terrain provided no alternative camp spots.

We hiked back to the car and spotted a nice beach across the river for camping. But Chris' brave river crossing attempt was also unsuccessful. Now with one spouse wet and cold, one spouse hot and sweaty, and both hungry we started making poor decisions like wasting 20 minutes driving the rental car through 50 feet of boulders instead of walking and packing and repacking our suitcases in attempt to find clothes, and trying to wash away old, greasy chili. It's a long, hilarious story. We looked like two bafoons who have never been outdoors.

So we chose to eat at a redneck RV park restaurant and drove for miles down winding dirt roads, finally coming to a magnificant camping spot. We were pretty over the backpacking at that point, so we opted to drive poor rental car down a steep, dirt road over a pretty mean drop off to access our riverside camp site.

A highlight of the day was our turn-around point at Buzzard's Roost. Quite a view:

Knock another one off the list

I have an unwritten and unofficial list of things I want to do before I die. Some have a bit of significance, some border on the absurd, many I know I'll never do. Drive in a demolition derby, attend the Indy 500, travel to Israel, live to see the Cubs win the world series, attend a concert at Red Rocks... you get the idea. Sometime in high school I imagined going to see the giant redwood trees. Now I can cross that one off the list.

And I wasn't dissapointed by the trees. They're just amazing. After snowboarding we headed south to Crescent City, Calif., where we did an afternoon hike through the forest to the beach to watch a sunset.

Winter time!

Chris and I always talked about snowboarding on our honeymoon. When we decided to get married in June we figured that was out of the question. But freak weather dumped fresh snow on Mount Hood during our first night in Oregon and we had powder ski conditions. Chris had never ridden a snowboard before but he picked it up pretty quickly and we both and a fabulous time. It snowed the entire first day we were on the mountain and they were even requiring chains to drive down the road. Finally, we made it back to our hotel room to soak in the hot tub and sip porter beside the fireplace. The next day the clouds lifted, revealing a magnificant view of Mt. Hood's summit.

A lovely day for a honeymoon:

Mt. Hood Summit:

Rain turned to snow as we climbed the mountian road:

A Few More Wedding Pics

Our parents:

Chris shows off his new ring:

Our first dance as husband and wife:


More pics available on my Facebook page.

The Big Day

We couldn't have asked for a better wedding. The rain held out and the surf was beautiful. Family and friends arrived. The fragrance of flowers and salty sea air drifted through the garden. The orchestra added a touch of class.

But weddings are so much more than pretty dresses bouquets. Rather, they are occasions where two promise their lives to each other and God joins them and makes them one. It took weeks of planning for the half-hour event and that's all fine and dandy, but I can see the real signficance is in the lasting marriage and in what God is doing in our lives.

And it's clear to Chris and I that God is blessing us. We're so thankful.

The wedding party cracking up:

Chris proudly walks his mom down the aisle:

My dad:

(Thanks to Baron and Phil for the photos!)

Juneuary

The locals are calling it Juneuary. Chris and I are in Oregon on our honeymoon and we spent the last two days snowboarding Mount Hood in powder conditions. Chris and I even made the Portland news. They were doing a story about the storm that delivered 6" of fresh snow- I guess they thought a couple vacationing from Hawaii snowboarding in June was newsworthy.

Today we're heading south to see the giant redwoods. I've always wanted to do that.

Ohana

This just blows my mind. I have a brand new, extra large family. Chris has five siblings who have many children and they are all coming for the wedding. Many of them are already here. How many? I'm actually not sure, I can't keep track of them all.

We met them at the airport Friday and they all showed up in matching shirts with the wedding dates of all the family members. Each family's shirts were color coded to help me sort out the mass of kids and spouses. Chris and I got pink because Chris has been telling some tall tales to his family that I carry a foo-foo dog and wear pink shoes. When they started reading this blog I think they found out otherwise.


My new father-in-law, David, likes to paint. Here he is with his painting from Pu`u Honua O Honaunau Nat'l Park.


Here's a group shot on the front steps of their rental house. I think a few folks are missing from the picture.

Rec Day

Last weekend was spent cleaning and packing, preparing to move and preparing for the wedding. But Memorial Day was a free bonus day the Chris and I took advantage of. We took the dirt bikes up Mana Road but got rained out about 20 miles into the ride. So we drove up to Hawi and did a little dirt biking there and hiked into Pololu Valley.

Chris and I on the trail into Pololu Valley:



Chris jumps his dirt bike near Hawi with Maui in the background: