Life is Good

You have got to be kidding me...

Weekend at Bernie's

Father Son Time

When it's snowing and the girls have other plans... 

 

New Bike Day

2020 Cannondale Super X! I've been thinking about getting a gravel and cyclocross bike for awhile. At first I tried my old road bike with skinny knobby tires, and lately I've been riding my old steel mountain bike.  Neither really fit the bill of a road bike that I could take off road.

There are so many places to ride and explore around here if you have a bike that can handle dirt roads. The options are pretty much endless!

Merry Christmas 2020

Splooting

Superdog! Bailey loves to lay like this. Apparently it's called "sploot" or "splooting". We even think we know which puppy she is in the litter as a result (the one on the left)!

Last Day in Maui

The last day (afternoon) in Maui was spent at the beach across the street from our condo. Until sunset. The kids played for a little bit and then embarked on digging the world's largest hole in the sand. With the water wall, it was almost as deep as Jonathan is tall.

Two huge benefits of where we stayed was the location and amenities. We had a great pool and workout ares, and were literally across the street from a very nice beach. Because we faced west, we were treated to a nice sunset every evening. People staying nearby would gather every night at the park next to the beach to watch the sunset. 

We delayed leaving the beach until we absolutely needed to this night. Although it made the next morning traveling back a little more hectic, it was a nice way to end our trip. We would definitely go back to Maui and stay in the same place we stayed in on this trip. It was very enjoyable and we are glad we went.

Nakalele Blowhole

Today we drove over to West Maui, and then all the way to the northern most part of the island. The coast up there is both rugged and beautiful, and the road is very windy and extremely narrow in parts, but worth the drive.

I wanted to show the kids the Nakalele Blowhole, plus we were winding down our vacation, so some time in the car and a short hike was a little more our speed at this point in the trip. We can only play so hard on the beach and in the waves each day.

The pictures show the beauty of the area and the power of the waves. Being transparent, the power of the waves against the shore was a little scary and I had a few times afterwards where the thought of going over the edge made me sick to think about. Not being around the ocean much, and none of us being good swimmers, makes me a little afraid of the ocean in certain spots if I'm honest.

We spent some time just sitting and watching the blowhole launch water dozens of feet into the air and then did a little exploring and took some great pictures you can see below.

Bamboo Forest

The Road to Hana has many awesome sights, but since it's pretty much a full day's trip, we decided to take the kids (and Panda) for a hike through the bamboo forest. What a cool place! It's like another world right off of the highway and you would never know it was there. you essentially have to descend into the valley on a narrow path until you get to the water and can follow that around to the various waterfalls.  It felt like something you'd see in a movie or on something Bear Grylis would host on television.

Panda very much enjoyed the trip. He ate so much bamboo that he was "stuffed". When we got to the main waterfall there were people jumping into the pond and swimming. And since they looked like a bunch of surfer dudes and girls, it really felt like we were living in some sort of commercial for bottled water or beer. It was a simple hike, but it was definitely one of the more memorable experiences of our trip. 

Mount Haleakala

One of the things I had planned to do during our originally scheduled trip in March was ride up and down Haleakala. I wasn't going to travel to Maui and let this once in a lifetime opportunity pass me by. I rented a bike from West Maui cycles for the whole time we were in Maui, but. mainly for this ride.  

Haleakala is the longest continuously paved climb in the world. I did the standard route, which leaves from the beach town of Paia, through the hillside, through the national park, and to the top of the crater. It's about 70 miles round trip and 10,000 feet of elevation gain. It's a long day. I started early, essentially right after sunrise, since the weather is unpredictable and at certain points you can get rain and fog just due to the natural topography. Many people drive to the top and often can't see anything due to clouds and rain. I pretty much had a perfect day, but I also specifically picked this day based on the weather forecast.

The ride up was pretty amazing and unique. I am used to to climbs, but I am not use to a climb that never really changes for 35 miles. It was a steady 5% grade the whole time. It starts out in some lush farmland at the bottom, which explains why the highway is littered with cow patties. After the lushness starts to fade, it turns more to neighborhoods and some small towns and then more like tundra as you approach the national park entrance. Eventually that changes to black lava until you get to the top of the crater.

The ride was pretty hard, scenic, and a must do. The traffic was light and the road was great. I met two other cyclists. One that was just working out and turned back at the park entrance, and then someone from Portland at the top. It was pretty amazing to ride through all the different elevation zones though. I had driven to the top a long time ago, but you get a much better sense and feel for the area going 7 mph on a bike.  The ride down was great too! Since it was a steady climb/descend, it was like 30 mph downhill for almost an hour.  The road doesn't have too many hairpin turns either in my opinion, so you can just sit back and enjoy the ride!