Koko Crater? Been there, done that...

So! For the first time in about a year, I didn't have to work on a Friday night. And what do you do when you've got a whole luxurious Friday evening to play with? Go hiking, of course!! (What did you think?)

I got a babysitter, and headed in to town to rescue Quinn from his work. We were originally planning for me to get him at around 4:20pm, but I was running early, and ended up in the parking lot a few minutes after 4:00pm. We were going to go do Koko Crater again, but while we were talking on the way there, we realized that we were both curious about checking out Diamond Head instead. I've got this great book, Oahu Revealed, that I keep in the car at all times, so I did a bit of reading while Quinn kept driving. It looked like a lot of fun, and we hadn't been there before, so we did a bit of course correcting and off we went!

Before I start, if you click only ONE link in this whole blog entry, make it THIS ONE. Quinn put together a YouTube video of our adventure, full of hiking goodness and silly fun galore!

When we got there, just before 5pm, we saw a sign at the entrance that the park closes at 6pm. Since the land belongs to the military, they don't kid around about the closing time. If you haven't left the property by 1800 hours, you'll get a fine! So we had our work cut out for us, since it's a .8 mile hike to the top, with an altitude change of 560'. We knew we were up for it, though, since Koko Crater is MUCH more strenuous.

We set off at a brisk walk up the paved path. It didn't stay paved for long, but while it lasted, it was fun to think that we were hiking inside a *civilized* crater. ;) The path itself turned into a rocky, uneven mixture of concrete, rocks, and just plain dirt, with lots of switchbacks as you go up. The higher you go, the prettier the crater looks from the inside. Since it's the end of the "summer", it's been very dry, and all the trees and grasses look dead. It's actually very lovely, though, since they've turned a light tan color, against the darker brown of the dirt. The hike isn't entirely done outside, though. There are sections that include a set of concrete steps, a tunnel section a few hundred feet long, and even a chunk inside the last part that's a spiral staircase up to the very top! It's like an adults fort or hide-out. Very cool!

Once you emerge at the very top, the view is awesome. You can see a lighthouse almost directly below, on the edge of the water, where there's a very popular surf break. To the northeast, the back of Hanauma Bay and Koko Crater are visible, and to the northwest, you can see all of Waikiki spread out below. Just outstanding!

After a brisk trip back down the crater, we managed to get out of the park at exactly 5:58pm, driving past the disapproving stares of 2 security guards who were ready to close the gates momentarily. Good thing we weren't stuck inside all night! :D For a novel way to see our hike, check out this Runkeeper link. Runkeeper is a free app you can get for your iPhone that will track distance, speed, and even *altitude* of where you go, then generate a map of your activity.

Since we'd seen the lighthouse from the crest, we thought it'd be fun to buzz by it on our way back out of the area. We drove there, and watched some of the surfers having fun on the waves. By this time, we'd worked up quite an appetite, and headed towards our next destination, Cheeseburger Waikiki! It's one of the first restaurants we discovered when we moved here 3 years ago, and it's still one of our favorites. They make *the* best burgers that we've found, and the decor really makes you feel like you're on vacation in paradise. It's the perfect way to stop the rumble in your tummy after a fun hike.

After we'd filled up on cheese fries, a guacamole & bacon cheeseburger (for me), and a pineapple & avocado cheeseburger (for Quinn), rolled ourselves on out of the restaurant, and on to our last stop on the date.

Every Friday evening, the Marriott hotel puts on a wonderful fireworks display at the water's edge. We got to the marina where we planned to see the show, found a spot, and within 2 minutes, they started going off. They were directly in front of our car, and very close. We couldn't have chosen a better spot. :)

After School Water Park Adventure

A few weeks ago, we got annual passes to the local water park after a family visit for Quinn's company picnic there. (Annual passes make sense here, though they wouldn't in a lot of places) The only problem with the park is that it closes ridiculously early... check out this link to see!

I decided to change up the kids' after-school routine a bit, and pop everybody in the van as soon as the boys got home, head to the water park, and then have the boys do their homework afterwards. The day I chose, the park closed at 3:30pm, and Nate's bus usually drops him off at 2:20pm. What with potty visits, rounding up swimsuits, and other details, we didn't get to the park til almost 3pm.

What followed was marvelous! Since we were there so "late" on a weekday, the park was nearly totally deserted. I kept the kids contained in the "Keiki Kove", which is basically a glorified kids aquatic heaven, with slides, water cannons, and all kinds of other safe and fun equipment to play on/in/with. Instead of the usual 10-15 minute wait to go down the 2 slides, the kids would just quickly scamper up to the top, charge down the slide, and repeat... there wasn't anyone else on the ride at all! They got as many slides in that half hour as they would have if we'd been there all day long on a weekend.

We had the best half hour you can imagine, before they blew the whistle to end the day. The only way it could have been better was if Quinn could have made it too... maybe next time! :)

Koko Crater, round 3!

Last night, Quinn and I got a babysitter and headed out for the southeast tip of the island. Right across the road from Hanauma Bay (one of my favorite snorkeling spots) is Koko Crater. There's a path that heads straight up the spine of it from the base to the very tippy top, 1208' above sea level. It's quite a hike, but the view at the top is just spectacular - well worth breaking a sweat for. It starts out fairly gently, with just a little slope, but about halfway up, it starts to angle up pretty sharply.

Just before the hard climb starts, there's a section that bridges a ravine, so it's just railroad ties and the rails, floating in space. There's a gap of about 1.5' between each railroad tie, so there's a lot of space to look at as you place your feet. At the midpoint of the bridge section, the drop is about 20', so if you don't like heights, this section is a real challenge! (Luckily for me, Quinn didn't mention it before we went the first time, so I didn't have all that time to be apprehensive about it) Here's a video Quinn took from our first trip up, so you can see what it's like.

When you get to the top, there's all this old rusty stuff. Check this link to learn more about how a railroad track and enormous gears came to be on the side of an old volcanic crater.

This was our third time hiking it together. The first time was back in April, and at that time, I had only been hitting the treadmill for about a month. I was pretty sure I was going to die before I got to the top, but I was 100% sure I wasn't going to stop until I got there. So, I reasoned, I might be dead, but I'd still stand at the summit. :D Turns out, it didn't kill me, though the faces of the other hikers looked pretty concerned when they passed me.

We went again a month or so later, and I was thrilled at how much easier it was. I figured it wouldn't be *quite* as hard, but I had no idea that the difficulty would drop to the point where I could actually enjoy the view as I hiked!

We meant to do the hike again sooner than this, but with all the craziness of life with 3 kids and lots of things to do, we didn't get around to it until yesterday. I was curious if it would feel any easier this time than the second time. It was awesome! We only paused maybe once or twice on the way up, and that was more to admire the view than to catch our breath (Well, Quinn's in great shape anyway, so he doesn't need to stop for breathers). Start to finish, we did the hike up in under half an hour. Just to get an idea of how great that is, our first trip up took a little over an hour! When we got to the top, we took a some time to just relax and let the breeze cool us off. There's always a deliciously cool wind at the top - a perfect reward for making it up there.

As we headed back down, the sun was setting, and we got to the bottom as dusk set in. What a fantastic way to end a great weekend!

Not *exactly* Forrest Gump...

To anyone who's known me for a while, the fact that I go running on my treadmill nearly every weekday will come as a bit of a surprise. I've always hated "canned" exercise, whether it's on a treadmill or swimming laps in a pool. I'd rather play the calories off with volleyball than feel like a hamster in a spinning wheel.

Back in April, though, I stepped on the treadmill one day, and just kinda kept going. I usually get 5 "treads" a week, though sometimes it slips to 4 if I've got an appointment on a weekday, or get sick, or have other real life things to tend to. For the most part, though, I can be found running very hard, going nowhere, 5 times a week.

Up until the end of June, I just hopped on, turned on the belt, and tried to blank out my mind for 30 minutes. But then something cool happened... I got a new iPhone 3GS. Aside from the utter coolness of the phone itself (which is considerable), it comes with Nike+ built in. For anyone who isn't familiar with it, Nike+ is a way to track how far and how fast you run. There's a transmitter that goes onto your shoe, and a receiver that goes in your iPod Nano. The iPhone 3GS, though, comes with the receiver already built into the body of the phone, so all you need to buy is the transmitter. Since I was already treading anyway, I figured I might as well try out the Nike+ thing.

Since my first Nike+ run on June 23, I've logged over 100 miles. I've burned over 12,000 calories! I'm still amazed at how responsive I am to the implicit encouragement of seeing my workout data on my computer screen. I can see when my pace fell, and when it picked up. I can see my improvement over time, both in speed and distance. (For scale, when I started out, back in April, I was only going ~1.5 miles. Now I'm up to nearly 3 miles. I started out walking, and now I'm running for most of the 30+ minutes.)

I still don't like the treadmill, and haven't found anything consistently entertaining on the TV to distract myself with, but on the days that I miss my run, I really miss my run. This week, 4 of the 5 of us in the house are sick with one kind of plague or the other. I spent a lot of yesterday resting as much as possible, and trying to convince myself that I wasn't really queasy. But somehow I still dragged myself up on the belt in the evening, and ended up posting one of my best times. I'm going to have to say that after 4.5 months, this is a habit that's here to stay! I've got to admit, too, that although I don't enjoy the run itself, I do really like the results I see. (The endorphins aren't half bad either)

Mango Madness!!

On the 10th, Quinn and I got a rare weeknight treat... we got a babysitter (Thanks Desiree!) and had ourselves a date night. It wasn't a standard dinner/movie evening, though. Hurricane Felicia (by then, she'd been demoted to "Tropical Pout Felicia") was moving through the state, which made surf on the east side of the island particularly tempting. Felicia coincided with the visit of one of Quinn's good friends, Gene, who also likes to surf! It made perfect sense to head to the east side, watch Quinn & Gene surf for an hour or so, then kick back and hang out.

After the boys tuckered themselves out in the surf, we headed back to Gene's place, where he put out a ton of delicious food (edamame, poke, shrimp) and we had ourselves some drinks. After that, it was off to Buzz's for some BFRD's. (They're made with Rum, and they're Drinks, and they're Big.......)

Gene's house had a huge mango tree in the front yard, and he made sure we took home a bunch of the delicious fruit to enjoy later. We ate a few of them, and then had the marvelous idea to marinate them in some vodka, to be made into martinis later. After letting them blend their juice with the vodka, Quinn whipped up some of the finest specialty martinis I've ever had. Absolutely perfect! ;) We enjoyed them while we played a game of Cribbage this evening.

The Martinis Will Continue...

So we're apparently on a martini kick! I'm not talking "shaken or stirred", or even "regular or dirty." Quinn has discovered that he's got some crazy skills at creating totally new types of martinis, and he's letting his creativity go into overdrive. Check out this creation...

Take some ginger root and mince it up very fine. Then take some cloves and fennel seeds and grind them down with a mortar and pestle. Put those 3 ingredients into a cup and cover with vodka. Let it sit in the fridge for a few days, then build your martini, adding in a touch of brown sugar.

It might sound strange, but trust me, it's outstanding! I can't wait to see what other inventions he comes up with. :D

He swam fast!

So the final race of the North Shore Series was upon us, and Quinn was in fine fighting form! The time had come for him to show his stuff, and bring it all home. That's just what he did, too! With a fantastic time of 49:26, he came in 6th place in the race, finishing first in his age division. Adding that result into the previous 3 races', he came in third place for the entire series (look for the "Male Overall" section) earning himself a SWEET beer stein, and the cheers and adulation of his biggest fans!

If you'd like to see him in action, check out this video on YouTube. It's also cool to get a sense of the scale of the race - there are a LOT of people competing! I am so very proud of all his hard work on these 4 swims!!! Way to go, baby!! :)

My Fish out of Water...

I've been meaning to write a post about Quinn and his North Shore Swim Series, and today is the day I actually DO it! :) I'm so proud of him, and he's pretty modest about how wonderfully he's doing, so it's clearly my job to brag him up!

It's a series of 4 swims that are held every summer on the North Shore of Oahu. Each swim is longer than the previous one, and they are held every other Saturday. 3 of the 4 have been completed so far, with just the last one remaining. The overall results are tracked, and there are prizes at the end for the swimmers who have the best times over all 4 races. While Scott was here, he got to attend the 3rd race (from which I pulled the picture above), and was so inspired by the thing, he tallied up the results from the first 3. Turns out that at this point, Quinn is solidly #3 in the field of ALL swimmers! He's roughly 2 minutes behind the #1 and #2 swimmers, and could definitely beat them if he does super well on this last race.

I'm so terribly proud of his efforts to train for this 4th race on Saturday. He's swum the course five times now, most recently yesterday morning, starting at 5:30am!! If he doesn't pull off first place overall, it will NOT be for lack of preparation. He's also got a dedicated cheering section, so that can only help! ;) Tune in after Saturday to see how it all pans out, or just check the race times when they're posted here!

Yo, Scott!

We've had a crazy couple of weeks here lately. And when I say "crazy", I mean "crazy fun/good/busy". Our really good friend, Scott, came to visit, and we spent tons of QT with him, showing him around the island, hanging out, and just plain having fun. He kept a blog of his visit, and did such a great job of it that I'm just going to link it now! He also posted *tons* of pictures at his Picassa site.

All 3 kids instantly adopted him, assimilated him into their social circle, and proceeded to pummel him with requests and demands. He VERY good-naturedly humored them in most things, and just basically was the best Uncle EVAR. He even kept an eye on them a couple times, so Quinn and I could go on dates. The day after he left, Nate was despondant when he asked if we could "go wake up Uncle Scott" now, and I had to remind him that we'd taken Scott to the airport the day before. (While we were dropping him off on Friday, Naomi kept insisting that she was going back with him - ready to jettison us with no hesitation at all!!)

It's always such great fun to show friends & family around the island, and share all the sights with people you care about. We had a couple "down" days while Scott was here, but for the most part, we were on the move, checking out all sorts of locations, activities, and foods. It's also a great excuse for us to get out and do some things that we wouldn't normally make time for, like going to the Paradise Cove Luau, which I always enjoy.

What would be really stellar, of course, is if we could lure some of our visitors to move out here with us! Think of the vacation travel savings!! ;)

Thank you again, Scott, for spending time with us!!

"You've been married HOW long??"

16 years. Yup, 16 years. Some days it seems like it was yesterday that we exchanged our vows, sometimes it seems like ages and ages ago. Time has a funny way of stretching out like a rubber band, and then snapping back when you least expect it.

Quinn surprised me by arranging a fleet of overlapping babysitters this past weekend, so we could run away to Turtle Bay after his North Shore race was over. He came in 14th, out of 680 swimmers, and was first place in his age division. Woo Quinn!!

We got to Turtle Bay by lunch time, and were figuring out what to get from the room service menu, when Quinn got a text from the first babysitter: "Where's the house key?" Uh....... oops. (click the link to see how big of an "oops" it was!) There we were, on the North Shore, and Kate and the kids were waaaaay down in Ewa Beach, locked out of the house. Yikes! Luckily for everyone involved, Kate and Quinn brainstormed a solution... there are 3 windows along the top edge of our living room, about 6.5 feet up in the air. They're just barely tall enough for a lean and lanky 9 year old to slither inside, after you pop out the screen. Three cheers for Ben!!

After we ordered and enjoyed our amazingly tasty bacon avocado cheeseburgers and seasoned fries, we stretched out for a nap, to rest up for our blissfully child-free evening. When we woke up, we strolled around the resort a bit, and wound up at the pool, sipping mai tais. Cliche, but you know... there's a reason they're cliches. There's a surf break about 50 feet out from the pool, so we go to watch a couple local guys working the break while we sipped our drinks. Aah! :)

For dinner, we chose the 21 Degrees North restaurant (also on-site), and were very happy with our meals. Quinn got the duck, and I had the filet mignon. After a dessert of chocolate souffle, we trundled ourselves back to our room.

Sunday morning, we headed to the beach for some sunshine and snorkeling! The only other time we'd been there for snorkeling, the water was very turbulent, so visibility was pretty poor. This time, however, it was marvelous. We saw all kinds of fish and other critters, including many things I'd never seen before. After about an hour in the water, we were chilly, and retreated to our lounge chairs to let the sunshine warm us up. By the time we checked out, a little after noon, we were as cooled out and laid-back as any tourists visiting Oahu could possibly be.

What a fantastic way to celebrate 16 years of marriage! :)

Dipping a toe in the churning water...

So it's just like going back to school as a kid... you think you're doing ok, then summer vacation draws to a close, and you head back to the classroom. Once you get there, you realize that some things have changed since June. There are new trends (or maybe they're not so new, you just didn't pick up on them before) and before long, you are telling your mom that you *NEED* that new because: "Everybody's Got One!"

So... in that spirit... here's my blog! Expect nothing, and you'll never be disappointed. With everything my life's got going on right now, I make absolutely no guarantees about the frequency of updates, the inclusion of photos/videos, or any other promises, implicit or implied, and all that jazz.

In any case, what I *will* be putting in here is stuff that I found entertaining or thought-provoking, whether I saw it posted online somewhere, or thought it in my head as I was wiping smeary fingerprints off of the fridge door for the kazillionth time. Of course, just because it entertained me has absolutely no bearing on whether or not YOU will find it funny or worth cogitating on. Best of luck to us both! ;)