Gettin Dressed Up

We spent pretty much the entire day at the beach with our friends yesterday, and it was super awesome. Right now the sun is setting at 6:45ish, but you start to feel a pretty significant temperature drop around 5. Which means the beaches usually clear out around that time or before. The beach we were at yesterday was one of the most touristy and crowded beaches here, but we were able to stick it out long enough to actually have the entire beach to ourselves. We had the best game of bocce ball ever.

We left the beach around sunset, and we all headed to Mike's house. We were standing around talking about what we were going to do, and someone mentioned that there was a rap-off at one of the bars here. We all thought about it, and figured we would try it out. Then our friend Alan said, "Well, I guess I'll put some jeans on tonight." We all just kinda looked at each other and realized that putting on a pair of jeans in Hawaii is pretty much the ultimate way to dress yourself up. You put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and you pretty much feel out of place and over dressed. We all laughed pretty good when we thought about that.

We never actually made it to the putting on jeans phase though. We just hung out and played a board game all night, which was probably more fun than the rap-off would have been.

Maks part 2

Stacey, River and I all ended up sleeping in the truck, which was quite cramped. River was forced to sleep in the backseat with our seats leaned all the way back, completely closing her in. I was really surprised that she was ok with that, the thought of it gave me claustrophobia!


I ended up getting out of the truck about 6:15 am to check the surf and fish for awhile, both with no luck. Eventually everyone started moving around, and pretty soon we were cooking and early lunch. Lunch consisted of hot dogs, chicken breast, yellowfin tuna that my buddy Brian caught recently, and the Omilu that Stacey and I caught. Luckily a local Hawaiian saw us catch it and gave us the secret recipie! (cut slits and add olive oil and sea salt) It was really tasty!

After lunch we headed back to the beach, making sure to bring all the necessities ;)


There are several turtles that just hang out on the beach. River was quite interested in them.





One thing that I find truely amazing coming from the Texas coast is how close these huge sportfishers fish to the beach. All the large offshore fish can be caught within earshot of the island, which is incredible.

We all took turns hanging out in the water and bodysurfing, swimming, and snorkeling. We just bought a Bocce Ball set which has turned out to be a huge hit. Its a great beach game that everyone can play.

River is constantly rolling around in the sand and getting it all over her face, but for some reason she really doesnt seem to mind. I know I would.

Here is the parting shot of the Maks crew from left to right; River, Stacey, Ryan, Carl, Mike, Jack, Jill, Cone, Dick, Callyn, Tank, and Bruno.

I hope you enjoyed. There will be more to come!

Maks

It's been awhile since I last posted, so here we go. I have a lot to share, so this may end up in separate postings. Enjoy!

I got a call on friday about a last minute camping trip to Makalawena Beach. It was an instant "yes" because this is one of our favorite places on the Big Island. This was our third trip here, and this time we managed to avoid any mishaps that would leave us without a camera. Stacey, Alan, River and I rode together in my truck. The road down from the highway to the beach is extremely rough, and only half of it should even be called a road. The only way to get down is in 4X4 low, moving about 2mph most of the time. Stacey chose to walk with River because she has a tendancy to get motion sickness with all the rocking back and forth.

Unfortunately (or fortunately for some), there are a few choice pieces of furniture ripe for picking along the part of the road near the highway.

When we reached the end of the road, we were greeted by this view.

After looking around for a bit, we began to set up camp. Alan and I were assigned to a large tent that neither of us knew how to construct. After fumbling around aimlessly for awhile, we decided to check and see if the tent came with any instructions. After a little instruction, we got it up.

Afterwards Alan and I decided to climb this awesome tree and watch everyone else work.

After everybody had their tents set up, we headed down the coast to a little nicer, sandy beach just a bit south. I drove the truck with all the beach toys in it, and the rest of the crew walked.

Several different spots along this beach hold freshwater (brackish) ponds no more than 50 yards from the beach. The water seeps through the rock and comes down from the volcano. It is really cool and feels great.

Here is Mike with his dog Jack, and River taking a dip.

To make a long story short, we spent the day at the beach doing lots of fun stuff, which I will share with you in a future post. Around sundown we headed back to camp to cook dinner.

Stacey and I snuck off to fish for a bit and see if we could catch some dinner. I ended up losing the first fish, but soon after we landed this Blue-fin Trevally, or Omilu. A local told me that they are great to eat, but after seeing how much food we had for dinner we decided to save it for sunday brunch.

This fish was really beautiful, especially right after we caught it. And it later tasted pretty good, too!

After dinner we gathered around the fire and talked story for awhile. Slowly but surely everyone made their way to their sleeping spots, anxious for another day at the beach.

Another Visitor!!

Last Friday Carl got a call from one of our friends from Texas, Luke. He asked us which island we were on and informed us that he would be arriving with his mom the next day! We were really excited. We couldn't hang out on Saturday because we were at a Reggae festival, but on Sunday we loaded up and headed to a beach a little north of town. Two of our friends from Kona, Mike and Alan, also joined us. When we first got there the boys went for a swim, and I hung back on the beach. They ended up chilling out for a while on this big rock.

When they finally made it back, we all played a game of Bocce ball. I just got a new set with the gift card to Sports Authority that Carl's parents got me for my birthday.

And in keeping with our new tradition, here's his Forrest Gump photo.

Red Dress Run

Last weekend was the first annual Kona Hash House Harriers Red Dress Run. If that sounds really crazy its because it totally is. We all get together once/month and do a 6 mile run- we don't always all wear red dresses though. When we start, 2 people take off 15 minutes before the group and "lay the trail". They basically set the 6 mile course and mark the trail with flour. At different places you'll come to a junction marked by a circle with an X in it, and you have to try and find the trail from there. They make fake trails to try and trick you, so finding the "true trail" can be confusing. Its really a lot of fun. We did our first run 3 days after we moved here, and it really helped us jump into the scene here and meet a lot of (crazy) people.

One of our really good friends here is usually 1 of the 2 people that set the trail. This is a picture of me and a friend I made in yoga, Taryn. She moved here in February too. This was her first run.

This is a photo of the majority of us before we all took off. You can imagine how crazy we all looked running through town. Everywhere we turned there were people stopping, laughing, and grabbing for their camera.

These were my running buddies Lesly and Phil, a.k.a. "Phylllis". This was a little obstacle course we had to make it through.

And when we finally made it to the end..... a HUGE slip 'n slide was there waiting for us. We had a great time. I tried to take River down the slide, but she wasn't feeling it. Everyone agreed that the slip 'n slide will definitely become a staple for our summer time gatherings. It really brought out the kid in all of us.

27!! Oh my gosh!

I had a great birthday last Friday!!! I went to a morning yoga session, and when I got home, Carl had a scavenger hunt for me. He knows how much I love games.

At each location he had a present and a new clue. He gave me SO many things, and each time there was a new clue I couldn't believe my eyes. He got me a pair of coconut shell and abalone earrings shaped like a sea turtle, the beautiful necklace pictured below, a shirt from one of our favorite breakfast spots Buns in the Sun, new toothbrush heads for our Sonicare, some sarongs from a local shop, 2 pairs of tickets to one of our favorite bands- katchafire- and I can bring anyone I like (but it has to be Carl), and....




A SURFBOARD!!!!!!!!!!

I also had some packages in the mail from my family. I LOVED getting the packages in the mail. I felt really loved. Here's a photo of all the gifts I got. If you're wondering about the book, yes, it does say "who pooped?". It was a birthday present from my dear sweet cousin Robin and her stinky boyfriend Alex.