Hawaii

A long, snowy winter, a cancelled trip to Oregon, and a substantial case of spring fever lead Abby and B to take an impromptu trip to Hawaii. After years of saving, frequent flyer miles were cashed in for our plane tickets and with the company condo and car provided for a meager cleaning fee, we made it out of Anchorage and to Hawaii for almost nothing. Tickets were booked and off we went!

Our condo was located in Waikoloa Beach, which is about 25miles north of Kona on the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island. Waikoloa Beach is an oasis-like collection of golf courses, vacation condominiums and hotels located on the edge of a vast lava dessert.

The condo itself was fully stocked with everything you need to make you feel right at home, including 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, jacuzzi tub, 2 patios, washer and dryer, and anything and everything you could imagine needing for a day at the beach.  With double the amount of bathrooms and bedrooms in our current apartment, we were so excited to move about freely without constantly being in each others way. Oh, the magic of a few extra hundred square feet!

B's company condo complex at Waikoloa

Amazingly, the big island is a diverse mix of landscapes and climates. There are dozens of different places to see and activities to do. Since neither one of us had ever been to Hawaii, we were eager to do it all, but before we got started straight into complete tourist mode, we needed a full day to sit back and relax. Therefore, our first day was dedicated to relaxing on the beach with the sand beneath our toes, the sun on our shoulders and a spectacular view of the bluest water ever imagined.

  

 

Day 1 - Breakfast

 We started off the day cooking an  amazing homemade breakfast, consisting of english muffin, ham, egg, and cheese sandwiches, at the condo. After our bellies were full, we headed down to the nearest beach. A short five minute walk from the condo is Anaehoomalu Bay, or simply A Bay.

Picturesque Anaehoomalu Bay

A Bay serves as convenient beach access for the throngs of vacationers in Waikoloa Beach. It has everything from water bikes and paddle boards to sea turtles on the beach. Rich folk in multi-million dollar beach side homes are around every turn and there are regulars staying right on the beach at the Marriot. The area can accomodate a wide range of people on vacation, although in mid April, there didnt seem to be many people there at all.



Laying beachside - Day 1



The beach here is popular for weddings and picturesque sunsets. There is a medium sized stretch of coarse sand, surrounded by lava beach. We quickly secured some of the many beach chairs and established a base point for a day of relaxation. Even though the sun was out, it wasn't convincingly warm by mid morning. We decided to play it saffe, and layered ourselves in a precautionary coat of SPF 30. (It's worth mentioning that Brendan did not pay careful attention when purchasing the sunscreen, and wound up with the spray-on type, which as the time didn't seem like a big deal.)



Swimming at Anaehoomalu Bay



  



Lava trail at A Bay

After about an hour and a half, some clouds moved in bringing a little bit of rain with them. After we had our fill of swimming in the waveless water, and hiking up the beach a ways to watch the surfers, we decided to needed some more excitement and to make our way north to reportedly one of the best beaches on the island and hopefully out of the rain.

The condo had a guest log with endless entries from many of the company employees and their families who have stayed in the past telling their tales of their stays. There were many, many recommendations of things to do and see while on the big island. One place mentioned multiple times was Harpuna Beach. The beach is reported to be one of the nicest on the island, and less than 10 miles from where we stayed. We loaded up the car with chairs, boogie boards, and a cooler and headed north.



Hitting Harpuna Beach





Abby's picture.

 As reported, the beach was perfect - fine white sand and crystal blue water. The sun was shining again and we immediately hit the water to play in the 6-8 ft waves. Abby photographed as B played in the water. It was perfect!



Best waves of the trip!



After about an hour in the water, we made our way back to our belongings to enjoy some relaxation. Almost instantly, we both noticed that we had received significantly more sunshine that we thought. After a very brief discussion, we decided to call it a day.

 

Moments before wipeout



 

The decision to leave the beach was unfortunately a little too late. In the short exposure to direct sun, we both got burned. After a cold shower and a copious application of aloe vera, we headed into Kona for dinner.

The Kona Brewing Company was highly recommended from several sources and therefore and easy decision on our first night. We even had a suggestion - the thai chicken pizza. The wait was long but the beer was cold and the atmosphere was really pleasant. There was lots of outdoor seating and live hawaiian music. After a much needed beer, our table was ready. We chose an appetizer and a round of beers, and waited for our predetermined entree.

While we were waiting, we started talking to the people at the table next to us. One of the guys, who coincidentally was the manager of Humpys Kona, had recently returned from visiting Ireland. He told some outstanding stories of being at the Guinness Brewery on St Patricks Day. Put that on the list!

Before the first taste of Thai



The pizza arrived and we were both excited. The first bite, however, was disappointment and disbelief. The sauce was 100% peanut butter. If there was anything besides peanut butter and cheese, you wouldn't know it. It was like eating a mozzarella and peanut butter sandwhich. Abby took one bite and said "I'm not eating this." Brendan took several bites just to convince himself of the fact that this was pizza and it was not good. To our pleasant surprise, our waitress gladly replaced the peanut butter surprise with a reliable buffalo chicken pie. All's well that ends well.



Humpy's Kona







After Kona Brewing, we made an obligatory stop at Humpy's Kona. Humpy's Alehouse is somewhat of an Anchorage landmark. The 50+ beers on tap, weekly trivia nights, live music, and a central downtown location make it a stop on almost anyone's visit to Anchorage. A few years back, the owners decided to open a second location on the big island of hawaii, and so while we there, we had to. The outdoor seating right on Ali'i drive was wonderful. The highlight of the visit was the Wailua Wheat made with passionfruit. It was dee-lish!!

Little O'Malley

Clear skies and upper 40s weather make restless Alaskans.

It is much, much steeper than it looks!

Instead of going to the gym, I convinced Abby to follow me on a new hike. The peak is called Little O'Malley and it is the first point on ridge line that leads to O'Malley Peak. The hike is about 2 miles with an elevation gain of about 1,000 feet. The southeastern aspect make this a great early season hike.

Abby on top of Little O'Malley

O'Malley Peak and the Ballpark in the background

B overlooking Anchorage and the Cook Inlet 

Two hikers glissading down the trail

Little O'Malley is the point directly above Abby's head

Bird Ridge Hike

After surpassing the all time snowfall record for Anchorage on Saturday, we woke up Sunday to blue bird skies. This gave Abby and I an itch to go hiking. We decided to hike the Bird Ridge trail for the work out and the views of Turnagain Arm.

Once we got passed the slippery lower portion and onto some firm snow, the going was steady. Slow...but steady.  

The abundant sunshine reflecting off the snow created a lot of heat on some parts of the trail. The constant winds of the Turnagain Arm made any breaks we took rather short.

About 4pm, we reached a nice bench and decided to call it a day. The hike was perfect to get our winter legs stretched out, enjoy some beautiful scenery and soak up some much needed sunshine.

The trek back down the mountain was a glissading adventure. Glissading is controlled sliding down the snow, commonly in the firm ruts packed down by previous sliders. This method of descending the mountain is much, much faster than walking. It leaves you wet, cold, and laughing your frozen butt off!

As with most adventures, there can be battle scars. In trying to navigate a sharp turn during her glissade, Abby had an all too close encounter with this small tree. 

Bird Ridge is a great trek, and we will certainly be back to top it out this summer!

As a welcome back to the US, Abby and I took a weekend and went to Girdwood for a little downhill skiing and relaxation. The well deserved weekend getaway turned out to be beautiful. Near record snowfall for the year combined with some sunshine made skiing conditions perfect.

We stayed at the Hidden Creek B&B. It was a beautiful home, with tremendous hosts. Everything was perfect for a relaxed stay.

The Lights

One of the most common questions visitors to Alaska ask is "how can I see the northern lights?"
After traveling all over this state, in every season and weather condition imaginable, my unfortunate reply is always "good question."

Full moon above Earthquake Park

There is no sure-fire method of viewing the northern lights. Certain scientists, such as those at the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute, have become adept at predicting when the aurora is likely to be active. They have even developed a website: http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast
to keep those of us that are interested informed about when, and to some extent where the aurora may be viewed.

Abby and I have followed the website tenaciously. We even have the Aurora Forecaster App on our iPhones, ya know? And we have waited with eager anticipation for days deemed to have the right conditions for a higher probability of seeing the northern lights. These days are indicated on the website using a number value to represent the chance of seeing the aurora. A higher number means a higher chance. And on those days we have assembled our camera gear and driven to dark, deserted places in hopes of having optimal viewing conditions. And waited in said deserted places. And waited. You get the point.

It was about 8pm on a Thursday night and we were both exhausted. I was actually lying in bed reading when Abby said "Tonights a 5, do you feel like going?" My first reaction was no. No, I dont feel like getting our camera gear together, plus clothes to stand outside in the single digit temperatures, and going to sit in a dark parking lot for an hour only to come home disappointed, again. My warm blanket and book sound like a much better idea. Then I thought to myself, I've gone out for 3's and 4's. If I stay in on a 5 night, I may very well be kicking myself later. "Fine, let's go."

So we threw some clothes on, grabbed the camera gear and headed out the door. The usual flurry of questions: Are we taking Indie? Do you have gloves and a hat? Do you have the camera? Did you charge the batteries? I reply - yes, yes, yes, and I think so. I know at least one of the camera batteries is charged.

With limited time and energy, choosing a location was easy. Whether trying to photograph Anchorage, or catch a glimpse of Denali on a clear day, Earthquake Park is a staple spot for scenery. When we arrived, there was already about a dozen cars. Abby set up the camera and started testing camera settings by shooting the full moon. She immediately noticed that the battery was low and asked "I thought you said the battery was charged." Knowing that the back up battery was fully charged, I began battery replacement. Between my lack of familiarity with the new tripod and my already numb fingers, it took an extremely long time to get the battery replaced. As luck would have it, the northern lights came out during this time.

Display begins. Photographers frantically try to set up

Needless to say, Abby was not happy and the phrase "You said the battery was charged" was repeated several times with continually heightened frustration. Nevertheless, the battery got swapped, and pictures were taken.

Focusing the camera was the biggest challenge

The one thing we had a hard time with was focusing. Autofocus is not an option with northern lights. The camera gets confused and the result is nothing in the photo is in focus. The manual focus settings I've always used cause the LED display to light up, which completely blinds you from being able to see the focus light. Abby had very limited success focusing by trial and error. The process was complicated significantly by the fact that the evening temperature was hovering around zero degrees. Our toes were completely frozen and our fingers weren't far behind.

Our best attempt at a portrait with the aurora 

People showed up in droves once the display began

B's favorite  

Abby's favorite

We stood outside and photographed for over 2 hours. Everyone at the park was either excited they were there to see the lights, or severely disappointed that they didn't arrive sooner. The excitement of seeing our first real aurora would have certainly kept us out there longer, but neither one of could feel our fingers or toes. Thanks to Abby's photography prowess, we did not come home empty handed. She took two amazing photos leaving the night a success!! We headed home very cold, and very happy.

Faint Aurora with Anchorage city lights

Photographers seem to be split on the subject of  computer-aided enhancement. It seems the most contentious in the realm of photojournalism. However, when you consider photography as an art form....why not? Even as a  novice with photo enhancing software, it's still fun to tinker. 

Stef in Alaska

Considering a possible move to Alaska, Abby's best friend Stef decided to visit us the first week of March. Not only was this week her spring break, but it was also the time when Anchorage celebrates the end of winter and beginning of spring with a week long festival known as Fur Rondy. Rondy, as it is commonly called, includes festivities ranging from fur trading to outhouse racing. The celebration concludes with the ceremonial start of the Iditarod sled dog race. We decided to show Stef the best of Anchorage in the winter time.

During Rondy, especially during the Iditarod start, downtown Anchorage bustles with food, festivities and all sorts of people. The hot dog vendors are out in full force, pushing specialties such as reindeer sausage that smell and taste wonderful on a cold winter day.

Fur Rondy (short for rendezvous) was historically a time for trappers to meet and trade their winter harvests. Fur is still traded and sold in various booths at Rondy and no place on earth is more appropriate to don your ridiculously fluffy, furry headwear.

Typical mushers truck

The ceremonial start of Iditarod is one of the most popular events of the year in Anchorage. The mushers stage their teams along the sides of the street for everyone to see. When the race begins, mushers take off every two minutes for several hours.Spectators line up all over town to catch a glimpse of their favorite veteran or the most interesting rookie.

Starting Line is under the banner in the background

 We all enjoyed trying to weave through the throng to see each new musher start, although nothing could compare to Abby's enthusiasm. Iditarod is her newest obsession!

#22 - Mike Santos 

#42 - Colleen Robertia

Just off the beaten (dog) path is a little Rondy carnival.

 Everything from a Tilt-A-Whirl, to bottle toss to cotton candy make this a bonafide carnival. Several feet of snow on the ground and sub freezing temperatures are not enough to stop Alaskans from enjoying a good carnival!

One particular ride proved too tempting to resist, so the girls decided to take a whirl. Their faces say enough...

WOO HOO!!!

Handlers ready the reindeer

The last event of the day was the annual running of the reindeer. Hundreds of participants arrive in costumes, plain clothes, and some in almost no clothes at all.  Several heats are run that include men, women, children and combinations. Once a heat starts, reindeer and people alike run, slide, fall, and laugh their way down 4th  Street.

Reindeer pass the race leaders

Rondy and Iditarod are wonderfully Alaskan events that are always enjoyable.

We were so happy that Stef could be here to enjoy them with us.