Saturday, November 12, 2011

warm heart, cold hands

One month ago I was sitting on the beach, eating papaya.  Yum.

It's a little grey today, it's cold, and, of course, it's raining.  I've got my run in the bank already, so I'm inside with tea and my most comfy warm winter sweatpants & sweatshirt.  No fashionista, by any stretch of the imagination, but this is my post winter exercise routine.  I can be chilled for hours if I'm not careful, so operation "get warm" is in full effect until most likely, and sadly, sometime in April.

To brighten the grey, I wanted to put up mostly a photolog of some of the best moments from our trip to Hawai'i in October.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Stay warm, my friends.

our home away from home, high up on Kaloko Rd.

we couldn't have picked a better place to stay, the owners of the home are just delightful & you can find their rental here
Kona Mountain Retreat

such a peaceful spot to come home to after the Kona Ironman crazy-town

apple banana trees onsite

spooky banyan trees 

me not falling off bike near havi

nuts for coconuts

coastal ranches

waikoloa coconuts

because that is one salty ocean

coral & lava beaches

true meaning to "surf's up"

boogy-boarding was the trend when waves are high and beaches had sharp landings

the energy lab.  i miss.

gorgeous highway flowers

how the queen k makes you feel

lava & grass - epitomizes kona coast

me with my favourite backdrop

every sunset is nice

prettiest ocean i've ever been in.  

lunch

SUPping day one post IM - so lucky!!

sore, burned, ouchy.  my you got chicked tank was the only thing I could wear!  wasn't chicking anybody that day.

found photo pre-race bike check in.  woop. love my road bike :)

cutest little guy

all stop signs should say this.  waimea, hawaii.

saddle road, the cut across the island to hilo

volcano valleys

photo creativity in the volcano information center

more photos while we acclimatized to elevation

mauna kea observatories

some of the cleanest air in the world is right here

and it's clean b/c the wind blows all the time.  interestingly, the least turbulent air as well, which makes for excellent viewing of the universe up here

awe inspiring clouds constantly changing

very proud of myself to walk up to 14,000 ft.  believe me, 3 days after IM, this was a challenge

proof

like walking on the moon.  in fact, astronauts for apollo missions trained up here to replicate conditions

post IM day one, sore, sick, burned.  apparently smiling hurts

too sore to freak out when this guy swam in front of us.  an eagle ray?

booooo pain.

back at mauna kea.  sunsets up here like nothing else

moon



hilo.  where everything green is found.

what are these? 

akaka falls.  gorgeous george if you ask me.

colours abound 
spooky banyans

bamboozled

fern light

climbing ivy

old sugar cane fields

not limes

guava

passion fruit


young & yummy coconut

waipi'o valley, north island, very sacred place

with a terrifying road.  drops 900 vertical ft in 1 mile.  this picture does it no justice.

twin falls

very mysterious rogue horses fill the valley

happy driver on a 25% grade road in 4WD.

are there tears under those glasses?  i was SO scared

wilson?

paradise found

black sand beach.  lava breaks up into tiny little pebbles, and creates stunning black sand

amazing valleys

papaya tree amongst mango grove

volcano valley, this whole floor is one big crater

entrance to the lava tunnel

lava travelled through here like pipes, for miles and miles to the ocean 

food of nene's

Kilauea Volcano

Kilauea most colour at night

when it rains, you still go swimming in your Aquadiva's

losing half my skin to the kona sun - grrrrr

Volcanic vents still cooling down after 50+ years



spot the hand

lightweight rocks

lava rock extra bouncy

proved to myself i could still run, just not far


drizzly rain combined with warm from rocks & steam below was magic

acting like a chicken b/c I was mocking the wild rogue chickens.  they looked dangerous.  i think they're actually nene, not chicken, not sure.  birds scare me.  extra mocking done b/c I was wearing my chicked shirt

old highway that got lavalled.  get it?

sun going down

shawn's out there somewhere, with 14 ft manta rays.  i'm dry & on the boat, happily with snacks.

the best breakfast in the world

doing some snorkel-dorkelling

floating.  the only thing that didn't hurt.

for 2 weeks, pretty much lived in my Aquadiva's 
dreamy

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