I love Kiwis and Adventures!!!

Australia and New Zealand Here I come!!!



Back to Hawaii on the 30th of January and will post more adventures as soon as possible!

New Year 2007!!!

This New Year should go down as one of the best on record! Not only did I have a super fun date, but I got to see a TON of my closest friends. The evening started off at my friend Rachael's as I helped her prep for her party and as she helped me prep for Phil and Jenny's wedding reception.

Then, the best wedding date ever, Johnny, picked me up and we headed to the Silver Spring Country Club where we chatted it up with the Whitnall Boys and Girls and ate a delicious meal. Sadly, we had to cut out a bit early, but it was only to head back to Johnny and Bryan's house for their New Year's party!


There I got to spend quality time with my P-Tube, the hosts themselves, Ricky, Jim, Paul, Ashley, and so many more great people.


We played this crazy karoke game (which I ruled at!!! - I even beat Johnny!), danced around like fools in the kitchen, ate yummy rum balls (thanks Ashley) and basically had a blast!

I pulled an all nighter waiting for my 7:14am flight...which didn't take off until 5:30pm - LONG, mechanical error story, but on the bright-side, it allowed me to spend more time with my P-tube and Tom and jump in Lake Michigan with Tanessa, her husband Joe, Billy, Johnny, and Amy...I sported old boy lifeguard reds and 2 XL MCLC T-shirts as all of my belongings were sitting in the plane!


I'm officially a non-virgin Polar Bear anymore!!!

Home for the Holidays 2006

So, I made the trek back to WI for the holidays to see the family and friends. The first couple of days I was there I spent hand sewing a blanket for my sister. I took all of her old High School and Summer Camp T-shirts and sewed them onto a fleece blanket. She thought the shirts had been accidentally been given to Goodwill long ago and cried when she opened the box and saw the blanket (pics to follow shortly)

After I finished making the blanket, but before Christmas I drove up to Stevens Point to pick up and spend time with my little sister in her college house.

We ended up going out on the town for a bit and I even ran into one of my college friends, Andy Dan and my little sister in the sorority, Laura! And, although I felt a bit old being back in my old college stomping grounds, her friends made me feel quite young when they innocently asked who was older - YES!!!

After my Mom's exteneded family Christmas, my sister, cousin Melissa, and I met up with my friends Johnny, Bryan, Ashley, Paul, Stich, and many more at Paddys.

We then headed to Brothers where I met up with my friend Todd!

Finally, it was Christmas Eve and my Mom gave my sister and I a very touching present as well...when we were growing up we had a pine tree in our backyard that we named "the picture tree" It was in front of this tree that we took all of our first day of school pics, prom pics, etc. Well, when my Mom and stepdad moved out of the house a little over a year ago, the new owners decided to cut down the picture tree. My Mom happened to drive by the house shortly after this happened and asked to take some of the wood, which she then had made into decorative bowls for my sister and I! SUPER SWEET!!! (again, pics to follow!)

Christmas Day was spent with my Dad, which is always a treat. He surprised my sister and I with spa certificates, which I can't wait to use when I get home this summer=) Afterward I went to the Bosche in Hales Corners and engaged in a mini-Whitnall reunion. It was a blast to catch up with people I hadn't seen in YEARS!

Seattle

On my way home for the holidays this year I stopped in Seattle to visit my dear friends Therese, Pete, and Carl. Not only was it an oustanding time, but it was a good transistion between the beautiful Hawaii temperatures I have become accustomed to and the frigid Wisconsin winter I was about to encounter.

Although I only took one picture the entire time I was there...strange, I know...it is certainly no representation of the amount of fun I had there. Therese and Pete did an amazing job of showing me the city and making me feel right at home. We checked out the famous market where they throw fish where we tried yummy treats - including FRUIT ROLLS!!! We also checked out the Space Needle and the Sound.



The entire time I was there we ate AMAZING food! They took me to an amazing Soul Food dinner where I ate the best Mac N Cheese and Desserts EVER, to dinner at Therese's cousin's house, stopped for assembly line sushi, and had a homemade meal of Salmon, Aspargus, and Sweet Potato chips...YUMMY!!!

I also got my very first professional pedicure while I was there, which was an interesting and relaxing experience. I went with simple polish and little blue snowflake on each big toe!

I also got to see Carl while I was there, which was a treat. Neither of us could believe it had been 2 years since we had seen one another...in many ways it was as if no time had passed at all. I even got to hang VIP style with BoyCrush at a local pub, and although I could not attend, was honored to have been invited to a private jam session the following day. Maybe someday I will be able to see a live show...guess that will have to wait until my next trip to Seattle...unless they become SO big that they begin to tour?!?

Honolulu Marathon - Take 2 - 2006!!!

Once again I took on the 26.2! 2nd time in Hawaii and 3rd time overall...

This time I ran it with Alicia, my new roommate. Must be a Hawaii roomie thing cause last year I ran it with my roommate Colleen. This year's training was a bit rough, as was the race itself as both Alicia and I were fighting injuries - HOW IRRITATING!!! I made the difficult decision, as I am "somewhat" competitive to slow the pace as to ease the tension on my right foot...thus, I did not finish in the time I had hoped, but I did not do any serious damage and was able to walk around Seattle, Wisconsin, and in less than 12 hours AUSTRALIA!!!

Happy Molokai Thanksgiving

So, my latest island adventure took me to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai with my friends Lisa, Rodney, and Jen to visit Rodney's parents and sister who now reside there.

Molokai reminds me of up-north Wisconsin, but add a dash of tropical paradise. Everyone knows everyone else (and their business) and waves (well, actually, gives shakas) as you pass!

As I was running down the street one morning a car passed and asked, "Hey sista, what family you stay wit?" Like I said, everyone knows everyone else and they knew I didn't belong (not that my blonde hair and blue eyes didn't give me away or anything)

We had so many wonderful adventures during our long weekend and yet had a lot of down time to breath, stretch, eat (LOTS), and relax from the stress of everyday life - yes, Hawaii does have stress! HA!

First of all, let me say, it is not easy to get to Molokai...the major airlines don't fly there and most of the inner island carries don't either. This means you are forced to take the 8-10 seater charter prop planes back and forth...this can be exciting and a bit scary as well. Oh, and you don't leave from the main airport...you leave from a random little one with plastic lawn chairs in the waiting area! HA!

On the way there the skies were blue and I got to ride co-pilot! How cool is that?!?

I had the best view in the plane (well, besides the pilot I hope!) and was like a giddy little kid combined with a Japanese tourist. Laughing and in awe of everything and snapping pictures constantly! HA! Here are some of the shots I got...


On Thanksgiving Day we played softball in the park, went to the beach, cracked open a coconut ourselves and drank the fresh milk from it and ate the fruit inside, and then went back to the house and stuffed ourselves full of a homemade Thanksgiving dinner...with some Hawaiian flare!

On the way back to the house Jen, Lisa, and I stopped at Father Damien's church. He was a priest who came to the leper colony in the late 1800's to serve those who were more or less banished to the secluded compound called Kalaupapa on Molokai. The site was chosen because it is a peninsula with high sea cliffs that seclude the area, and the disease, from others. About 42 leprosy survivors still live in the town and visitors are only permitted by invitation or select tour groups. A couple of days later we went to the overlook point read about the life of those sent to the colony. Without knowing the story you would think it was just a normal small town with its own little airport, stores, churches, etc.

While we were at the lookout point we also walked to the phallic stone. Hawaiian legend states that this rock makes women fertile (due to its shape!). Women who wish to become pregnant leave offerings at the stone and some have even been known to sleep on it. Personally, I stayed as far away as possible!!!


As one can imagine nightlife on Molokai can leave a bit to be desired, but we made the best of it singing karoke at the house, doing yoga at sunset in the Kings coconut grove


hitting up the breadshop (where you walk down this alley, knock on a piece of plywood that says "knock here," give your order to the person who then shuts the door, and in a couple of minutes comes back with your warm sweet bread filled with your choice of strawberry, blueberry, cream cheese, cinnamon, and/or butter! It is amazing!!! Not only did we go twice while there, but I brought some home to share with my friends on Oahu!)

going out to one of the two bars on our side of the island

and then....getting pulled over by the police! That's right...leave it to me, the non-drinker to get pulled over.

I guess the government has bestowed a grant to the police force of Molokai to set up road blocks on the weekend in order to cut down on drunk drivers. Well, I pulled over at the road block and when they asked for my license I realized that all I had was my state ID! They asked for my name, SS #, birthdate, and state I had a valid drivers license in and looked it up in their computers, but I didn't come up in the system (I still don't know exactly why this is) Anyway, long story short, we were 3 blocks from the house, but they made us sit there while they called the chief to see what to do, told me I should be getting a ticket, etc. After chatting with us for awhile and me offering them a piece offering of bread (which they begrudgingly rejected) they let us go!

While the nights may leave a bit to be desired, the days are filled with adventure...Lisa, Rodney, Jen, and I woke up and went kayaking in the bay, caught a couple of waves, and saw some cute turtles and a baby shark!

Another day we went hiking into the rainforest. We had to go-off roading to get up there and that in and of itself was an adventure. The path was VERY wet and rocky. It was actually the same trail the ancient Hawaiians used to log timber for their canoes. On the way up the path there is a place where they dug out the exact size of the hull of one of their ships so they knew how much wood would fit into it and thus how much to carry down the mountain!

We stopped about half way up to check out the scenery...it took my breath away! All the deep blues and greens, the fresh warm air...

The path in the rainforest was a bit tricky to navigate at times because it was so slippery, but we managed.


When we got to the top of the mountain (well, as far up as we could go) the view was shielded by a white blanket of clouds that enveloped us. It was incredible...I knew there was a steep ledge and other huge mountain tops in front of me, but looked as if I was staring at a slowly moving white plaster wall. It was quite a strange sensation and the pictures don't do it justice!

Amazingly enough I did miss a few of the sights on Molokai, but I can't complain...it just gives me reason to go back again someday...right?!?

Halloween 2006

After bidding a sad farewell to our Spanish friends (Dani, Jaime, and Ricardo) with whom we had spent the entire last week carving pumpkins, having home-cooked Spanish meals picnic style on our living room floor, and an assortment of other fun tradition exchanges.

Lish and I headed out for a night on the town - well, a night on Kalakaua for Halloween. For those of you not in Hawaii, Kalakaua street can be likened to State Street in Madison for Halloween, but minus the $5 cover I heard they charged this year and add a whole lot of Asian tourists! This year Lish and I had a hard time coming up with what we wanted to dress up as and last minute threw together an assortment of odd neon and 80's style clothes. I was told I looked a lot like "Desperately Seeking Susan." So for all intents and purposes, that is who I was supposed to be - BUT we worked it=)


We met a lot of interesting characters (figuratively and literally) and barely recognized some typically friendly and familiar faces=)



In addition, it was Johnny's (Lish's brother) next to last night in town before he moved back to Denver - tear=(


Happy Halloween!!!

Kona Ironman 2006

I took a break from the Waikiki scene and headed over to the Big Island for the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. It was an amazing and completely inspirational experience. I flew over on a Thursday and spent the long weekend with my friend Janell who qualified for this year's race and worked at the expo to help defer the cost of my trip a bit. Check out the view from our condo!!!

The insprirational weekend began with signing people up for the Louisville Ironman. It was there I met people who had competed in double-digit numbers of Ironmen competitions and who encouraged me to someday give it a go! I also met great people from Active.com who made the weekend even more interesting and fun! Thursday night Janell, Rowdy and I we went to the carbo-load dinner heard inspirational stories, were treated to a luau and yummy desserts!

Friday we were joined by more wonderful friends including Eric, Adam, Christa, Trina, Brian, and Arlene. We spent the day touring the expo - where we raked in free stuff, made signs for Janell, and enjoyed eachother's company. It was wonderful getting to know more sports-minded people. In fact, during the Ironman dinner one of the athletes made a comment about how the entire year he feels like a freak, but the Ironman is the one time of year he does not...although I am certainly no Ironman (YET!!!) people often call me crazy for participating in all the physical activities and races that I do!

When race day finally arrived Janell was in amazing spririts and more calm than I could ever imagine being. Eric, Trina, and I watched the swim start in amazement as the calm water turned into a human blender of over 1500 pairs of flailing arms and kicking legs!



We then made our way to the bike area and waited for Janell to come by...She was all smiles



We drove up to Hawi to see her again at the half way point on the bike...

Still smiling=)

And then waited to see her in the marathon - cheering from a friends balcony the first time

and the second I jumped in and ran along side her for a bit of motivation!!!

I volunteered to be at the end of the race to "catch" and escort athletes to the medics, pictures, massages, etc. As I was coming back from helping one athlete I heard the announcer call out "And with a big smile Janell!" I made my way to her and was fortunate enough to be there as she came through the finishing chute! I almost cried! She is my inspriration=)

We capped off the weekend at the awards ceremony dinner where my new and amazingly funny friend Robe met up with us. We then were treated to a VIP party with all of the top athletes courtesy of Robe!
Adam even got his picture taken with the 2 winners!

Hopefully someday I too will have pictures as amazing as these!

Boat Cruise

Recently 2 of our friends had their birthday's on the same exact day - Chris and Jonathan. Needless to say they all planned a big bash together. Sadly, the only part I could participate in was the boat cruise along Waikiki. Regardless, it was a great time and a reason to get out in the sun and relax for awhile. Jonathan got a little crazy and ended up pouring an entire bottle of champaign all over me in celebration...he thought it was funny and for a minute, until the humidity and sweat turned it into a sticky mess, so did I!

(excuse the vulgarity in the picture!!!)


We (Lish and I) of course gave Jonathan his birthday kiss


and then took time to enjoy the waves, water, and sun.

Shake and Jiggle It - Hawaii Style!

Alright, so as many of you have probably heard...there was an earthquake or two or eighty yesterday here in Hawaii. The first 2 were large enough to feel and shake things up quite a bit at 6.7 and 6.0, but the next 78 were smaller tremors. The U.S. Geological Survery says the first quake hit at 7:07am and began 12 miles under the ocean floor and the second minutes later and was 24 miles below Kiholo Bay off the Big Island. Although there was fear of a tsunami, the largest quake only generated a 4-inch tsunami! Thank goodness for all of us here on the Islands.

It is strange that at this time yesterday I was sitting in the dark playing cards with my roommates, not knowing when the power would come back on (having already been out for over 13 hours!) and yet, now, things here are pretty much back to normal!

I was actually running a 30K (over 18 miles) when the earthquakes hit - and believe it or not I didn't' even realize anything was so severely wrong until my roomie and I crossed the finish line...they were announcing that there was no power on the entire island and that the airport had been shut down due to the earthquakes...we were like WHAT? I think it was because we were on an open stretch of highway with monsoon wind and rain (it was blinding and pelting us and I swear I was carrying 10 pounds of water in each one of my shoes!) that we were unaware...we were bouncing and so was everything around us, including the earth!!!


Waikiki was a strange place to be yesterday...thousands of stranded tourists wandering around aimlessly and waiting in hour long lines to get bottles of water and some food. None of the restaurants were open cause they couldn't cook anything and the select few that were had gas stoves/grills and had HUGE lines (they ran out of food pretty quick)

The only noise was the constant loud hummmmmm of generators from all the hotels and the occasional siren or honking of a horn and someone ran through a non-functioning stoplight.

Once they began to bring up power block by block you could hear loud audible cheers of excitement...ours, of course, was one of the last blocks to get power and you better believe my roommates and I did our fair share of hollering out our window as well=) Then, an eerie hush fell over Waikiki as all the hotel generators were shut off...

Over all there really wasn't as much chaos and one would have thought. It was 13 hours of no power and randomness. I guess our island was hit the worst with power problems, etc. but the Big Island had the most damage to structures, etc. Honestly, I think there was more chaos this morning at Starbucks when people found out they couldn't get their Nonfat, Triple Shot, Double Pump Mocha Latte's with extra foam because there was no milk due to the lack of refridge capabilities the night before - thus, all drinks had to be made with soy - oh, the HORROR!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics - they are courtesy of the Star Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser as my pics are not yet ready for publication...they are in my roomies disposable camera!

Well, I am actually off to the Big Island this weekend to help out and check out the Kona Ironman so I will get to see where more of the actual visible damage occurred! Thanks to everyone who called, texted or emailed. Your messages and concern were greatly appreciated. Until my next epic adventure...

Maui Wowie!

Everyone told me I would love Maui and they were right! It was an absolute BLAST and we spent most of the time hiking and exploring. The first day we were there we ventured into the jungle to Twin Falls. At points we had to take off our shoes and wade through thigh to waste deep water.


We made our way to a beautiful cave and waterfall. The water was a bit chilly, but refreshing after the sweat we broke hiking.


Next we made our way to a swimming hole where we could cliff jump and swing on rope swings!when up to some swimming holes and water falls.


On the way back down we stopped and picked some succulent, fresh guavas off the trees! You have to be careful not to get one that is not ripe though - SUPER bitter!


The next day we got up early and set off in the car on the Road to Hana, which is this little one lane (at times) road filled with switchbacks and narrow bridges that you have to yeild to oncoming traffic to get across. More specifically the road is made up of 54 one-lane bridges and 600 hairpin turns! Pat graciously volunteered to comandeer us there safely=) The drive was LONG and I took dramamine to ease the car-sickness, but the views were breath-takeing and the hike at the end to the 7 sacred pools was well worth it.

One the windy road ended we made our first stop at one of the famous black sand beaches, but it was more smooth rocks than actual sand.


Beautiful none-the-less, but no what I would consider sand by any means. On our way down to the beach we noticed a box in case of an emergency...

hmmm...don't think that empty water bottle will do much to save a life, but maybe we should consult McGuiver? Afterall, I am just a lowly former Milwaukee County Lifeguard - what do I really know about these things?

Next we made our way to a fresh water cave right off the black sand beach where legend has it a Hawaiian princess hid when she fled her cruel husband. Sadly, legend also has it that he saw the reflection of the premadonna's fan in the crystal clear waters and killed her! Needless to say, they did not live happily ever after! We jumped into the clear, but Lake Michigan temp water off the rocks surrounding it - refreshing, but not somewhere I would want to chill for too long (literally)


Finally we began our journey to the 7 Sacred Pools on the Pipiwai Trail toward the 400 foot Waimoku falls

(which despite danger signs warning of falling rocks, we were all inticed to stand under for a bit!)


To reach the legendary falls we first had to hike through an enchanted bamboo forest. Now I know what it would feel like to be a panda bear. It was so peaceful and the color of the sun filtering onto the path serene.



On the way back down I was extremely tempted to jump off a 50ft tall bridge into one of the sacred pools, but couldn't figure out how to get up once I jumped so decided against it (saw an Irishman do it, but swear he had a bit of Spiderman in him the way he scaled up the sheer rock walls surrounding it). Instead I put my monkey skills to use clinging to the limbs of Banyan trees!

but paid the price when we walked out of the forest looking like lepers cause of all of our misquito bites - BUT, just for the record, it was WELL worth it!

On our last full day in Maui I switched it up a bit and led the troops to a VERY dry place. While reading a handy-dandy tour guide book I stumbled upon some information about an archeological site on the southside of the island where Hawaiian tribes used to live, but the village was distroyed by a lava flow. Allegedly you could hike to a lighthouse, but sadly, it turned out to be a light beacon - not very impressive at all. However, besides the beacon, the scenery was out of this world. Honestly, to me it felt kind of like being on Mars. Hot and harsh red rocks as far as the eye could see.

The ocean crashed up along the cliffs at some points and washed endless coral up onto the serence beaches at others.


We climbed into lava tubes (kind of like caves) and stood near the light beacon and felt the incredibly strong wind gusts push us so hard we could literally lean into it and not fall over. It was surreal.


After rehydrating ourselves back at Ryan and Pat's apartment we headed out to the Maui County Fair - a once a year event! Let's say to me it seemed more like a local church fair, but that's part of the beauty of Maui I guess...quaint. On the way there Lish and I discovered Pat and Ryan's hard hat's and decided it would be fun to sport them in the back of the truck. We felt a bit like bobble-heads as we shook and jiggled it to our new fave song! Jiggle It! Jiggle It!

Upon our arrival the boys and girls split up for a bit and discussed where we should meet if we were to be seperated from our fair-buddy. And that place would be the Lost Keiki Booth of course (Keiki = kid in Hawaiian!)


Well, I believe that ends the tale of Maui Sept/October 2006. Next time I visit I plan to hike hike the Haleakala Volcano Crater! Can anyone say Spring Break? But until then, stay tuned for more adventures including, but not limited to, the Ironman in Kona, Big Island, Thanksgiving in Molokai, and Seattle in December.

Am I supposed to post these? I can't help it!

As the title of this blog post suggests, I am not 100% sure if I am supposed to be posting these pics from Tanessa's bachelorette party, but I can't help myself - the memories of this north woods adventure are too good! Sadly for you all, I will be limiting my post to 2 pics (the rest may not make the PG rating I maintain on this site!) Let's just say we ate well, drank well, laughed lots, played crazy games, and enjoyed girlie time=) AND it was a Hawaii theme!!! (no, I didn't plan it the maid-of-honor did, but I supplied some of the tunes!)

So here are your 2 minor glimpses into the former-Felber bachelorette party...


A group shot of all the lovely ladies in attendance AND


One of the bride to be and me - check out the hot outfit I created for her! I wish this page had some annimation so you all could see the interesting dance I performed for Tanessa while decked out in this unique attire. Let's just say she was "Gamma-Phi'd!"

Random Boating Days

This is a post for no other reason than to reminiss on past boating adventures and look forward to those that are to come. This post especially goes out to Tamika who braved her fear of the ocean and looked darn good in her bikini doing it=)

And while sometimes I bounced around on the water trampoline and had a laugh or two


Other times I chilled and took in the beautiful scenery!


Or, relax and let the men flock to the Polska Pimpstress!

So for all of you even remotely NOT thinking about coming to visit this year...ponder this while you sit in your mainland winters...Brrrrr!