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!"