... no, I don't mean that literally! In April I will participating in The Relay, a 199 mile relay that stretches from Calistoga, in Napa Valley, to Santa Cruz. 12-member teams run 36 legs (3 legs per runner, 3-8.9 miles each) through 36 cities and across the Golden Gate Bridge at midnight. I'm crazy you say? Um, yeah. Team names can get a little crazy too... 12 Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, Does This Van Make My Butt Look Big? and Pain Train are just a few this year. But ours is the best by far... Fat Kids Always Go For Seconds! (Last years team was Fat Kids Always Win at See-Saw)
I'm really excited about doing The Relay. 1) It will get me running again, 2) I've heard this is the craziest race I'll ever do, 3) I get to be part of an experienced team which means even if I have no idea what's going on, THEY do :D and 4) Because I'm the slowest on the team, I get the easiest legs (wait, do I actually want to admit that? Oh well :D) Last year Phil posted a really good description of his experience with the Fat Kids!
After much thinking, I've also decided to do the Rock N'Roll San Diego Half Marathon on June 1 with Team In Training. I hadn't originally planned on doing an event this season, but then decided that since I'd be out training for The Relay, I might as well continue training for a half marathon. I've never done this event before so it's a good chance to do something new, AND it's only offered to Team In Training participants and alumni so that makes it special too! This means that I will also be fundraising this season also! Yep you got it... time to open up those wallets and SEND ME SOME MONEY!! This season I'm committed to raising $2,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society so if you'd like to donate money to a good cause, just grab your credit card and head over to my fundraising page.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Slideshow fun :D
Today is Ms. Jeanette's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY LADY!!!), and while I was looking around for an ecard to send her, I came across something called Smilebox, which makes really cute slideshows. So of course, I had to make one to share :D In the spirit of the New Year, I put together a little slideshow of pictures representing some (but not all... I could only choose 8) of the things I'll always remember about 2007 :D
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Monday, January 28, 2008
Team Because We Can!!
Coach Al has a tradition of naming each team at the beginning of the season. There has been a Team Sunshine, Team Positive, Team Rain or Shine, Team Cole, Team Brenda, plus dozens of others.... this season we are Team Because We Can! While that may not roll off the toungue as easily as some of our past team names, this one has a special meaning to many of us who knew Brenda. We train for these crazy difficult endurance events because we can, because we're alive, and for so many others like Brenda who can't.
Saturday morning I was up very early for Kick Off... the celebration of our new Spring training season. After a stop at Starbucks I was on the BART train on my way to the city. Before all the new participants showed up and the event really begin, I spent the morning chatting with our mentors and people I knew on other teams (and drinking more coffee... which was NOT a good idea :(. This is really the only time of the season that all the SF and East Bay Marathon, Tri, and Cycle teams are all together in one place. Once the new participants started showing up, the craziness began :D But it's good craziness. The program started at 10:00 and I think Jeanette and I finally left around 1:00. We has a nice lunch in SF before heading to Oakland for a side trip to the yarn store, and then she dropped me off at the BART station in WC to pick up my car.
I finally stepped in my front door at 3:30... I took a little nap and then it was time to get up and head BACK into the city for my former TNT manager and friend Monica's birthday party in Glen Park! Phil and I met at the BART station (my second time there in one day) and got to Monica's place about an hour later. Her new house is really cute, and Glen Park seems to be a cute neighborhood although I'm still not sure where in the city it is :D We ate some yummy fajitas, cake, lumpia (!!!) and visited with some of Monica's friends, former co-workers and current TNT co-workers. Phil had an early bike ride the next morning so at 9:00 we decided to make the trek back to BART, and back to the East Bay. Sometimes I hate taking BART because it's just so boring and full of wierd people, but since it was raining when we left Monica's, I was glad we didn't have to drive back in the yucky weather!
Sunday I slept in since I was so pooped from the day before. At noon I made my way over to Claudia and Rocky's for an afternoon (and evening) of knitting, eating and hanging out. Claudia made yummy black bean soup and pupusas for lunch and then we just veged out on their couch , drinking wine and hanging out with the crazy dogs. Dinner time rolled around and I was still there so we had some pizza and watched American Gladiators (which I thought I'd hate, but ended up really getting into!). Of course when I left around 7:30 it started to pour again but I made it home safe and sound, in time to catch up on some tv before bed :D
Saturday morning I was up very early for Kick Off... the celebration of our new Spring training season. After a stop at Starbucks I was on the BART train on my way to the city. Before all the new participants showed up and the event really begin, I spent the morning chatting with our mentors and people I knew on other teams (and drinking more coffee... which was NOT a good idea :(. This is really the only time of the season that all the SF and East Bay Marathon, Tri, and Cycle teams are all together in one place. Once the new participants started showing up, the craziness began :D But it's good craziness. The program started at 10:00 and I think Jeanette and I finally left around 1:00. We has a nice lunch in SF before heading to Oakland for a side trip to the yarn store, and then she dropped me off at the BART station in WC to pick up my car.
I finally stepped in my front door at 3:30... I took a little nap and then it was time to get up and head BACK into the city for my former TNT manager and friend Monica's birthday party in Glen Park! Phil and I met at the BART station (my second time there in one day) and got to Monica's place about an hour later. Her new house is really cute, and Glen Park seems to be a cute neighborhood although I'm still not sure where in the city it is :D We ate some yummy fajitas, cake, lumpia (!!!) and visited with some of Monica's friends, former co-workers and current TNT co-workers. Phil had an early bike ride the next morning so at 9:00 we decided to make the trek back to BART, and back to the East Bay. Sometimes I hate taking BART because it's just so boring and full of wierd people, but since it was raining when we left Monica's, I was glad we didn't have to drive back in the yucky weather!
Sunday I slept in since I was so pooped from the day before. At noon I made my way over to Claudia and Rocky's for an afternoon (and evening) of knitting, eating and hanging out. Claudia made yummy black bean soup and pupusas for lunch and then we just veged out on their couch , drinking wine and hanging out with the crazy dogs. Dinner time rolled around and I was still there so we had some pizza and watched American Gladiators (which I thought I'd hate, but ended up really getting into!). Of course when I left around 7:30 it started to pour again but I made it home safe and sound, in time to catch up on some tv before bed :D
Friday, January 25, 2008
Rain rain go away... come back in a year
Uggg, it's been so gloomy out :( There are times when I don't mind the gloom... a day curled up in my pjs on the couch with a fire and a good movie can be fun. But a whole week of rain and no sun is not fun :( Supposedly there is snow on the top of Mt. Diablo but I haven't seen it yet because of all the clouds. COME BACK SUN, I MISS YOU!!!
This week has been a pretty mellow one... Monday after work I met up with my friend and former co-worker Ann, her cousin Maureen and friend Lara for drinks and food at Stanfords. Their happy hour rocks! Tuesday and Wednesday I got a lot of knitting done... I was feeling uninspired for awhile but now am excited about knitting again. I guess this cold gloomy weather has one benefit... it makes we want to knit warm things!
Last night I joined a bunch of other TNTers to watch a special theater release of Spirit of the Marathon. It's a documentary film that follows 6 people as they train for the Chicago Marathon. The film did a great job of using these 6 stories to highlight the history of the marathon from the historic first "marathon" (after which the messenger running from Marathon, Greece to Athens reportedly keeled over and died), the development of what is today's marathon, the introduction of women into the sport, and the increase in the marathon's popularity among more "casual", non-elite runners.
I loved that Spirit of the Marathon profiled both elite athletes AND "regular" runners-- I think many of us watching identified more with it because of that. It was a wonderfully produced, entertaining, and inspirational movie! I think it got us all thinking about which marathon we want to do next! Chicago 2009 here I come (maybe... don't hold me to it :D)!
This movie came out at the perfect time... it's gotten me all pumped up for TNT's Spring Season Kick Off tomorrow!
This week has been a pretty mellow one... Monday after work I met up with my friend and former co-worker Ann, her cousin Maureen and friend Lara for drinks and food at Stanfords. Their happy hour rocks! Tuesday and Wednesday I got a lot of knitting done... I was feeling uninspired for awhile but now am excited about knitting again. I guess this cold gloomy weather has one benefit... it makes we want to knit warm things!
Last night I joined a bunch of other TNTers to watch a special theater release of Spirit of the Marathon. It's a documentary film that follows 6 people as they train for the Chicago Marathon. The film did a great job of using these 6 stories to highlight the history of the marathon from the historic first "marathon" (after which the messenger running from Marathon, Greece to Athens reportedly keeled over and died), the development of what is today's marathon, the introduction of women into the sport, and the increase in the marathon's popularity among more "casual", non-elite runners.
I loved that Spirit of the Marathon profiled both elite athletes AND "regular" runners-- I think many of us watching identified more with it because of that. It was a wonderfully produced, entertaining, and inspirational movie! I think it got us all thinking about which marathon we want to do next! Chicago 2009 here I come (maybe... don't hold me to it :D)!
This movie came out at the perfect time... it's gotten me all pumped up for TNT's Spring Season Kick Off tomorrow!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Winter padding
The only justification I can come up with for all the eating I did this weekend is that my body must be trying to create some winter padding to protect itself from the snow that's suppossed to be falling in the bay area. Who am I fooling? It's not the need for an extra layer of cold weather protection... it's that food tastes so darn good :(
Friday I met up with Amy, Jeanette and Claudia for a girly evening of pedicures and dinner. During our pedicures, we got a special treat... they busted out a bottle of champagne and poured a glass for everyone there. Drinking champagne while someone rubs my feet and scrubs my legs with some sea salt? Heaven :D After our toes were all polished we headed over for dinner at Maria Maria. We had a yummy dinner, and enjoyed some yummy cocktails :D I don't think our waitress was too pleased with the fact that after we had eaten and paid for dinner, we sat at our table for another hour or so having a couple more drinks. Oh well... she was a little snooty to us at the beginning of the evening and (oh the horror) forgot to bring Amy's margarita so we really didn't feel TOO bad!
Saturday I didn't eat too much earlier in the day in anticipation of the huge amounts of food I would see later at Rocky's parent's house! I took a roundabout route to Daly City so that I could stop off at a couple of yarn stores. I had a gift certificate for one store that I wanted to use up, and Claudia had told us about a big yarn sale at another store so of course I had to check it out. The damage wasn't too bad for the amount of yarn that I got so I was happy. After the yarn spree, I was off to Daly City. Rocky's parents were hosting a 40th birthday party for Rocky... mostly family and some of his closest friends. I had already helped him celebrate his birthday earlier this month but who am I to turn down another chance to celebrate (and eat lumpia)! Rocky's mom had a feast... a turkey, ham, salad, rolls, green beans, pasta, lumpia, various appetizers and then two kinds of cake and a pie. OMG... I don't know how I made it home before I slipped into a food coma! And of course Rocky's mom wouldn't let me go unless I took some food (and a bag of frozen lumpia) home with me :D
I think when I woke up on Sunday I was still full from Saturday night... I wasn't hungry for anything until the afternoon. I attended a Team In Training training with our Coach Mama Lisa and it was also a potluck so I ate a little bit there. Bad idea... I also had dinner plans with my friend Katie and we had some yummy Thai food around 6. So nothing all day until about 3:00... and then I ate again just 3 hours later. My poor belly :( But dang was that Thai food was good... it's impossible to eat just a little. It was a lot of fun to see Katie though... even though she lives just across the bay from me, our busy schedules keep us from seeing each other often. The last time we saw each other was months ago... and in the meantime we've both had a birthday and Christmas has passed-- we had a few gifts to exchange!
Friday I met up with Amy, Jeanette and Claudia for a girly evening of pedicures and dinner. During our pedicures, we got a special treat... they busted out a bottle of champagne and poured a glass for everyone there. Drinking champagne while someone rubs my feet and scrubs my legs with some sea salt? Heaven :D After our toes were all polished we headed over for dinner at Maria Maria. We had a yummy dinner, and enjoyed some yummy cocktails :D I don't think our waitress was too pleased with the fact that after we had eaten and paid for dinner, we sat at our table for another hour or so having a couple more drinks. Oh well... she was a little snooty to us at the beginning of the evening and (oh the horror) forgot to bring Amy's margarita so we really didn't feel TOO bad!
Saturday I didn't eat too much earlier in the day in anticipation of the huge amounts of food I would see later at Rocky's parent's house! I took a roundabout route to Daly City so that I could stop off at a couple of yarn stores. I had a gift certificate for one store that I wanted to use up, and Claudia had told us about a big yarn sale at another store so of course I had to check it out. The damage wasn't too bad for the amount of yarn that I got so I was happy. After the yarn spree, I was off to Daly City. Rocky's parents were hosting a 40th birthday party for Rocky... mostly family and some of his closest friends. I had already helped him celebrate his birthday earlier this month but who am I to turn down another chance to celebrate (and eat lumpia)! Rocky's mom had a feast... a turkey, ham, salad, rolls, green beans, pasta, lumpia, various appetizers and then two kinds of cake and a pie. OMG... I don't know how I made it home before I slipped into a food coma! And of course Rocky's mom wouldn't let me go unless I took some food (and a bag of frozen lumpia) home with me :D
I think when I woke up on Sunday I was still full from Saturday night... I wasn't hungry for anything until the afternoon. I attended a Team In Training training with our Coach Mama Lisa and it was also a potluck so I ate a little bit there. Bad idea... I also had dinner plans with my friend Katie and we had some yummy Thai food around 6. So nothing all day until about 3:00... and then I ate again just 3 hours later. My poor belly :( But dang was that Thai food was good... it's impossible to eat just a little. It was a lot of fun to see Katie though... even though she lives just across the bay from me, our busy schedules keep us from seeing each other often. The last time we saw each other was months ago... and in the meantime we've both had a birthday and Christmas has passed-- we had a few gifts to exchange!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
First run of the year
I told Amy that after the holidays I would join her and Pam on their Monday and Thursday runs. For the first couple of weeks of January I always had some prior engagement that prevented me from joining them but last night I was finally able to make it! Unfortunately Amy is taking a forced break from running for a few weeks so it was just Pam and I. We met up in Danville and ran their usual short, short route. Partway through Pam asked if I was up for doing the slightly longer route... ummm, considering I hadn't run for about a month, I wasn't up for that :( The run felt great though... it was pretty chilly out but once we got going I warmed up quickly. I forgot to wear my watch so I don't know how long it took us but it felt like we were running at a good pace! It doesn't look like I'll get a chance to run again for at least a week or so... either Pam has something, or I've got something that prevents us from meeting up :( Maybe at the end of the month I'll be able to fit another run in!
Monday, January 14, 2008
The calm before the storm
No update since Thursday... I'm being a bad blogger :( Now that the holidays are over, and since I'm not really training yet, my life lately has been pretty low key. I guess that I should be happy about that since things look like they're going to be getting a little busier over the next few weeks... and when the new TNT season starts at the end of the month things will definately be getting busier!!
Quick update:
Last Thursday a few of us went out for Rocky's 40th birthday to Luka's in Oakland. YUMMMY food and a fun reason to get together :D Amy and I carpooled over together and decided to make a quick stop at Article Pract in Oakland. Bad idea... whole street was blocked off for a few blocks because of a police action. Thank god we left Walnut Creek early... even after the detour, parking a couple blocks away from A.P., a quick visit to the yarn store, and then trying to find parking at Luka's we made it to the restaurant on time!
For the most part the weekend was pretty low key. I spent some time on Saturday taking down all the Christmas decorations. :( Tonight I have to take our tree out to the street to be picked up by the garbage people. I also did some filing and spent some time sitting out on the balcony reading. Saturday night I met a friend in Danville for some drinks and a little dancing to 80's music. Sunday I headed over to Claudia's for what was supposed to be a small knitting get-together. It ended up being a nice sized gathering and of course we had a lot of fun. Claudia and Rocky cooked some yummy, but healthy, food and I actually got a lot of knitting done. I've been bad lately about knitting-- not very motivated to work on anything-- so it was nice to get back into it. Now I have a lot of ideas for projects I want to work on!
Quick update:
Last Thursday a few of us went out for Rocky's 40th birthday to Luka's in Oakland. YUMMMY food and a fun reason to get together :D Amy and I carpooled over together and decided to make a quick stop at Article Pract in Oakland. Bad idea... whole street was blocked off for a few blocks because of a police action. Thank god we left Walnut Creek early... even after the detour, parking a couple blocks away from A.P., a quick visit to the yarn store, and then trying to find parking at Luka's we made it to the restaurant on time!
For the most part the weekend was pretty low key. I spent some time on Saturday taking down all the Christmas decorations. :( Tonight I have to take our tree out to the street to be picked up by the garbage people. I also did some filing and spent some time sitting out on the balcony reading. Saturday night I met a friend in Danville for some drinks and a little dancing to 80's music. Sunday I headed over to Claudia's for what was supposed to be a small knitting get-together. It ended up being a nice sized gathering and of course we had a lot of fun. Claudia and Rocky cooked some yummy, but healthy, food and I actually got a lot of knitting done. I've been bad lately about knitting-- not very motivated to work on anything-- so it was nice to get back into it. Now I have a lot of ideas for projects I want to work on!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
I survived the storm...
... which wasn't as bad as I really thought it was going to be, and I'm kind of sad about that. In a weird way I was really looking forward to torrential rains, hurricane force winds, maybe some power outages. What we got was a lot of rain, a lot of wind, and a bunch of crap in the roads!
Friday was when we were really hit the hardest and I got a nice view of all the storming from my desk at work. Lots of sideways rain and the trees waving in the wind. In anticipation of a storm filled weekend, I hit Blockbuster on my way home and rented a few movie. I didn't really have any plans and thought spending the weekend holed up in my warm home with my comfy clothes on watching movies would be a good idea.
That's basically the way I spent Friday night and a lot of Saturday but since the weather wasn't too awful, I decided it'd be safe to venture out on Saturday night. Lindsay and I had a date night... dinner at Chipotle (along with the entire under 21 population of Walnut Creek), movie (PS. I Love You... VERY sad, but cute and funny too... I laughed, I cried) and then of course some cocktail time at Tiki Tom's and Dan's.
Sunday the weather had definitely calmed down... I caught up on some tv (I currently have a weird crush on Anthony Bourdain and have TiVo'd all episodes of No Reservations) and then met a friend for dinner that night.
Last night I spent the evening volunteering at an Info Meeting for Team In Training... ahhh, the captain duties begin again! It's so fun to see all those eager-yet-semi-terrified faces there... I remember when I was in their shoes exactly 5 years ago in Jan. 2003! And now they can't get rid of me... I've been involved in TNT every since!
Friday was when we were really hit the hardest and I got a nice view of all the storming from my desk at work. Lots of sideways rain and the trees waving in the wind. In anticipation of a storm filled weekend, I hit Blockbuster on my way home and rented a few movie. I didn't really have any plans and thought spending the weekend holed up in my warm home with my comfy clothes on watching movies would be a good idea.
That's basically the way I spent Friday night and a lot of Saturday but since the weather wasn't too awful, I decided it'd be safe to venture out on Saturday night. Lindsay and I had a date night... dinner at Chipotle (along with the entire under 21 population of Walnut Creek), movie (PS. I Love You... VERY sad, but cute and funny too... I laughed, I cried) and then of course some cocktail time at Tiki Tom's and Dan's.
Sunday the weather had definitely calmed down... I caught up on some tv (I currently have a weird crush on Anthony Bourdain and have TiVo'd all episodes of No Reservations) and then met a friend for dinner that night.
Last night I spent the evening volunteering at an Info Meeting for Team In Training... ahhh, the captain duties begin again! It's so fun to see all those eager-yet-semi-terrified faces there... I remember when I was in their shoes exactly 5 years ago in Jan. 2003! And now they can't get rid of me... I've been involved in TNT every since!
Friday, January 04, 2008
Just blowin' in the wind...
Wooohooo, it's really whipping out there! If you've heard already (because it seems everyone is talking about it) the Bay Area has been hit by a major storm... actually it three storms one right after the other. The first storm hit yesterday and we got a little rain. By this morning the storm was raging in full force... the rain was falling and the wind was whipping! I'm kind of a scaredy cat when it comes to driving in the pouring rain so I just decided to take the back roads to work... the back roads weren't much better-- lots of flooding and debris in the roads-- but it least I didn't have to deal with a bunch of crazy people trying to drive likes it's not raining!
Speaking of rain and wind, we got a little bit of that when I was in Maui. It wasn't enough rain to keep you indoors the whole time, but it was enough wind to keep us off of the beach. :( Despite the less than perfect weather, the Lamon clan still managed to have a lot of fun!
My brother and I arrived at the airport in Maui the Saturday before Christmas and my parents were there to pick us up (the bums had already been there for a full week!). Instead of making the drive out to the condo where we were staying, we decided to do a little exploring on the other side of the island closer to the airport. We headed to the upcountry, the hilly area near Mt. Haleakala. For lunch we stopped at the Kula Lodge and then went to visit a Lavender Farm and THE maui winery (since there's only one)! The lavender farm was really pretty although we got there too late to visit the gift shop-- we did get to the winery though in time to do a little tasting :D After making our way back down the mountain and a dinner stop along the way, we headed to the condo and had a belated birthday celebration complete with some presents and cake :D
Speaking of rain and wind, we got a little bit of that when I was in Maui. It wasn't enough rain to keep you indoors the whole time, but it was enough wind to keep us off of the beach. :( Despite the less than perfect weather, the Lamon clan still managed to have a lot of fun!
My brother and I arrived at the airport in Maui the Saturday before Christmas and my parents were there to pick us up (the bums had already been there for a full week!). Instead of making the drive out to the condo where we were staying, we decided to do a little exploring on the other side of the island closer to the airport. We headed to the upcountry, the hilly area near Mt. Haleakala. For lunch we stopped at the Kula Lodge and then went to visit a Lavender Farm and THE maui winery (since there's only one)! The lavender farm was really pretty although we got there too late to visit the gift shop-- we did get to the winery though in time to do a little tasting :D After making our way back down the mountain and a dinner stop along the way, we headed to the condo and had a belated birthday celebration complete with some presents and cake :D
At the Lavender Farm
The beach outside our condo, on one of the only really sunny days
Monday was Christmas Eve and my family had a little shopping to do. After breakfast my mom, dad and brother went down to the mall while I took a nice nappy on the couch (one benefit of getting all my shopping done beforehand!). That night we went to dinner at one of our new favorite spots in Lahaina, the Lahaina Store Grille and Oyster Bar. There is a fabulous view from the upper level on the roof and the food is really good. We stuffed ourselves silly (my mom even tried an oyster shooter!) and then walked around town until it was time for the 10:00 mass at the church we always go to in Lahaina for Christmas Eve. (Wow, church two days in a row... I'm SO going to heaven :P)
Christmas morning dawned and it was PRESENT TIME!!! We restrained ourselves though and ate a nice brunch before we opened our gifts. We each got some nice things to play with... I got a new camera to replace my broken old one! After sitting around playing with our new toys (and eachother's toys) we decided to keep with our tradition and head out to the beach. Sadly, the wind did not cooperate :( We got pelted big time by sand... I ended up with sand in my hair, in my ears, in my clothes and stuck to my skin :( We decided to call it quits and head back to the hotel and go to the pool! Ahhh, much nicer! Right next to the pool is a little restaurant so we decided to just have an early dinner there. I wasn't too hungry so I figured I could order something small. That didn't work... it was a prix fixe menu so we were stuck with a BIG dinner... 3 courses. I think we all felt a little sick afterwards from all the food :(
Wednesday was another overcast and windy day. We went out to Kapalua so my dad could pick up his volunteer bag for the PGA Mercedes Benz classic this week (He's going to be one of the guys who holds up his hands for everyone to be quiet on the course!) The day initially seemed to be not too windy so we thought we would brave the beach in Napili, but that didn't last long either :( While my parents moved up on the lawn, my brother and I decided to go on a little walk. We got soaked by a rainstorm :( Now I was sticky, sandy and wet :( After lunch at the Sea House we decided to go on a little drive around the northwest side of the island. There really isn't anything up there except for twisty roads and some little shacks. On the way back we pulled over and walked out on this cliff above the water... it was so windy out there I thought we were going to be blown over the side! I had a hard time just standing up! That night we just took it easy and went to the movies in Lahaina.
The pathway along Napili Bay, right before we got rained on
Lunch at the Sea House
Super windy overlook
Beach we found along the way
Thursday was ZIP LINE DAY!!! My parents took my brother and I and dropped us off down the road at the Skyline Tours shop. There were about 8 of us in our group and we signed some forms, got some cool water bottles and then piled in a van. About 2 miles down the road, we turned off the main, paved road and then started up this super bumpy dirt path to the Skyline Tours hut. At the hut we met our guides and put on our gear. We had to wear this really heavy and no flattering harness that made the girls look like we had a "package" (wink wink). We also had to wear they dorky helmets, mostly to protect us during the ziplining but as we found out, also to protect us during the next leg of our van trip. We piled back into our van and made our way up higher into the mountains. If we thought the first part of the ride was bad, this was WAY worse. Our new driver must have been a NASCAR driver in a previous life... he was gunning it up the mountain and around all these hairpin turns!
Ready to "Cross the Line"
Geared up and ready to go...
Finally we reached the top and first zipline. Our guides went through the safety stuff and then we were off! It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be and was actually a lot of fun! It had been drizzling out so everything was really slick, including the ramps we were supposed to go up as we came in at the end of the zipline. Instead of kind of running up them, we did a lot more sliding up them.... more fun in my opinion! After our 4th zipline they treated us to a nice lunch at an overlook nearby.
Waiting in line on the platform
Lunch spot
The problem was with all this drizzle, the dirt had turned to mud and we had at least an inch of this sticky red mud on the bottom of our shoes. After lunch we did 4 more ziplines and then the van took us back to the hut so we could take off our gear. Problem #2... the same mud that was stuck on our shoes was also caked on the van's tires. Great... more slipping and sliding, this time in a van careening down a mountain! We fishtailed a few times, and slid into a few embankments but we ended up safe (albeit dirty) back at their shop at the bottom of the hill! After a show and a little rest, we went to dinner at at a new place (for us) in Lahaina called Pacific'O. The food was SOOO good and the view was very nice. It was right next to one of the Luaus so we got to enjoy their music while we ate!
Friday we went to Napili for breakfast at the Sea House and since it didn't look to bad there, we decided to try the beach right next to it at Kapalua Bay. I think we actually lasted a couple of hours there before we got sick of the blowing sand, clouds and cooling weather. Well, at least we had sun for a little bit. I think all the activity had finally gotten to me a little so I spent that evening just relaxing in the room reading while my parents and brother hung out up in their room.
Breakfast at the Sea House
Saturday was our last full day in Maui :( The first part of the day we spent doing a little shopping for souvenirs and gifts. We had also planned to go out on a whale watch from Lahaina and although I was worried about the weather not being great and it being windy, it was really nice out there. We saw a few whales but not too many, since it's just the beginning of whale season. I had taken a bonine before we got on the boat because I was concerned that it was going to be really choppy out on the water... I think it made me really sleepy (it couldn't have been the sun, rocking motion and Mai Tai... no way) and I just conked out. I didn't even care about seeing a darn whale, I wanted to sleep. We were all a little pooped after that trip so we decided to have a casual dinner at Aloha Mixed Plate, this yummy local place that serves plate lunch (2 scoops rice, one scoop macaroni salad and the meat of your choice). Yummm :D
Going out on our whale watch... look at those clouds!
Sunday it was back on the plane and back to the Bay Area :( Boo hoo
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Zipline Fun!
While I work on the full Maui vacation post, here are some videos I took when my brother and I did the Zipline! Skyline tours has two zipline courses... my brother and I did the newer (and closer) one above Ka'anapali. We had such a blast doing it and it wasn't as scary as I had anticipated. It was a little rainy that day which made everything a little slicker than it would normally be! As you'll see in a couple of the videos, that made coming in a little more fun :D
Me going out on the zip line:
And then here I am coming in on another zip line... the rain made the ramp a little slick... you're suppossed to actually run up in when you come in:
Here is my brother going out on the last and longest zip line... he was a brave one and jumped off the platform:
And here he is sliding in an a different zip line... watch the leg kick at the end when he's trying to turn himself around to come in straight on:
Me going out on the zip line:
And then here I am coming in on another zip line... the rain made the ramp a little slick... you're suppossed to actually run up in when you come in:
Here is my brother going out on the last and longest zip line... he was a brave one and jumped off the platform:
And here he is sliding in an a different zip line... watch the leg kick at the end when he's trying to turn himself around to come in straight on:
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Welcome 2008!!
Happy New Year everyone, and welcome back to work :( What day is it? Monday? Tuesday? I'm so confused!
I'm back from my trip now and back at work. Thankfully my desk doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, and my email and voicemail isn't as full as I thought it would be. It looks like everyone had better things to do over the holidays than work :D
I'll update again with more details about cloudy, windy Maui, Christmas, and New Year's Eve!
I'm back from my trip now and back at work. Thankfully my desk doesn't look as bad as I thought it would, and my email and voicemail isn't as full as I thought it would be. It looks like everyone had better things to do over the holidays than work :D
I'll update again with more details about cloudy, windy Maui, Christmas, and New Year's Eve!
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