Aloha - day 5

Only two more days left in Hawaii! What to do... what to do?... We decided that we should make today a beach day! Can't go wrong there right? Tomorrow is Friday and we have the entire day to hang out, our flight is at 8:40pm and we will be flying all night. BUT, we have to check out of our hotel at noon and so we won't want to be beachy sandy surfy after that for our long flight home. SO, today we go beach!

We started out by going to Diamond Head Park, where we were going to hike up to the tippity top of the crater for amazing views. Upon arrival though, the parking lot was already full (at 9:00 am) and they told us to come back after 1:00pm. That was a bummer so we took a few photos from as high up as we could get in our car (the hike wouldn't have been that bad at all, just time consuming so we didn't want to spend 3 hours in one spot today!) We drove down to Diamond Head Beach because Geof wanted to check the surf, see if he wanted to get a board and if I wanted to beach it up there. It was rough, a bit too windy so we headed back to Waikiki and Ala Moana.

Geoffrey rented himself a surfboard downtown and picked a nice spot for chillin for a few hours at Ala Moana. Its a little less touristy than Waikiki and more of a local vibe I guess. Lots of little Hawaiian bebes runnin around :)

After several hours at the beach we went back to the hotel and had a cocktail poolside. Then showered and got ready to go to a reallly cool spot to have another, YES ANOTHER, drink at RumFire before we had dinner at the Ocean House.

 

Ocean House was no less than AMAZING, of course. We had some local seafood again, and another salad with those yummers Maui Onions! While waiting, we stepped out onto the beach and Geof got me another beautiful fresh Lei. I wish we all wore flowers every day back on the mainland! It makes you feel (and look) so pretty :)

(another lei shot)

Aloha - day 3 & 4

Well, my Geoffrey had to go off and work so I played and rested and really took the word vacation quite literally! I worked out, went and lounged by the pool, finished up my book club book: The Art of Racing in the Rain, started a new book: The Help, wandered around, went and got some groceries and drinks for the room, spent the morning at the beach and then took myself out to lunch overlooking the local surf spot, played dress up in my fresh flower Lei and hairpiece, stuff like that. On our way to dinner we were stopped by these locals!

Geof was back by 4 or 5 so we went to the beach or pool and then out to dinner. On Tuesday we had dinner at this yummy place called the Hula Grill. I had the special which was 2 types of Hawaiian fish, one served terriyaki style and one broiled with crab on top, served with a curry coconut Jasmin rice and Chinese bok choy. It. Was. Awesome. Geof had the surf and turf special: short ribs that fell apart by just looking at them, grilled shrimp skewers, garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. Oh, and for an appetizer we had bread with their house made sweet chili water and olive oil and a Maui onion and tomato salad. True: the onions from Maui really do rock your socks off. Not bitter, not sulfur like, but small and sweet and juicy. I'll be updating my food blog when I get back with all this and more, so check it out later here

Flowers from our Mai Thais. One thing about Hawaii, there's no shortage of fresh flowers! They grow in the trees, bushes, and can be found in almost every plate of food and drink you have!

~ Aloha ~

Aloha Day 2 - ehu ahiahi

After our day at the beach, we came back and changed for the evening. We called a taxi to take us to the Ala Moana Park for the Memorial Day Lantern Festival. The roads were blocked due to pedestrian traffic so the taxi driver let us out across the street, in front of the Ala Moana Mall. Indeed, there were many many people. Over 40,000 they say.

We wove our way in and out of the onlookers and got a spot up close to one of the big screens, just as the ceremony started. The ceremony was beautiful and strongly asian influenced. The crowd was anything but one influence. There were Korean, Japanese, Hawaiian, Anglo, African American, and everything in between. We were all there for One Love. One Life (or maybe a few) that we were honoring and remembering. Some died in wars, some died from cancer or disease, some died suddenly, but their spirits were felt there that night. They sang, we prayed, and one by one, the lanterns were released into the sea carrying hand written messages for those lost loved ones. It was very emotional and powerful and I am thankful to have been there. The figurative expression for dusk in Hawaiian, I learned, is ‘ehu ahiahi – “the dust of the evening”, also signifying twilight and old age.

Aloha - day 2

Day two in Hawaii happened to be on Memorial Day. This means 2 things, 1) We felt obligated to go to Pearl Harbor to pay our respects and 2) the island was buzzing with holiday fun. We didn't end up going to Pearl Harbor, but did something very special, even more special in my mind. Here's how our crazy day unfolded:

At night the weather has been so perfect, we turn of the AC and leave the door to the balcony open, letting in the 70 degree night air. In the mornings as the sun rises, the birds sing sing SING their little hearts out and it wakes me gently. I think its the combination of letting a little bit of the outside in and the time difference here (4 hours earlier than CO, 6 from FL) that wakes me so early! I don't mind, but on this particular day, we woke, dressed, and hit the road by.... 7am!!! We didn't realize the time until we were in the car and boy, did we feel like go-getters!

Our morning plan was to get out of Waikiki and go to a more remote beach in the town of Kailua. We planned to rent kayaks and spend the moring on the water of Kailua Bay, touring the "twin" Mokulua Islands, two cone shaped, volcanic islets off of the coast. Unfortunately it turned out to be much to windy. Once we arrived in Kailua, about a 20 minute drive on the beautiful Pali Highway, we hit up a little market for breakfast called the Kalapawai Market. I love supporting local places, standing in line behind the local surfers and women with little hawaiian bebes running about, and avoiding chain places (which are SO abundant here!). I ordered a lox bagel and Geof got a breakfast burrito. Everything was so FRESH and yummy, even the homemade salsa and cream cheese spread. The Market had been around since 1932 and you could tell the customers were lifers. Check it out!

Kailua Beach was beyond lovely and there were only a handful of us there so early. We walked the long beach which was 3 miles each way, I think we walked about 4 miles that morning in the early sun and blustery trade winds. As lunch time neared, the crowds were growing and we decided to drive to the North Shore and continue our beach day. We drove through the countryside, past the many pineapple fields of Dole plantations, and hit the North Shore Memorial Day traffic just a few miles from Waimea Bay. I was starving so we took a detour and went to the North Shore Marketplace in the town of Haleiwa.

We stopped at a few of the famous shrimp trucks but were slightly disappointed in the prices ($12 per plate, a handful of shrimp and some rice, and no beer or wine?...) and we ended up at an outside table at the Breakers Cafe that served up seafood and $5 Mai Thais. Yesss please! The Marketplace had some cool local art, restauarants, and then we came across a REALLY FUN SPOT, the Ron Artis' Reserection City and the Ron Artis Family Band! Ron Artis is an artist who takes old surf boards that sacrificed their lives on the big waves of the North Shore and turns them into art. His family is a big one (11 children!) and they had an open studio that they rock out in all day, letting the public stroll through, buy some tunes and see the live sessions! Thats right, Jackson 5, meets Hindrix, meets Marley sprinkled with lots of Aloha and they were JAMMIN!

Having gone all the way to the North Shore, we had to stop at the beach for a dip and we went to the Haleiwa Ali' Beach Park. To my delight there were sea turtles swimming in the bay!!! We watched one sunning itself and I took a few photos. Then while we were in the water, they were popping their heads up just 10 feet from us, so neat! It was a perfect day in Oahu, but we still had quite the evening ahead.

Read about it soon, when I post Aloha Day 2 - ehu ahiahi – “the dust of the evening".

Aloha - day 1

I'm going to blog this trip and see how it goes, maybe I can discover new things by blogging it or keep the specific unique memories at the top of my mind.

Day 1 was spent getting here but we arrived at 12:30pm so we just HAD to do SOMETHING, didn't we? We landed and unlike the many movies that define the places we have yet to set foot in on our own, they do not hand you a lei upon arrival. I knew this, but couldn't help but to be dissapointed when there were a few tourists wandering about who were adorned with leis (they hired a lei delivery service, nothing special about them).  The Honolulu airport was very pretty, even from the tarmac. There were palms and lush flowering plants strategically placed amongst the concrete. Inside, the airport wasn't locked and loaded with "Code Orange" security warnings  like on the mainland. It was all open to the outside and breezes were flowing, a very different feeling of "protection of freedom" there. I think its called Aloha ;)

Into our Jeep we rented and on our way to Waikiki Courtyard Marriot, it was interesting to see all the street names and try to deciper between the street names: Kiaolu or Kuhio or Kalia, they all take a second glance to see if thats where we should turn or not! A few minutes in our room, and off we went to Dukes Barefoot Bar for a small bite and drink and unwind. It overlooked all the festivities of Waikiki Beach and I must say, it seemed so SURREAL!

Sometimes it takes a few hours to really BE HERE NOW, so Geof suggesgted we go to this cool park I found, just a few miles away. We went with our snorkel gear and blue and white stripped pool towels from the hotel (hello! We're tourists incase you were wondering! I hate being obvi...) to Magic Island at Ala Moana park. We "washed off the mainland" as Geof instructed and indeed felt refreshed and connected. We saw signs for the Memorial Day lantern festival taking place the next day and decided we had to go. Little did we know what all it meant...

Back to the hotel, a short rest, shower & change, and off to find dinner. We ended up at Siam Square, an authentic Thai restaurant across the street and it was VERY good! A group of young girls came in for what looked to be a bridal shower or engagement party and hand delivered Lei's to the guest of honor and they chattered in native tounge. YES!!! we said, we have succesfully arrived in the Hawaiian culture.

SLEEP.

Travels!

This summer has turned out to be a spectacular one full of many travels and ohhhh how I LOVE TRAVELS! First, I planned a trip to the Florida Keys with my sister and nephew (3 weeks ago). The ocean heals me and it was so much fun being around my little love nugget, Rylan.

This Sunday I'm heading to O'ahu, Hawaii with my husband. He has a job there and I get to go with, playing the part of a nicely kept wife! Ohhhh how I love being a wife! We will be staying at the Courtyard Marriot in Waikiki for a week. Mr. Miller will be working while I play, but he'll have some play time too. I plan to hike waterfalls and sniff flowers at the botanic gardens and swim with the Humuhumukununukuapua and eat pineapples and make Leis and dream and read and be thankful.

Then back to Denver for two weeks and we'll be heading to Charleston, South Carolina for our one year wedding anniversary! This is one sweet life <3

I must say, these travels are eating at a nice chunk of our fundage but guess what? WHO CARES?! You only live once and ya can't take it with ya when you die! Working is not living. Traveling, experiancing new things, challenging yourself to be bold and free IS living and I suggest you get off your hiney and go somewhere. PLEASE, go! Just. Go.

A few travel tips:

• Set a budget and stick to it. Even if its an itty bitty one, you can make an awesome weekend trip happen if you do your research and get creative.
• Read up on free things to do: hiking, swimming, visiting historic sites
• Pack a soft cooler and a few essentials (cups, wine key, small knife, napkins, a few plastic bags to fill with ice). Then stock up on a few things you can make meals from so you don't have to eat out every time. We get hummus, fruit, cheeses, lunch meat, bread, yogurt and that lasts us a few days.
• Go to an early happy hour instead of a late dinner. Most places have really great drink and eat specials for 1/2 the price! Do that a few days and then you can splurge on a fancy dinner out one night
• Coupons! Sounds dorky but there are SO many coupons online for all kinds of things, like 2 for 1 admission or wine tastings. $1.00 off here and there adds up when you are jet setting
• Use your legs! Seeing things by foot gives you a real sense of "being here now", feeling the pulse of the new place you are in.
• Tripadvisor Reviews: Its a free travel guide where you can gather travel information and see what others are saying about the places you want to eat, sleep, or play at. Its VERY helpful, especially when picking out hotels. The bad reviews save you from being dissapointed in a place and have suggestions of other places instead.
• Sign up for Choice Hotels and other frequent travel sites (Frontier, Delta, etc) so you can start collecting points for free stays. It might take a while but you earn for every stay and it will add up eventually. Book all travels for you and your significant other under your log in and start working towards free trips!
• Go to http://www.budgettravel.com/ and read articles on insider tips to save money and have a BLAST wherever it is you want to go! These people do this for a living, isn't that an awesome job?!
• Ask the locals. They will tell you what is a rip off, what is a must do, and what you should shell out some change for.

I hope you enjoy the travel tips and here's some photos of some of the recent things I've done!

National Redwood Forest, California

Wine Country and Redwood Forest Road Trip

Summer July 4th trip to Lake Dillon (check out those mountains!)

Wine Country for Valentines Day

Cabin in Alamosa, Colorado - Birthday  Weekend

Boating on Grand Lake, Colorado

Wine Country Labor Day Weekend

Pier 39 - San Francisco Labor Day Weekend

Mallory Square - Key West sister trip

Camping trip Rocky Mountain National Park

Somewhere in Kansas

36 hour Road Trip to Indiana and back for Mr. Collins

St. Augustine Trip for Rylans 2nd Birfday

Weekend Snowshoe Mountain Trip - Colorado

Honeymoon in Mexico

Snorkel and Sailing trip - Cozumel, Mexico

White water rafting the Cache le Poudre

Wedding weekend in the mountains

Beyond the details

So often our perspective gets clouded with all the minor details, the insignificant things that can ruin your entire day, that we worry over and focus on. The driver that cut you off, the coffee you spilled on your new shirt, the shitty cube without a view you sit in day after day after day, the word CUBICLE (yuck), the rained out backyard BBQ you planned, the dog poop you just stepped in on your way out of the door to go out to dinner, the lady who gave you a bad hair cut, the skinny jeans in your closet saying to you every day "you can't wear me, you're not skinny today", someone stole your favorite bike, the bank account is NEVER as full as you want it to be...

We worry so much about the details we forget about the big picture. Then, every so often, something SNAPS us back to reality, grounds us. Finally, we feel our roots dig down deep and our spirits lifted and we can see PAST the details and remember what life really is about. Living this life to its fullest. Don't sweat the small stuff. Be thankful. Be the best person you can be.

Stephanie Nielson has reminded me (again) and I'm thankful she shares her life, her positivity, her blog with the world. Check out this short film about her life, her faith, and her new life.

Nie Nie's Video: My New Life