A new chapter.

We made it one year and 4 months in Hawaii. An adventure we will never forget. We spent our last few days soaking up the sun and trying to get as tan as we possibly could in hopes that it would last forever (don't worry, it's already faded). The island said goodbye to us with another amazing sunset and perfect water on our last night. We said aloha with a champagne toast and only a few tears.

Part two of the adventure began at the airport. 4 suitcases, a guitar, 2 over-sized carry on, a canoe paddle, oh yea and a dog. We were a little worried about Munson not having any medicine to make her drowsy and being in her kennel for 17 full hours. But, she made it out in one piece and was happy as could be. When we picked her up in Des Moines she darted out of her kennel with plenty of kisses to give us. It was then official....she was a mainland pup.

Our first few hours on the mainland were a bit shocking. Mostly being that it was 60 degrees...all the time. I suffered from some brief frost bite and then slowly adjusted. Munson too struggled to the new environment. She was unsure what to do in a house with now 6 people and 3 dogs. But she adjusted quickly and is loving the non-stop play time and attention.

As for us, we have been looking for jobs, houses and cars. We recently purchased a jeep Cherokee to help us make the trek to the mountains.

We have been spending time with friends and family and enjoying the change of seasons. It's crazy how much we missed the feeling of fall. The endless summer is great...but fall is simply magical.

We welcomed fall this past weekend at Oktober Fest in Des Moines with old friends. We were thrilled to be with good company and cheap beer. Not to mention the brats! Oh the perks of the mid-west!

We are so excited to be back on the mainland. There are lots of things that we are already missing about Hawaii but we know that it will always be there, and we will definitely be going back at some point. For now, we are soaking up the fall and preparing for our next grand adventure.

Don't be afraid of the dark.

We recently have been doing some pretty heavy exploring to continue with our bucket list. This past week we did two of the most incredible things we have done since being on the island.

Our dear friends Danny and Zulay took us on a lava tube dive a few days ago. At first we, (okay, just me) were a little weary to climb down in to a cave in complete darkness and snorkel in freezing cold fresh water in the dark. But once we got down to it, it was amazing.

We only had to squeeze into a few small spaces until the entire cave opened up. Though it was dark, you could see with the dive lights that the water was about twenty feet deep. We snorkeled around enclosed by the lava tube and felt completely separated from the outside world. It was amazing, but we were pretty excited to see sunshine as we climbed our way out of the cave.

As an aloha gift, the boat Tommy works on gave us free passes for the manta ray dive. Close to the Keauhou harbor is the Sheraton hotel. The Sheraton puts dive lights out on the water which attracts plankton. Plankton then attracts Manta Rays. Each night boats, kayakers and divers go out in anticipation of a manta ray show. It's hit or miss and manta's don't always show up. However, we got lucky.

We got all suited up in our wetsuits in anticipation for a show. After the first 15 minutes or so of laying in the cold dark water we were just about ready to call it quits until a manta with a wingspan of about 8 feet came to eat.

Despite the size of the manta rays they are surprisingly not scary at all. Even when their enormous mouths are shoveling in tons of plankton 2 feet away from your face (literally). It was magical. Hands down one of the most amazing things we have ever done. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance.

We ended the manta dive with hot soup, about 10 cups of hot chocolate and memories that will last a lifetime.

puppy anxiety.

With a big move coming up in 2 weeks, what we are most worried about is the condition of our highly anxious, emotional and less than independent pup-Miss Munson.

She is going to experience a 17 hour flight across the Pacific and later a 10+ hour car ride across the country. Needless to say, we're a little worried.

However, this fellow blogger certainly helped ease our worry of traveling with a dog. (insert sarcasm here). Enjoy.

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/11/dogs-dont-understand-basic-concepts.html