T-PLUSH!

Phew! What a weekend it was. Brewers made it to the playoffs, Susan Spivey drove 13.5 hours and Tommy and I ate our weight in cheese curds and fish fry.

We had an absolutely fantastic weekend in Milwaukee. We got to the Snyder's around 11:30pm on Thursday and quickly jumped in to party mode. The pidgin started rolling and Braddah Jumbie even made an appearance. Next thing we know it's 3:30 in the morning and we need to rest up for the Brewers game.

On Friday we picked up the cousins at school and headed over to Miller Park. We ate brats, played some corn hole and Tommy even got to be on tv with a few T-Plush fans.

We didn't have tickets for the game so once the tail gating died down we headed back home in anticipation for the mauds arrival.

Half of us waited at home while the other half scoped out a table for the traditional friday fish fry and conclusion of the game. The bar was packed with crazy brewers fans. After the big win, it's pretty safe to say that we are devout Brewers fans now. (sorry Phillies)

The rest of the weekend was jammed pack with card games, drinks, more family and a lot of squeaky cheese curds.

I hadn't been to Wisconsin to see the fam since 2006. It felt so good to be back and made us even happier to be back on the mainland. We were even tempted to consider staying in the mid-west until we remembered how terribly cold it gets in the winter. The Tundra just isn't our style. However, family time is.

We have really missed the family get-togethers, sporting events, and yes, even the cold. We plan on making several more trips back to the mid-west and Milwaukee once we move to Colorado. (especially when the Brewer's make it to the World Series!)

Journey through the mid-west

We have been very busy since moving back to the mainland. Nights out with friends, family BBQ's, family reunions, and lots of catching up.

This upcoming weekend we are headed to the great state of Wisconsin to visit the Snyder's. This fine woman on the left is even making the trek out to visit as well. And I couldn't be more excited!!!

We're looking forward to a Brewer's game, brats and lots of laughs.

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

Bucket List

Upon deciding to move back to the mainland we composed a pretty extensive bucket list of things that we must do on the island before we leave. I feel pretty good knowing that we've crossed off 90% of the list in 2 weeks.

Last week we headed to the Southeast side of the island for some jungle exploration and tried to see the lava. We went to the jungle to visit some friends and try to understand why they call the people who live in Puna..."punatics".

We woke up surrounded by birds, jungles leaves, and even a pet monkey. We set off to explore hidden beaches and new territory. We found ourselves in pine forests that lead to cliffs that overlooked the ocean and windy roads through the jungle. It was breathtaking. Munson loved running around the woods and smelling all the trees. Seeing her run around made us even more excited to explore the Rockies with her. She's going to be such a mountain dog.

We spent the morning in Puna and then headed over to Volcano to try to see some lava action. Although we live on an active volcano that is dumping lava in to the ocean every minute, trying to see the actual lava is not as easy as it may seem. Unfortunately, it wasn't flowing in a great spot so we settled for the most recent flow's hardened rock versus the smoldering hot lava. Most of the Big Island is covered in lava rock. We have very few sandy beaches here. Most of the beaches are made of lava rock or you at least have to cross it to get to the beach. The lava rock in Volcano was beautiful. You could see every ripple and air pocket from the previous flow. Crazy to think that just a few years ago the whole town was nothing but hot lava.

We spent the night with our favorite uncles and 6 dogs and rested up for a 5k rainforest run we were going to do the next day.

We ran our first race together through the rainforest and volcano village. Although it was just a few miles it made us excited to move to Denver surrounded by a ton of running clubs, bike trails and hiking paths.

Our last few stops were to a Buddhist temple in Naalehu to visit the monks and peacocks and the most Southern point of the island. Uniquely named 'South Point'. South Point is a famous cliff, off of which Tommy jumped.

We headed back to Kona sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful island but excited for our new adventures.

This past weekend we celebrated with an aloha party to help close our stay here. We invited all of our friends, made a ton of food and dressed in our finest luau attire ready to say "aloha".

Our time on the island is coming to a very quick end. 3 weeks from today we will be headed to the airport and back to the mainland. It's a very bittersweet feeling but we're more excited than anything.

Hold the Phone

We have really big news.

For the past few months we've thought a lot about our lives here in Hawaii. Our jobs, our living situation, our friends, etc. We love Hawaii. The past year+ has been absolutely incredible and we have loved every minute of this grand adventure. But we're ready for something else.

We thought long and hard about this decision. We made a list of our top locations, reasons to move, job possibilities, etc. and we decided to make the leap....to Denver.

We love Colorado. We always have. Tommy has spent many summer vacations/snowboard trips/long weekends and climbing trips in Colorado. Whereas I lived in Denver for 2 full years and felt so comfortable the entire time.

With the busy 'tourist' season quickly ending in Hawaii and a small time frame to fly with a pup, we had to make the decision and book the flights fairly quickly. We will be leaving the island indefinitely September 19. We will be flying to Des Moines for a few weeks to gather our belongings, look for jobs and get situated. From there, we'll pack it all up and head to the Rockies.

It's very bittersweet. Hawaii has been good to us and it's hard to leave. But, we're ready.

So that's that. We'll see you on the mainland!