HMF - vacation style

Oh no, I missed Hand Made Friday! Well, that's what happens when you're on vacation. Here's last week's HMF photo.

You're not the boss of me

I wasn't one to get on a boat if I could avoid it. I wouldn't get sick, but I'd feel nauseous and uncomfortable and basically make anyone around me feel uncomfortable (at least I thought I did). So when Randy invited Roger to go whale watching and Roger invited me to come along, my gut reaction was, "Are you kidding??"

But I gave it more thought and considered it to be an opportunity so I accepted the invite. I'm convinced that my aversion to boats is in my mind. If I could approach it more positively, maybe I could do well on a boat. I didn't know a hypnotist who could plant a positive suggestion in my mind, so I armed myself as best as I could.


Ready or not

Friends were very supportive and gave me tips like when to start taking the Dramamine, what types of food to avoid, where and how to stand, and what to look at while on the water. The advice was welcomed and the support was encouraging.

We went out today and I had a glimmer of anxiety wash over me as I stepped on the boat, but I let that go and thought about the adventure. We had to go out pretty far to see Humpback Whales--pretty far was ~15 miles. That took a while, but I stayed outside the cabin and enjoyed the fresh air as I let my legs absorb the motion of the boat while keeping my torso pretty quiet. I didn't sit down and I didn't hang onto a railing, I just kept looking to the horizon for whale spouts.

Well, guess what? I did okay! I didn't get dizzy or uncomfortable and I was able to enjoy the ride. Granted, the water was relatively calm, but the cruise was longer than normal and there was plenty of time for it to turn into a bad situation, but that didn't happen.

We saw a number whales and a few showed off their flukes.


Humpback Whale


Humpback Whale

Then suddenly there was a "whoosh" near me and 2 humpbacks were right next to our boat! Everyone gave a big cheer as they paralleled our course. They didn't give us the thrill of seeing their flukes, but it was pretty cool to have them come so close.


Humpback Whale

We also saw dolphins and plenty of birds like this pelican.


Brown Pelican

I had a great time and felt like I achieved a milestone today. What shall we do next? Book a cruise? lol

Big thanks to Randy, Roger, and Princess Monterey Whale Watching.


Randy & Roger

Also thanks to everyone who gave me advice and a "you can do it!" I did it!

You're IT!

I was tagged by Lisa on this one.

Find the 4th picture folder on my computer, put the 4th picture from that folder on my blog and tell 4 facts about the photo, then tag 4 other people.


Arrival day

1. This photo was taken the day I landed on the Big Island for a business trip in November 2006--note the aloha lei on the work computer.

2. The Dell in the photo is no longer with us.

3. After the business meeting was over, I headed to Maui for some time off.

4. I finished a design for Crystal Palace Yarns on this trip, the Crystalline Lattice socks.

I'm an equal opportunity tagger, so if you're reading this post, you're IT!

Knitting up a storm

Why was I so bundled up on Friday? Because we were heading up to Tahoe for some holiday skiing!



And when I wasn't skiing, I was knitting. My first priority was a test knitting a sock for Margit aka Fiber Fiend. She's going to be selling the pattern and yarn for Caged. Look for her fiber and patterns (and this sock) in Booth #738 at Stitches West. (Click on a photo for a closer look.)


Fiber Fiend's Caged sock


Fiber Fiend's Caged sock

I also finished the homework for Susanna Hansson's Lapland Hand Garments class this Friday.

Stitches West homework

Weather was beautiful for the entire weekend and although we were scheduled to return yesterday, circumstances required us to stay another day. This morning we were greeted with 6" of fresh snow and it was still falling.


A snowy morning

Okay, okay, so it wasn't exactly a "storm", but the title sounded good. By the time we started home the roads were clear and it was smooth sailing.

I'd like to write more, but I have so much to do before tomorrow.

See you at Stitches West!!

Guidebook

There's one more item about Maui that I wanted to share--we made a small investment before the trip and bought this book.

Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook by Andrew Doughty

This book was well worth the $. Unlike other guidebooks, the author and his band of researchers investigated everything first hand. Not only are there descriptions of activities, hotels, and restaurants on the island, there are no holds barred opinions and evaluations. Phrases like "highly overrated" or "if you only see one, see this one" guided us towards new and interesting places to go and things to do. I highly recommend this book.

Aloha Maui

We're home and boy did it get chilly while we were gone. Autumn is here. The trees are turning and there are leaves on the ground. Goodness, how long were we away?

Here are a few more photos from our stay in Maui.

'Ahihi cove. A nice place for snorkeling and tidepooling.


'Iao Needle. The 'Iao Valley is the site of one of the most famous battles that occurred in 1790 and changed Hawaii history forever when King Kamehameha I destroyed the Maui army in an effort to unite the Hawaiian Islands.

On our last day we checked out of the hotel and had almost 11 hours before our flight. Time for a trip to the Haleakala Crater. 10,023 feet. I don't think I've ever been that high up outside of a plane. Get this--I was IM'ing Bill & Spinnity on the way up and down from the crater. Coverage on Haleakala. Cool.


The view was amazing.

We were also fortunate enough to see a pair of Nene (Hawaiian geese). This is the female.

It's breeding season and the pair just staked their claim on the Visitor Headquarter lawn. This is the world's rarest goose. Awesome.

After Haleakala we went to the windsurfers' mecca (outside of Hood River, Costa Rica, and others), Ho'okipa.

We never did figure out what that swimmer was doing out in the middle of the windsurfers. If you click on the photo, you'll see him to the left of the breaking wave. He didn't really swim around much, but it looked like he was in face of danger more than once.

All in all, it was a fantastic trip. Maybe next time we'll go later in the year so we can see the whales.

Aloha Maui.

The good, the not-so-good, and the magic

A good round ends like this.


#18, Kapalua Bay Course

Tuesday we drove up to Honolua Bay to get some snorkeling in. The walk to the shore takes you through an area that I refer to as a rainforest--not that I've ever seen one. But the trees create this awesome canopy from which long lengths of vegetation grow.


Unfortunately the surf was too high for snorkeling, but a drive up the road gave us a good view of the surfers. They're difficult to see in this photo, but take my word for it, there were at least 50 of them out catching waves.

Snorkeling resumed at Kapalua Bay.

Yesterday we had a not-so-good-round.


It was one of those days where my club couldn't connect with the ball, over and over and over again. Oh well, that's golf. But the clouds gave way to another beautiful day.


We ended the evening at Warren & Annabelle's Magic Show. Magic Show?! I know, I know. But we read great reviews and decided, what the heck? It was a really fun show. A mixture of close-up parlor magic and slight of hand that left you wondering, how'd he do that? He also engaged the audience and ours was... well, to put it nicely it was a few coconuts short of a Pina Colada. It only added to the material (think: Tonight Show's Jaywalking). That, mixed with his North Carolina accent and the references to Gomer, Goober and Opie, kept me laughing all night.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Bamboo Curry on Maui

Yes, there is knitting on Maui.

Bamboo Curry enjoys the morning sun.

The vacation begins

The last night on the Big Island included obligatory umbrella drinks--we chose Mai Tai's.


On Sunday we flew to Maui to start the real vacation.


Monday was our first of 3 rounds of golf (give me strength!). The signature hole on the Kapalua Bay Course is stunning. If you can stay focused and not let the crashing surf distract you, it's not so difficult.


But of course, these aren't the tees that I hit from. The red tees are to the left and take most of the water hazard out of play thank goodness. I'm happy to say that I didn't lose one ball on the entire round. Overall score? Who's counting? But I did par a hole. That's pretty good for a gal who hasn't played a round in months (and months).

Sleevage for Alice

The cruise was an experience--too much food (waaay too much food) and a bit of touristy shopping.


Thankfully the sea was calm, the boat was steady, and there was no queasiness. Also, it was nice to get away from phones and the computer for a few days. Next time (if there is a next time) I'd like to pick a more interesting destination, like Alaska.

I was able to get a bit of knitting done on the plane to and fro: