Well, it’s been a long time since we’ve updated this site, and indeed a lot has happened. We did believe it or not finish the deck. So now I can officially stop talking about it. Here is proof that we’re done. Not bad, eh?
The other proof is that we sold the house! Yep, as of the 15th of September we are out of our lovely Dogwood home, and on to a life of nomadedness (is that a word?). But first a quick look back at the last month or so.
August was pretty much noneventful except for this lovely two weeks we got to spend in Kauai, Hawaii. I know, our lives are really tough right now….Our good friends got married there and we took advantage of the opportunity to go to Hawaii and made the most of our stay. We stayed for a full two weeks. The first four days we camped at Anini Beach where we set up our tent no more than 50 feet from the water’s edge and had views of both the sunrise and the sunset over the ocean. Anini Beach is surrounded by reef, so the breakers are at least 200 yards out, providing for a very calm beach and snorkel opportunity a plenty. While it did rain almost every night on us, we stayed nice and dry in our tent and had generally clear skies for the reminder of our days camping. And in case you didn’t know, Hawaii is a tropical climate, so the rain was never a hindrance, and often times quite welcome. Camping on Kauai is easy. Cheap, only $6 a night for the two of us, well outfitted with showers and bathrooms, and provides you the opportunity to meet some of the more interesting locals on the island – as Keith deemed the “intentionally homeless”. Here is a look at our camping paradise.
Our plan was to hike and see the sights while camping on our own, and enjoy wedding festivities and gatherings while in the condo. We did a pretty good job. The first full day we went on this hike, and got a view like this looking down at Hanalei Bay which is quite close to Anini Beach.
The second day we hiked through more cool tropical forest and to the top of Sleeping Giant affording more spectacular views and interesting plants, such as these roots:
The third day we did the best hike yet, the famous Na Pali Coast hike, otherwise known as the Kalalau Trail. We wanted to do the full 11 miles along the coastline - which is only accessible by boat or foot, but apparently we needed reservations 1 year in advance. The look the guy at the State Parks office gave us when we asked for an overnight permit was priceless. So instead we opted for a long dayhike, and hiked in six miles and back out on the same day. An exhausting, challenging, dramatic, and at times scary hike due to the sheer vertical cliffs we were standing over. For the first two miles you are accompanied by hoards of folks doing just the first two miles to a nice secluded beach of which the name escapes me but assuredly includes lots of k's, l's and a's. It was helpful having other folks on the trail, because we got to talking to a Hawaiian-born couple who introduced us to the edible tropical fruits along the way such as this guava Keith is munching on.
After the two mile mark the trail thinned out significantly and we only passed a handful of backpackers. The views, the forest, looking down at the bluest water I've seen were all incredible. Pictures never do justice to some of the sights we were treated with.
In between the hiking, we went to a few beaches, and tried our hand at body surfing. Keith got a real kick out of it, and was like a perfectly contented child, playing in the waves for hours. I on the other hand, gave it up after getting pummeled by the waves a few times. The salt water up my nose, and sand down my suit were almost tolerable, but the washing machine motion the waves put you through and the feeling like the water will never release its hold on you, was what drove me to the safety of the dry sand and my book.
That night we went to the condos that Jenn and John so graciously offered up to us, and settled in with a welcome warm shower and a relaxing dinner. Over the next two nights, the remaining wedding guests arrived, and we gradually got to know some pretty incredible people. J&J did an excellent job planning a fun-filled, yet relaxing week for all their guests. The first two days entailed lots of socializing, and getting to know each other. Then we were treated to a different view of the Na Pali coast, this time by boat. What a trip. Not ten minutes into the sail it seemed and we were surrounded by a huge pod of dolphins playing and jumping right up by the boat. Here is our favorite pic of them.
And to see the cliffs we were hiking on was a somewhat surreal experience as well. From the trail, you just look down and see water, knowing it is quite far away. But from the boat, you can see the magnitude and the details of the rock that makes up the cliffs.
The sail was followed by a girls and guys night out, which started as separate events, but ultimately ended with everyone at the only bar open in Hanalei - where Keith really opened up with that karyoke machine. The next day was the private luau on Hanalei Bay, taking the place of the traditional wedding reception, and the following day was the ceremony itself right on the beach. The weather was perfect for everything, and in our opinion, everything went off without a hitch.
This pig was DEEElicious!
Watching these two walk down the beach was truly like being in a living postcard!
Over the next two days we visited more beaches, kayaked up a river, and generally hung out with the remaining crowd at the condos. People slowly filtered away from paradise and back to the real world and Keith and I headed to the south side of the island for 2 more nights of camping. This time the camping was not so ideal. It was Labor Day weekend so the campground was full of very large and loud families and it was extremely windy, and the beaches were not quite as pristine. We made the most of it and spent the first day exploring Waimea Canyon - the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Beautiful. We did two moderately long day hikes, one with views of the Canyon, and the other with a view of the Na Pali coast. We spent the last day just relaxing on a beach and reading our books. Then we left just as we were about Kauai'd-out, happy to be going home and happy to have survived the dangers of Kauai:
Once we got home, it was a mad rush to close on the house, visit one last time with good friends and neighbors in the area, and get all our crap moved out. We had 9 days to do it all. It got done, but by the end of the day on the 15th of Sept, we were wiped. We never had time to get nostalgic about leaving the house, we were just glad for the packing and cleaning and stuffing crap into every last crevice of the trailer and car, that we left with a smile.
South we headed with Carl (Emily's brother) and Tory (Carl's fiance) in tow in my folks' Explorer for a couple days of camping at Great Basin National Park (very East side of Nevada) and then some more family hang out time at Paul's (my other brother) house in Ogden, UT.
It was a fun time camping with the whole Bauer clan. Us "kids" all set up in our tents, and we successfully mooched off our parents and their RV for warmth and good food. The days were filled with random scrambles up whatever rocky ridge was above our camp, and the nights were filled with good conversations, joking, rousing Boggle games and planning the next day (the planning process sometimes took up the better part of the evening!).
One of the highlights of the park were the Leman Caves. Just spectacular. It's one of those caves that you have to go in with a guide and subsequent tour group. The tour guide lady talked too much about silly things like Oreo cookie analagies as to the origin of some formations, and then proceeded to rush us through the prettiest parts of the cave. Needless to say my family became the troublemakers at the end of the line that were taking too long admiring the wonders of the cave. We took umpteen thousand photos in there, but none of them will do a bit of justice to being there. Here is one of the better ones.
The other highlight was climbing 13,080 foot Wheeler Peak.
Keith and I on a sunset scramble:
And here's a shot of the "summit" of a scramble that the whole family undertook, minus Paul who had to bug out early from the park.
Good times had by all and now we're here in Odgen at Paul's very well connected house (technology abounds here) where we've been doing some relaxing, trip planning, and a little mine exploration today. We're heading off tomorrow for Coos Bay and some more hang out time with Keith's family .
(I'll try to make more frequent, and less lengthy posts from now on...)
