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| Black eye: small, but annoying. |
After I recovered from waking up and Dave recovered from a morning at the farmer’s market, we hit the road for the lush side of the island. Thanks to my friend Cori and her dog Luna for keeping Porter company while we camped out just this side of heaven for a while. We got a late start, which turned out to be a good thing because there was a big relay race that same day and there’s only one long, windy, crazy road in and that same road to get out. We landed at Waianapanapa Park just in time to check in, set up our tent, and enjoy the incredible lava rock formations and black sand beach.
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| Sunrise from the tent. |
After we set up camp, Dave and I went for a drive in search of birthday dinner. There were two restaurants in town and we went with burgers at the ranch over fancy, over priced hotel food. We made the right choice. The food was local and delicious and sitting outside overlooking the town was the perfect spot for sunset. Dave gave me an awesome snorkel mask that I have been eyeing since we arrived! Stay tuned for more pictures of fish in the future.
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| Swimmin’ hole |
Our tent was basically at the top of a small cliff, so we could hear the ocean pounding all night. It was really exciting, especially when it started to rain and the wind picked up. At times, it sounded like the tent might blow away! I didn’t sleep very well, but it was pretty cool. We woke up in time for sunrise and hit the crazy little road to find adventures. We landed at O’he’o Gulch (later named “Sacred Pools” by some airline executive) and greeted the day in a cool, fresh water pool tucked between the mountains and the ocean. There was hardly anyone there because the tour buses don’t arrive that early. Sweet!
We weren’t sure how long the crazy road home would take, so we had to leave early. I nearly had an internal meltdown from too little sleep and the desire to stay and camp for about three more days. I have since recovered and I plan to go back over “fall” break in just a few short weeks. I can’t believe we are already wrapping up first quarter at school!
When we returned home, there was a heart warming bundle of mail and gifts and birthday wishes. Thanks to everyone who thought of me. I am going to call/write/connect with you one-by-one, as soon as the weekend arrives and I don’t have to worry about the time zone. It’s weird not having autumn for my birthday, and even weirder being so far away. I definitely miss my people!
Right now the sun is setting and Porter Brown is patiently waiting for his evening walk. We have to keep him on the leash now so he won’t over exert himself, which is pretty hard to take...but better than having him collapse on us. He doesn’t seem to mind the leash too much. I should get him outside before we are in total darkness, though.
Aloha,
Jen
I love that you you were hung over with a black eye for your 35th birthday.... and you're a teacher! Who woulda thunk anyone but rappers have those sort of b-day shenanigans? It really does sound like it was a wonderful birthday. I'm glad to hear that life is treating you well. And it sounds like you've had to make very few adjustments to your new life. It's seemed pretty seamless.
ReplyDeleteBut is Porter okay? Maybe I missed out on why he can't over exert himself. I hope he's still doing well, too. I think it does everyone good to have an excess amount of dog hair just lying around the house:) And Porter is your hook-up on that!
Take care and please keep up to date with the blog. I'm living vicariously through you.
Mia
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteI just now saw your post. Thanks for reading and thanks for the birthday wishes :o) The new life has been a much easier transition than expected, though I had a couple of challenging weeks after my birthday because I was working too much and feeling too isolated from the East Coast. I’m now on vacation and doing MUCH better.
Porter has had collapsing episodes every so often since the beginning of this year and they were starting to grow more frequent and scary. We thought he was having seizures, but the vet says it’s most likely a heart murmur kind of thing. We could do a bunch of expensive tests, or we can try to keep him from over exerting himself too much. We’re going with the natural route for now, and he seems to be doing better. He’s getting noticeably older and a bit slower, though, which can be pretty upsetting if we think about it too much. We try not to.
Um...did you have a baby yet? When are you due? I can’t wait to meet the little sucker :o) Be well!
Jen