Well I’m on the road (2hrs in!) and heading out west. I won’t be posting on my normal blog because it just takes so long so I’m using tumblr. You can follow me here: http://sarahstravels.tumblr.com/ Then when I get back home I’ll probably post to my normal blog.
Father Hennepin State Park August 13, 2009
I spent August 3rd through the 8th with my parents and aunt Mary & uncle Dan. (& Craig for 2 days) We stayed at Father Hennepin State Park up in Isle, MN on Mile Lacs Lake. Craig came home during the weekend while I was up at the cabin in Amery, WI and the day after I came home the two of us drove up to stay with the others in the campground. I think this was my first time camping that I really didn’t need any bug spray! The park has a really nice long & sandy beach, paved paths, and some hiking trails. The downsides were that it was crowded and the sites had no privacy and the park itself is kind of small. I think it would be the perfect park if the campsites had more privacy because that was a BIG downside. There were people walking through our site to theirs and while sitting around you almost had to look at your neighbors because they were so close with nothing seperating the sites.
Luke riding in Craig’s lap. Craig put on the brakes and poor Luke’s head smacked into the horn on the wheel. It was pretty comical but also a good reason your dog shouldn’t ride on your lap.
Gracie in the back seat where she later threw up a clump of grass.
Craig & Luke on a dock on our first walk around the park. Notice how you can’t see the shoreline on the other side of the lake. Mile Lacs is huge!
Nice sandy beach.
Me.
Dan & Craig.
Duckies!
It seems like everyone has these recliner chairs now.
Playing some washer and box game. (Almost the same as but not as good as cornhole).
It took some time for Gracie to get used to being tied up because at home she’s always running free.
Sunset!
Dad & the puppies.
Some funky mushrooms.
More duckies! (I love ducks).
On another walk.
We played a very loooong game of Canasta followed by a couple games of Liverpool.
The only deer I see the whole time I’m there & it’s an albino one!
Cabin Weekend August 9, 2009
On Friday, July 31st it was time to head up to Rachel’s family’s cabin up in Amery, WI for a full weekend of fun. It was quite a drive for me (about 1hr 40mins). I know that doesn’t really sound very long to you seasoned drivers but driving just makes me so sleepy! Seriously, even just 1 hour in a car wipes me out. I missed the driveway at first, then when I found it I took the wrong turn and ended up at someone else’s cabin so I turned around and tried one of the other ways and finally got there. Another thing that I found I usually do while traveling is I ALWAYS forget to pack something, even if I set it right next to my bag to pack I still forget something. This time I forgot to pack Jessie’s birthday present and a pair of long jeans. That was a first for me, I’ve never forgotten to pack pants before.
There were many cornhole games played:
Phil & Brad
Jessie W. & Jessie A.
I was pretty lazy with the camera on Friday but finally busted it out on Saturday when there was more going on. Of course there was more corn hole (Brad & I finally broke Max & Josh’s winning streak), some badminton, lounging, pontoon rides, & some delicious Dairy Queen.
Jessie & Phil doing a little bit of lazy lounging.
Jessie & her puppies Precious & Vader.
Max, Jessie, & their dogs Clyde & Luca.
Group photo! (darn harsh sunlight)
We decided to take the boat out for a quick ride before dinner:
Brad & Max
Phil (it was a bit chilly on that ride)
Jessie & Lynsie (a bit windy too)
After that it was about time to eat and we hung out around the cabin for a while.
Me & Jessie
Jessie & her puppies.
Hypnotized by Donkey Kong.
Brad was working on the grill while Max was working on the stove.
After we ate it was time to get back on the boat to ride down to Dairy queen (isn’t everyone so cute bundled up in their hoodies)
Josh & Lynsie
Jessie W. & Jessie A.
Brad
There was a giant bobber at the dock we got off on.
Dairy Queen is ALWAYS good!
Back on the boat:
Jessie
Brad finishing off his DQ.
Phil & the beer he bought at the gas station.
Jessie & Phil
Max & Josh flashing their “Sven & Deuce” signs. (they will never grow out of this.)
Rachel.
Back at the cabin for a fire & lots of corn hole which consisted mostly of Brad & I competing against Josh & Max. (we finally beat them 3 times!)
Lynsie & Josh (& Sadie)
Lynsie & I.
A few of us stayed up late playing dominoes:
This is Jessie W’s first turn. (Darn her.)
All of these photos have a crappy red/orange color to them because I didn’t feel like using flash.
Hawaii Day 7 – Jan 11th February 5, 2009
Sadly this was our last day in Hawaii 
It just all flew by so fast and one week really isn’t nearly enough time to experience and see everything. I already have a list of things that I want to do next time I’m there.
Since our flight wasn’t until midnight we had all day to go do something. We got a late checkout at 11am and were in a mad dash to consume whatever food and liqueurthat was left around so it didn’t go to waste. So that goes without saying it wasn’t going to be a beach day after eating and drinking as much as we did. The guys all decided to wear long jeans because it was pouring rain early that day and they probably didn’t guess that it was going to get warm and sunny like it did. One of the areas we hadn’t explored yet was the North Kohala tip of the island so we set off that way driving up Kohala Mtn Rd up the spine of the Kohala Volcano. Once you get to around the 14 mile marker you can start to see the island of Maui looming in the distance like a large mountain.
Looking like tourists on Kohala Mtn Rd.
Mom.
Dad
Craig, Eric, & I.
Eric looking very….um….happy.
Craig trying to look majestic again? (notice Maui in the distance)
We made a little stop in Kapa’au at a nice souvenir shop across from the Kamehameha the Great statue and Craig bought me a little ceramic sea turtle jewelry holder for my Christmas present.
We then kept going until we got to Pololu Valley Lookout.
The view from the top of the lookout.
The Valley.
The view of the beach from part way down the trail. I didn’t want to hike all of the way down then back up again on a muddy trail in flip flops.
On our way south again we took 270 along the coast and stopped at Mahukona Beach Park where we got a great view of the island Maui. We hung around because we started to spot some whales and decided to hang out for a while with the other whale watchers. Sadly I don’t have any photos of them because I didn’t bring my telephoto lens with me on the trip. I did however have my camcorder with and was able to zoom in really well with that and got it on film 
Oh, I almost forgot to say that we made a stop in Hawi at Tropical dreams for some yummy in the tummy ice cream
The island of Maui.
The next stop was to see the Pu’ukohola Heiau.
Offerings.
A sign at the beach down from the Heiau. The beach didn’t look very inviting anyways, the water was very dark and creepy.
We made it back to the resort in time to see our last Hawaiian sunset
Hawaii Day 6 – Jan 10th February 4, 2009
This day we decided to head south to go see Pu’uhonua o Honaunau (Place of Refuge). I must say that this was one of my favorite days because it was so beautiful down there! Lush green, tons of palm trees, crystal clear water, blue sky, the scenery was breathtaking! It just seemed like the most genuine Hawaii experience down there, like this is how it’s supposed to look especially compared to where we were staying in the Kohala resort area where it was mostly black lava rock desert with the exception of the most wonderful beaches scattered accross the coastline.
Our first stop was at Kealakekua Bay where the Hiki-au Heiau is located at the southern end. During earlier times this was a luakini (a temple where human sacrafices were made). This was also where Captain Cook was worshiped as the returning god Lono, performed the first christian ceremony in the islands, and was ultimately laid to rest in the bay. There’s a large white Captain Cook monument about a mile across the bay which is also one of the best places to snorkel. I guess I’ll have to take a snorkel trip across the bay next time & hopefully I’ll get to see some spinner dolphins. Right in front of the heiau is Napo’opo’o Beach.
The Hiki-au Heiau.
Kealakekua Bay
From there we took the very narrow and in need of much work road (160) south to our destination at Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. It only costs $5 per vehicle to get in and is more than woth it. It was very peaceful and beautiful, a great place to spend the end of the day and take a long walk around. If you were a lawbreaker back in the day you could escape to this place (hence Place of Refuge) and seek foregiveness. There was also many people snorkeling in Honaunau Bay and I think I’ll have to join them next time around
Craig checking out the tide pools.
I really didn’t expect to see so many sea turtles on our trip to Hawaii but they seemed to be everywhere sunbathing.
Mom exploring.
Just beautiful!
I think this must be Craig’s favorite pose.
Me.
Hawaii Day 5 – Jan 9th February 3, 2009
This day we went back over to Hapuna beach and I decided to give boogie boarding a go again. I must say that the waves were a bit more harsh than the last time. Most of the time even if I caught a good one it ended up pummeling me. The worst one was when I was waiting for a wave by some local guys and one starts paddling out further and signals to his buddies. I could see that there was a huge wave forming and they were going to try and catch it. The crazy guy next to me yells out “paddle you f’ers, paddle!” So the rest of them paddle further out to catch it and I start going in the opposite direction trying to swim out of the way. Lesson leaned – you can’t out swim a wave.
I love the “dangerous shore break” sign because that’s how it really feels. I guess that Hapuna is the most dangerous beach in Hawaii because of all the spinal cord injuries that happen there.
A sand sculpture of a shark chasing a swimmer.
I like how you can see his fear.
Mom, Dad, & Eric. Craig just doesn’t like the beach/sun/ocean for some reason I would like to know so he didn’t come along this day.
We went to one of the resort restaurants to eat dinner where there were crazy hungry sparrows. It was all fun until a stupid cat came by and scared away all of my little bird friends.
We stuck around for the sunset. It seems like everyone stakes their place by the buddha each evening for a good view.
Eric & Craig
Hawaii Day 4 – Jan 8th February 1, 2009
This was the day that we decided to take the long trip to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park because what would be the point of staying on the big island without visiting the active volcano?
On our way there we got stuck in a traffic jam because of an accident and were at a standstill for a long time. Since we weren’t moving I decided to get out and take a picture of Mauna Kea (yes, snow in Hawaii). Then we heard that it was going to be a two hour wait so we turned around and drove to Honoka’a for a bite to eat. From there we decided to go further down the road for the scenic lookout of Waipi’o Valley.
The family at Waipi’o Valley.
We figured that the traffic jam should be gone by now so we got back onto Highway 19 and were back on our way. The guidebook said that Akaka falls was something not to miss so we made a stop there on the way.
Kahuna Falls
The breathtaking Akaka Falls – 420 foot drop!
Hot steam vents at Volcanoes National Park. The East side of the island was sure wet and misty that day. It made me want to run back to the dry sunny west side.
How often do you see both sides of the rainbow?
The Kilauea Crater.
Dad
And now the family touching a piece Loihi – the youngest of the Hawaiian islands-
We decided to take the 1 1/2 hr drive to the ocean to see the lava flow. Unfortunately this was the closest anyone was allowed to get.
