RIP Balz Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The University of Virginia emailed today informing me that they tore down my first year dorm so they can rebuild a more state of the art building.  I think every first year needs to experience the extremely hot rooms with the only air flowing from the fan stuck in the window.  At the time it was awful but looking back, it was definitely an experience.

There were some great memories in that dorm with some great friends.   Granted it was always a hike up to this place and definitely not a biker friendly dorm but it was the life of the first year at UVA.  Most days I would have to get off my bike and walk it up because I couldn’t make it up the hill…hahaha.   It’s sad to see it go but I guess all good things must  come to an end.  Here are the pictures UVA sent me and asked if I wanted to pay $200 for a brick from the demolition.

Maui || Travel Tuesday, August 18, 2009

The last island we hit was Maui and it was FANTASTIC! As soon as we arrived on Thursday morning, we grabbed some eats at Cafe Kihei, checked into our condo, and then went to the ziplines.  The zipline was pretty exhilerating, 750ft long going 40mph…it was insane.  The instructors “prepared” us for the big zipline by putting us through baby ziplines but they were nothing compared to the grand finale.  The following day we drove all the way around Hana Highway, which we were on for about 10 hours.  That was totally awesome too.  On Saturday, we chilled at the beach and then went to an authentic Hawaiian Luau that had the traditional Hawaiian foods and hula dancers.  On our last full day in Maui, we went snorkeling with sea turtles and then went on an ATV safari.  We tried to go see the sunrise at Haleakala Crater but because of the tropical storm, all we saw at 10,023ft were clouds. It was miserable. I guess I’ll hit it up the next time I’m on the islands.

At Skyline Eco Adventures Zipline

Maui Revealed-  a very helpful book if you ever plan to travel to Maui

Our route of Hana highway…yellow was unpaved 1.5 lane road on the edge of the coast.

Bamboo Forest

Hiking down steep hills with my camera gear = challenging

Cliff Jumping

More waterfalls

Black sand Beach

Lava Tube

7 Pools

Luau

ATV adventure

Haleakala Crater- where we only saw clouds

Big Island || Travel Sunday, August 16, 2009

After a hectic 5 days on Oahu, it was nice to hit up the Big Island where there aren’t as many tourists.  This island is really laid back and chill which was really relaxing. We crusied around the island in our upgraded wrangler, the rubicon.  It was much more roomier than the wrangler and we loved it.  Even though it was raining, we kept the top off and loved the wind in our hair.  Here are some sights we saw on our drive around the island.

The Rubicon with a male model on the hood.

A volcano crater at the Hawaii Volcanoes Park

Hot Lava pouring into the ocean

Cruising on the highway

Hapuna Beach- such soft sand

Waikoloa Beach Course signature hole #7

Oahu || Travel Sunday, August 16, 2009

The first stop on the Hawaiian adventure was Oahu.  This was where the wedding was so we planned around it.  We drove around the whole island looking for different scenic points as well as the hot spots for food.  We had some awesome mochi ice cream, unlimited supply of fresh pineapple, shrimp from a shrimp truck, shaved ice, etc.  Though there are many pictures, I narrowed down to a handful to share.

hiked to the top of Diamond Head

the view was amazing

at Dole Plantation

Honolulu at night

USS Arizona Memorial

Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute

Turtle Bay Resort

Burita arrives and we hang out, UVA roomies renuited

Ko Olina Golf Course

Hang Ten Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in the past 2 weeks, I’ve been on holiday in Hawaii. I meant to update while I was there but the lack of internet connection and time prevented me from doing so.  Now that I’m back on the east coast, I will have a few updates on my adventures on Oahu, Big Island, and Maui.

Here is the first post. We got to go surfing in Waikiki and learned from the best, Dane Kealoha, who is a former Pro surfer and legendary Hawaiian Pipe Masters Champion. He knows his stuff and teaches it well. So if you’re ever in Waikiki, look him up at Hyatt Regency Surf Academy .  Here are some pictures from the surfing adventure courtesy of Walker Langley.  He used the canon 40d and wide angle lens in a waterproof casing so he was right in the water taking pictures, how cool is that. I was able to catch some waves but not before I wiped a few times.   Below is our group picture before we hit the water.

Easter Egg Hunt Wednesday, April 15, 2009

On Easter, my friend’s nephew and niece came up to visit him from Virginia Beach.   He had a Easter egg hunt in his backyard for them and they were really excited about it.  I was able to capture some moments of them in the mayhem.  Emma was going crazy looking for the plastic eggs while Camden had no clue what was going on.  Lucky for him, his big sister was there to share and help him out.