The Place

I thought I would send some pics of our apartment so you can get an idea of where we are when you talk to us on the phone. I also put up two pictures of some paintings I did. I am trying to get into painting but I have a lot to learn. Miss you all,

Love Mel -n- b

More Maui

Hey, here are some more pics

Few more Maui Style

Hey all. Just catching up on the blog. More friends, christo and ocean photos. Love and miss you all! Mel - b

Random Pics/Hawaii Life

Well, I figured I would just add a few random pics that we have from here so far. Our friends, who consist of our neighbors and the Longmans, and some of the surrounding places. It really is beautiful here but somehow we still miss home.

Haleakala Crater

We took a trip up to the crater today ( 10,023 ft). The view from there is amazing! It was good to feel the cold weather and better to get back to the warm. The summit is above the clouds and it feels like looking out over heaven. From the top we could see the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii (aka the Big Island) which is about 90 miles away. It was a great day trip to what felt like the top of the world. Think about it, 10,023 feet above thousands of miles of ocean in every direction! And, where you are standing looks like the surface of the moon. Love Mel - b

Hawaii

Well, we have been here for over two months and I have yet to give an update. Things are going well and we love our apartment. The view is wonderful and the sunsets are amazing. Here are a few pics to get started and I hope to start adding more soon. The sunset picture was taken from our deck. Hope all is well, Love mel -n- b

Redwood National Forest

Well, it has been a long time since we got to this but we are now in Hawaii. However, I am going to update the blog before I get to that part of the journey. Our trip down the California coast was awesome! It ended up being rushed but we did get to spend a few days among the giant redwoods and they were amazing. So massive are the trees that it is difficult to get a good picture. At one point we got to climb through the center of a few trees that grew together. Mel did an awesome job of climbing up and we had a bit of a tough time getting down. Check out the pics. Love Mel -n- b

Crater Lake, OR

Crater lake is surely one of Oregon's maybe the world's greatest treasures. Words cannot describe the beauty of this place. The water glistens a deep blue, reminiscent of the sparkling eyes of Dumbeldore. We took a trip by boat to the island within the lake fittingly called wizard's island. Later came my proudest moment of the trip, when Melissa jumped off of the 22ft rock face into the cold majestic waters. The place was just amazing. Again, we had a lot of great photos but many of them were lost in the mysterious malfunction. There is a video of Mel making her jump that I will try to post on youtube and I will send the link later. For now I will include the one picture of me making the jump but Mel looked a lot better. Love Mel -n- b

Rosewood Manor

Well, it has taken some time to get back to the computer. I am writing from Northern California but we have covered many miles since our last entry. Just outside of Seattle we stayed for some time with Graham, Willow, and Raven Travis. We were welcomed into the Rosewood Manor where they live with 10 other people. The house is really an old mansion that has been renovated by the inhabitants. The house is beautiful and emanates a sense of welcoming and serenity. Graham and Willow were wonderful hosts and we were so thankful for the time we spent together. Sadly, many of the pictures we took from that part of the trip were lost due to a camera malfunction. Additionally, our next part of the adventure (the Oregon Coast) was lost as well. Keep looking for pictures from here on. Lots of love, Mel -n- b

Blanca Lake/ WA

About 100 miles east of Seattle we found our way to a trail head that would try our physical endurance and dazzle the mind. The hike took about 7 hours round trip to make an 11mile trek through a wondrous mountain forest leading to a green lake fueled purely by snow melt. Getting there was rigorous, as we had to ascend consistently for three hours, achieving a total altitude gain of 4300 ft. The payoff however was well worth the effort.

Camping & Fire

One of the best things about the outdoors is having the ability to hang out by the fire. The west in the summertime is consumed by the continuous threat of wildfire. There have been many fires in the surrounding areas along our way but he have had the good fortune in not having then bar our way. I just wanted to share some pictures with you all of our various campsites and the great fires we have had.

Grand Teton

Grand Teton is one of the most amazing places we have ever seen. The snow capped mountains rise majestically out of the cool waters of Jackson Lake as well as Jenny Lake. We rented a canoe the first day and took to the lake. It was a surreal image heading towards the mountain base and feeling so small as the mountain seems to drift nearer on the glassy water. Later, the wind began to howl out of the valley causing the waters to churn. It made the return voyage become a strenuous task.

The following day we bought passage across Jenny lake on a small motor craft to the base of a trail head. There we could see a Bald Eagle perched high on a tree. We followed the trail about four miles deep into the range. The views from up there were truly inspiring. While high in the mountain, we encountered no wildlife, however we did get hammered by a vicious thunderstorm, complete with large size hail. It was cold, wet, and memorable. We are having an awesome time!!!!

Love Mel -n- b