Spring Trip To WA

After some much-needed time at home, Vince and I made a quick trip to WA. Although I could use a few months of non-traveling, I had a doctor's appointment in Seattle to go to and hunting gear to find for our hunts this fall (Dall sheep and caribou). That said, it is always an added bonus to head to Palisades to visit V's folks on the farm :)

Arriving at the airport in Wenatchee on a beautiful sunny day!

We landed right around dinner time, so we decided to 

check out a newer Mexican restaurant in town...

Nice clean interior- complete with Seahawks decor (both good signs)

The food was great! Very fresh and authentic. There aren't

many good Mexican restaurants in AK, so we are always

looking for our next good taco fix when we travel!

Bellies full, we piled in the Jeep with Chuck and Pat and headed out to the farm in Palisades to get settled and enjoy the great weather.

Concert Time!

After months of waiting for April to arrive, it seemed to appear out of nowhere! Vince and I had an unexpected treat with the Jack White concert we went to, but part of Vince's Christmas present last year was tickets to Brad Paisley's 4/26 show at the new Alaska Airlines Center :D

Brett Kissel was the opening act...

...and he was great! Both Vince and I've got him on our playlists now ;)

Then came Brad

It was a top-notch performance by everyone; they are all seriously 

talented people! His fiddle player is from AK too, which is pretty cool :)

Brad moving through the crowd to a smaller stage near the back

...such a great entertainer

A final shot

It is always fun seeing (quality) live music! I'm so glad that Alaska is starting to attract some diverse talent and am happy that Vince enjoyed his present :)

Fun With Friends

As of last month, Vince and I had been meaning to spend time with our friends Mike and Angie since last summer, so I decided it was time to make a plan to actually hang out with them! Although we have all been busy, we finally set aside a day to catch up. Mike and Angie invited us over to their new house for coffee one Sunday and we had a fabulous time! The coffee and snacks were great (Mike even roasts some of his own coffee), we all had fun getting to know each other more, AND we ended up going to a great concert the next day :)

Mike's impressive coffee setup :) Vince and I learned a lot about different

coffee-brewing methods and we were all well-caffeinated after our taste tests!

After several rounds of coffee, we decided to relocate to the living room, where we (literally) spent the rest of the day chatting it up. Angie had a pretty cool tidbit about a potential concert too- Jack White was planning a visit to Anchorage- and asked us if we'd be interested in going to his acoustic concert with them. The event would only be confirmed the "day of" the concert, but she had a pretty good feeling that it was going to happen the next day. Being music junkies ourselves, Vince and I were definitely up for it- even if it meant a potential wait outside a local college campus for tickets hehe. We came up with a tentative plan, and Angie said she'd let us know the specifics the next morning if it was indeed a "go"...

...Angie's text the next day ;)

Mike and Angie beat us to the line by around an hour, but thankfully

we made it there with plenty of time to snag two of the (limited) tickets. This

picture shows only about 1/20th of the line! It was chilly outside and it ended

up snowing for most of the day, but our wait - and numb fingers- paid off!

Angie & Mike that night at the concert

The all-acoustic set was amazing

We loved the "old-time" style

What a treat! I am definitely looking forward to this music going on

sale, and it was a great way to spend time with some seriously cool peeps ;)

Sweet Surprise

Happy May 2015 all! I hope everyone is having a great year so far. Mine has been busy, but good :) I am happy to report I got a nice surprise when Vince and I got home from work last month: my first bouquet of flowers from my husband! It definitely made me smile :D

Final Hours In Maui- Day 9

After a whirlwind trip, it was time to head home. The wedding turned out great, our guests had made it safely home, we were blessed with some dramatic weather (good and bad!), and we had a couple days to relax before making our way back to the cold. Vince and I packed our bags, thanked our gracious hosts at Aloha Aku, and headed to Kahului for lunch before going to the airport.

Touted for its local fare, Da Kitchen was where we wanted to go

The interior was full of light- and filled up fast! Vince and I

got there just before it opened, so we were lucky enough to get a table

I had my reservations, but we had to try a few bites of the fried spam musubi

I settled on soup, and Vince tried the Loco Moco :)

Neither Vince nor I were ready to leave, but it was time to go. We dropped off the rental car and made our way back to the airport... a little sad that our trip was over, but happy that everything turned out so well. We made it through the wedding as a team and we were excited for our future- which I am happy to say is looking bright!

Road Trip- Day 8 In Maui

Our time in Maui was coming to an end, but Vince and I definitely made the most of our last full day on the island. We spent our morning doing a little window-shopping in Lahaina and then drove out past Napili to explore some places we hadn't been to yet...

A view of the coastline from the road

At one point, we noticed a few cars parked by the side of the road,

so we decided to see what the people could be looking at. No sooner did we

get out of the car than we were greeted by some people walking up a trail

from the ocean. They told us they had just seen a bunch of sea turtles!

Can you see the turtle's head poking out of the water? There were

at least ten sea turtles riding the surf in this little cove- super cool :)

Vince and I watched the turtles for several minutes before returning

to the car and heading to our next stop: a gorgeous beach in the Honolua-

Mokuleia Bay Marine Life Conservation District

LOVED this spot; I can't wait to go back... it was quiet,

secluded, and the sand was great!

We had fun making footprints before hitting the road again...

...found another trail to explore (note the coconut warning sign haha!)

Beautiful! I am always in awe of how spectacular the scenery is

The beach at the end of the trail

Another great view from the road

We continued down the highway in search of our next stopping point:

the pull-off for the Nakalele Blowhole and the "Heart Rock"

The trail down to the Blowhole was a bit treacherous, but we made it!

Pretty cool- the rocks here are partially situated over the water and the

ocean comes up through the bottom...thus creating a blowhole-like spout

It took a bit of searching, but we finally found the Heart Rock too :)

This was too cute- and it is a natural hole in the rocks!

Newlywed pic :D

As much as we would have loved to explore a bit longer, the

day was getting short and we had our "last supper" for the trip that

evening at Merriman's. We made our way there, freshened up

in a nearby resort, and headed inside to meet our hosts

The property was stunning

Warm bread with the best olive oil I have ever tasted

Hawaiian prawns in a spicy chile sauce- absolutely delicious

We finished our dinner, enjoyed a few cocktails, and admired the

view. We definitely saved the best restaurant for last; it was an impressive

experience for sure. The location was amazing, the food was fresh and full

of flavor, and the ambiance could not be beat. Happy with our dinner, we

made our way back to Kihei for one final stop before calling it a night...

Cinnamon Rolls And Whale Watching- Day 8 In Maui

Feeling refreshed after our lazy day, Vince and I set out the next morning to meet Ben and Kate for breakfast at a place we were looking forward to checking out: Cinnamon Roll Fair...

The line extending out the doorway along the sidewalk was a good sign!

YUM. I can see why these are so popular! I SO wanted to eat two,

but I decided I'd better not make myself miserable lol. We finished our

breakfast with our friends, said our goodbyes (they were leaving that day),

and drove down to park at a trailhead by the beach; time to walk off some sugar!

It was another beautiful day

We finished our walk, watched the waves for a few, met up with

Vince's parents, and picked up Jodie- it was time for a whale-watching trip

A neat carving by the harbor

One of our guides reviewing safety info and

giving us some whale-watching tips

Jodie lookin' cute

Vince and I waiting to set sail

One of the first blowholes!

So cool- we saw a TON of whales; our trip was worth every penny

Vince and his parents scouting the water

We made it back to shore, did a quick loop around the harbor, and headed back to Monkeypod for the best Mai-Tais in Maui...

Mmm

...another great day :)