17. smell a coffee plantation (32x32)

Tiffany and I went to a coffee plantation after a 18% grade hill climb in Kona, HI.

1350ft ascent in 5 miles.... which I walked the last mile.






the roasting hut smelled like caffeinated heaven. There was a bit of nutty flavor in the air. It was smokey and heavy.


The islands of Hawaii actually have 10 out of 13 of the climates which is why coffee grows so well in Kona.


my christmas in april stash


ladies be crazy!

5. go play seal/otter/walrus (32x32)

played otter one day in Kona. I rode my bike to the old abandoned air strip and out onto the rocks. I found sea urchins and coral and crabs and snails. I watched the tide come in for four hours.

14. learn to hula (30x30)

1. go to hawaii


2. surround yourself with palm trees and Hawaiian things






3. channel them into your hips and arms and body and soul: hula.

14. visit a volcano (33x33)

Then we had poke (pronounced poh-key) bowls before going to Volcanoes National Park with some other members of the Greater LA Team of Team in Training.




Volcano and Full Moon. epic.








In the legend of the Ohi'a Lehua plant, it is said that Pele, the goddess of the volcano, was in love with a handsome Hawaiian King named Ohi'a. The king was smitten for a beautiful woman, Lehua. One day, Pele came upon Ohi'a dressed in her most beautiful gown and asked him to be her husband. He graciously (and diplomatically decline because Pele was known to be a jealous and volatile goddess) refused her offer. Pele was so incensed she turned Ohi'a into a grey and green plan, rooted around the volcano. The other gods thought Pele was being a bit harsh and tried to undo the spell but to no avail. They did however manage to turn Lehua into the flower that blooms from the grey green plant. It is said to be terrible bad luck to pick these flowers from the plant because you will be tearing the lovers apart. the end.

18. visit a state never visited before (31x31)

March 20, 2013 I left DC on a great adventure to the amazing state of Hawaii. Here's what I knew about Hawaii: 1. you can go topless and not get arrested. 2. Mauna Kea is one of the tallest mountains in the world and the Smithsonian, Harvard University, and the University of Hawaii have some radio telescopes on top of it and one of my best friends who lives in Hilo (a sleepy town two hours down the mountain) operates those telescopes. That's about all I knew, even though two days before leaving I finally cracked open the tourist book my mom gave me for Christmas. This was actually some spiritual progress for me. I am a Master Planner... uh, I have a list of the things I'd like to do in any given year...

I made arrangements for where I was staying and that I'd be racing in the Lavaman Triathlon Sunday March 24, but other than that, I had no plans. I woke up at before 6:00AM almost every day that I was there. These are remarkable things, which is why I remarked upon them.

Other remarkable things:
1. LAX has a bookstore where there were multiple copies of Strunk & White's Elements of Style.
2. there was a thai restaurant in Volcanoes that had a scale of spiciness from 1 - 10. How, then, did I manage to order Drunken Noodles at a 0.5?
3. it takes a week to finally relax, it takes a week of relaxation to feel the true therapeutic value of island time.
4. holy shit, poke. and DC needs a poke truck!



Landed at Hilo at 8:00PM and stayed at the Hilo Bay Hostel for a night. In the morning Jen suggested I go to the Queen Liliuokalani Park and Gardens. I ran to Ken's Pancake House at 4:00AM for an omelette and then ran over to the gardens for sunrise. And I meditated on a lava rock, perfect way to start my vacation.











I walked back to the hostel after sunrise, scoped out where the bus stop was located in order to get over to the Kona side of the island after breakfast.





I found the organic food store and stocked up on food for the race weekend and then took the bus to the other side of the island. Most of the people who work at the resorts on the Kona side live on the Hilo side, and they speak pidgin, which was unexpected. I did expect Hawaiians to speak Hawaiian, but Hawaiian is actually sort of like native and japanese and thai and english all wrapped up into one. It was amazingly difficult to understand.

Once on the Kona side, I promptly found a pool and worked on my tan with Mother Night and a large coffee (which cost $6. true story). The team in training group started arriving and I took them time to just veg out. Then all the festivities began, Tiffany and Audrey arrived!

The Monday after the race, the three of us got a cab to a timeshare in South Kona. the real vacation began. Every morning I woke up and had my cereal on the balcony overlooking the gold course and could see the blue waters of the Pacific Ocean while chatting with Eric. also remarkable: the birds, they sing all the time. and each day brought a great adventure.

one day I laid around the house by myself and watched porn all morning, then went for a swim, and made dinner. that was a brilliant day.

another day I went on a run north along the coast, talked with my dad and painted.

On Saturday Jen came and picked me and Wallis up in Kona and took us back to Hilo where I got to meet Stella and Brooks!



Then we went to the organic store and I ate a PURPLE POTATO salad (vegan and gluten free!).


We went to an easter picnic which was at the top of a gorge in Hakalau. There is a privately owned sugar plantation manager's home built in the early 20th century, along with two warehouses built in 1920 and an old theater, operating as the Hakalau post office. Located just below the ocean cliff where the Hakalau stream meets the bay, the old sugar mill ruins are still visible. In 1946 a tsunami destroyed the sugar mill. the tsunami had a special name but I can't remember it.

















On Jen's birthday we did SO much! First, we got breakfast at Ken's Pancake House.


Then, Jen took me to her office which was very cool.


Then Jen got a tattoo! Then I rode to the bike shop to have Wallis packed up to take to the airport while Jen got her HI driver's license. Then we went out to birthday dinner (more POKE!). Then Leah (who had saved the day by picking up Wallis in the box, she was too big to fit in Jen's car) took me to the airport and then she and Jen went bowling. Holy smokes, do ALL THE THINGS on your birthday!

then I went home, drunk on island time.

16. go bowling in the White House (31x31)

slightly snap-happy on this excursion... again, I never thought that I would get to do something like this and it wasn't originally on my leap list but man, how awesome!



In the beginning of February the spring triathlon team put together a date auction fundraiser for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. One of the items that a team member brought for auction was the opportunity for 10 people to bowl against 10 of us on the team. Twenty people in total all got to go through two security checkpoints and onto the White House campus, although technically the Truman Bowling Alley is part of the Old Executive Building. We actually got a game of bowling organized... dunno who won, but who cares!

22. complete a half marathon (32x32)

I may or may not have chosen this race because of name, and the chance to put "sloppy cuckoo" on the constantia section of my resume... But Stephanie and I took a road trip up to Philly to go do a trail half marathon last September. (this is another one of those items that I hadn't planned on, but am really grateful that I got the opportunity to do so that makes it "count")

the pregame at Famous on 4th in Philadelphia.

mountain of fries!



Along the Pennypack Creek within the limits of Pennypack park. Course is a 6.55 Mile loop (half runners do it twice) It's pretty nice , that you run miles and miles within the city limits of Philadelphia without seeing a house or a car at all. First 1/2 of the loop is mostly flat , runs along the creek, Very runnable by trailrunner standards. Second half features a lot of twisty single track trails (Roller coaster section)





postgame: CUCKOOS!