[Trainwreck]

Good morning all,

Stayed home sick today as this cold seems to be migrating south. One day of rest (and perusing RM) to get back over the top of this.

Hope everyone has a good day.

 

[Nick]

Sweet!! Details. Where'd you go, where'd you stay, what'd you do, what was the occasion?

Sweet indeed.
The occasion was that my girlfriend was assigned a project in Honolulu (construction project manager) and we decided to tack a vacation onto that trip. Our tab for the first 5 days was picked up by her company. I flew on frequent flier miles r/t for $55.

We started in Waikiki at the Waikiki Beach hotel. Very nice, but it felt like we were in Miami Beach vs. Hawaii. Very developed, very tourist-y, nice beach and maybe an hour walk to Diamond Head which I hiked several times the first week as my g/f was busy working.

From there we went to Maui for 5 days, then Kauai for 6 days. Maui was amazing. We stayed at the Royal Lahaina Resort thumb and we literally lost count of how many humpback whales we saw swimming and playing in the channels between Maui, Lanai and Molokai. One of the coolest things was snorkling there, you could see 50'+ underwater and when you were under you could hear the whales singing everywhere. I got one day of riding in with a local and got to ride the trail featured in the Hawaii segment on The Collective. We climbed it and descended in sections, riding some parts over and over. Truly awesome.

We stayed in Waipouli Beach / Kauai. This leg started out sort of disappointing as it was such a stark difference to Maui. By the second day we both fell in love with that island. Very 'tropical' and laced with trails through lush jungle. We did a ton of swimming and hiking there ... it rained almost every day I can't even begin to convey how much we liked that island. We hiked into the Na'Pali coast (wow) on a trail that I'd have risked imprisonment for the chance to poach on my bike.

WHEN we return to Hawaii some day we will skip Oahu altogether and revisit Maui, Kauai and try to visit the Big Island. Everything is super expensive in the resort areas, but as we usually ditch those spots in favor of the local joints. Best sushi I've ever had, great local bars, almost everyone we met were very friendly and warm. I :heart: Hawaii. I have about 800 pictures to sort through and will post some up as soon as I can.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[robdamanii]

Yep, Endicot, Maine, Endwell, Binghamton... she used to live in a little village of Lisle (sp) outside of Whitney Point...

I know of Lisle. I also know binghamton very well (spent 6 years now driving through it on 17). You ever get out here? We should meet up sometime and meet Gumbafish to ride in the area around here.

 

[hooples3]

nick.. come on , get going, and post some pics!!!!!!

 

[robdamanii]

*snip* we literally lost count of how many humpback whales we saw swimming and playing in the channels between Maui, Lanai and Molokai. One of the coolest things was snorkling there, you could see 50'+ underwater and when you were under you could hear the whales singing everywhere. *snip*

You.......bastard. I would have hacked off both my nuts to have done some diving with the humpbacks in the area.

50 feet seems like it is a little low on the visability. When we went last july, we were working with 150'+ in a few places, but almost universally above 75' vis all around.

Where did you snorkle? Blackrock was a particularly good place to catch feeding sea turtles, and so was Turtle City on the southeastern tip.

Reminds me, I need to get my pictures from Bermuda developed. Damned digital camera flooding....:mumble:

 

[JRB]

Found out yesterday that a local trail on private land will be closed. Real bummer, land owner got tired of running the operation. A group of us tried to take it over for him but it didn't work out. It was my best choice for riding after work. It may be for the best as now I will focus on some land just a few hundred yards from my house.

Mine's not that close by, but I am working on some stuff. Of course, it's kind of bandit, so I will likely do it for nothing.

 

[Westy]

Mine's not that close by, but I am working on some stuff. Of course, it's kind of bandit, so I will likely do it for nothing.

Watchu mean by bandit? Illegal?

 

[brungeman]

Yo. I feel sick. My throat hurts like hell and my nose is all jammed up... :looney:

go get some Zicam sp? my friend took it and said it helped out... I didn't take it and I am going on like 5 days of how you feel now!!!

 

[JRB]

Watchu mean by bandit? Illegal?

I hate to use that word, but yes. I did talk to the police before, and tried to find the owner. The cops said that they had on file to not file trespassing charges unless someone was dumping trash there. Lots of folks off road there, and trash the parts they can drive to. There are some decent spots they can't get to, but some of them are stupid enough to just mow down trees.:mumble: Anyway - I am going to enjoy it for now. It is too unstable to build on, so it shouldn't be developed.

 

[SkaredShtles]

Mornin' s.

Heading up to Aspen tomorrow to ski a little on Sat & Sun:

 

[Shyrmp]

Good Morning Stosh!

We opened up a new office location this week, so I have been running back and forth between the new offices, which has been keeping me very busy. I think we finally have it up and running at full speed now.....the best part is it is less than a mile to IKEA....I see some extended lunch trips in my future.

Other than that not much going on. Have a good day monkies!

 

[I Are Baboon]

WHEN we return to Hawaii some day we will skip Oahu altogether and revisit Maui, Kauai and try to visit the Big Island.

My wife and I feel the same way. We went to Hawaii for 12 days in 2001 (honeymoon). We don't need to visit Oahu again. We stayed right on Waikiki Beach and it just felt like another big city. We loved Maui and Kauai. We actually liked Kauai more because we went to Hawaii to relax, and Kauai definitely makes that easy. We stayed on Hyatt resorts on all three islands. Yeah, expensive as hell.

Sounds like you had a great trip! Looking forward to seeing pics.

 

[SkaredShtles]

<snip> We actually liked Kauai more because we went to Hawaii to relax, and Kauai definitely makes that easy. We stayed on Hyatt resorts on all three islands. Yeah, expensive as hell.

Kauai was uncrowded, quiet, and it took no effort at all to find secluded places. :evil:

We went snorkeling at a beach on the north side that was recommended by the shop and we were the *only* ones up there. My wife thought maybe they had had a shark attack or something that scared everyone off.

 

[antimony]

Sweet indeed.

We started in Waikiki at the Waikiki Beach hotel. Very nice, but it felt like we were in Miami Beach vs. Hawaii. Very developed, very touristy

From there we went to Maui for 5 days.

WHEN we return to Hawaii some day we will skip Oahu altogether and revisit Maui, Kauai and try to visit the Big Island.

Glad to hear you had an awesome trip! I went to Maui and Oahu 2.5 years ago. I completely agree about Waikiki Beach, and the island in general. Maui is fabulous; we had such an amazing time there. I will also be visiting the Big Island on my next trip back. I can't wait to go to volcano park. My mom visited that island last month, and she thought that the volcanoes were really the only big attraction on that island, compared to what we were able to do on Maui. Hawaii is indeed a wonderful place! :love:

 

[I Are Baboon]

Kauai was uncrowded, quiet, and it took no effort at all to find secluded places. :evil:

We went snorkeling at a beach on the north side that was recommended by the shop and we were the *only* ones up there. My wife thought maybe they had had a shark attack or something that scared everyone off.

and man, don't the restaurants serve some delicious fish? Some people said we might have a hard time finding good meals, but I didn't have a bad meal the entire trip. One place went to in Maui (Mama's Fish House) listed the available fish for the day, when it was caught, where it was caught, and who the fisherman was.

 

[SkaredShtles]

and man, don't the restaurants serve some delicious fish? Some people said we might have a hard time finding good meals, but I didn't have a bad meal the entire trip. One place went to in Maui (Mama's Fish House) listed the available fish for the day, when it was caught, where it was caught, and who the fisherman was.

Yeah - we had no problem finding good food. We had a condo so we had a number of meals in, but the restaurants we visited were all good.

The best stuff on the trip was the foo-foo drinks, though. And the pineapple.

And I don't really like pineapple.

 

[Rip]

Good morning. It has finally stop precipitating here. I will likely ride the cross bike this evening. Just working on construction reporting systems. Getting ready to be in Orlando for a week, starting next Tuesday.

A week without Loco is a week that won't suck.:hot:

Morning

Nothing new here. Been damn lazy so far today.

 

[I Are Baboon]

Yeah - we had no problem finding good food. We had a condo so we had a number of meals in, but the restaurants we visited were all good.

The best stuff on the trip was the foo-foo drinks, though. And the pineapple.

And I don't really like pineapple.

Well you really can't order a foo-foo drink without getting a wedge of pineapple and a purple flower with it. Actually, I think they even serve pineapple with their beer.

 

[JRB]

A week without Loco is a week that won't suck.:hot:

Morning

Nothing new here. Been damn lazy so far today.

I'm taking my notebook, honey.

 

[JRB]

Take all this Hawaii talk to beachmonkey people.

 

[Rip]

I'm taking my notebook, honey.

Damnit..... :mumble: :mumble:

 

[I Are Baboon]

Hey Shuttles, any chance you hit the Waimea Brewery? Right near the canyon. Mmmm.....beer.....and it was good.

http://www.waimeabrewing.com/waimea/brewery-beer.htm

What's with the wild chickens on Kauai though?

 

[SkaredShtles]

Hey Shuttles, any chance you hit the Waimea Brewery? Right near the canyon. Mmmm.....beer.....and it was good.

http://www.waimeabrewing.com/waimea/brewery-beer.htm

We didn't, sadly enough. But I did have some of their IPA at the GABF just last year.

What's with the wild chickens on Kauai though?

Did you see any of the wild cats, pigs, or goats? We saw a herd of the goats in the Canyon.

 

[Nick]

What's with the wild chickens on Kauai though?

you aren't kidding! Chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE, and cockadoodledoing all hours of the day and night. Cats too. No predators, nor Winter, so they thrive. We kayaked an hour up the river, then hiked another hour to see a waterfall. When we got there we found about 15 chickens hanging around the water and a cat sleeping on a big rock.

Some of the islands have lots of mongoose too. I have some pics of mongoose and cats eating and hanging out together in a state park. Apparently the mongoose were brought over to handle the rats which arrived centuries earlier on ships. A mongoose will kill a rat everytime. The problem is that one is nocturnal and one is not, so they never really run into each other. (brilliant!)

I'll have the pics resized soon, I'm busy. sorry.

www.hawaiimonkey.com rulzors!!!!!one1!111!!!


[rant] PS: stupid TSA goons that searched my carefully packed bag couldn't manage to re-pack it so I watched as he mashed things back in and struggled to close it, then throw it out of frustration after getting it closed. He broke the zipper on the bag, and my Giro E2 helmet is broken into 3 pieces ... now I have to file a claim with TSA and wait to see if they'll offer any reimbursement. F'ing Asshat. [rant off]

 

[I Are Baboon]

We didn't, sadly enough. But I did have some of their IPA at the GABF just last year.


Did you see any of the wild cats, pigs, or goats? We saw a herd of the goats in the Canyon.

We didn't see any pigs or goats, but we saw plenty of cats. One of them was begging us for food at the brewery. On the Road to Hana, we stopped off near a black beach for a picnic and a stray cat was begging for food. We had some extra turkey breast, so we fed the little guy. He chowed down, then promptly rolled over and fell asleep. Judging by how he looked, it was probably the best meal he'd had in a long time.

 

[SkaredShtles]

you aren't kidding! Chickens and roosters EVERYWHERE, and cockadoodledoing all hours of the day and night. Cats too. No predators, nor Winter, so they thrive.

The cats *are* the predators............

 

[SkaredShtles]

We didn't see any pigs or goats, but we saw plenty of cats. One of them was begging us for food at the brewery. On the Road to Hana, we stopped off near a black beach for a picnic and a stray cat was begging for food. We had some extra turkey breast, so we fed the little guy. He chowed down, then promptly rolled over and fell asleep. Judging by how he looked, it was probably the best meal he'd had in a long time.

Yeah - they're a mangy, scrawny lot on that island.

 

[rideit]

Just got back from a run on Teton Pass (photo not me)

Now I have to hit the honeydo list. And go to spanish classes.

 

[skinny mike]

well i did the big mountain experience again. today was awesome as visibility was perfect and it wasnt very cold. did 2 runs off of the lake chutes. i started with easy street and got me some fresh pow. then i went to zoot chute which was awesome. it was a little chunkier than easy street but still nice and soft aside from a few windblown spots. did one of the biggest jump turns of my life as i ended up hopping down about 3 feet and landed on a really hard section of windpack which was fairly slippery especially on a ~50 degree slope. not to mention i was landing on my heelside edge which makes going into a slide that much easier. got some good pics today none of me riding but my guide should be sending me some video of some runs that we took today. ill post that stuff up once i get it.