U-farm

My new niece Skylar! She’s so tiny, but way bigger than...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:56:22 -0400

My new niece Skylar! She’s so tiny, but way bigger than she was a month ago as a premi. So cute!

My meal on the airplane had my name spelled in cheese! How...

Sat, 20 Aug 2011 12:52:04 -0400

My meal on the airplane had my name spelled in cheese! How bizarre!

Zach and I arrived in Seattle on August 17 just before midnight....

Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:55:23 -0400

Zach and I arrived in Seattle on August 17 just before midnight. Zach has gone back to his family and vanagon and I’m now with my parents. For me, the transition feels very strange. The mainland feels much bigger to me now. The birds I grew up with seem oddly large and foreign. There’s people and cars everywhere, and what once felt normal to me now feels like overpopulation.

I was really excited to sell my van and return. I sold it to a woman who is planning to live out of it, which is quite perfect. I didn’t expect to feel anything leaving Hawaii, but as soon as the first plane was air borne my eyes teared up. It felt like an energy left me. I wasn’t feeling sad, regretful or like I was missing something, just that the shift out of Hawaii’s unique energy caused the rest of my energy to shift too.

Now that the mainland feels so much bigger, the possibilities seem that way too. I feel that creating the kind of lifestyle I’m looking for and the freedom that I brought back from Hawaii is about to combine in a very cool way. I have a different outlook on myself, people and the world than I did 6 months ago. I’m not really sure what my plan is now. I’m looking at vans currently and in the meantime I’m working on a website, visiting friends and have 2 trips planned in the next month. The first is to see my brother, his wife and my new niece in Eugene OR and the second is my older stepsister’s wedding in Boulder CO.

Me after devouring a Mai Tai and half a plate of nachos at Bongo...

Sun, 14 Aug 2011 00:32:18 -0400

Me after devouring a Mai Tai and half a plate of nachos at Bongo Ben’s in Kona. Zach and I went to the Mai Tai festival right before this, but we didn’t have any drinks. The competition was fun to watch.

Bongo Ben’s gets my “quick & dirty” rating. Meaning their drinks are mixed with extra alcohol and their food has cheap ingredients. Huggo’s, a place across the street, is way better especially for happy hour.

Notice my henna tattoo :)

Hennnaaaaaaa!

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:19:08 -0400

Hennnaaaaaaa!

In the center of Kilauea Iki Crater at Volcano National Park.

Sat, 30 Jul 2011 20:51:10 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

In the center of Kilauea Iki Crater at Volcano National Park.

After the work trade in Hawi, Zach and I tried to head south and...

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:15:00 -0400

After the work trade in Hawi, Zach and I tried to head south and look for places that Zach could work while we traveled. This was unsuccessful and we realized it after the second day. (The first day was our Captain Cook’s Monument day). We had trouble finding places to park the van, and were asked several times to move on. We went back to Kona where both of us caught up on work at Starbucks for the week. We also installed curtains in the van and mounted the solar panel. By the end of the week we really wanted to leave Kona so Zach and I headed South again, this time with a better plan.

We started by going straight to Ho’okena Beach Park where we had stopped once the previous week but didn’t have time to stay. This time we stayed for 2 nights. The snorkeling here is almost not worth it except for one major factor: dolphins. This was my favorite day in Hawaii so far. Zach and I headed out to see the Spinner Dolphins that hang out here every day. The dolphins were pretty far out, but we managed to get out there. It’s really hard to get near them because they move so fast. They really have to be where you are, not vice versa. It was so amazing! Both Zach and I had dolphins swimming near us. Some would come up to 6 feet away while others would swim 10 feet beneath or more. Some were jumping, and there were even babies to see. We left when we realized we’d swam into an area filled with tiny jellyfish lol. It was an awesome experience overall.

After Ho’okena, we headed to Ocean View (where I stayed at a bed and breakfast a few months back). We spent about half a day hanging out in town to use our 3G. Here I realized that I’m about ready to head home, so Zach and I planned the remainder of the trip. Zach will be here another 2 weeks and I’ll be here about 3 weeks.

That evening, we headed to Volcano National Park (known as ‘Volcano’ by the locals) and found a spectacular camp site in the park. I was surprised to find that a week’s pass to the park is only $10! We’ve had amazing weather so far and are having a great time! We’ve been leaving our tent up during the day while we take the van to other parts of the park. Yesterday, we traveled down Chain of Craters Road, where we saw immense spans of lava rock. The road stops where an old eruption covered the road with miles of lava. We had lunch at one of the lookouts and then headed up to the Mauna Ulu trail. We weren’t planning to stay, but Zach noticed a ranger who was talking about a hike and went to ask. She was taking a group on a free tour, so we joined in and learned a lot about the area and the current lava activity.

We went to the Kilauea Caldera for sunset (thanks for the suggestions Tad!). There were too many clouds to see sunset unfortunately, but in the center of the caldera there is a crater that glows red as the sun goes down. The picture above is just after dark. Very cool!

I’d really like to see a Nene (pronounced nay-nay) while I’m here. Nene are the Hawaiian state bird. They look kind of like the Canada Goose, but are smaller, with dark stripes on their white throats. They are shy, quiet and don’t spend much time flying or swimming. They walk around in lava fields eating vegetation as they go. I was so excited about the Nene that I told Zach I wanted to wake up to quacking in the morning. Yesterday morning, as I opened my eyes, Zach started to quack. This morning as I began to stir I heard a big honk followed by heavy wings. Obviously, I got what I asked for two mornings in a row! =P

Today, we headed straight to the Thurston Lava Tube. We beat the crowds, and really had a great time there. Outside the tube, the greenery is lush. The ferns and flowers are beautiful and we even saw a pheasant. The Lava Tube itself is magnificent. It’s so big; it’s amazing that lava could create something like that! There were roots hanging out of the ceiling too.

We’ll be here another day and then we’re going to South Point and back up to Kona for a little while. I’ll update again when I’m there.

I’ve started a flicker set so you can view many of my photos on the trip: http://www.flickr.com/photos/94612325@N00/sets/72157627311319450/.

P.S. Selling my van if anyone is interested!

I skipped about a months worth of happenings, so here’s...

Fri, 29 Jul 2011 19:02:00 -0400

I skipped about a months worth of happenings, so here’s what we did from mid-June to mid-July. Zach and I spent 4 weeks doing a work trade in Hawi on a property that is used primarily for meditation and yoga retreats. It was an amazing place and our job was to focus on maintaining the landscaping as well as caring for the vegetable garden. The property manager was awesome and so was the other work trader that was there. I felt like I got a lot out of it overall and really started to delve even deeper into my spirituality while I was there. We ended up leaving because we wanted to travel more around the island and because Zach was falling behind in his part-time online work. I’m really very thankful that I ended up going there, because I felt like a regained a part of my sanity that had been kicked into chaos after leaving the farm I was originally at.

Hawi is a very small town. The entire island has a “small-town” mentality, so being in a small town is like doubling that, everyone knows everything about everyone lol. The local Lighthouse Delicatessen has the best big pretzels I’ve ever had (with a honey and horse radish dip!) and the Kava Bar was a great Friday night hangout with live music. There was also a great Saturday Farmers Market. Overall, it was a great experience!

The property sits on the hill above Hawi and has a spectacular view of the ocean and of Maui. There were tons of beautiful plants and flowers and great spots to sit and enjoy the scenery or meditate. An orchard with tons of exotic fruit was off to one side, but there were fruit trees all over the property as well. There was a kitchen devoted to us work-traders that had everything needed (including an oven!) The bath house was spectacular and the guest yurt was empty after he first week which allowed us to hang out and watch movies or use our computers indoors. There was wi-fi too! We stayed in a really big tent while we were there near the orchard. They provided mattresses, sheets, pillows, etc and we had power running out to the tent so we could use our electronics out there too. The property dog, Maitri, was the sweetest dog and was always hanging out with someone.

I originally really wanted to stay and tried to convince Zach, but I realized that I’d never really enjoy it fully if Zach was feeling as stressed about work as he was getting. We ended up leaving 3 days after the owners got back from traveling. They were great people and very thankful we had been there helping. They gave us a signed copy of one of their meditation books the morning we left too! How wonderful, eh?

At Captain Cook’s Monument and what a gorgeous day!

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 17:18:21 -0400

[Flash 10 is required to watch video.]

At Captain Cook’s Monument and what a gorgeous day!

Zach and I had about 5 days to go explore the Kona side of the...

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:11:00 -0400

Zach and I had about 5 days to go explore the Kona side of the island before our work trade and it was great! We went to 10+ beaches during that time and revisited a few along the way. After visiting the work-trade property last Thursday we headed through the small town of Hawi (pronounced like ‘ha-vee’) to grab lunch and check things out. I stopped in at the local crystal shop and got myself a Rainbow Flourite massage wand, which has turned out to be awesome! We then headed straight East to the Keokea Beach Park where we rested on the rocks and I had a chance to explore a bit. I found some strange creatures that I haven’t been able to identify:

The cliffs were also quite beautiful, but rain was threatening. We stopped for smoothies as we headed west toward the warm side of the island. We headed down the coast and stopped in Puako. We found a no-name beach to stay at overnight and watched the sunset.

We went out to the water the next morning to find 2 sea turtles. We then headed down to the first beach in town where we saw about 21 more! They were everywhere! The top image of this post shows seven turtles, can you find them? We headed into Waikolo Village which is a mall in a resort area. We hooked up in Starbucks and computed for awhile. In the afternoon, I got an urge to go see the petroglyph park.

It was neat to see all the petroglyphs and to take a walk through some of the more rugged lava terrain is fun! We visited the beach park right next to the petroglyphs afterward. It is one of my favorite beaches so far; it’s very pretty! The beach was black and white with chunks of coral and lava rock mixed together. I found Peridot (a type of green crystal) growing in the lava rock! (first image is Zach at the petroglyoh park.)

We were able to sleep just outside the entrance of Kekaha Kai State Park. The next day we headed into Kona and toured along the beachfront road to see if we could find a sandy beach. Most of the beaches we’ve been to have been anything but sand and I was surprised to see that many of Kona’s beaches are also mostly NOT sand as well. We found Kahalu’u Beach Park had a decent amount of sand so we stopped in to find that it was a great snorkeling spot! We had no snorkeling gear though, so we made a quick trip to go grab some and visit a farmers market as well. We went back and spent several hours swimming around looking at gorgeous fish and coral. It was great fun! Afterwards, we headed south not really knowing where we were going to stay for the night so we checked out Napo’opo’o Beach Park and parked as though we were staying the night. A huge graduation party started and tons of people showed up so we left without a clue of where we were going. Highway 160 is not wide enough for two vehicles and has 4’ ditches on either side; it was pretty weird to drive on! We pulled to the side to figure out where we were and a car going the opposite way pulled up to ask what the terrain was like ahead. This gave us the opportunity to ask the same question and we were told that the City of Refuge wasn’t too far down the road. I knew I wanted to go there so we drove on and found a little beach outside the park to stay for the night. We watched a few turtles before the sun went down. It was a strange night, because the locals kept coming and going for night fishing. Nobody bothered us though.

We left early because the beach was starting to get crowded and went straight to the Pu’uhonua o Honaunau (City of Refuge) Park. There was no one at the entrance so we entered without paying. There were Hawaiian buildings, games, carvings and more. The park is divided in two by a huge 20’+ thick wall that was built to divide the ali’i (nobels/royalty) beach from the commoners and kahunas (priests/shamans/witch doctors; they were all these things). The City of Refuge was untouchable by violence and someone could go there if they had committed a sin that woud have them killed. The kahunas would preform a ceremony and the person would get a new beginning.

We headed inland to see the painted church and visit the islands best food stand. We headed north to Kona and spent the rest of the afternoon at Lava Java for computing. We watched a gorgeous sunset and then spent the night at the news station. The next day was a lot of lying around at the Old Airport Beach. We went to the indian restaurant (not so great; it’s the only one on the whole island I think) and then the Kona Brewery. In the morning we headed back to Hawi to start our work trade!

WorkTrade in Hawi!

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 19:00:18 -0400

We left Laupahoehoe Beach Park early Thursday morning and headed up to Hawi - at the very north point of the island - to check out a potential work trade. It was a very rainy day even for the rainy-side of the island. The wind was blowing hard, which helped me realize just how much surface area the van has! The drive was very beautiful and led us to a very secluded area just outside of Hawi. The property isn’t a farm, but it has an organic garden and dozens of types of nut and fruit trees. They rent out the living space there for yoga retreats and the like, so it’s a very peaceful feeling place. There’s an indoor shower and an undercover bathtub too! I really liked the feel of it and the land caretaker has interest in natural farming which is a plus! We took the tour and were told we could take as long or short as needed to decide. We’ve chosen to go check out some warmer parts of the island and Kona area first. We plan to arrive at the work trade early next week.

Adventures in Hilo

Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:41:30 -0400

Zach and I spent about 8 days in Hilo staying mostly in the Walmart parking lot until the 5th day when a security guard told us that this Walmart isn’t like the mainland ones. We moved to the Safeway lot the remaining nights. Honestly, staying in Hilo wasn’t good for either of us. Hilo is a very rainy and rather gloomy place. We were both moody being in a city, but we got a lot accomplished while we were there. We finished the 3/4” plywood floor, treated a lot of rust and got a lot of materials, supplies and plans ready for future projects. Zach also got a lot of his work done since he works part-time online. I’d love to show a final picture of the plywood floor but I haven’t had a chance yet.

We started the week by getting rid of all but the first set of back seats. I thought I might want to keep one set to hold stuff and be seating area, but halfway through the week I realized how much more space there would be without them so I got rid of that set too. It was extremely difficult to get the bolts out of the floor. It took us three days with lots of penetrating oil and teamwork ratcheting. We finally ended up buying a 1.5’ pipe to give more leverage on the ratchet which helped enormously. The space is about 11’ x 5.5’ from the back of the front seats.

For the floor, we got two 3/4” fir plywood and used newspaper to make an outline of the floor. We built the floor with 4 cut pieces total. It probably took a full day of work total but because of logistics it was spread over 3 or so days.

We then traced the newspaper on to the plywood. We were working in the Home Depot parking lot for most of this. We also sanded and treated the big spots of rust.

You can see the newspaper laid out on the plywood here. I’m also charging my solar battery; the panel is on Zach’s bike box. We rented a jigsaw from Home Depot and they actually let us cut in back until a manager showed up and told us that their insurance didn’t cover this. Luckily, she showed up just as we finished the 2nd piece. We then bought a 750watt inverter and cut the rest of the plywood at a park using my battery.

We had to sand down the last piece to fit it in with the others. It fits very snuggly and the wood floor has made things much easier living in the van. I’ll get the final picture of that the next time we unload everything from the back.

During all of this I was actually fighting off a flu-like cold that I think was mostly stress induced. I’m feeling much better now, but I went to a naturopath just to make sure and she put me on some natural, but heavy immune boosting supplement to help me recover faster, which I’m thankful for.

On the 2nd to last night we decided to try parking out in a neighborhood rather than stay at Safeway again. This didn’t work out so well though. It took a long time to find a spot and once we did someone tried to pick the lock on the backdoor (right next to our heads! At another spot we were egged! So we went back to Safeway. lol.

The last day was also it’s own adventure. I took the van to a mom-and-pop place to get the brakes looked at. There were a lot of parts that needed replacing because of heavy use. There were actually cracks in the back discs that looked like the whole thing might break in half! They called us with an estimate of $640 and we verified that labor was included several times. At 5pm when everything was complete we got a call saying the total would be nearly $1150! The lady apologized that she had not added labor and that it was her fault. I had only budgeted $800 for this project, so I was feeling pretty darn worried by the time we arrived at the shop. I told them the situation and that I wouldn’t have agreed to the work if I had known the actual price. After some talking we agreed on $900. Overall, I’d say I probably got a great deal for my new brakes! I really really hope nothing like that ever happens again though, because both parties came away from that feeling bad.

After a great pizza and dessert at Cafe Pesto, we left Hilo on Wednesday night to stay at Laupahoehoe Beach Park. It was so wonderful to get out of the city and back into the more scenic, free-flowing areas of the island.

We’ve been working hard and buying supplies for the van! Here...

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 02:25:00 -0400

We’ve been working hard and buying supplies for the van! Here you can see Zach sanding rust off. I’ve finalized the first draft of the living space layout too. I say “first draft” because inevitably I’ll get better ideas as we install things. For now this draft means I have a plan ready to go for a raised bed that converts to a couch, kitchen counter, hard wood floor, solar power, storage, closet, and other things too. We’ve already bought everything needed to make and installed curtains too. I’ve even come up with a way to do a hydroponic herb garden, but that will happen after many more projects are finished.

Zach also got us a lead on a potential work trade! It sounds pretty cool, but no use getting people excited before I know if it’s a go. In the mean time there is plenty to do on my van :)

Updates and Projects

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:30:39 -0400

I’ve updated my blog! It has more features, including comments, an archive and rss. I’ve also added a description and a working search (the previous search box was just for show =P). I’ll be adding some other links soon =)

It’s pretty nice to sit down in a cafe and work on my computer for a few hours. It’s a change of pace, at least. Things have been moving pretty fast and I feel like two weeks have passed in the last week.

I’ve got many projects going on simultaneously. I’ll be working on installing curtains and a wood floor in my van, updating my design portfolio, and looking for other agriculture or garden care opportunities around the island. I expect to stay pretty busy considering!

Zach and I have been living out of a rental car for the last 6...

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 13:59:52 -0400

Zach and I have been living out of a rental car for the last 6 days and we’ll be giving it back today. We’ve camped at 3 different parks north of Hilo and have been having a great time. The problem was that we had a week to figure out what happens next and if we didn’t decide fast we and our belongings wouldn’t have a place to go except an expensive hostel. In considering so many options, I decided to get a van. I had thought about it even before Zach came and it seemed like a great way to tour the island at my own pace. Zach is a pro at van living and has agreed to help me convert it to a living space. The picture is us camping next to the rental next to my 1997 Ford e350 club wagon. (The vans aren’t pulled even so my van looks even longer than it is.)

It was a really good find considering we had a week to look. I would have opted for another path if a good van didn’t present itself. It runs really well, has minimal body and interior damage and meets the requirements for the smog test. It’s a 15 seater, so there’s ample space. Zach and I spent almost all of yesterday cleaning every surface. Today we’re going to treat the rust (it has a few good sized but superficial rusty spots). We’re also going to get rid of the extra seats and look into installing a wood floor. We have to move all our stuff in by this afternoon, so we’ll see how far we get :)

Kolekole Park is where we stayed last night. It is half jungle...

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:18:05 -0400

Kolekole Park is where we stayed last night. It is half jungle and half open picnic area. It borders a rocky beach where surfers come. There’s a highway overpass, but the ocean covers the noise which is great.

We took it easy yesterday. Picked up Mauka to go over to a friend’s house for a doggie day. We were treated to an Italian style meal and relaxed while talking with friends and playing with kids, dogs, horses and cats. It was great fun.

We decided to sleep in the rental car last night and discovered, to our amazement that the seats fold into the basement of the car making a wide open space to sleep!

We’re headed out to look at vans today :)

Me at Laupahoehoe Point Park. This is the view from our...

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:39:53 -0400

Me at Laupahoehoe Point Park. This is the view from our campsite. Hopefully by morning the tide will be out enough to look at the tide pools!

Zach arrived yesterday! I hitch hiked the two miles to the...

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 21:35:54 -0400

Zach arrived yesterday! I hitch hiked the two miles to the airport to meet him there and, because things have been so tumultuous lately, I decided to rent a car with him to make life a little easier. We called in for a compact car and when Zach’s bike box was slightly too big they upgraded us to a van at the same price! We had a great dinner at Cafe Pesto last night and then drove an hour back to Pa’auilo to spend the night in my tent at John’s farm.

Today, we got up early and weeded for John for a couple hours. We headed over to the old farm to pick up the rest of my stuff (including my solar panel and battery). I felt stress just going back to that farm and was glad when we left. We stopped at Malama Market for lunch and by the time we got back to John’s I felt like I just needed to take a break from farming. Zach and I packed up the van and found a nice little campsite at Laupahoehoe Point Park to spend the rest of the day and tonight.

The picture is of Zach with our foraged coconuts, standing in our campsite with our rental car. Today is a overcast, windy day but we are fortunate that it hasn’t rained much at all. I’m feeling much better now that I’m camping. :)

Moving On

Tue, 31 May 2011 02:13:00 -0400

Well, oddly and quite suddenly I’ve been asked to leave the farm. I feel that the owner is going through her own processing of life and it’s probably best that I not be there any more. I feel very thankful for all my friends and family who helped me process this very quick transition (I had about 12 hours to pack and leave). I’m also very inspired by how the friends I’ve made here have helped to make sure that I’m safe and have people to trust in. Thank you!

Tonight I’m staying in my tent at John’s farm 2 miles down the road. Tomorrow I’ll pack up and head into town to pick up my friend, Zach, from the airport and figure out what to do from there. I’m actually pretty glad this happened now - albeit a stressful situation. The timing is pretty darn perfect as it frees up my time to go explore the island(s) with Zach :)

The most unfortunate part is that I have to leave poor Mauka behind. She’s grown very attached to me and I to her and I know this transition will be just as difficult if not more than it will be for me. Scott and Hannah have agreed to look after her for now. It sounds like they’re pretty excited about having her too, so hopefully that will make things easier.

With great love to the world and the lessons it brings,

Alice

Here is the tropical version of sunny boy. For those that...

Fri, 27 May 2011 14:34:00 -0400

Here is the tropical version of sunny boy. For those that don’t know, sunny boy is a very simple breakfast of bulgar wheat served as hot cereal. I remember the first time I had it at my uncle’s house with sliced pears and for it’s few ingredients, it was delicious. I’ve also had it with peaches which is great as well. Neither of those fruits are readily available here for a cheap price, but luckily the Hilo farmers market sells 4 - 5 papaya for $1! Papaya sunny boy is quite tasty! I’ve added flax seed to this as well :)