Saturday, July 17, 2010

Delinquent

Hello All,

Well, I've been a bit delinquent in writing this blog. Sorry. We've been very busy and having a fair amount of fun.

We're half way through July. We've done two ImproVisions and several shows at ImprovAcadia.

This year has been a bit different because we've been closed on Sundays. This upcoming Sunday (otherwise known as tomorrow) will be our last closed day until after Labor Day. We've had some great days off - lots of hiking, nachos, chats and movies. This is the first year we've done this. Now Larrance will only go six weeks without a day off instead of 16. I've really been enjoying this because I don't always get a regular day off (at least I get one, right?) so it's been great to know that I have one coming every Sunday no matter what.

We had a fun ImproVision last night. We did the Killer Klowns from Outer Space. If you're familiar with that movie, you know what a great time we had. We ended up re-dubbing it as a Mafia film. Surprisingly, it really worked it out.

We've confirmed our next ship contract. We will be going back to the POA in Hawai'i. We're very excited and looking forward to exploring more of the islands.

I think that's all for now.......if anyone has any questions about the season, you could post them and I'll answer...

~Jen

Friday, June 11, 2010

Home & Opening

Hi Everyone,

Well, we're back home in Maine. We made it home from Hawai'i after almost 24 hours of travel. The travel wasn't that bad. I did fall asleep on the floor of the Detroit airport but really it was fairly easy.

When we landed in Bangor, we were really looking forward to getting back to our home! We drove to Ellsworth and entered our house. Ahhh, to be home. Then we realized that our water had not been turned back on.....and it was Sunday so we couldn't call the plumber and get them to come over. We were distraught and jet lagged. We thought, "well, I guess we can go to a hotel." Which was, quite frankly, a very disappointing thought. We wanted to be in our home. In a pickle and unsure what to do I called my Mom, like any good girl, and told her our situation. She suggested we camp out in our house. We had heat and electricity so really we had everything but water. We got a bucket and I'm sure you can guess the rest. It was so lovely to be in our home. Also we took at nap at 7pm - we had too!

We dealt with the effects of jet lag for a few days. Being at home and not really having a schedule allowed us to reset our body clocks pretty quickly. We did have to deal with town business for ImprovAcadia. We had to apply for all of our licenses and permits. So we did that on our first day back.....they were all granted!

At this point, we've been open for 2 weeks. So far the season has been great.

Our opening night was particularly wonderful. We had a full house and such a nice house too. When the lights came up to start the show, the audience broke into a huge round of applause and cheering. It was amazing. We had a great show. Our opening cast was Vince Kracht, Bob Kulhan and me. A very fun group.

We are now settling into the season and over the next few weeks we will be adding shows as the weeks go by. This year we are trying something a bit different - we are going to be close on Sundays until almost the end of July. Larrance needs a day off!

Oh, another development. For anyone who knows our house or well, really, the house next to our house. The old decrepit yellow house was purchased in foreclosure over the winter! The man who bought it is a local real estate developer and he's is having the house completely renovated. They tore off the breezeway between the garage and the house. Then they gutted the house and now they're redoing everything. So we might have neighbors soon......I hope they don't (like the last ones) mow down the peonies because they "attract ants", stare at us everytime we leave the house, scream "I love you" like they're saying "I hate you", keep garbage on their lawn. I mean I know our lawn is a weed fest but it's clean and we have lots of flowers and plants mixed in with those weeds....we call it the Natural Look.

I really am going to try and keep up with this blog. You just wait and see!

~Jen

Monday, April 5, 2010

2 Weeks Left



Hi All,

We have just under two weeks left! We're looking forward to heading home but we will miss Hawai'i.

We've had quite a few more adventures in the past few weeks.

We went cliff jumping on Kauai at Kipu Falls. It was only twenty feet high and the pool below was free of rocks. Now, I should tell you that I've never even jumped off of a diving board but I thought that this cliff seemed like a good place to start jumping off of things.
That's the jump behind me. I went off the cliff once and then off the rope swing too. Larrance and Mike both jumped too. Then we went to Poipu beach and saw this....
A Monk Seal! It was just dozing on the beach. Amazing.

We also hiked the Na Pali coast last week. It was 4 miles of muddy, beautiful, (at points) treacherous and inspiring coastline.
This is what it looks like on the trail. And this is what is looks like from the ship.I'm running out of battery so I'll post more later!

If I don't see you here, I'll see you at home soon!

~Jen

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Okay....now....hmmmm



A view from the Upcountry

Well, a lot has happened since my last post. I celebrated my Birthday on Feb. 28th. In a totally weirdo turn, it rained all day on Maui. We did manage to find some sunshine in the Upcountry. The cast rented a mini-van and we took a rainy trip to the Iao Needle Valley and got soaked. Then we went to the Upcountry and looked at the views and went to the Tedeschi Winery. It was fun.
Rainy Iao Needle Valley
Rance & Deanna at Grandma's Coffee House in the Upcountry

Piero, Mike, Jen & Larrance at Grandma's Coffee HouseBirthday Rainbow!Fun with perspectiveMike doing "the usual" View from the Upcountry to La Perouse

Larrance and I had just gone to the Upcountry the week before - we visited the Winery and the Ali'i Lavendar Farm. The Lavendar farm was great...lookee!
Larrance relaxes on the Lavender Farm

View from the Farm to the ocean
View of the Lavender Farm

We tried their Lavender Scones with Lavender Coffee and Lavender Earl Grey Tea. Delightful!

We also tried boogie boarding for the first time. FUN!!!!! It was amazing. Some of the cast had tried surfing and said it was super hard but boogie boarding is the opposite. I'm sure surfers probably look down upon it but I say "poo to you" it's awesome. We tried it on Kalapalaki Beach on Kauai. Mike, Deanna, Larrance and I went there on a very stormy day and rode those waves. I wiped out twice - basically I miscalculated the wave and instead of riding on it, I rode under it. Mistake but still funsies! I will do it again!

Since my last post, we've also done the Road to Hana. For anyone who is not familiar, the Road to Hana is on Maui and it is a twisty turny, one-way bridge, beauty fest. Because the road it so twisty we rented 3 small cars so we could all ride in the front seat...this made it much more pleasant what with less car sickness. The Road to Hana (RTH hereafter) is filled with waterfalls, bamboo forests and all kinds of delights.
Bamboo? Bamyou.
Little Bear Falls

The best delight on RTH is the Banana Bread stands. There are a a lot of them. We stopped at one called Halfawy on the RTH and the bread was fantastic. I don't have a picture of the bread - we ate it!

We had lunch overlooking the village of Nihiku.
We stopped at a Black Sand beach and looked at the beach, a sea cave and some other caves.
Cool sea arch and meView from the sea cavePiero, Rance, Deanna & Larrance on black sandCave where a Queen was killed...don't remember name!...they say the water turns red now and then. Creepy.
The RTH was great. Larrance and turned back after the Black Sand beach. Later that night, we met Mike & Deanna for dinner at the delicious Flatbreads. Amazing food!

This week we've had two adventures. On Maui, Piero, Larrance and I took a bus to Wailuku and started walking to the Iao Needle Valley. I know - we went there on my bday but it was so rainy we couldn't really see anything. We were walking there and about a mile/half mile away when we ran into Mike with his friend Kea. Kea had a BMW and offered us ride - we took it! He also became our informal guide through the Valley. Kea is from Maui so he told us about the valley and showed us the hidden swimming place. Well, not hidden but off the trail. It was wonderful.

Iao Needle - they say this is a God's penis. They do, too!View from the Valley to Wailuku and the ocean.Secret swimming spot with Kea & MikeMike doing "the usual."

After that we had Tutti Frutti, that's a local frozen yogurt chain. Delicious. I had Taro yogurt which is my favorite. How will I live without it?
Then Mike, Larrance and I got a little picnic from Whole Foods and went to the beach and ate it. We saw turtles along the way!

On Tuesday, we went for an aerial tour of Hilo. Deanna had chatted up this guy, Capt. Ron, and he offered us a special deal. We left the ship at 9am and headed for a small air field. Then we got on a little plane and went to see the volcano, waterfalls and other stuff. Here are some photos!
On the plane - us plus Renetta from Toby BeauLarrance is ready to fly.Pu'u'u vent - Magma below the steam!New lava field
You could see lava in person not so much here.....but trust me, it's there.
Fresh Lava, anyone?
New land & the ocean.Boiling Pots
Boiling pots again....?Keaukaha - a great swimming spot near the ship

That brings us up to date! We're thinking about going rock jumping at a waterfall tomorrow but nothing is firm yet.....we have just over 4 weeks left of our contract. It's been great!

~Jen

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Bad Jen

I'm working on a new post. Honestly, I felt crappy from that flu for about 2 weeks after I got over the major symptoms. I'm putting together some new photos and stories. I promise you.

~Jen

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Oh My....

Hi Everyone,

Well, I haven't posted recently but I have a good excuse! I came down with Swine Flu! At least I think I had the Swine Flu, I had all the symptoms of it and I was awfully sick. I was sick enough to miss a show and to do a lot of (s)whining. I'm better now and ready for more adventure so I'll be posting another entry in the next few days....

I did want to share that we've been seeing a lot of dolphins recently. Yesterday as we viewed Na Pali coast there must have been a pod of 60 Spinner dolphins around the ship. They were jumping, spinning and cavorting. One of them swam right by the ship, just under the surface of the water, for about 5 minutes. It really looked like a ghost.

The whales have also been at it again - lots of breaching, tail slapping and head slaps. Those whales know how to put on a show.

We did go on a whale watch and snorkel trip on Monday. It was spectacular. We had a full grown whale (a male?) breach about 50 yards from the ship. It breached like 4 times in a row and then it stayed on the surface where we all got a real good look at it. The snorkeling was only so-so mostly because I got super cold. I think I was still getting over the flu...dumb flu.

My Birthday occurs in just over a week! I will be 40 years old in 8 days! Hooray for me!!!

~Jen

Monday, February 1, 2010

Hawaii...Still Awesome

Haleiwa
Napali Sun
Caldera of Kilauea

Hi All -

Well, we're exactly halfway through our contract! We've been having a great time and I don't anticipate any serious doldrums. It is hard to be away from home. I miss seeing family and friends, going to knitting on Monday nights and cooking at home. However things like hearing Humpback Whales sing while you snorkel, hiking to an awesome ocean Blowhole complete with Rainbows and having lovely people to share it with makes up for it.

Larrance and I are working on a list of what we want to do before we leave on April 17th. It's a long list but I think we'll accomplish a lot of it.

On Deanna's Birthday, we hiked the Acid Warzone to the Nakalele Blowhole. It was incredible. We hiked on a cliff high above the sea and gazed down on semi-accessible tidal pools and the landscape had been carved and sculpted by the ocean spray. The colors were amazing - a mix of red, a dusty green, grey with the blue background of the ocean. We came to a smaller blowhole first and then kept on to the larger blowhole. There was a high surf advisory that day so the blowhole was very active.

The best part of the blowhole was every time it blew (some of the blows we're like 300 yards high) it created a "curtain" rainbow. The rainbow would start by the blowhole and then as the mist moved away from the blowhole and toward the land so would the rainbow as though someone was pulling a curtain across the landscape. Lovely.

We had to leave the blowhole when a group of teens appeared, surrounded the hole and began screaming and sticking their faces into the steam of water. It went from quietly inspiring to still inspiring but somewhat irritating.

Mike had a visitor last week - Tamara Nolte - and so we all went snorkeling on Maui at Black Rock. Black Rock is just what it sounds like...it's a big out cropping of black rock that you can swim along. So one side you have black reef and on the other you have open ocean....I got a new mask, snorkel and fins so I was super speedy and we swam out quickly to see turtles, eels, lots of fish and an Eagle Sting Ray.

I have to say that this is a well known and easy to get to snorkel spot which had the unfortunate effect of attracting a lot of idiots. This sound harsh but let me explain. There was a turtle very close to the shore. It was a big turtle. On the shore there are several signs that say - don't touch the turtle, don't block the turtle's way and so on - but in the water all bets are off. There were about 7 of us watching the turtle. There was one woman and one man who kept swimming right on top of the turtle and then when it would swim towards them they would flee as though it were a shark and not a turtle. The turtle wanted to get away at one point and a man next to me blocked it's way....like you would with a home intruder....I had to stop my fist from rising from the water to punch him in the back of the head. Well, not really but I kind of wanted to and I think the turtle did too.

Anytime I yelled to Larrance that I saw this or that, the thrashing yahoo's would come rushing over and scare it away. So I stopped saying anything...they were all in a hurry anyway so they missed a lot of stuff. Larrance and I are going to develop a series of hand signals so we can communicate without attracting the Thrashers.

I kept hearing strange sounds and I thought it was my new mask burbling and gurgling under the water. Then I realized that the sounds really sounded like Whale Song....a lot....so I swam away from all the thrashing tourists and closed my eyes to just listen. Sure enough I could hear the whales singing...from what I understand it's the males that sing to flirt with the ladies! So I was eavesdropping on a Whale singles club...sounded like a pretty hot party.

We're planning on doing some hiking, snorkeling and some possible helicopter'ing in our remaining time.

Here's some more photos!


Kona Sunset
Napali Blue
Akaka Falls - Hilo
Wailua River Valley

Monday, January 18, 2010

What a Jerk

Maui Beach...



I am total jerk. I said I would post about our Maui/Haleakala adventure and then I didn't. Well, poo on me.

I know there are at least a few people following this blog so I'm going to try and do a few short posts with photos...see, I get tied down by wanting to write about everything....this makes me late. It's that whole perfectionist/procratinator complex. Yah.

So - what's been happening in Hawaii? Well, lots! We went to Haleakala on Maui and took in the sunset - stunning. We went to a Haleiwa on Oa'hu to check out the town and to see a beach that by afternoon is covered by sea turtles. We went to the Maui Aquarium which was small but had a great reef display. We have been walking a lot. We went to the Foster Botanical garden in Honolulu.

This last week my Mom and her husband, Ray, were visiting. We had a big adventure everyday.
Day 1 - Maui - we rented a car and went to Pa'ia and Lahaina. We watched whales from the cliffs and had dinner at Flatbreads
Day 2 - Maui - we went on a Whale Watch/Snorkel trip. Amazing. A baby whale came right up the ship and then the baby momma and the escort also got pretty close to us.
Day 3 - Hilo -we went the Volcano National Park to see the crater, the caldera and the lava tube. And we went to a orchid place and my Momma bought me an orchid.
Day 4 - Kona - we took it easy. Shopping, coffee and lunch for my Mom and I. We purchased some beautiful lava jewerly.
Day 5 - Kauai - we rented a car and toured Kauai. We saw the Opeakah falls and Waimea Canyon. Awesome.
Day 6 - Kauai - we took it easy because we were, in a word, pooped.
Day 7 - Honolulu/Oahu - we rented a car and went to Haleiwa to eat at Kua'aina Burger, get Coffee Gallery coffee (the best Kauai Peaberry) and to see the turtles.

It was a great week.

Okay now for photos....
Sunset on Haleakala
Makapu'u Lighthouse on Oa'hu
Christmas on the Ship - a snippet of our Secret Santa exchange
Larrance on NYE
Myself, Mike, Deanna & Rance doing bits on NYE
Our weekly viewing of the Napali Coast
A turtle at Alii beach in Haleiwa...the other turtle is me
My Mom showing us how a cat snorkels
My Mom, me, Larrance and Ray with the caldera behind us...
Orchids!
Shopping Kona
A willing Kona Gecko model
Waterfall (Opaekah?) on Kauai
Waimea Canyon on Kauai
The red dirt of Kauai and more of Waimea Canyon
Mom & Larrance on our drive through Waimea
Turtles!
Hiking to the blowhole
Hiking to blowhole through the so called Acid Warzone...
Acid Warzone Larrance
Cool rock formation on the warzone
Blowhole Rainbow Action
On our way to and from the Blowhole, we crossed a field of cairns...this was one of my favorites