Frankie is practicing her cliff jumping. Maybe one day she will learn to fly.
Cliff jumping, Hawaii style
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Author Archives: koomparocks
Papakolea Green Sands Beach
We took a 5.7 mile hike to Papakolea (green sands) beach, located near the most southern point of the 50 states. According to Lonely Planet it is only one of four green sand beaches in the world! The green sand gets its color from the mineral olivine (a mineral containing iron and magnesium), found in the enclosing cinder cone of the local volcano. We were surprised at how strong and sustained the winds were on our hike. But I can say that none of us has ever felt wind like that before!
Beech Street Bake Off!
When its cold and rainy in July what do you do? You have the Beech Street Bake Off! Bee made her famous oatmeal cookies, Frankie made homemade chocolate sprinkles, and I made cinnamon olive oil gelato! What was so nice is that Bee and Frankie made their items all by themselves. And, even though we did not plan it this way, the 3 combined made an awesome dessert!
Recipes after the jump…
Biking from Milan to Venice: Many gifts
Biking along the Po from Milano to Venezia was something that Scott and I dreamed about for about 15 years. The girls were old enough and it was our 25th wedding anniversary.
Riding to Mantova
Biking along the Po River brings many surprises! The bridges that cross the Po River and its tributaries are few and far between. So when a bridge is out (“ponte interrotto”) and it’s not marked on the google maps then the more leisurely 30 miles turns into almost 50. Thanks to Scott for his excellent navigation in finding us a new route. You can see our route here.
Add some rain, lightning, wind and mud and this is really an adventure. But what really made my day was the beautiful bouquet of flowers the girls and Scott put on my pack plus the squash belly buttons we had at a trattoria the very small town of Bocca Bassa (maybe 4 streets at the most).
#slowtravelItaly #bikingItaly
Cremona
This is in front of the airbnb we stayed at in Cremona. The hosts were wonderful. Mama brought the girls a fresh baked pizza in the afternoon and Papa insisted we take on of his bunjee cords to keep the bike pack on tighter. We felt right at home. They used their iPad and we used our phones on google translator to communicate.
Siberia! Finally!
In case you have been wondering about where I have been running…. Well, after hitting Seattle at the start of 2012, I decided to head north over to Alaska with the goal of making it to Russia. I would like to run across the world. Well, after a 12 month posting hiatus, I am pleased to report that this January I made it to Siberia. I am so relieved. My goal is to get down to Tokyo by December! I will try to update a bit better this year.
Happy Birthday Scott!
Happy Birthday!! We love you!!! Hope you like the delicious ice-cream brownie sundae we made for you! Much better than cake!
Will they survive?
Poor daffodils. It has been a crazy winter with lots of warm weather (for Michigan, anyway). We’ve had a snowy 3 days since I took the previous picture, and now the daffodils are covered! Do you think they will survive the rest of winter?
January 29th
Daffodils in January?
Our daffodils are poking up out of the ground. I took this picture on January 26th. Wow! Of course these flowers have a long few weeks ahead of them…
