New year. Part I.

The New Year.
We were ready for this one,
more so than most other years.
We had holiday time with both our families,
and then we booked a bed and breakfast in Old Saybrook,
a little old mariner town in Connecticut.
Hiding for New Year's Eve is our thing.
And while in Japan a few years ago over the New Year,
we fell in love with their celebrations of "firsts".
Like the first visit to a temple in the new year,
or hatsuhinode, the first sunrise of the new year.
And so, every year we try to be somewhere special for that first sunrise.
Meryl's been talking about estuaries
(where fresh water meets salt water)
with her poetry collective,
and Old Saybrook point is where the Connecticut River meets the Long Island Sound.
There are also two lighthouses right there,
Saybrook Breakwater Lighthouse
(the one pictured on all the 'preserve our sound' license plates)
and Lynde Point Light, the one we were next to on the docks.
I love lighthouses, sunsets and sunrises,
and new years.
2013 was off to a beautiful start.

Kicking it Off.

New Year's Eve.
Meryl and I met up with Rebecca for a lunch at Fresh Mint,
an all vegan place in Pa'ia.
Such a good final lunch of 2011.
Then, after he got off work, the Cucch joined us,
and we ate dinner and rang in the New Year as a big group.

I had those 30 Japanese floating lanterns

(think mini hot air balloons)
and we went to the beach to set them off.

It was so windy,

but we managed to release a bunch before midnight.

A couple of them didn't clear the ocean,

but the rest were headed south last time we saw them.

And they were cruising.

I think I took a nap after that,
and "woke up" at 3:00 am.
The family got into the rental car and drove a few, windy hours
up to the top of Mt Haleakala to watch the sunrise.
Hatsuhinode is the Japanese word for the first sunrise of the New Year,
and their traditions of new years firsts is something I'm so brutally into.
So we saw the first sunrise of 2012 from the top of a volcano,
and it was awesome.
10,000 feet above sea level,
and we were sitting above the clouds.
It was even cold up there.

Goodbye 2011.
Hello 2012.
I think I'm f'n ready.
I get home from Hawaii soon,
then I'm off to Grants Pass, Oregon.
I've set up this year to be the best ever.
I hope everyone had a beautiful beginning to this new year.
All my best wishes to you all.

On vacation.

Hawaii, kids.

It's a love/hate relationship.

I love the ocean, but hate the beach.

I love islands, but hate the people that flock to them.

Meryl has family living down here for a year,

and she had never been before.

And she's also moving out to Oregon just for me,

so......Hawaii for the holidays!

You know I don't even own a pair of shorts,

but so far we're doing well.

Day two and I already have two different lighthouse visits.

This first photo is at the top of a mountain Meryl and I climbed to get to Makapuu Point Light the really hard way.

There's a two mile paved path winding around to the lighthouse,

or an unmarked, not-at-all-legitimate super steep climb up to the top and then over.

It got dark before we even hit the top,

it was scary windy,

and some Hawaiian dude kinda told us we were screwed.

But we did it,

and it was so rad.

Here's a view of of the Makapu Point Light from partially up our hike.

At our destination we met this couple who were both biologists working in Hawaii.

We bonded over our shared love of dead birds

(i was wearing a 'dead birds are sexy' shirt)

and they brought us out to dinner and drove us home.

And since their jobs include working with sick and dying birds,

we're about to have some amazing additions to the I love dead birds blog.

So awesome.

This morning I woke up early

(which isn't hard to do with a four hour time difference)

and took a bike ride with Meryl's mom, Colleen,

out to Diamond Head Lighthouse.

Then a few hours later,

Meryl, her sisters, and I hiked the Diamond Head crater,

and got to see the lighthouse from above.

We then ate lunch at the top in a coastal artillery bunker built in 1908.

Tomorrow we fly to Maui,

and get to see some stuff out there for a while.

Rebecca and the Cucch are living on that island these days,

so we'll have some hang out time with them.

And New Years happens while we're there.

Luckily, I was prepared,

and shipped those 30 Japanese floating lanterns to myself.

I don't know who else will be there,

but I will be saying my goodbyes to 2011 in style,

and making sure 2012 gets kicked off right.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
2011, Year of the Rabbit.

I hope everyone has a really successful,

healthy, and fun twenty-eleven.

Last year we were in Tokyo for New Year's,
and that's a hard act to follow.
So this year we ran away to Providence RI for the night,
and stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast.

We'll check out the city for a little while,

and then head to Northampton MA,

wrapping up our East Coast tour with my home away from home,

Maynard House!!

(big thanks to Li for the vegan hotspots of Providence)