http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/kamaaole kama hele/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from kamaaole kama hele en-us Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:34:33 BST Sat, 06 Sep 2008 23:34:33 BST PUPPY KOKO'OLUAWe're so excited Spring is almost here bringing with it change growth and rebirth. But for Erin and I spring brings with it something new this year....a puppy. In particular and 8week old puppy named Koko'olua meaning 'companion' in Hawaiian. Lua or lulu for short. Here are some pictures of her.She is a Mini TriColored Australian Shepherd. And she is a bundle of ubercute http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Portland/blog-254500.html BELOW THE FALLS SHANE'S CREATION2 people. 2 twostorey timberframe homes. 2 years. Amazing..... A Herculean feat by anyone's standards.Located on a stretch of Glenn Creek where wild salmon and steelhead return each year to spawn and just below the natural beauty of Golden and Silver Falls are two lodgestyle timberframe homes that were artfully designed and constructed by Erin's older bro http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Coos-Bay/blog-212059.html ROGUE VALLEY WINE TASTINGWhat could be better than autumn in Oregon Mushrooms Pears Squash Salmon Wine. The tree leaves changing from green to sienna to crimson. The crisp dewy mornings. The nights just cold enough to require that extra blanket and a fire in the woodstove. Ah sweet sweet Oregone we missed you. On our way back up to Portland after staying with Al and Sharon in Santa Clara http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Oregon/Ashland/blog-211263.html THE ULTIMATE BLOGFirst and foremost thank you to everyone for sharing this trip with us. Your notes and messages along the way have been appreciated more than you know. We wanted to write this final entry trademarked The Ultimate Blog for posterity something to let the kids read someday along with looking at all the pictures. But it's hard to know where to begin and what to say. We really pa http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/-le-de-France/Paris/blog-203259.html We lost all of our pictures on Naxos and had one day to replace them. But if you want to see Naxos pictures they are on the Naxos blog.SANTORINILICIOUSSantorini's bleached whitestuccoed clifftop village overlooking the most amazing caldera you've ever seen its many restaurants with live greek music seafood and local specialties ie fried tomato balls and its endless black sand beac http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Santorini/blog-203256.html NAXOSNaxos is a truly perfect Mediterranean island. Its a laid back and relaxing place with some of the best white sand beaches and clearest water we ve seen on our trip thus far. It has a lively port town Chora with fresh seafood restaurants and a storybook maze no joke of backalleys in the old town fit for exploring and shopping. Naxos also has an amazing mountainous interior with many hillt http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/South-Aegean/Naxos/blog-199002.html MIKENASMycenae pictures. We are on Naxos and it is fantastic Everything you wish a Greek island would be. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Pelopennese/blog-198008.html NAFPLIOBeautiful Greek town on the mediterrranean with a Venetian castle standing guard above it on a clifftop. In its hayday Nafplio was a thriving Venetian port and the architecture of the buildings in the old town along with its piazza make you feel like you might still be in Italy. Swimming was amazing. Warm clear calm water. People were very friendly here the view from our balcony was http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Pelopennese/Nafplion/blog-197915.html KARDAMYLIKardamyli is a peaceful little village on the Mediterranean in the Messinian Mani. The people treat you like family and not like tourists. It was a refreshing experience at this point in our trip. Our trip was cut short by the terrible fires that have affected Greece for the past week. But while we were in Kardamyli we had a great conversation with a local named Yanni in his olive oil http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Greece/Pelopennese/Kalamata/blog-197357.html POSITANOA few picturesque towns nestled into cliffs and vshaped coves beautiful flowers beautiful and distinct churches winding roads that induce vertigo and sphincter spasms and expensive restaurants. Positano wasnt our favorite but it was worth the visit. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Campania/Amalfi/blog-197355.html ONE WEEK IN FIRENZEOur week consited ofFeasting on cheap pizza and wine while watching sunsets on the steps of Piazza Michaelangelo Strolling through the open air markets near Piazza San Lorenzo and the endless stalls filled with leather jackets purses and florentine stationery exploiring the Piazzas of the Oltroarno and searching in vain for the mystical calzone of the gods eaten during Ja http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-195098.html IL PALIOThe Palio di Siena is a truly medieval moment. It is a no holds barred horse race where riders representing 10 of the citys 17 fiercely competitive neighborhoods battle it out for yearly bragging rights during 3 laps around Sienas main squareIl Campo. Over the many years Palio competitors have bneen know to whip and throw each other from their horses and the rules state that a horse can http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Siena/blog-194474.html CINQUE TERREWhat we are about to write should be kept as quite as possible. The Cinque Terre is already heavily touristed so just tell your closest friends This is the ONLY coastline that either of us has ever seen that ACTUALLY rivals the CaliforniaOregon coastline. And add to that colorful clifftop villages water warm enough to swim in terraced vineyards from seashore to mountain top and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-192960.html DUBROVNIKDubrovnik was amazing. Europeans call it the Carribean of Europe not too far from the truth. The water was warm the food not too shabby and they actually sold beer by the liter. Nice We spent our time exploring the gorgeous old town baking our bodies in the sun and diving off the numerous rocky outcroppings and beaches. We are actually in Florence now and will give an update of th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Dubrovnik/blog-192659.html By the way in case anyone was wondering TravelBlog dot org crashed and lost the pictures and text to several of our blogs. Awesome. Hope all is well with everybody.Matt and Erin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Liguria/Cinque-Terre/blog-191041.html HRVATSKI HOSPITALITYPICTURES TO FOLLOW WHENEVER WE GET TO A MODERN COMPUTER.......After 36 consecutive hours of travel thats a 6 hour jaunt from Nice to Milan a 3 hour hop to Venice a 7 hour overniught scoot to Zagreb a 5 hour shuffle to Split concluded by a 4 hour shimmy to Dubrovnik we were picked up at the bus station by the proprietor of Rooms Antovnic a 72 year old Croatian woman n http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Dubrovnik/blog-189331.html Isle Sur La Sorgue MarketnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspProvence Alpes Cote d Azur raquonbspVaucluse By kamaaole kama heleJuly 24th 2007Matthew and ErinISLE SUR LA SORGUE MARKETThe Sunday Market at Isle Sur La Sorgue is famous throughout Provence and for good reason. The market honestly seems like it never ends winding in and out of the small town's cobblestone streets. Chee http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/blog-184986.html Red Earth of RoussillonnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspProvence Alpes Cote d Azur raquonbspVaucluse By kamaaole kama heleJuly 23rd 2007Matthew and ErinRED EARTH OF ROUSSILLONApparently the earth in and around the village of Roussillon has an extraordinary percentage of red ochre in it hence the signature reddish color of everything in the town. Ochre is a natural pigment that http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/blog-184721.html Gordes IncroyablenbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspProvence Alpes Cote d Azur raquonbspGordes By kamaaole kama heleJuly 23rd 2007Matthew and ErinGORDES INCROYABLENot much to say besides Go here before you die. This was the first stop on our Vaucluse Village Road Trip. We rented a sweet Opel Hatchback from Brian's 'amis' Seb at Hertz pronounced 'airtz' and spent a day http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Gordes/blog-184608.html Sweet Sweet CassisnbspEurope raquonbspFrance raquonbspProvence Alpes Cote d Azur raquonbspCassis By kamaaole kama heleJuly 23rd 2007Matthew and ErinSWEET SWEET CASSISGetting to Cassis wasn't as easy as we had hoped but when we finally did arrive it was definitely worth the effort. It was a beautiful port town in the shadow of an old castle perched atop a cliff. The ocean was cool http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Cassis/blog-184208.html