wow!! anna- you write so well! since Jim and i were just in Hawaii while the volcano was spewing, i feel your sense of terror. Glad you made it out alive!! An amazing experience!!! take care and try not to be to tempted by a rumpling crater!!!! love ya. dz
OMG And I thought watching Mt. St Helens erupt from 100 miles away was pretty exciting! lol What an experience Anna; I am envious of you and your travels! Be careful..........
Wow. Great photos and great writing. Felt like Iwas there! SUch a great adventure, Anna. Have fun and keep up the writing so we can live vicariously through you! Love ya, Mom
Awesome! Awesome Anna! Thanks for sharing this thru your eyes. I don't think I would have been brave enough to stand there during those explosions! I'm glad you made it back without being sacrificed to the gods!
Hang in there! Nice Anna! Way to jump right in and take control! We really appreciate your comments and sharing of adventures on the Bold Spirit! Keep us informed! Love you!
Your life is nice! Hello Anna,
what a great new travel story!! It sounds great! Hope you guys have a lot of fun!!!!
Fida and I finished our trip in SUmatra. Tomorrow we fly to Malaysia and then we have 1 1/2 week left.
After that it is back to being a teacher again....
Keep up the good life!
CHeers!! Sven! ;-)
Correction to Photo This is not Marble Street. It is Curetes Street. Marble Street begins by the Augustus Triumphal Arch, which is beside beside the library, which is at the foot of Curetes Street.
Happy Birthday Anna! Happy 26th Birthday Anna! Thanks so much for sharing your vacations--- in Fiji with Jeff & Kathi from your vacation in Australia. How wonderful that you are able to live these adventures! And it is so cool that all your family--your dad, your mom and your sister have also been able to partake.
Here is a "Prost" to you on your birthday from your (thumb-mate) Aunt Mary & Uncle Tom!!
Keep smiling that beautiful smile of yours. We love you.
Happy Birthday! Hi, Anna and Shannon!
Happy Birthday to you, Annalise! Can't believe that you are 26 already. Hope you have had an excellent day. We spoke with your mom last night and she said you all are in Thailand and Vietnam. Hope that has been fun and interesting. Wondering how you've spent your birthday.... We're just getting started on your special day, so I'll try to make it good in your honor! We'll be seeing Kevin for dinner, so that will be a nice thing to do.
We just had a great week hiking on the Olympic peninsula, starting at Neah Bay and working our way east. Did 23 miles total, and managed to mostly avoid the rain, wind and even snow! It was a crazy week of weather, but we saw sun on the beach at least 5 times. Ended up in Coupeville on Whidbey Island and decided to take in the tulip festival and La Conner on the spur of the moment - was great to approach from the other direction, pretty much avoiding the traffic. Our favorite hike was a 6 mile loop along the Sol Duc river up to the falls, with some snow on the trail and the Hot Springs to jump into at the end of the hike. Pretty nice!
Well, we're thinking of you both, and just want to wish you a very Happy Birthday one more time. We love you lots. Be safe and have fun. By the way, stupid Duke won, although it was down to the wire.
Aunt Kathy and Uncle Joe
Envy Hey Anna,
I am so envious of your life! I am glad to hear you're still adding new adventures to your list so I can live vicariously through you! :) Hope all is well and hopefully we'll catch up again someday. :)
Courtney (West) Heil
hello Anna good morning from Central Washington. Your pictures have me craving the lifestyle!! Your mom and I were just discussing the fact that you had not blogged in awhile. I am pretty sure you are destined to be a travel writer!
Can't wait unitl you crave the homestead agian, it will be good to seee you!
love Diana (like my new italian last name?) ((marlin))
"Mussel" beach and "sand dollar" haven Hey, Anna and Shannon!!
It's great to hear from you both, and that you are enjoying your adventures in the South Pacific. We can't wait to hear about Southeast Asia!!
We send greetings from the North Pacific - we're sitting in a cabin on the beach just below Cape Flattery on the Makah Indian Reservation. We just got here yesterday and will be spending a week working our way back across the top of the peninsula and end up at Deception Pass on Whidbey. It's Spring Break!
Yesterday we stopped at a beautiful tidepool beach called SaltCreek near Port Angeles and Lake Crescent, on our way here. Great tide pools and miles of mussels forming sheets over the rocks. We found some great sea urchin shells, and also watched an otter eating a flounder! Then, last night, we walked nearly a mile down the beautiful beach where we are staying called Hobuck Beach. There were hundreds of large sand dollars in pristine shape on this sandy beach - I couldn't resist and brought about 15 back to the cabin. I'm going to have to choose....
Joe and I are a bit surprised to have internet access here on the NW tip of the continental US - we're watching rain storms, clouds and sunshine blow in and out and it feels like we are hundreds of miles from civilization. Today we're going to do a hike at Cape Flattery, and tomorrow we'll drive down to Lake Ozette and hike out to Cape Alava (about 6 miles round trip). We'll be stopping at Sol Duc Hot Springs the next night and doing a hike out of there the following day.
All is well here as you can see - we're into Spring now (although there was a spring snow storm that blew through the peninsula the day before we got here with 93 mph winds near Cape Flattery - glad we missed that!) The days are getting longer and the nights shorter, and my garden is blooming and looking great! Spring is definitely my favorite time of year.
Kevin and Sean are well and would want me to say hello. Sean is pondering returning to school - he was accepted to 2 master's programs - one at Tulane and one at Johns Hopkins and is trying to decide what to do. Kevin is back working at Wild Ginger, and getting lots of hours and making more money than before so he is happy about that. He is playing with 2 bands now, Del Simpl Wait and another group that doesn't have a name yet.
Uncle Joe says hello - he is sitting here reading his book - we watched the end of the Final Four 1st set - Butler and Duke will be playing the final game on Monday. Go Butler!
So take care, girls, and enjoy your trip! Be safe!
We send lots of love - Aunt Kathy (the other one) and Uncle Joe
Ginger Hi Ginger,
I love that part of your trip. Anna as a red-head from the dust. I hope you took pictures and will post them. Everything sounds like a wonderful time and I am glad you are traveling with good judgment and meeting great people. Miss you.
Love,
Kristen
Great trip! Anna:
Great to hear from you!! Wonderful pictures - sounds like quite an adventure!! Thanks for sharing it with us, Joe really liked it too. I'm so glad things worked out for you to see that special place - looks like you definitely needed a 4 WD!!
We had a great trip too, got back on the 10th and both of us have headed back to work. We were travelling in the footsteps of Charlemagne (crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 800 AD) which finally made European history make sense!! Belgium was incredible and we really enjoyed spending the weekend with our friends in Antwerp - they have absolutely the best chocolate, pastries and beer in the world in Belgium!! Boy, would it be easy to get fat there! We also visited Amsterdam - wonderful canals, art and we were able to go into the Ann Frank house, which was very touching. Then Aachen, Germany, which is where Charlemagne lived in his later years because of the hot springs. We were able to go to mass in the Cathedral that he built. On to Luxembourg City (a charming, but heavily fortified city that has seen more than its fair share of war), Paris (more art and food, plus jazz one night), Rouen (where Joan of Arc was tried and burned at the stake), and then Brugge and Antwerp in Belgium. We loved it!! Glad you are getting to explore the world too. Kevin is doing well - playing more and more and seems to be enjoying himself. Sean is coming up tonight for the weekend, to see a friend before he heads back to Washington DC. Grace is coming up to visit and will be staying with Shannon and Petra, over Bumbershoot weekend (next weekend). We're looking forward to seeing her. Saw Conor, Mary, Dan, Dana, and Lily last weekend at Rocky Bay. Conor told us a little about your Ireland trip too! We send lots of love. Aunt Kathy and Uncle Joe
Looks beautiful! Anna- Great photos. Beautiful beach and sunset. Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself and wow such a quick transition to the traveling life. Keep in touch on your plans. We miss you and love you. So does Tim. Mom
Could it be love? Anna,
Maybe you were made to live in Auzzi for the rest of your life. Open your own hostel? I think its your love. Anyways, I love the picture. I went to the Shoulder Institute today and turns out my arm wasn't completely fixed. I have MRI and X-Ray done and will find out whats going on soon. I will keep you updated. Have fun and please remember us here in FL.
Much Love,
Kristen
hi Hey, Anna - bon voyage from us in France. Joe and I are in Rouen France right now where they burned Joan of Arc. We just had an email from Sean and he tells us that there is a heat wave in the NW; so we are both lucky to be gone. Joe and I have had a great time seeing lots of history - we visited the town of Charlemagne and are now exploring his territory - Amsterdam; Maastricht; Aachen; Luxembourg City; Paris; Rouen; and then Brussels; Bruges and Antwerp. We are having a fantastic time - hope you have arrived safely; and we will look forward to hearing more from you!
Love; Aunt Kathy and Uncle Joe
Queen's Day around the globe! Hola chica! It sounds like you are having an incredible time! The tubing sounds like such a blast. I can't believe how much you have seen and done since I last saw you! So you are actually returning to Washington state in the nearer future? If you are around b'ham I would love to catch up and hear some of your fantastic stories!
I also love that you celebrate queen's day - it appears the Dutch have a large influence across the globe, we also had a huge party (full of orange shirts) in Peru!
I hope you enjoy the rest of your time abroad!
Ciao,
-nicole
Sounds Rough.... Wow Anna, so is this your 'vacation' from your 'vacation' in australia? Cause thats what it sounds like pretty much! :) Sounds like you are just trying to soak up the last few moments abroad there so thats good! Can't wait to meet up and hear of some travels and have another Oneill summer
The Island Life Anna,
This island life living you have going is amazing! I am so excited to get to do this. The rainy season is crazy and we just started here in FL. I love the 4pm sessions! Have fun and see you in a week!
Kristen
continued ok, my computer just sent my unfinished message. and i was waxing on so poetically myself!!
I look forward to your coming home for sure and i am stoked you will be here for my wedding. ahhhh!!! MY WEDDING! WHO'D OF THUNK IT.
take care MIss analisa, lisa, lisa love ya!!!
What do ya know And here I was looking on facebook for little tid bits about your travels. Man was I amazed to finally take a good look at your blog. There is so much that we don't even come close to talking about when on the phone for our 10 minute intervals. I am not going to lie I did a little skimming, and did not realize how much I have missed. I will do this subscribing thing and hope to get all the juicy details over the next few months....year! Miss ya!! Spicy beans, and of course SOMETHING
cabochick
Andrea
Fantastic!
I so look forward to doing the same this summer on Vanuatu! I'll probably giggle in terror as well. Great blog!