You don’t wanna miss this

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one of our favorite engagement photos – Anakena Beach, Easter Island, Chile

Within the last few weeks a number of unrelated people in our lives have reminded us how much they loved the save-the-date video we made for our wedding. So, we thought it was about time we pulled it out and watched it again. We hadn’t seen it in almost 3 years. And….yep, it’s still our favorite.

It’s no longer up on our wedding website, so we wanted to share it again here. The song might be outdated, and well, you can’t come to our wedding anymore, but you can still get excited about all the awesome things we love about Hawaii….maybe it will even inspire you to explore Oahu soon. Enjoy!

Posted in: Film, inspiration, Love, our videos, relationship, Travel \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

Paddle Boarding in Minnesota

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I recently surprised Ellie with a stand-up paddle board (SUP) for her birthday.  Besides it being something that we have both talked about getting, I realized it was a great way to bring an essence of Hawaii to the 10,000+ lakes here in Minnesota.

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We also took a SUP tour when we were in the Turks and Caicos this summer. It’s a great way to see the water from a new angle.

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We decided to get a board that would be good on lakes as well as the ocean, so that we could potentially bring it with us on trips to Hawaii or Easter Island. To my surprise, there are a bunch of different styles of boards (including ones that pack easy and inflate). They run between a big range of prices, sizes, and weights.  I found the REI website to be the most useful in figuring out what style would work well for us. Another hurdle I had to overcome was how to transport the 10′ 6″ beast using our little Saturn without having to install roof racks.  That’s when I remembered that beach-bumbs on the North Shore of Oahu would have some sort of simple contraption with tie-downs to secure their long boards onto their rusted out hondas. After a little digging in the Amazon of products online, I found Wrap Rax from Block Surf. It’s basically 2 sets of tie-downs with solid padding that holds your board in place on top of your car.

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It only takes me about 5 minutes to get the straps tied down and the board on the car. I love the flexibility of this kit.  And (!) the kit says it can hold up to two long boards.  I guess I’ll just have to get another board for myself 🙂

The sport of Stand Up Paddling (or SUP) has become pretty big throughout the country. I always seem to run across interesting news articles about it, like this one: A musician recently paddled from Cuba to Florida.  He stood up nearly the entire 28 hour journey! The feat was done to bring awareness to international relations between the US and Cuba. Maybe next year both presidents should settle their differences over a paddle on the Mississippi.

Here’s the article:
Musician Paddles from Cuba to Key West

Posted in: active life, Move, outdoor adventures \ Tagged: , , , , , ,

RV Roaming

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Image by Smitten Studio - Classic Campers New Zealand

VW camper van via Smitten Studio 

Our sister and brother-in-law have taken trips through New Zealand and Alaska in RV’s and they swear by this method of travel. You can cook when you are hungry and stop whenever you get tired and sleep for the night. You don’t have to always be on the lookout for a restaurant or a hotel with vacancy or plan out your trip and make reservations before you’ve even left. You can just go with the flow. Lately I’ve been seeing all kinds of gorgeous trailers for rent in different places. I’m all for roughing it in a tent. But I’m not one to turn down luxury, either, especially when it still involves being outdoors in gorgeous places. Sometimes finding available campsites can be difficult. RV’s can’t be parked overnight everywhere, but they offer a bit more flexibility. Maybe it’s time we tried this traveling “RV-style” thing.

VW camper van via Smitten Studio

VW camper van via Smitten Studio

Here and here are beautiful photos of Smitten Studio‘s RV trip in New Zealand. You can rent VW camper vans! I’ve always been worried that if we rented a big clumsy RV and then tried to drive over mountains, it wouldn’t make it over a pass and the gas would cost a fortune. This small version of an RV seems like a much better solution for drives with elevation–not to mention its good looks make for some fantastic photo ops.

Teardrop Trailer via crushculdesac.tumblr.com

Teardrop Trailer via crushculdesac.tumblr.com

Or you could go the route of a teardrop trailer. You can rent a car with a trailer hitch, if you don’t live in California and have your own, and then you can rent one of these from Vacations in a Can and cruise around Yosemite or the Redwood forests. I love the kitchen in the back. Wouldn’t it be fun to cook a gourmet meal, snuggle on a picnic blanket under the trees, and then have a good night’s sleep on a real mattress?

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A few years ago we were camping off Hwy 1 in Big Sur in California and a bunch of guys from Sunset magazine pulled up with a fancy Airstream trailer. They offered us drinks if we would please leave our campsite early in the morning so they could park their trailer there to take photos for the cover (July 2010). Guess we picked a good spot!

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Check out Sunset’s guide to RV’s here. Which would you use?

Have you ever traveled RV-style? Do you have any suggestions or tips? Did the cost of gas outweigh the savings of avoiding a hotel?

Posted in: inspiration, Move, outdoor adventures, Travel \ Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Al Vento: Brunch in Minneapolis

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Some friends of our introduced us to the weekend brunch buffet at Al Vento an italian restaurant in South Minneapolis. We sat down in a beautiful 3-season patio and gorged ourselves on their buffet that included: eggs florentine, meats, pasta, potatoes, salads, pancakes, crepes, pastries, and fruits. The bottomless glasses of Mimosa didn’t help either 🙂 Needless to say, I think I’ve found my new favorite brunch buffet in the Twin Cities.

 

Posted in: Eats, we find \ Tagged: , , , , ,