Underpants and Dolphins

Yesterday morning was the infamous Underpants Run downtown. It supports the Special Olympics and is basically just what it sounds like: a bunch of people running in their underwear! Tri Fusion always represents with red wigs and boas and this year we did not disappoint. I seriously felt like a celeb. Everyone wanted their picture taken with us and we are gracing quite a few websites covering the race as I'm writing this! It was a blast!


Yep, that's my man! Although you can't really tell from the pic, he is definitely sporting a mustache! Awesome.

After the run, we decided it was time for a chill day at the pool. That's where I was introduced to the Chi Chi: coconut milk, pineapple juice, and rum blended together. It was magically delicious! Also good was the Lava Flow which was basically a pina colada with strawberry mixed in. Yum!


In the evening, Eric and I headed downtown to do a little shopping. We made a stop at Hawaii's oldest church. It was built in 1820. The grounds surrounding in were beautiful.

Today was the day I have been looking forward to all week. When I was younger, I was pretty much obsessed with dolphins. I was convinced I was going to be a marine biologist so that I could just swim with them all day. It was time to make my dream come true. We headed out on a little boat today in search of dolphins. It took us a while to find them, but once we did, it was magical. We found a pod and then surged ahead of them, put on our snorkeling gear, and got in the water to wait for them to swim by. The first time I saw them, which was just 2 of them, I felt like a little kid at Christmas. Then, I turned to my right and the entire pod of like 20 of them swam right past me. So close I could almost touch them. We repeated this 3 more times. Words cannot do this experience justice for me. It was incredible!

Our captain and total bad ass, Tara

On our way back, we found the pod again and they started playing with the boat! They were swimming and jumping in the wake as well as swimming right under the front of the boat. It was so much fun to watch. They were having a blast playing with us and we were all hooting and hollering like 5 year olds. So much fun!

Green Beach

Yesterday, we decided to make the trek to Green Beach. The sand is actually green because there are olivine crystals in it from volcanoes. Pretty cool. We heard you could drive pretty close, but after that you either needed a 4 wheel drive or some shoes for the 2 mile hike that gets you there. We had no idea what was in store for us. Luckily, we ran into a local, Ted, who we were able to snag a ride with. Yes, I had to ride in the back of a truck with not one, but two dogs, but it was so worth it! I have no idea how we would have found the beach without Ted. In fact, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it!

Greg and Nat rented a Jeep so they were good to go, although it was a bit precarious at times!

This place was truly incredible. The waves were awesome and we had a blast riding them all day. This is one of two green sand beaches in the entire world!

Unfortunately, my camera did not do justice to how green this sand was! Believe me, it almost looked like there was algae all over it!

Eric's cliff jump!

As we were having the group pic above taken, we noticed that Ted was packing up! I sprinted to grab my camera and yelled to Ted that we'd be happy to pay him for a ride back. He said ok so we all hurried to pack up our stuff. None of us wanted to hike through the 90 degree, humid dessert that was the only way back to our cars and civilization! Here are some pics from the way back where I was lucky enough to snag a ride in the cabin.

Here's Ted, our savior! He lives in the middle of nowhere with no electricity. He charges batteries with solar panels. He also visits Green Beach at least 3 times a week, but he's sick of how touristy it's getting. He has found a new beach, location undisclosed, that he is going to start going to as soon as he's done building the boat he needs to get to it!

What an adventure!

Day Three

This morning, we woke up early to check out the IronMan swim course. About 700 meters out, there is a big sail boat with espresso and some new GU gel flavors. After getting free TYR swim caps and goggles just because we were wearing TYR suits (awesome!) we headed to the boat. And yes, Emma came with us! I loved it yesterday when Jessi asked her if she wanted to swim on the IM swim course and her response was, "Sure!" Pretty amazing!




Afterward, we headed to "Turtle Beach" to do some snorkeling and check out the turtles. Beautiful!

This is "Rocky." He's about 13-15 years old. Pretty cool.


Now I'm on my way to find a new swim suit and tonight is the Parade of Nations for all of the athletes competing in the race on Saturday. On the docket for tomorrow: green beach. The sand is actually green! Should be fun! I love it here!!!!!