Catching aka Fishing

Well, getting up at 1 AM and a day full of fishing really took its toll on us and we found ourselves passed out on the couch at 530, which we didn't move from until this morning. 

We'll start from where we left off yesterday morning.  The morning started off with a 45 min drive to the Lahaina pier.  The highways in Maui all have max speed limits of 45 mph, so it takes a little longer to get places.  Probably has something to do with the super curvy roads that Britt keeps telling me to slow down on.  Once at the pier, we found our boat and met our captains Ryan and Chad and our fellow fisherman Devin & Jake from Alberta and Mark & Dean from Arizona. Capt Chad gave us an overview of the plan and off we went. We were off for the Alenuihaha Channel.  When I first heard where we were heading, I didn't think anything of it. But the. The captain Chad mentioned it was considered some of the roughest waters in all of the world. I was a little shocked to hear this knowing I had a 5 month pregnant wife with me and seeing her get sea sick on a casual dinner cruise.  None the less, we were on our way and there was no turning back now. Surprisingly, Britt was in pretty good spirits hearing this and didn't seem too nervous.  We had a 2 hour boat ride out to the fishing buoys, so Britt laid down for a snooze. The guys joining us on the boat were pretty chatty and we commenced to talk and complain about the terrible job that Obama is doing and the Canadian government. Dean was a pretty goofy guy and he made the trip go pretty fast and comical. 

We finally reached our designation, buoy GG in the channel. You could definitely feel that the waves had picked up and the boat was rocking.  I was feeling a little queasy, which is probably the first time ever so it gives you an idea how much the boat was rocking. Britt woke up from her nap and was slowly waking up as the captains got the rods ready. About a minute after waking up, Britt didn't look too good.  She yells for the garbage can and commences to hurl up her breakfast.  The captain asks her to go out to the rail and to puke over the boat. I'm getting super nervous as the water is rough and Britt could easily fly over the rail. Luckily she sits down and completes her puking episode.  I was thinking in my head that I'm in super trouble for letting my pregnant wife go on a fishing trip and it is going to be a long long day.   We found Britt a spot to sit and get fresh air.  

We were set to start fishing with live bait and try our luck for some Mahi Mahi and tuna.  The boat focused the fishing around a buoy. Buoys are setup around the island to attract bait fish.  Algae grows on the chain of the buoy which bait fish feed on and then attract the predator fish. After about 20 mins, we had our first fish on. The pole went to Devin who was a little guy at 12 years old and probably weighing a whole 75 lbs. luckily his dad was their to help bring in the fish as the Mahi Mahi were pretty good fighters.  We caught one more at buoy GG, but fishing was slow so we moved on to another buoy.  Along the way, we set up for some Marlin trolling large squid lures behind the boat but had no luck.

Once we arrived at buoy NL, back to the live bait we went.  As soon as the line met the water, we had our first hit in our new spot.  I was next up for the reel so I got to reel this fish in.  We had to use a pole anchor around our waist to provide a pivot point while feeling the fish in. It was a little awkward at first but I figured it out after awhile.  The fight was on with the first fish.  We could tell it was a Mahi Mahi with the fish jumping out of the water several times. After about 5 mins the fish was in.  What a blast and some tired arms. We continued to nail the Mahi Mahi and seemed to have found the spot.  Our whole group was hooting and hollering in excitement except poor Britt sitting in her spot still recovering.  After awhile though I think all the action got Britt's mind off things and she was ready to get in on the action.  Britt took hold of the rod and started reeling in her first Mahi Mahi.  She struggled a bit with the reeling due to the strength of the fish but did awesome.  I was so proud (Paul Rhodes "so proud!" for you cyclone fans) that she got out there like a champ and over came her seasickness and ended up enjoying her time on the boat.  We went on to catch a total of 19 Mahi Mahi and 2 yellowfin tuna as a group. We ran out of live bait and likely could have continued to catch more fish. Lesson learned is to never run out of bait and always have extra!

After running out of bait, we headed back for the pier and set up for Marlin and Ono.  Unfortunately, we didn't get a single hit and ended our day with 21 total fish - 4 caught by me and 2 by Britt.  Back at the pier, Capt Chad took some pics of the group with our catch and filleted up a Mahi Mahi for us to take home to grill.  We headed back and grilled up our catch. It was delicious and wonderful way to end our day.  

I think Britt will definitely go out again but I think it is best that I keep her off the water for the rest of the trip.  We will make it out again when baby gets bigger and we can all enjoy it together.

A fishing story cannot be true unless there is proof, so here we go!

The first few days...

The first few days of vacation have flown by and I am finally getting a chance to  catch up and write.  As I write, I am enjoying some shade under my umbrella on the beach while Ted is out snorkeling in the waters across from our condo.  What an amazing view from the beach to be able to see clear waters and miles around!

Alright, so let's rewind to the first day we arrived.  When we got into town, we first pit stopped at Walmart for a few necessities like coffee, cereal, milk, Gatorade, and the likes.  Milk, anyone care to guess a price?  Try $5.28 per gallon!  Everything else was actually relative to prices back home which we were pleasantly surprised.  Finding a checkout lane I settled upon a nice older lady, Ruth. She quickly greeted us with the most heartwarming smile and as she started ringing us up she kept giving us discounts.  I thought to myself this is strange..until she finally commented how she checks all of her competitors adds and gives her customers the best discount! I couldn't believe it that someone would go to the lengths she did just to help out her customers. She even had all the ads in front of her so she could flip through incase she forgot one, which she did, and went back right away to the specific page the item was on.  As she checked us out, she asked us if we brought any bags to bag groceries because a few years ago they did away with plastic, which I believe is outstanding!  We opted out of the 50 cent reusable bags and packed everything back in our cart.  As we were getting ready to leave she wanted to know if we were just arriving and as we told her yes, she handed us a hand written list of all her favorite restaurants on the island for us to keep.  Just one other thing she enjoys doing for visitors.  Ted and I walked away with smiles on our faces and will no doubt write a nice note to Walmart about the friendliest service we have ever received!  

Checking into our condo was a bit like being on the "Amazing Race" game on CBS.  We went round and round trying to follow the directions given to us by the owners.  And it was only after 20 minutes we figured the key she was referencing wasn't down by the mailboxes and a master lock we thought she was referencing, rather, it was at our condos doorsteps.  Silly us!  With it being 6:00 pm by the time we arrived which would be 11:00 back home, we decided to hit the sack early in hopes of arising by 2:00 am Hawaii time to drive to the top of the volcano and watch the sunset.  What seemed to be a good idea at the time, wasn't so enticing the next morning and we instead choose to "sleep in" until 5:30 and walk to the beach per Britt's earlier post.  

Skipping ahead and even though we already wrote about it earlier, Ted insisted I include a photo of the hot pink shorts dude, so here it is. 

We also wanted to include another photo which shared with everyone the baby's sex, but unfortunately the ocean got the best part of the photo....too bad:(

Bright and early!

We didn't get a chance to write last night as we were in bed by 7 pm Maui time.  Why, you may ask?  Well, we are "gone fishin" today! A 1 am wake-up call and we are anxiously awaiting to board our boat for an 8 hour excursion in hopes of catching mahi mahi and tuna!  Wish us luck and let's hope Britt is not hugging the side of the boat more than she is her fishing pole!  Dramamine and sea bands courtesy of her pharmacist mother we hope will do the trick! 

More to come later today:)

Boy or girl?

It's been opened...the coveted Manila envelope determining the fate of our future.  Awaking at 545 local time 1145 central time..yes..we slept in technically), I rolled over and asked Ted if he would like to walk to the beach as the sun was rising and open the envelope.  He agreed , which, had he not, I would have still been going by myself!  We packed our camera bag and off we went across the street.  Only a fisherman passed out in his chair stood with us in our remote location.  Ted videoed as I removed the contents, we both closed our eyes, and together looked at the penmanship of our ultrasound tech's handwriting.  We will just say for now, that one of us was right, and one of us was wrong.  But, either way, we are over the moon!  After a few photos in the sand, thankfully, the older, overweight gentleman in hot pink shorts walking by didn't ruin the moment.  It was enough for Ted,though, to take a photo of him as he passed by...

As I write, we just finished breakfast on our deck, ironing out some things to do today.  It will be a relaxing, unwinding day  Maui.

Our cruiser for the week!  Mustang convertible!  Some tourist in this photo looks mighty happy!

Baby Mikels

Long before Ted and I had planned this vacation, but knew we were expecting, we had both wanted to keep our blog up to date.  We knew it would be a treasured item and we would be able to look back on our journey and share the memories with our kids someday.  Unfortunately, every other life event like two summer courses, a month of 12 hour work days, camping on the weekends, and what have you all got in the way.  Now, here we are on month five with nothing to show for it.  Therefore, it is my hope during this trip I take some time to sit and reflect on our experience so far and what it has and will mean to me.

Time to start this from close to the very beginning, sparing certain details of course!

I shall rewind to April 19th.  It was a beautiful Friday and we were to start an intercession course in Cedar Rapids with one, if not the, best teacher I have ever had. The course was a Friday evening and all day Saturday course. I left work at 3:30 to make a quick stop at Hy-Vee for two of the most crucial items I have ever purchased.  The first, as many of you know, is something I can't live without.  And I did that day, up until 3:30.  Chapstick!!  I had run out of my favorite kind which I typically keep a bountiful stock supply at home, but obviously had not been keeping good inventory records.  The other item, "the test".  Ted didn't know I was purchasing one, but I felt compelled as it seemed my body was acting strangely to me, most noticeably at work, and only one thing which really set me off to question myself.   Strangely, in a department close to mine, while they had been on layoff in the weeks prior they were doing some major cleaning to their undercarriage system.  At first, when I would walk by, I just assumed their cleaning chemicals were quite powerful and that was to expected- the smell, etc. But by the second week when they have completed their work, and I walked with my colleague past this department and asked him if he could taste any weird particles on his tongue and each time he answered no, that was my first resounding clue.  

So fast forward to the day I make my second purchase at Hy-Vee, I guess I would say I had a "feeling".  By time I got home, Ted was already there and sitting on the couch.  I recall walking in and setting my purchase on the kitchen counter, walking out to say hi, and proceed to tell him what I bought and what my intentions were. I believe he laughed at me and blew it off like it was no big deal.  I proceeded to take the test, and while the results were stewing, got ready for class.  After a few short minutes, not the least bit nervous, I read the results.  I was convinced it was true, that we were indeed pregnant!  I walked non-chalantly out to the living room with the test and tell Ted we were expecting.  His first words I do believe were "nut uh"!  I showed him the test, his eyes squinting at the faint positive line.  He wasn't convinced, which in turn made me second guess the results. After a minute, I swear to God we had the most awkward hug of a cross between excitement and unsureness if you could ever envision such a thing.  It was maybe 10% excitement if that.  So, after minute, it was determined it was time to head to class and a stop at Walmart on the way home to confirm or truly deny the first test.  The whole drive down to Cedar Rapids was then spent guessing if it was indeed true or not.  I was still convinced and Ted was truly not.  The next five hours were spent counting down the time until that fateful drive home.  And by 10:00 we rolled into Walmart.  Walking in like anxious school kids, we found our way to the tests and spent another 20 minutes analyzing the best one to get. Oh wait though, Ted wanted us to buy not one, but two because how could you possibly convince him on something that was only 99.9% accurate!  We make it home, I run two tests, and sure enough, two more faint lines and I knew. Ted, still, didn't like the fact that it wasn't a mathematical equation and didn't spell out 1+1=2!  So, while there was pure excitement from my side Ted honestly wasn't convinced until two weeks past that.  And even then, I truly believe he wasn't 100% certain until our first doctor appointment and the reality set in when we listened to the heartbeat!  So there you have it, the story which shows it takes a small army to convince an engineer that there isn't always a mathematical equation proving results! 

Up, up, and away!

3:45 am wake-up call...check.

Trip to Des Moines chauffeured by our sister-in-law, Sarah...check.

Running into an old high school and family friend on the same flight...check.

Our new camera, video camera, and camera bag replaced when ours was stolen in Rome last fall..check.

Obnoxious lighted bag tag on camera bag so that we remember to take bag with us at all times...check.

Plan put into place so said bag is not left behind...check.

Baby Mikels enjoying his/her first flight..double check!

Time to sit back, relax, and enjoy this first class ticket...

'twas the night before vacation

And all through the house.  Not a creature was stirring, but there was more than a mouse!

Ah yes, it appears to be our nephew, Brennan.

We have made our way to Ames for a short overnight stop before waking to a 4:00 am alarm clock! 

I suppose I should close and pay attention to our online MBA class.  But, it is very difficult with what lies ahead!

Adios...

Babymoon 2013

It's that time again!  Time for the Mikels to make another great adventure, only this time it is the Mikels plus one.  Well, kind of!  Wednesday we are off for one last horrah to Hawaii:). We can't wait to relive some of our favorite memories of our honeymoon..mainly, pineapple!   10 days of tropicalness in Maui with a view of the ocean from our rental property and we are bound to have a relaxing time with only bountiful stories to share!  Aloha!