Thousands of people travel to see Phil. We saw a ton of  people who had tailgated before the event including some guys wearing “Occupy Punxsutawney” tshirts and these folks buying hot dogs at 5am.

People arrive throughout the morning, taking a 1.5 mile bus ride from designated parking areas to Gobbler’s Knob.
“I got you, Babe” by Sonny and Cher was playing from the radio you see in the photo. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Groundhog Day,” you’d probably chuckle like I did.

My first time seeing fireworks at 6:30am.

Carmela, me, Nicki. Photo by David Wodka.

Later, I saw a journalist interviewing this man about his hat.

At this moment, members of the Inner Circle of The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club are listening to Phil’s prediction. Only one of the gentlemen is holding a special walking cane that allows him to hear Phil say if he’s seen his shadow.

Last photo by Nicki who got to go up on stage and meet Phil.

Phil’s prediction was for “Six more weeks of winter.” Since we really haven’t had much winter weather in Pittsburgh this year, I’d call this “the first six weeks of winter.” Happy Groundhog Day!

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Ryan and I traveled to Hawaii in the spring of 2010 for Laura and Don’s wedding. We weren’t there for long, but we managed to squeeze in some hiking, snorkeling, sight seeing and a visit to a volcano. As soon as we departed, we wanted to return. So this fall we got our chance and traveled directly to the island of Kauai for almost 2 weeks!

After the long trip to arrive, Ryan and I set out for our first hike along the Koko Head Trail. While only 8 miles long, a hike to the Hanakap’ai Falls a difficult full day hike (walking 8 miles at a slow pace would take around 2 hours).

Two miles into the hike is a beautiful beach, part of the Na Pali Coast.

The beautiful Hanakap’ai Falls. Ryan and I took a swim in the pool, though the falls were too powerful to swim directly underneath. Amazing.

Though we were exhausted (already!?!) the next day we took a kayak tour with Wailua Kayak Adventures to the Secret Falls.

Ryan fords the river.

This waterfall we could swim right underneath. So we did!

After this amazing, exhausting hike, we decided to take it easy for a few days. A visit to Queen’s Bath.

This next photo is my favorite photo of Ryan I’ve ever taken and easily one of my favorites of the year.

Our nifty cave photo that I shared last Friday.

It rains A LOT in Kauai. We got to enjoy a lot of “rainbow weather.”

When we had recovered for a few days, we took a zipline tour with Just Live. The top of this tower was our first zipping off point.

Ryan coming across from the first tower. There was one guide to help you launch and one guide to catch you. Don’t worry, the guides are all tied into the tree too.

There were lots of cool bridges for us to cross. All of the rope bridges had a cable above on which to suppress your fall.

Here I am practicing my Superman pose.

Our favorite day was our boat/snorkel tour of the Na Pali Coast with Holo Holo Charters. Arriving at the catamaran at dawn.

The Na Pali Coastline. These mountains hold some of the wettest spots on earth with 400+ inches of rain per year.

We snorkeled next to the tiny island of Lehua. The island is made of rock and only receives 4 inches of rain per year. It is essentially a bird sanctuary.

This is the best snorkeling I’ve ever done. A Hawaiian Monk Seal swam just fifteen feet behind me!

The coolest part was right here. The catamaran stopped over this area where the water was about 20′ deep. This cliff was a vertical wall that dropped to 120′.

Hey!!!

After our boat tour ended, we drove to Waimea Canyon, which looks like the Grand Canyon of Hawaii. Just taking a photo with my iPhone.

Why did the chicken cross the road? I don’t know. Why this one is in the middle of a parking lot? No one can say but there are a ton of wild chickens on Kauai.

Some of the lookouts we visited at Waimea Canyon were in the clouds.

On our last day we rented bikes…

….and took in one more sunset.

Thank you, Ryan for making our vacation so great! And to Ashley for such helpful tips on visiting Kauai.

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Hello everyone! It’s Randi’s favorite sister, Nicki! I just got back from Nicaragua with some pictures I’d like to share and since Randi’s blog is so great I was excited when she asked me to guest post.  I hope you enjoy!

Lets start with some Nicaraguan cuisine, rice and beans, fried egg, salty cheese, avocado, and of course fried plantains.  It’s called “the typical” probably because it’s the most typical breakfast.

Probably my favorite night time picture I’ve ever taken.

Just a cow driven wagon on the road..  sharing is caring.

The truck we were riding in stopped when we turned off the main road and onto a dirt road.  This guy got on.  I guess he was a friend of someone.

We were on our way to go volcano boarding.  It’s just like sled riding, but instead of snow and 20F, it’s igneous rock and around 90F. Camera on the front, a board for El Hoyo on the back.

On our way to volcano boarding, we quick stopped at an active volcano. That smoke is sulfur gas.

One of my favorites…

These are the boards we used to sled down the volcano.

This is my buddy Dave.  He’s a Giants’ fan, but I can forgive him because he spoke Spanish for me during the trip.

The streets of Leon

My favorite hostel, Lazy Bones in Leon. Look at those hammocks.

This was my favorite way to pass the time.

A lot of Nicaraguan confusion. Everyone wants our business for our bus ride across town.

We stayed at a coffee farm (Finca Magdelana) where our accommodations were $3 for the night.

Photo by David Wodka. After afternoons like this, I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect hammock to bring back home with me.

The finca had a pet badger.  His name was “El Diablo”–he was so great.

They also had a raccoon as a pet.  I couldn’t get over it because raccoons are certainly not viewed as pets in the USA.

See me representing the Black and Gold?!!!

The best mango I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Another night time photo… this one was during a lighting storm when the finca lost power.

Just a scorpion I (luckily) found in my hat.

Some grainy, but very very delicious Nicaraguan chocolate.

We were waiting for a “chicken bus.” Basically it’s an old and busted school bus that was shipped to Nicaragua after America was done with it. They cram three times the normal capacity of people in there and you pay about 75 cents. They keep making stops and people keep getting on. Even when you think no one else can fit, they just jam more people in.

While I was visiting Granada, the city celebrated a patron saint festival.  The town had a horse parade.

Some Nicaraguans watching all the horses walk by.  I think there were over a thousand.

We then went to see an active crater in Masaya.

You know the part in the movie Sand Lot  where the kids look into the Beast’s yard and it’s all smokey and scary?  That’s what this crater felt like.

Then we took a flashlight guided tour or the lava tubes.  Photo by…. our guide. Not bad for only having two faint flashlights.

Here’s Pittsburgh from my plane on the way home.  The bright lights on the right upper portion was the Steelers playing the Eagles in preseason.  Vick threw 3 interceptions, we destroyed them, no big deal.

I’m honored to be Randi’s very first guest blogger.  Thanks everyone for reading/looking!!!

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I DO have photos from our Sunday visit to the Hoover Dam and Red Rocks State Park in Nevada.

First, a lo-fi shot from our hotel room at the MGM Grand Signature.

Being huge engineering nerds, a tour of the Hoover Dam was at the top of our to-do list. We’ve been to the Dam before, but it was summer time and the crowds were huge (who knew that the desert was so popular in the summer?). This time, we quickly joined a group for a tour of the diversion tunnels and the power plant. Here are some huge turbines that collect energy from the water passing below. Plus we got to make tons of “dam” jokes. Here are some dam photos.

The Hoover Dam was built with visitors in mind. Art Deco architecture is found in some pretty unusual places.

One of the coolest (most time consuming parts) was walking down into one of the vents in the face of the dam. We’re located near the head of this white arrow–about 200′ down into the concrete structure.

Ryan (6’5″) and me (6′-0″) are standing (crouching) at the end of this 100′ hallway in a single file line with the other 20 visitors in our group. Creepy!

A non-OSHA approved stairway. Ryan was in heaven when his nerdy wife asked our guide questions about ventilation, waterproofing, and safety. Also we learned that 150 gallons of water leak through the dam every minute! Small drainage ways were designed in the corridors where we walked during the tours. Too many fun facts to type, so try Wikipedia.

Second half of the day at Red Rocks State Park.

Sunny, 50F, and windy.

Photo by me.

And this one by Ryan.

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We went to a Nellie McKay concert  at the Highline Ballroom.  Nellie is one of my favorites and I’ve seen her twice before.  She performed a lot of songs from her most recent release which was a tribute to Doris Day.  Great lighting at this concert.

Nicki is also here visiting her friend, Sarah.   We met for lunch one day, much later parting in the subway.  I didn’t use a flash on this photo, it only looks that way.

Jenn had to work for a bit while I was here (I did work as well while she was away).  Jenn and her friend, Erik, at bar trivia on Monday night.  We lost, but had a great time.

And then went to the US Open on Tuesday for the night session.  Walking from the 7 train….

I don’t know what this was, but I watched it for probably 30 minutes while we waited in line.  The guy in the center is wearing a steadicam rig and filming these two people.  Why wear a steadicam in a 10′x10′ box?

I had a great time looking at the cameras while we were waiting to go into the night session (the day session ran late).  There were a few of these overhead rigs.

Jenn on the move.

A lot of people were confused about their seats.

Rafael Nadal v. Teimuraz Gabashvili.  A long match, but Nadal wins in straight sets.

Arthur Ashe and the trains all put in bed.

Time to head home to Pittsburgh soon!

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First the “inflation.”  We were all careful not to call it a “blow up.”

My guy, Ryan.

“Gregory the Great”

Our balloon, “Victory.”

I was obsessed with these cannons and the fire.  315,000 cubic feet of air.

The balloon (empty) weighs 700lbs, the basket and tanks add 1300lbs, and the 20 passengers about 3,000lbs to total 2.5 tons.

After takeoff, the balloon flies up and away.  The pilot can ONLY direct the balloon UP or DOWN, so the “steering” is at the mercy of the wind.  The crew drives around on the ground following the balloon and picks it up when it lands.  They are definitely working hard.

Planes are buzzing around, showing off for us.

I don’t know why the white haze surrounds the shadow of the balloon.

On the ground, the crew releases a small, black helium balloon so the incoming balloon can determine which way the wind currents are blowing.

We had a great time!

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Then, in grand San Francisco style, fireworks in the fog.

And my new friend on a bike

Happy 4th!

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A sign to show the scale of and endurance of the Grizzly Giant.

Naturally occurring (or carefully prescribed) forest fires are good for the Sequioas.  The fires burn off weaker species, create rich soil, and cause pine cones to burst and release Sequoia seeds.

I was pretty tired of walking, so Ryan was tempting me along with cocoa-roasted almonds.  Shaking the container like I was an animal.  Oh and at this time we saw a coyote! so we started yelling and waving our arms so he would run away.

The view inside of “Telescope Tree.”  Very cool.

Ryan inside of Telescope Tree.

These mamma-jammas are BIG.

“Clothespin Tree.”

The tree on the left is called “Faithful Couple” where two separate trees have grown together at the base as one.  The tree on the right may be the next Faithful Couple in a few hundred years as their bases were beginning to grow together as well.

After logging our additional miles, we spent a few (very crowded) hours on the Valley Floors doing small hikes on easy trails.  We decided that we wanted some sunset photos, so we hung around to go to Glacier Point at sunset to see Half Dome.

While the sunset was lovely,  enjoyed photographing the other people and photographers who were there to witness the great event. Being that I am a wedding photographer, I think that this is a good thing.

So much of this going on…

This guy was my favorite.

Please note that the previous day, we hiked from this point (Glacier Point) to that waterfall way in the distance and all the way to the Valley Floor.

During our descent down the mountain, the sunset deep into the sky creating these beautiful colors (These photos SOOC = Straight out of the camera).

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Isn’t this moon supposed to be over Half Dome?

View from Glacier Point.

Starting our hike to the Valley Floor.

Seriously,  I was so glad to be traveling DOWN these granite “stairs.”

This time we are going down the “Mist Trail” again.  Much more fun since we were prepared with waterproof camera gear.

Ryan bit it 2 seconds later.

And nice lighting for a self portrait.

After our day hike, all we wanted to do was eat and sleep.  So back to our comfy hotel we went.  All I said for the next day’s plan was “Please, Ryan, we can do anything but hiking.”  Guess what we did……

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