Ambria's Adventures

  Sunday is typically reserved as a hiking day for my friend group and me. This past Sunday, we decided to try a trail none of us had ever done but was on our lists: Pali Puka. This trail is less than 1 mile (my GPS marked it as .85 to the hole in the rock and back), rated moderate-difficult, has many steep areas where ropes are provided to help climb, can be windy and muddy, and will have you walking along some cliff edges. If you’re not great with heights, this may not be the one. However, one of the girls with us was very nervous at the cliffs and managed to make it with our support. Getting to the Pali Puka was pretty easy, and there is a parking area for the Nu’uanu Pali Lookout Point (if you’re coming from Honolulu, just take highway 61 N about 5 miles, and the signs are marked. If you reach the tunnels, you went too far). There are parking fees for non-residents that can be paid at the pay station. It looked like there were several options to pay, including using a credit ...

Day 4 - Portland, Columbia River Gorge, Seattle (4h 35m, 270 miles) After a night of rest and relaxation in Portland, it was time to hit the road again. However, it was also the 4 th of July, and my friend and I thought it would be more fun in a city, so we decided to spend the night in Seattle, Washington. Looking back, this was not the best option for us. While we did find a nice hotel at a reasonable price, it was so close to Portland that we definitely did not get enough mileage in. On top of that, most things in Seattle were closed anyway because of the pandemic. If I could do it again, I’d make a stop to get some coffee, check out the wharf, the gum wall, and probably be on my way. Anywho, before we left Oregon, we wanted to check out some views outside of the city and made our way to the Columbia River Gorge. Crown Point offered spectacular scenes of the gorge and forest, even on a cloudy day.  From there, we jumped on the Historic Columbia River Highway to do some wate...

My second trip to Bangkok, Thailand, occurred when some travel friends decided to plan our New Year's party there to bring in 2020 (before anyone knew what a disaster the year would be). We, as a group, love to celebrate the new year in different locations around the world. Sadly, this was the first time our group split up and went to various places. My first trip to Bangkok was a few months earlier, so I was less excited about the location, but I looked forward to seeing my friends.   After 3 layovers and several hours, I landed at BKK airport close to 1am on December 30th. Luckily, 2 fellow traveling friends had stayed awake, and the plan was for me to crash with them until I could check in to my hotel room. Despite the long hours of traveling, I didn't go to sleep right away. Three of us sat and tried to catch up on the years that had passed since we last saw each other in person, Istanbul for one friend, and the other was one I had never met in real life up to that time. A...

The infamous Stairway to Heaven. Loved by many, hated by residents. I actually did this hike as a result of a Tinder date. I was talking with a guy who lived very close to my school, so I agreed to meet him after class. There weren't any major sparks from either party, but we did have quite a bit in common and decided to be friends, without saying so directly.  After our lunch and some drinks, he began asking about the hike, and I told him what I'd heard, although I never did it. We ended up making plans to do the hike that day... well, in the wee hours of the next morning.  As I went home to prepare, I instantly regretted agreeing to this. I was pretty drunk and not in the mood to dodge security and climb up thousands of wobbly steps. But I wasn't going to be the one to back out of it, and neither was he. We met back up, gathered some extra supplies, and made our way up to the neighborhood where the trail begins.  Right as we were beginning, it started raining! I too...

In an attempt to be more active and not miss out on "Hawaii", some friends from school and I decided to make a bucket list group to plan events so we could cross off items on our list together. This only lasted about a month or so because people in the group realized they did not like each other very much (what an optimist I was to think a group of funny, wise women could remain friends). Nonetheless, I planned our first event, which was Stand Up Paddleboarding.  The girls and I decided to meet for lunch at Hiking Hawaii Cafe ( hikinghawaii808.com ). This was a relatively healthy place known for its smoothies and wraps (unfortunately, the last time I checked, the cafe had closed). After we were all accounted for and sufficiently fed, we left to enjoy the fun part of our day. We cross the street to Quality Surfboards Hawaii (www.qualitysurfboardshawaii.com) to rent the boards. It was only $30 for the day, but the store even offered $25 student discount (upon request). Th...

Because I'm just starting to blog about my bucket list, a lot of the things I've done have already taken place, and some I've done multiple times. I'm unsure how to best disseminate the stories (chronologically?) or if each item on its list needs its own post. I'm going to wing it and hope it works out.   Let's start with the last item that was able to be crossed off the list: The   Sandbar (or "Sand Bar") The sandbar is located in Kaneohe Bay on the northeast side of Oahu. There are several ways to get there and several points of access. At this point in time, I've been to the sandbar on three occasions and got there using three different methods. 1. Sailboat While in school, I was lucky enough to meet an awesome, adventurous girl who had an equally awesome and adventurous boyfriend who was in the Navy. He and some friends pooled their resources and bought a sailboat. For my friend's birthday, a group of us gathered on the boat to head ...