Aloha Everyone, We're getting Married!

You’re invited to celebrate with us!  We hope to see you there!

We are having a small private ceremony in an old growth redwood forest in northern California on June 1^st 2016.  We love parties and our family and friends so we will be holding two celebration events following the ceremony, one in California and one in Maryland.  The west coast reception will be held on Friday, June 3^rd at the Mill Valley Outdoor Art Club hosted by Doug and Lisa Canepa.  The east coast reception will be held on Friday August 5^th at Ostertag Vista hosted by Dennis and Kathy Bridges.  Everyone is invited to attend both parties or come to the celebration that better fits your location and life schedule.  Both of these events will be fun and (dressy) casual. 

West Coast Party      

The celebration on the west coast will be held in Eugene’s hometown of Mill Valley in the Bay Area.  If you are traveling to California, the San Francisco Airport and the Oakland Airport are close and serviced by many different airlines.  There are a few options for places to stay in the area.  The Holiday Inn Express Mill Valley is about 10 minutes from the venue.  The phone number is 1-800 HOLIDAY; when you call to make your reservation mention that you are a part of the Canepa Wedding group to receive a discount promo code.  Another option in Mill Valley is the Mill Valley Inn.  Please feel free to call us if you need help deciding on where to stay.  

East Coast Party

The celebration on the east coast will be held near Katy’s hometown outside of Frederick, Maryland.  If you are traveling to this event either the Baltimore/Washington Airport or Dulles/Washington D.C. airport are both 45 minutes away and serviced by many airlines.  We have a block of rooms reserved at the Frederick Courtyard Marriott.  Please call 800-257-3000 or 301-631-9030 to make your reservation and let them know you are with the Bridges-Canepa wedding party.  You can click the link to make your reservation.  Book your group rate for Bridges Canepa Wedding .  We will also be providing a shuttle service to and from this hotel to Ostertag Vista for the party.  

  

Our Life Plan and our Honeymoon 

We are starting a new chapter, not only are we getting hitched, but we are also leaving Hawaii and moving to the mainland.  This new life will look very different than our tree house life in paradise.  As many of you know we LOVE to travel and like to go on extended adventures.  We are traveling to Peru for a six week honeymoon in between the wedding celebrations.  After the celebration in Maryland, in August we will start our new life in Marin County.  We don't know what our new life will look like and where we will be living.  Because of our situation we aren’t sure what to do about a registry and the gift-giving aspect of getting married.  So, if you are in the gift giving spirit may we suggest gift cards to places that have things that will eventually fill a home once we get a home and decide what that home will need.  If you like hearing about our travel journeys and want to contribute to our adventure and follow our blog while we are gone you may want to donate to our honeymoon fund.   We will be going on an Amazon Expedition for 10 days, taking some Spanish classes, visiting Machu Picchu, going backpacking, and renting surfboards to find some Peruvian waves.  Please give us your email so we can include you in our blog posts. You can bring it to the party, email us, or send it in the mail.
kdbridge@gmail.com                                           332 Panoramic Hwy
raseugene@yahoo.com                                       Mill Valley, CA 94941

Gift Cards/Gift Certificates suggestions:  Bed, Bath, and Beyond, Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Heath Ceramics, Williams Sonoma, Etsy, Barnes and Noble, REI, Southwest Airlines, Amazon, Proof Lab.  Surprise us! 

Surfs UP!

Every time we visit Taranaki we get absorbed by its surreal beauty, the great ocean waves, and the awesome camp spots.  This time we were luckier than last time. We managed to get a week full of tasty waves and sun kissed days. Our legs were tired from surfing. Ready for a break, sitting on a canoe sounded good, but the weather turned grey and our canoe trip was cancelled.  I guess it’s another reason to come back. 

On our way to Tauranga we stopped over in Taupo at a thermal spring waterfall and took a dip.  We headed to visit our cherry-picker kiwi friend and ended up staying at his house for a week helping on his mom’s flower farm.  Their family was one of the first British to settle on the peninsula at Plummer’s Point.  After a recharge from the farm we were stocked up on fruit and ready to hit the open road again.

We decided to take the longer route to Raglan so we could check out Waitomo area and 

Kawhia Beach on the west side.  The pristine forest, stunning waterfalls, and glowworms made the long way worth it.  Kawhia Beach is the mouth of a beautiful harbor and holds a hot spot that can be found at low tide.  We found the hot water spot, and we were the only two people there! We rolled into another week of surf, sun, and fun in Raglan.  We met some Californian surfer friends who were heading to the east side to catch some waves. We caravaned it together and scored. After surfing for a few days on the Coromandel we headed to “the” Hot Water Beach and dug a sand jacuzzi for the four of us.

Before heading back to Raglan we got word that space was available to work exchange at an eco-retreat overlooking the surf break.  The stars were aligning because the waves started pumping. Eugene was happy.  We get to stay in a real bed in an old train caboose.  We’ve had warm days and very cool nights with winter creeping in and travelers around us leaving.  

                                                                            Selfie!

                                                                    Surfer Dude

                                                             Sunrise over Coromandel

                                                               Eugene the Machine

                                                                  Pumped Up!

                                                                  Secret Waterfall

                                                             Hot Water Beach Babe

Surf Time

                                                                   Majestic Taranaki

                                                                 Beautiful Bushwalk

                                                                    Surfer Chick

                                                                     Tasty Waves

                                                                The Flower Family

                                                                 Autumn Sunset

More pictures

                                                                Mystical apples

                                                              Cyclone Aftermath

                                                           Queen Charlotte Sound

                                                          Leaving the South Island

                                                              The Famous Beehive

                                                                      Wellington

                                                                 Botanical Garden

Apples

We secured our apple picking gig and had one week to kill before our 3 week sentence.  It was perfect timing because we wanted to head to the hippy town of Takaka and the Farewell Spit.  So over the hill we went to Golden Bay.  Farewell Spit is the northern most part of the South Island where birds migrate from all over the world to feed and nest.  After checking out the spit we headed to Wharariki Beach to check out the rock formations.  There are a lot of beautiful beaches in New Zealand but this was by far the coolest beach in New Zealand.  We planned it right and hit the beach on the low tide so we could enjoy the Sandstone rock arch formations to the fullest.  Slightly weary of stepping in seal poo again we avoided deep exploration of the caves.  As we headed up the sand dunes toward the parking lot trying to figure out where to sleep that night we ran into some hippies heading out to the beach to party.  So we figured if they can sleep on the beach than we can too.  So that night we decided to give Frenchy a break and sleep under the stars.

   

The next morning we woke up early and headed to Pupu Springs, a freshwater spring sacred to the Maori.  The water source bubbles up from the bottom of the pools and is the clearest water in the world.  Water rushes up through the sand at 14,000 liters per minute.  I can understand why the natives considered it to be sacred because it was magical.  Then we headed to Abel Tasman National Park where we camped at the best campground in New Zealand where Eugene only left the hammock once all day to go for a swim in the ocean.  On our way back towards Takaka we stopped at the Labyrinth Rock Garden which is   geologically interesting, due to its age of 250 million years old.  The limestone walkways were amazing, but also weird because there were McDonald happy meal toys hidden around every corner to surprise you and made us feel as if we were being watched by hidden trolls. 

When the fun was over, it was time to work, so we headed to the Mahau Orchard to carry out our duty the next morning.  Apple picking has got to be one of the physically hardest jobs we’ve ever tried.  The bag is comfortable to wear but weighs about 40lbs when it’s full.  The bins hold about 2,000-3,000 apples and you get paid by the bin which tops out at about 35 dollars.  They want you to fill four bins per day to make minimum wage.  There was only one day that I actually filled four bins; Eugene never made it to four.  The Kiwi guys we worked with were filling six bins a day and while they were working they looked like they were processed. They ate lunch standing up and never took breaks.  They were professional apple pickers.  The best part about working on the Orchard was all the free fruit, the kitchen, and the hot shower we got every night.  Oh the simple things in life…   Stocked up on fruit and some money in our pockets we decided to head to Kaikoura one last time in search of some tasty waves before leaving the South Island.

We actually found some tasty waves for a few days and then a cyclone hit and we were stuck staring at each other in Frenchy for two days. We finally escaped, hit the Marlborough Sounds one last time and caught a ferry across the Cook Straight back to Wellington on the North Island. Where we indulged in the city life for two days hitting up all you can eat sushi and rubbing shoulders with the NZ elite at the House of Parliament. 

latest pictures

                                                                 Cape Farewell Spit

                                                          Emerging from the Hammock

                                                                   Best Beach in NZ

                                                                      Another Joy

                                                                   Pupu Springs

                                                                     Abel Tasman

                                                                   Tired Pickers

                                                         Hours later.......a full bin!