Urg I'm sick. And since I don't want to ramble on about how terrible I feel and how I have very limited energy, here is an abstract beach card I made. I was practicing top stitching as well as layering fabrics without worrying about being precise. It was quite fun.

Camp Koru

I'm going back to Maui the end of April!! Woohoo! I heard from the cancer camp this week and then immediately booked my ticket. 

After a bit of delay from the the camp doctor who wanted to check in with my respirologist about me traveling post-lung transplant, I got the acceptance email this week! I guess the follow up was fair, it's probably not something the doctor gets a lot on the application forms so wanted a second opinion. My doctor was fine with it, she just wants me to take antibiotics with me which I should be doing when I travel anyway.

This time I'm going without Isaiah (No family allowed! Even if they had cancer too!) and to hang out with a bunch of other young adults who also had cancer. And to suppose to learn how to surf!

The purpose of Camp Koru is:

"...a camp to help cancer survivors diagnosed between 18-39 to find healing and renewal through outdoor experiences in the ocean and mountains." I'm doing the "ocean" part with their surf & standup paddling camp. 

It's a total hippie camp where everyone has a "power name" which is:

• Your power name can’t be any form of your real name (first or last)
• Your power name can’t be anything you’ve ever had or been called before
• Think of something that is less of a nickname, and more of a POWER name.

It's probably a way to get people to let go of their past and just be in the present with a powerful name! I have enough trouble with real names and faces that having to learn a bunch of words in Hawaiian that mean various things like "strong" and "river" (I'm just assuming this will be what people choose) is going to be hard. Or maybe it'll be easier. I do need to come up with something that I can recognize when someone is trying to engage me in conversation. It would be bad to forget your power name. 

The camp is all-inclusive and free (minus the flight) which is the other great part and mostly why I decided I should go. Adventure camps seem to be a popular thing post-cancer in the States. I guess it's part of the recreation therapy philosophy which is that meaningful and enjoyable activity will help with emotional and physical recovery. No complaints from me! 

Here is more information about the camp if you're interested or know someone else who might be interested.

https://www.projectkoru.org/faq/

Cooking: Popcorn!

I learned how to pop popcorn this week! I'm sure this will be super obvious to a lot of people but I've always bought the pre-bagged stuff or used an air popper.

I used the recipe from the first website that popped up with I googled "stovetop popcorn" and it worked like a charm. Find it here. But it's pretty straightforward.

Add oil.
Add three tester kernels.
When they pop, remove from heat and add the rest of the kernels.
Return to heat and shake pot occasionally.
Take off heat when the popping has stopped.
Add butter and salt and enjoy.

I think our cast iron dutch oven helped keep everything from burning. I just kept shaking it all the time and took it off the heat when the popping slowed down/stopped. I kept opening the cover to check on it and then popcorn flew everywhere.

Generic popping corn.

Coated the bottom of the pan and added three tester kernels.

Magic is happening inside.

Popped! 

Tonight I tried the paper bag/microwave method. I looked up how to do it and the seriouseats.com article made me paranoid the bag was going to catch on fire.

I was paranoid it would burn so I stopped it quite early so there were a lot of kernels unpopped. But it was very quick and easy and just as tasty.

Cover kernels with a bit of oil and salt (I probably used too much oil).
Put in bag.
Microwave until right before the bag catches on fire (or the popping stops)
Add butter and salt and eat!

Popped and didn't catch on fire!

Yum! 

Maui!

We had an amazing vacation but wow am I tired. Isaiah bounced back from the flights quickly but I'm still dragging 4 days later. I don't think I picked up anything on the flights, my recovery time is just slower. We had a night delay in Montreal on the way home (always pack extra medication!) but other than that, our flights were pretty smooth.

Maui was fantastic. I wanted to go to see the whales when they migrate there for the winter and we saw whales everywhere (well, in the ocean...). We camped at a private campground on the beach and could sit and watch the whales swim by and breach in the distance. We also went on a whale watching boat tour to get us a bit closer and rented out a kayak from our campground two different days to paddle around in the ocean.

Sunrise on our whale watching tour!

Whales! 

Kayaking out to find the whales! (We saw a few turtles on our way out)

The whales swam by us, I just didn't take any pictures of them.

We also did non-whale activities like snorkelling at various beaches (the resort beaches were always manicured so nice), driving up to see the Haleakala crater, and drove the Road to Hana. I did okay with the elevation jump from sea level to 3055m. Not awesome, I wasn't ready to run around, but okay. We went to a slightly lower elevation and did a little hike into see the crater closer and I found that hard. Isaiah was panting a bit on the hike too though so I didn't feel quite as bad (although he was carrying the book bag). I found I was more tired once we got back to our campground than I had been other days. I don't know if it was the effort my lungs made at the elevation, or hiking in the sun, or the intense switchback drive up and down the mountain but it tired me out. After a night of rest, I felt better the next day.

Haleakala Crater, the clouds pour into the crater as they build throughout the day. 

Kaanapali beach before everyone at the resorts woke up.

Greenery on the drive to Hana

I was paranoid I would get dehydrated like I did in Cuba because we were virtually outside for 10 days straight (I don't think I've ever consecutively tented that long before) but I managed to stay hydrated the entire time! Having Gatorade powder to put in my afternoon water made a difference. It jumped my sugars up a bit but I decided that having high sugars was better than being dehydrated.

I was also paranoid about burning but between sunscreen, wearing a spf shirt while snorkelling, and sitting in the shade at the beach, we both managed not to burn. We stayed off the beaches that didn't provide shade (although there was just one that we found with zero trees) and because we were there early, we were usually able to snag the best shade spot. We saw quite a few people who were quite lobster-y and I'm happy I didn't have to deal with that while sleeping in a tent.

Rainbow over the showers.

Our tent site (we bought the chairs at Target when we arrived)

One of the many Maui roosters (Not just a campground problem. We saw a hen crossing the road with her brood in Kahului)

One of the many beautiful sunrises at the campground.

One of the many beautiful sunsets.

Overall, it was marvelous vacation. Whales galore, turtles to find while snorkelling, beautiful sunsets, white sandy beaches down the road (the campground was at a black sand beach and I learned quickly that black sand is a finer grain of sand and gets in everything. We accidentally brought back half of the beach in our tent and on our sandals), and rainbows at every corner!

A great get away from what I heard was freezing rain most of the time we were gone!