Pozadzides Chronicles

The Pozadzides

Austin Day Trip w/ Friends

By Leave a Comment

Lake Travis Trip-11What a great weekend… Yesterday, Jenny and I made a day trip to Austin to hang out with our close friends (Theresa, Mike & Amber, Lisa, Michael and Michael & Henry) and celebrate:

  • Lisa’s completion of residency and her new job as an anesthesiologist
  • Michael & Henry’s new home purchase in Rice Village, a dream location
  • Michael Alvares’s acceptance into UT Southwestern’s Allergy and Immunology Fellowship
  • Jenny’s completion of Internal Medicine and her new job as a Hematology & Oncology Fellow at MD Anderson
  • Theresa’s completion of Internal Medicine and her new job as a Renal Fellow at UT Houston
  • …and, of course, our pregnancy!

Here are a few pictures of our day: [Read more…]

Port O’Conner Fishing

By Leave a Comment

Port OConner-23Justin, Kevin, Shawn and I spent the weekend fishing in Port O’Connor, TX;just two hours from Houston. This is a small coastal town between Galveston and Corpus Christi.

We had a blast and caught some fish. Unfortunately, you won’t hear any BIG fish stories… We were fishing for speckled trout over 15 inches… much smaller than Marlins we’ve caught in the past! According to the locals, the fish don’t seem to be biting well this year. However, Bo (our guide from MS Guide Service found us the right spot to catch eleven. Sadly enough, the Department of Fishing and Wildlife allows for 10 fish per person/day.

For lunch, we took half our fish to Josie’s Mexican Restaurant. They grilled up our fish for fajitas. For dinner, we took the remaining fish to Clark’s Shrimp House for some fried fish. Good eats!

Below you’ll find some pictures and video proof that the boys caught fish. [Read more…]

Family Wedding + Jenny= LA Fun

By Leave a Comment

After a week’s worth of meetings in Los Angeles and surrounding (Orange County, etc…), Jenny and her parents met up with me in Los Angeles for Jenny’s cousin’s wedding in Anaheim. Without boring you with all the details, Jenny, her sister, parents and I spent a weekend exploring LA, Anaheim, New Port Beach, Laguna Beach, Santa Monica, Redondo Beach and a few other areas…

Here are a few pictures of our weekend:

Hawaii – Our Visit to the Big Island

By Leave a Comment

There is something to be said when staying on a volcanic island. Every house, store, and hotel is/was built directly on top of hardened lava. …you’ll find hardened lava flows everywhere they have yet to build! Welcome to Hawaii’s Big Island.

  • Saturday (2/9): Hello Big Island! After arriving in the early afternoon, we checked into the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. We spent the rest of the day lounging at the resort, drinking Mai Tais, and just relaxing…
  • Sunday (2/10): This was our day of leisure… Massages at the resort’s spa, Mandara, followed by an afternoon at the pool and dinner/jazz at night!
  • Monday (2/11): You’re on vacation, you’re relaxed and you’re itching for something out of the ordinary… what do you do? You swim with dolphins! Today, we headed over to Dolphin Quest at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. We spent 45 minutes playing in the water with dolphins. Afterwards, we headed “upcountry” to the city Hawi. While driving, we passed the Parker Ranch; one of the largest privately held ranches in the United States. On the way, we found a great snacking place in Luke’s Place; best fish tacos I’ve ever had!
  • Tuesday (2/12): Here’s another fun day of exploration… Jenny and I ventured out in search of whales with by Captain Dan McSweeney. Check out our Whale Watching post . Afterwards, we journeyed up to Kilauea, the Big Island’s volcano, just in time for a torrential downpour! Rain doesn’t stop the lava flow and it didn’t stop us. But, the three hour drive to the volcano was followed by a five hour return! …small roads plus loads of rain equal adventurous trip home!
  • Wednesday (2/13): We spent the day in Kona. What a great little town! Wish we had more time to explore. Kona is that laidback city on the ocean. Everyone is your friend, surfers are riding, and the atmosphere is cool. After lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, we hit the farmer’s market, stores on main street and hung out on the beach! What a great little town…

Here’s where the story ends… Unfortunately, Jenny or I must get back to the real world. Ah… Hawaii is paradise…

Hawaii – Swimming W/ Dolphins

By Leave a Comment

You’re on vacation, you’re relaxed and you’re itching for something out of the ordinary… what do you do? You swim with dolphins! Today, we headed over to Dolphin Quest at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. We spent 45 minutes in the water with dolphins. While you don’t get to ride them (holding on to a fin), each participant got to play, touch, instruct, and examine multiple dolphins. Note: They fill like rubber! They are incredibly smart and they are naturally very playful animals.
Here’s a few interesting facts we learned:

  • Pacific dolphins are deep feeders… They dive deep to find fish
  • Dolphins can hold their breath for over 15 minutes…
  • Dolphins breathe voluntary (they have to think to breath) whereas human breathing is involuntary
  • Dolphins nature predators are sharks and whales…
  • Atlantic dolphins are top feeders…They typically eat close to the surface. Interestingly enough, the dolphins at the Hilton are Atlantic Spinner dolphins despite the fact that they are located in Hawaii (a pacific island)
  • Scientists believe dolphins shut down half their brains while resting… this provides awareness for breathing and predators

Hawaii – Honeymoon w/ Whales

By Leave a Comment

Whales-6Here’s another fun day of exploration… Jenny and I ventured out in search of whales!

Every year (from November thru May) hundreds of humpback whales visit the Hawaiian islands from Alaska. During the summer months, the whales gorge themselves on plankton and small fish (less than a 12”). However, the whales do not feed while in Hawaii and, consequently, loss up to 20% of their body mass. They come to Hawaii to breed and birth!

  • Fifth largest of the world’s great whales
  • Average size of a school bus (50 feet long and 90,000 pounds)
  • Life span between 40-60 years
  • Gestation period for the female is approximately 12 months
  • Whales do not feed while in Hawaii
  • Tail fins are individually unique (like humans’ finger prints) and are used to identify whales

If you’re interested in learning more, please visit the American Cetacean Society Fact Sheet on the Humpback Whale. Here are some pictures of our whale watching trip: [Read more…]

Hawaii – We Survived the Road to Hana!

By Leave a Comment

Hana-36On Friday, we made the famous trek to Hana. It’s a small town on the other side of Maui. The town in itself is not the point of the trip. The trip is the point of the trip. It’s about 45 miles of 600 hairpin turns and 52 one-lane bridges past gorgeous scenery. Because of the twist and turns, however, it is an all-day affair!

We rented a convertible, brought our GPS, iPod, and plenty of drinks/snacks. The road has so many picture points that you may find yourself stopping every 10 minutes… only to realize you’ll never make it to Hana. So, pace yourself. There are tons of waterfalls. If it’s been raining (like it did for days before our trip) the waterfalls will be even bigger.

On the winding road to Hana, we pulled into the Garden of Eden… This tropical garden boast some spectacular scenes, loads of wildlife and some famous (although we don’t know them and you probably don’t either) birds!

If you find yourself with a few extra minutes on the Road to Hana… this detour is worth it. Its an inexpensive admission to beautifully landscaped garden. The wildlife is a definite plus…

Once we arrived in Hana, we moved on… There isn’t really much to see. We ate at the Hana Hotel’s restaurant. It looks nice, has a great view, but the food was overpriced and not that good. However, we left Hana and continued down the road to view the Seven Pools. Of the four plus hours of driving, this last 30 minutes was the best. On this segment, you get to see beautiful homes (not the $$$ homes, but homes of regular Hawaiians). Moreover, the scenery converts to rolling hills by the coast and wildlife, and cattle abounds.

The Seven Pools themselves are amazing. Years of erosion have created seven distinct pools that water flows into, out of, and into the next pool. When the rains are too heavy, you can actually get in the pools. When we went, it was hard to distinguish the pools from whitewater. Nevertheless, it was beautiful.

The Road to Hana was our favorite part of our visit to Maui! Here are some pictures from our trip: [Read more…]

Kirk and Jenny Head West to El Paso

By Leave a Comment

El Paso Wedding-46If you live in Texas and have Texan friends, one day you’ll end up in El Paso. We had the privilege of attending our good friend’s (congrats JR & Elsa) wedding in El Paso. This was a quick trip just days before our vacation. We arrived Saturday around noon and left Sunday afternoon. Here’s what I can say about El Paso!

The locals we met there love the city. Its rugged landscape and mountains (or speed bumps if you live in the Rockies) are picturesque during sunset. The city is overflowing with Mexican, American and Mexican-American culture and its surreal seeing border signs in an American city! The US is so large, it’s certainly not something you see often.

Well, our trip was short so we didn’t have time to explore much. The locals revere Chico’s Tacos as a must-eat small chain restaurant started by Joe Mora (boxing promoter). We ate there and I can say:

  1. Their taco are rolled, and bathed in a red sauce
  2. Their hot dogs are served on hamburger buns
  3. They only accept cash
  4. You’re lunch will cost less than $3
  5. Most importantly, don’t forget the antacids

We also ate at Carlos and Mickey’s. Their food was authentic, spicy and we really enjoyed it. Their margaritas are advertised as the “best in town!” Keep in mind, El Paso isn’t that big, but their 44 ounce ones might accurately be named the “Biggest margaritas in town!”

Hare are some pictures of JR & Elsa’s wedding along with our time with friends: [Read more…]

Los Angeles, Santa Monica & Beverly Hills

By Leave a Comment

2007LA-3Wednesday through Saturday certainly isn’t enough time to learn a new city, but with the right tour guide [a.k.a., the future Maid of Honor] you can see some great sites. While traveling for another conference, we stayed at The Tower Beverly Hills (a quaint little hotel with nice rooms, the first Posturepedic bed I’ve slept in, a great pool and conveniently located between Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica).

For those living in the area, I discovered the best sushi (price/quality) restaurant named Yen Sushi just across the street. Yen is a trendy sushi bar with great prices, a decent wine selection and, most importantly, quality sushi chefs. Finally, a sushi restaurant that understands that Spicy Tuna is actually supposed to be spicy! If you’re not a sushi lover, move on to the next paragraph!

For dinner one night, we ate at Yamashiro. Every city has that restaurant that you must visit because of the atmosphere, not necessarily because of the food, this is the place in LA. For those who’ve seen the movie Memoirs of a Geisha, it was actually filmed at this restaurant. It is certainly a must visit romantic restaurant. It’s located on a secluded hill and easily missed if you’re unfamiliar with the area.

Yamashiro’s has a great view of the LA skyline and a beautiful outdoors Japanese garden inside. Be prepared to pay; our hot tea cost $8. Nevertheless, if you eat sushi and are want a scenic place to take your special someone this may be the place.

The next day, we hit the LA shopping scene and then were off to Santa Monica’s Viceroy. This hotel/bar was the perfect end to a great day. It is exactly what I expect the LA night life should be. Trendy, long lines, and a phenomenal outdoor area with pools, bars, and plenty of couches/cabanas to spend the evening people watching.

Here are some pictures of Jenny, Lisa and I at the beach: [Read more…]