Maui has turned out to be the kind of place we could blog about 3 or 4 times a day… if we weren’t so busy playing and adventuring, that is. Since our last post, we’ve broken more out of our beach basecamp sanctuary of Kihei, and have explored: The magical Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve and La Perouse [...]

Coming off a busy spring work season and the race-centric lead-up to Ski to Sea, we chose to wind down with some bona fide R & R in Maui. No races, no real estate deals, no expeditions or circumnavigations. Just the beach, a SUP, a mini-van and 7 days to enjoy watching Hayden — and [...]

Hi Heather, Reading your latest blog brought tears to my eyes, so many memories from those years. We had moved from upstate New York to California (1974). Houses cost so much more in California. We were on a tight budget. Dad, looking for activities we could afford decided we should try backpacking. I think not [...]

When Brandon and I married 8 years ago, a promise to love and cherish came sometime after the vow, in front of 150 family and friends, to a life of adventure. Since we met, Brandon and I have spent our time together jumping back and forth between ultra-marathon paddling, adventure racing and 3 – 6 [...]

Check out the YouTube Video Brandon made of the 2010 Lake Padden Polar Bear Plunge! Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5LJwAyr9Ng Happy 2010,Heather, Brandon and Hayden

Brandon, Hayden and I decided to bring in the New Year ‘adventure-style’. With about 500 other northwest locals we gathered at Bellingham’s recreational epicenter, Lake Padden. The celebration began by jogging around the lake shoulder-to-shoulder with the mass of adventure-seekers. As we finished the lap, you could feel a surge in the group energy because [...]

Bringing in the New Year in our new tent, a gift from Grandma and Grandpa! Wishing you all a healthy, happy and adventure-filled 2010! Heather, Brandon and Hayden Storm Nelson

We chose for our Christmas Adventure the salmon breeding, eagle feeding Nooksack River bed where we rockhopped and hiked as we counted dozens of eagles and checked out cool ice formations in the rocks. Hayden threw rock after rock into a small sidecreek. Every single time rock hit water he would exclaim, “PLOP!” with a [...]

I had an all girls dinner party at a friends Lake Whatcom waterfront home tonight. Since it was glassy water and not a puff of wind, I hopped in my surfski ski and let the full moon lead the way. Brandon and Hayden came and met me at the Sudden Valley Marina on my return [...]

“There’s no secret to balance, you just have to feel the waves.” ~Frank Herbert Happy Paddling, Heather, Brandon and Hayden

Sunday morning I loaded Hayden up in the jogger and headed for a run in the trails near our home. My outfit of a tanktop and shorts would suggest it was, perhaps, still August or September. But no, it really is October! I arrived back home, high on vitamin D and sunshine, and checked the [...]

It may be the first day of fall…. But summer is definitely NOT over!!! The week before Labor Day, as we biked, SUP’d, paddled and camped on Lopez Island, I mourned the coming end of summer. It went so fast… how could it possibly be coming to an end?BUT… it is with a brilliant 80F [...]