My dear friends Bill and Julie Green have a primitive, but quaint two room cabin at Fallen Leaf Lake that has been in Bill's family for 4 generations. They have been kind enough to invite me there every summer for the past 14 years. It seems like all of the everyday stress falls away and the biggest decision to make is which flavor of beer to have at sunset. I always have great memorable times with friends who have turned into part of my family.

We get up in the morning make a pot of coffee and stay active until sunset. New trails to hike, mountain biking, water skiing, fast boats to drive, and this year we were the first to introduce stand up paddle boarding to the lake. The Uli boards are inflatable and make traveling so easy. Every day we would do an 8 mile paddle around the lake. On another day we went and paddled Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. The waters were the color of Tahitian blues!

Every adventurer has a few fears that he or she don't like to admit and one of mine is being afraid of bears. Year after year, I get teased and dared to sleep on one of the 3 porches outside. When I finally get the courage up, the bear horror stories start getting told. Once out on the porch tucked under my blankets with my bear away kit handy (a pot and lid), I do find it so beautiful gazing at a sky full of stars through the pine trees. Of course I wake up multiple times during the night listening for any strange rustles. I am relieved and proud when the sun rises realizing that I made it another night bear free.

On our last morning we had only been up for about half an hour and were meandering around the cabin sipping Mocha Java and packing when HE showed up. Bill was sitting on the porch when this cinnamon colored bear popped his head out of the bushes about 25 feet away from us. We all ran out to see him. His head popped up again and he was not fazed by 3 girls in their pj's starring back at him. I could only imagine him saying, "hey guys, got any more joe?".

Four years ago, my boyfriend and I found a secret wave. Ok, well, it wasn't just our secret, but it was incredibly uncrowded for how perfect it was. Like most things that seem too good to be true, the perfection was elusive. Due to a very strong current that would suck you out to sea on a dropping tide, it could only be surfed on the incoming tide. Since the wind turns onshore around noon, that only allows for a small window of opportunity. All the elements had to come together to make it happen, the right swell, the right wind, and a rising tide. Unfortunately for us, those elements were coming together, but only very early in the morning. In order to catch a few waves before tide bottomed out and the horrendous current took over, we had to get up at 4am, be down at the beach just before sunrise, and beginning the long paddle out to the outer reef as soon as it was light enough to see. The fact that the only restaurant in the tiny remote town didn't open until around 9am, meant that we were going to have to do it all without coffee. It was almost a deal breaker, but we kept thinking of those perfect waves and had to go for it.

We did it! Well, sort of. We made it all the way out there and caught a few leg-burning long rides. It was just the two of us and when one person caught a wave, the other would be left bobbing alone in the lineup. The swell was big and lumpy, the sky low and clouded. I got that creepy feeling that something just wasn't right. When my boyfriend finally made it back out after another seemingly endless ride I was just about to say something about the strangely creeped out feeling I was having when we both saw something that rendered us speechless. A fin popped up in the face of the approaching wave, not gliding up and down like a dolphin but charging straight towards us with an agressive swishing motion a few feet behind it. Not wanting to completely panic, I said, "did you see that?" He had already started to paddle for the first wave he could. We rode it together on our bellys, not wanting to risk the chance of falling, all the way in to the sand. We hadn't seen any teeth, but we didn't want to stick around to make sure. Whatever it was, we were happy to leave it out there to take any wave it wanted, or maybe we just really needed a warm cup of coffee.

Last month we went back. The tide was rising all morning and there was a new swell building, perfect for our secret wave. Inevitably, the secret has spread. We were no longer the only ones in the lineup, but the crowd was still small and friendly, and at least we figured the odds were better in case that toothy local showed up again. Or maybe we just felt better because we were caffeinated. I had packed an electric kettle and a pound of Silver Joe's French Roast on the trip, so there were no excuses to get up early and charge out there!

Tahiti is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Steep rugged mountains with sharp ridges covered in green fall down to clear blue water that lightly covers sharp colorful reef. It's dramatic. It's also incredibly frightening. The amount of energy filling the air and water is intense, and the places where those two things collide are powerful beyond belief.

Take for example one of the world's heaviest waves, Teahupoo (pronounced "Cho-Po"). Here swells generated in the Southern Hemisphere collide abruptly with shallow reef creating a wave that seems as if the entire ocean is rearing up, bottoming out, and then falling over onto itself.I visited Tahiti for the first time way back in 2000. I had only been surfing a few years at that point and was in no way prepared to challenge a wave of that magnitude. I sat in a boat for 8 full hours completely awestruck by the power of the ocean, watching boys get towed into life-threatening caverns, only to be successfully spit out into safety glowing with visible adrenaline. Since that trip, people often ask if i've ever surfed Teahupoo. Until this month the answer had been "no".

Paddling out for the first time I was admittedly scared to death. After all the photos i'd seen of the wave and reef scratches i'd noticed on other surfers I had a very healthy amount of fear and respect. But still, I wanted to challenge the place for myself.

There aren't any hotels on the far end of the island of Tahiti where Teahupoo is located literally at the end of the road. Visiting surfers stay with families and share in the communal experience of breakfast and dinner. The first morning, I was disappointed to only be faced with instant coffee. As a full-blown caffeine addict, my favorite part of the day comes shortly after that first sip of coffee. Instant just wasn't going to cut it. Fortunatley, I had packed some sample packets of Silver Joes coffee and my trusty silver mug. I brewed myself a little caffeinated heaven and charged out to face my fears fully awake and feeling alive.

I started out cautiously. I watched, I payed attention, I learned. Eventually I paddled for a wave, committed, made the drop, pulled into the tube, and slid into the channel with a big smile. I had conquered my initial fear and the rest that followed was simply fun.