Koru

Koru (pronounced "kor-roo") is a Māori word meaning "loop" or "coil," representing a spiral shape from a newly unfurling silver fern frond, symbolizing new life, growth, strength, peace, and continuous change, and is central to Maori art and culture. It also signifies new beginnings, harmony, and the cycle of life.

Ever since we moved back to US in 2016 after our life in New Zealand, we have been thinking about the time we spent traveling around NZ in our campervan. Hannah has since then been researching on what campervan and options we can get, and after a long going to-and-fro between having a campervan and a tow-behind camper trailer, we were going to make a decision between two teardrop RV -NuCamp and Vistabule. The reason for the teardrop is because we didn't really want nor need a huge trailer, and having a small teardrop to replace our tent camping seems like a very good idea! We rented a NuCamp a few years ago, and although we liked it, I think both of us decided that the Vistabule is for us.

Fast forward 9 years later, an opportunity presented itself! There was a "sale" at Vistabule, and they also launched a financing option, and furthermore, they are very close to making the 1000th unit! So, after a quick deliberation, we went ahead and placed our order for a Vistabule.

The rationale is that 1)we have been spending too much cost doing AirBnB every time we traveled to FL for cave diving; 2)the Vistabule will make use get out more often (camping, enjoying nature, relax); 3) getting up from a Vistabule is definitely easier on us after a long run (we are using this as a motivation to start our ultra-race again).

The company is super responsive, and we were kept updated at every stage of assembling our Vistabule. An on September 24, 2025, we drove to Minnesota (Vistabule factory) to pick up Koru (Vistabule #969). We were super excited, with me having a tint of nervousness because I don't really have tons of experience with driving a trailer. Trust me - I have learnt all I can from YouTube videos on how to reverse a trailer :) 

Our first night was spent near the factory to ensure that we can get help from them if needed. All's well, and the next day, we were en-route back to Kansas. Driving was relatively easy, without really too much differences in terms of gas consumption, but reverse is DEFINITELY something I need to get some experience in. I was really glad that there wasn't really too many people watching me when I was trying to reverse out of the tight space after filling the butane cylinder - well, it ended well with the butane-filling guy reversing it out for me!

Meanwhile, Hannah and I are excited about new beginnings with Koru. Keep an eye out for our new adventures. 

                                               

Phoebe

It was a warm, nice Saturday late morning. I was running errands around town - picking up the CSA from the farmer's market, grocery at Dillon's and Mama Fang's, and getting cat litter from the local Petco. For some reason, I decided to walk over to the car adoption corner. I have been over here a million of times, and even though I am always playing with the kittens and cats, none of them prompted me to adopted them - maybe there's already Mona dominating our home.

Well, today turns out to be different! I was walking past a "cubicle" that has a black kitten in it, and her name was "Bebe". I wasn't even trying to play or pet her, but her small paw reaches out from a small hole in the glass door, and tried to touch me! I touched her tiny paw, and she meowed loudly, as if saying "Bring me home, please". 

I took a blurry picture of Bebe, and sent it to Hannah. I did not know what answer I was expecting. but within 10 minutes, Hannah and I were sitting next to the in-charge, talking about adopting Bebe. The lady was super enthusiastic because black cats are usually harder in adoption, and Bebe was returned because she couldn't get along with the other cat in the previous adopted household.

Two hours later, Bebe hopped in our car, and was heading back to her new home :) We did all the necessary steps to get Mona familiar with Bebe - smelling through the door, leaving bits of Bebe's and Mona's belongings for each other etc. 

Fast forward, Mona is getting along ok with Bebe... there's a bit of hissing and small fights with each other. Sometimes, we get caught a glimpse of Mona playing chase/ hide and seek with Bebe. I think it makes Mona feel young again (or irritated, depending on the time of the day) :)

Btw, we re-named Bebe as Phoebe... and she is quite a cat :) 

Another Florida cave diving trip

 We were meant to go cave diving in Mexico, but due to unforeseen circumstance, we headed down to Florida instead. I didn't take much pics of the caves on this trip (which I regretted it :/). However, there a couple of interesting "events".

One, we stayed in a "tree house" on our trip down to FL. It was a luxurious expenditure, but this might be the last few times we would be staying in a Airbnb. We are getting a Vistabule Teardrop Trailer - super excited about that. I will make sure to take lots of pics on the day we are picking up the RV. 

Second exciting thing about this FL trip was that we dove in a new cave - Cow Spring. It was a very nice, interesting cave. Although the entrance was a straight downwards ~12 feet decent into a "chimney", the cave opens up after that. The cave was very pretty with colorful clay walls. The flow is pretty strong, and there is a pull-rope in the cave to assist divers, and helps to keep divers off using the rocks as a pull-and-glide diving style. 

Dives on this trip:

Peacock Spring - 56 mins 55 s
Cow Spring - 49 mins 20 s

Ginnie's Spring/ Devil's Eye - 1 hr 9 mins (1st dive)

Ginnie's Spring/ Devil's Eye - 1 hr 5 mins (2nd dive)

Madison Blue Spring - 1 hr 8 mins

I promise more pics in the future.