Pre-hike update

Most of my blogs are post-hikes or adventures- but as I've been quite bad about regular updates, thought I'd give a little pre-hike update and I'll return soon with some pictures from the planned hike tomorrow.

Island life continues to amaze me on a pretty regular basis, and although I've gotten used to the many little quirks of the culture, language and amenities here- I still have to laugh and sigh in amazement that I have been so lucky to be a part of it over the last year. And yes- can't believe it's been a year!! At this point- work is continuing to go well and the hospital is hiring 2 new doctors in September. I plan to continue on here for the better part of the year to come, and then- well, who knows!

A big local event just occurred last weekend called 'Bayfest'- which is held on the marine core base not far from where I live. They have a fair type set-up with live bands, rides, carnival food and lots of military vehicles for folks to check out the inside of (helicopters, hummers, etc.). It was pretty fun to attend, although much smaller than I anticipated for a 'big event'.  Puddle of Mud and Hoobastank were the performing artists the evening we attended- decent performances overall but it seemed to rain more as the night went on so I bailed a bit early from the concert.

I recently played paintball again and remembered that I don't really care for it as much as I keep thinking I do!  I think the sharpness of my distance eyesight is a limiting factor, and the rented gear never seems quite as accurate as the guns everyone else has! These are both probably reasons that I find laser tag much more enjoyable- everyone is in the dark and everyone has rented gear. Plus in laser-tag- you are never fully out of the game even if you get shot- you just need to recharge somewhere and then keep going. Ah well- not a bad time overall and certainly a good workout!

The upcoming hike is reportedly one of the best on the island- called Stairway to Heaven. When I first told people on the east coast I was moving here- there were actually a couple of people whose first remark was- 'you have to do this hike!' After moving here- there are 2 caveats I encountered to this notion.
1) It's not so much a hike as it is a stair master for 4000 steps up the side of one of the tallest peaks on the island. Awesome...I've always dis-liked the stair master...
2) It's mostly illegal. After the state paid to have new stairs installed up to the old federal coast guard station at the top, there was dispute over who was responsible legally for any injuries on the hike. And so they closed it and instead pay a guard to sit at the bottom and tell people not to climb it (brilliant use of money). From my understanding- these guards are more of a formality than an actual law enforcing entity, and many of the guards tell people not to climb up the stairs, then casually mention a side entrance to the hike that skirts the guard shack. And for any of you that have visited this state- you'll understand that many laws here are taken as suggestions and enforced with about as much gusto. Several people drink on the beaches, despite several signs that say no alcohol. Or prop their spear guns on the signs that say no fishing as they prepare to enter the water. As you might guess- this can be a good or bad thing, but overall doesn't cause as many issues as it might in other areas of the country.
And it is with this in mind that we prepare to wake in the pre-dawn hours and start up some insane number of stairs for arguably the best view on the island. Wish us luck in by-passing any legalities, I'll post pictures either from the top or from the bottom looking up at the top =).