Mainland vs. Island

Although living on an island in the middle of the Pacific is super exotic, there are many things, simple things, that this place is lacking or just doesn't have because it is an island and I truly miss.Here are a few (not in order of importance):

- Neighborhoods
- Mexican food
- Cafes , even just coffee stands
- Outdoor seating at restaurants (why Hawaii doesn't have outdoor seating is their restaurants is beyond me. Hello???)
- Billboards (there is literally no advertising here)
- White people
- Not even a good, but just a decent pizza parlor
- Pubs or good dive bars (we have none)
- Trains
- Bridges
- Recycling (this one is really annoying)
- Self check-out stands
- Trader Joe's (it's funny to me that the clerks at Trader Joe's are forced to wear Aloha shirts but there isn't even a Trader Joe's in Hawaii. I don't get it).

I guess I can't fault this place too much because we really are in the middle of nowhere. Sometimes I like to look on the map and remind myself how far away from home I really am.


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Koko Head

There are no shortage of places to hike here in Hawaii. When Nic and I first arrived here we spotted this trail on a crater that literally went strait up. We zoomed in and noticed that there were actually people hiking it. The first thing that came out of Nic's mouth was "OH, HELL NO!". I secretly thought to myself that I want to challenge this some day.

Well, I did. Nic has been in Portland taking care of a little business and I figured it would be the perfect opportunity to take on Koko Head. I heard a lot of people do it, and a lot of them do it multiple times per week so I thought what's the big deal. It can't be that hard. Plus, I have been running a lot of stairs so I should be totally conditioned for this. Umm, no. It was brutal. I even witnessed a grown man crying on the trail.



The trail is literally made up of an old railroad track that goes straight up the crater that was used back in the day for something important. Now, it acts as your only lifeline between you and death. There literally is one section of the trail that is just a bridge made out of this track and you have to tip toe your way across in effort not to fall off. You're tired, dizzy and weak and now you have to tightrope walk this bridge? Sounds safe. Not to mention that there is a shooting range below so the entire time you hear gun fire going off. I remember thinking at one point "Please, shoot me. Please shoot me."