Good News and Chinaman's Hat

First, I must share our good news! On Tuesday, I received my loan repayment deposit. I applied for the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program earlier this year and got a contract and after 3 months of patiently waiting (or not so patiently at times) I finally got my money! Since I work at a community health center and it's considered an underserved area I qualifed for the loan repayment. I have a 2-year contract to work at the Health Center in order to get the money. Not a bad deal! :)

Very excited to write the check!

On Wednesday afternoon Chris and I headed to the North Shore. Our friend, Dave, has a house right on the beach. He has graciously invited us over several times. We kayaked with him to Chinaman's Hat. It was about a mile to get there. Along the way we saw a couple huge sea turtles in the water. It was amazing! Once we got to Chinaman's Hat we hiked to the top on the regular, clearly paved trail. It was a great view from the top. We even saw more sea turtles come to the surface. We enjoyed a little time in the ocean at the sandy beach. There was a small cave we sat in and took a quick picture. We couldn't stay in there long because the waves were so intense it was knocking us around. We were getting ready to head back to our kayaks when Chris decided we should climb up the other side of Chinaman's Hat, the "less paved" and straight up way. Dave decided he would try it too and what was I supposed to do? I didn't want to be left by myself so I agreed to give it a try too. We all made it up safely (minus a few cuts and panics!). It was a good challenge! Chris was proud I gave it a try and made it! :) We then hiked down and kayaked back to Dave's house. We had a great time and look forward to going back!

A picture of the mountains behind Chinaman's Hat

Chris and I in our kayak...at the end of our trip!
Here's a picture of me climbing!

Here's a picture of Chris in front of Chinaman's Hat. The traditional way to climb is on the right side, around the back. The not-so traditional way was climbing on the left side, a good challenge!

A picture of us at the top!