Monday, August 3, 2009

Dream Home

So for the longest time, I've wanted to live in a mountain retreat somewhere on Oahu that allowed for a fantastic view of the windward side, yet was secluded enough to be away from the city. I understand that this is Millionaire Man dreams, but stay with me here. Can you imagine the possibilities of living in a place like this, and the potential things that you can do? Picture if you will the ability to arise in the morning, have a great breakfast, throw on some shoes, then investigate the natural surroundings of your home. How about the ability to have your own hang glider and be able to just launch whenever you want to? Think about celebrating massive parties on your mountaintop and not have to worry about neighbors complaining about the noise. Being able to bike down the hill, survey the land, then drive back up with the truck you've left at the bottom for such things.

These are the types of dreams I have (for the longest time mind you). Part of this hiking craze I'm going through allows me to search out the various mountain peaks and see what is available. To this day, nothing has been able to compare with the secluded area at the top of Kamehame ridge. Located above Hawaii Kai, on the road that the Hang Gliders use to take off from over Sea Life Park, the land is curently owned by Kamehameha schools. It's in great shape from the last time I had been up there.

In a previous lifetime, I used to drive up to all these mountaintops and dream big dreams like this. As I drove up Kamehame Ridge for the first time, I just kept going because I was curious. There was an open gate, and even though I knew that I was not supposed to drive up to that area, I did anyway. I was surprised and excited by what I had found: the old Nike military installation, all busted up and graffitied. My first thought was not shame, but potential. I jumped out the car and made a quick survey of the area. The view was breathtaking! The natural indentation in the mountain that the old buildings were on would provide a safe haven to construct a beautiful home. It was secluded away from all the other homes by at least a mile. And you could just start exploring the ridges of the Koolaus!

Of course, the truth came rumbling up the road. Two guys in a Chevy Blazer stopped in front and asked what I was doing. I told them I was looking at my dream home. They laughed and said that I would need to buy the land from their employer, Bishop Estate. I guess they believed that they were crushing my dreams, but I told them that day, never say never. They said I needed to leave, so I jumped in the car, and I've been holding onto the dream ever since.

So I did some research about the place before I wrote this up. As you folks may have read, we did Makapu'u Tom-Tom, and I was able to see the new, renovated site during the hike. You guys want to know who runs the place now? It's the awesome people who run Winners Camp for teenagers . They have a forty year lease with Bishop Estate to be caretakers of the land and run their Winners Camp activities. How amazing is that! Guess what I'm gonna try to do now? You better believe I'm gonna try to be a volunteer for one of those camps. And who knows? Work hard, do good by people, do the work I was born to do, and maybe, just maybe, I can become the caretaker for that wonderful site. Can you imagine if I lived there, while I was running camps for teenagers? All my dreams coming together at one time? Stand back y'all! I just might have found my new calling. You folks have a good one!

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