Let the countdown begin!

24 days.....and I will touch down in Minneapolis. Here's a little recap of the past couple weeks on the wonderful island of St. Eustatius. January 17 saw us say good-bye to Joe the trails intern and welcome in Sapphira. Saph hails from the U.K. and seems like she will be a suitable replacement for Joe. Although losing a guy and gaining another girl really upsets the guy/girl ratio now. Kyle and I just toe the line and make sure we don't rock the boat! We also successfully cleared the last remaining trail in the mountains....3rd Ridge. This is quite an accomplishment and Hannah is very pleased with the progress we have made the past 4 months. There is still a lot of signs to be hung on the trails as well as a trail that completes the crater rim. Right now there is only a trail half-way around, Mazinga Trail. The plan is for a trail to be blazed to complete this. Should be interesting....wish I would be around to help! I also got the chance to work with a bunch of University of Puerto Rico students a couple weeks ago. 8 students and 2 professors. They were on island to complete snake and orchid surverys. It was a great time and one instance in which I would have liked to have known Spanish!!Monday this week saw us welcome in 2 new volunteers.....Eve Champagne and Matt Wicks. Eve is French Canadian hailing from Montreal and Matt is another Brit. That now makes 8 of us at the Garden. Speaking of the Garden......the past few weeks we have been victims of the Invasion of the Pigs. Yep....pigs are sneaking in, mostly during the evening, and wreaking havoc on the Garden. And fortunately for us, our wonderful Garden dog Foxy feels the need to bark ALL night long! It has been a tiring last couple of weeks but we are managing. "Pig Patrol" as we call it, is actually coming out next week to remedy the situation. Apparently the pig farmer does not show much concern over the problem so there may be some swine murder happening next week. I suggested they just outfit me with a firearm and let me go to town. I did not get much support in that idea. So we will see.....Last week also saw the closing of one our favorite island bar and restaurants, The Fruit Tree. Great food and great atmostphere.....it will be missed. Other than that, the work week has remained the same and I keep myself busy "off hours" doing a lot of hiking and laying on the beach. It's been a weekly weekend routine for me to get up Saturday and Sunday and hike around the Quill.....Around the Mountain Trail to be precise. Great workout and most of it is out of the sun. But anyways.....gotta run......until next time America!