Our trip in Pictures Part 1

Well I finally have time to post some pics! I figure a bunch of you don't want to read my blog, but would love to see some pictures of our trip.

First stop: HAWAII

Getting my henna tattoo

Really awesome trees in Hawaii

On our way to the North Shore

Haleiwa, Hawaii

Enjoying Duke's Canoe Club for lunch

hibachi, Hawaiian and Japanese style

Ready for my hibachi meat!

Second stop: GUAM

Can we say scary!

Most of what we saw had to do with the war. I did not post all of them seeing as they are all similar.

Beautiful overlook of Cetti Bay. Although I think they need to refurbish the area you stand because it is breaking!

This water was sooo blue. It looked fake.

 This was a natural spring area. A few pools and a diving board too!

 On top of the natural pool area. We climbed up some stairs...yes climbed because the stairs didn't reach the bottom.

We ate her for lunch. It was good, but boy it was expensive...

Jeff's Pirate Cove cont.

 My kind of house! Hot Chocolate!

Of course Steve did his canon pose

We went to a festival our last night. This was at one of the stands! YUCK! No we did not eat it.

Main stop: OKINAWA, JAPAN coming soon to the next blog post!

The Last Leg

Hello! Sorry I haven't been able to update y'all, but the good news is we are home! We were trying to leave Friday Oki time, but the seats went from 10T to 2F and we were way down on the list. So Space A is pretty competitive, but a friendly competitive. To figure out who is going where and who may or may not beat us to get on the flight, I ask people and usually end up talking to them. This time we met some pretty awesome people, Monette and Caleb. Neither of us made the flight so we ended up going to their house for some awesome food and S'mores. I cannot tell you how blessed we are for meeting them. It was such a rejuvenating evening. Too bad Monette and Kaleb do not live in CT, but Caleb is from the area so maybe we will see them one day when they come to visit their family. I know I would love that!

We ended up taking a short nap and trying to get the next flight at 2am to Yokota, Japan. If you looked at our Facebook at all then you know we got that flight! We were going to try and get the flight to Charleston, SC, but they went from 53T to 0F seats. So we hung out in the family room hoping to get on the flight to Hickam that evening, which we did. At Hickam we had to rush to see if they still were selecting people for the flight to Andrews in MD and thankfully they were. All of us that wanted to get on the flight did. So needless to say we were exhausted. We didn't stop travelling until we last night around. We lived Saturday twice which was strange. Once in MD we got a rental car to drive to McGuire in NJ where our car was parked. It was about a 3 hour drive. Once we got our car we drove home to CT. The traffic was unbearable, but we made it home in time to feed the cats who were acting like they hadn't eaten in weeks (which is pretty much how they always act).

Our bed was so nice and comfy. I went to bed around 7:30pm and woke up at 3am but made myself sleep until 6am. Hopefully, that will be the end of getting back on Eastern time and I won't have too much trouble. We shall see though.

After traveling none stop for over a month, I have eaten a LOT. I will now be starting a new workout program called Total Body Transformation. Starting today! It is a 12 week program that only cost $5.99. Pray that I stay keep up with it please and any accountability is welcome! :)

Comments and questions and suggestions are welcome. :)

Beatiful and Fun

The past two days have been a blast. Cessily took us to two amazing hikes with gorgeous views. The first was to Mount Katsuyama. This hike is a slow hike because you are climbing up sometimes wet rocks, leaves and branches. You have to be super careful. You also pass through points that are overgrown around you so you can't see to the ground which can be dangerous if a poisonous caterpillar or snake is there. Thankfully we had zero encounters with snakes. We did see a few caterpillars, but we didn't step on them or touch them. Once to the top this mountain is perhaps the most beautiful view you could ever see. We could see the East China Sea on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other as well as lots of Okinawa. I will post pictures when I can get on my computer again.The way down was slippery as well, but we did just fine with a few slips here and there.

Our next hike was easier. We hiked through a creek bed to a beautiful waterfall. For those who have been to Camp Aldersgate, parts of the creek bed reminded me of the one that heads to the clay wall with the monarch butterflies. But other parts are deep enough to swim through which Steve was able to do. He climbed up small waterfalls and swam on the way. I had our backpack with snacks and camera so I was not going to be swimming. At the end we saw this gorgeous waterfall that we got behind. Steve was much braver than I. I slightly panicked when I began going under because the pressure of the waterfall stings and creates a feeling of not being able to breath. So I went in a little bit while Steve went all the way through and then some. He is a fish when it comes to water!

Yesterday I got to watch Steve surf in the ECS (East China Sea). I took a video, but it started recording late so it looks like he wasn't up but for 2 seconds; he was up longer than that and then dismounted instead of falling. He was surfing a reef so he didn't want to fall in an area that was too shallow. Afterwards we snorkeled and enjoyed the sun.

Then we went to get some souvenirs that are practical, but lovely. Thanks to Meg, for commenting on a previous post, we went to one of the famous playgrounds they have here. These playgrounds are famous for the awesome slides they have. Cessily posted a pic on facebook if you haven't seen it yet. First, this slide is super tall. You can climb above the slide to see a great view of the city. Second, you use a piece of card board to sit on or you will be hurt. Third, it is SO much fun!

We will try to leave today for the states.

What a great time we have had with Cessily and David. Thank you guys so much for a trip we won't forget and an experience of a lifetime! We love you both and can't wait for you to come to Connecticut!

Comments and questions are welcome! :)

Okinawa: Catching up with the Moore's

Hey everybody! Haven't been writing much due to being extremely exhausted from an awesome time in Okinawa with our awesome hosts Cessily and David. We have been so blessed to have them take us everywhere, cook for us, and have fun with us!

Sunday we checked out American Village. You may wonder why we would go to a place that is like America when we are in Japan, but it really isn't like America at all. It is a village that has stores with lots of Japanese things. It was rainy because the typhoon was coming so we didn't stay long. We went to eat at a Ramen restaurant that was fantastic. Sadly we didn't get to eat on the floor like traditional Japanese do because they were busy which has been the case each place we have been. Hopefully we will get to before we leave. After lunch we went back to the house to enjoy a movie we rented while the typhoon was strongest. The power ended up going out so we played the card game Guillotine a few times and then Catch Phrase. The power came back on a after a little while, we ate yummy steak cooked by David, watched the movie, and went to bed.

Monday was a day of relaxation. Steve and I had to try out the massages here, so we both got an upper-body massage. I will say it was one of the best massages I have ever gotten! After that Cessily and I got pedicures. If you know me, then you know that I don't get pedicures because I'm so ticklish, but I had to get one here because they do the most detailed job on toes that I have ever seen. And it's all done by freehand! Cessily posted a pic of mine. I'm the one with the blueish background and flowers. Love them! The base paint is nail polish, but they use a different kind of paint (real paint) on the design so it lasts for a long time.

We went to the 100 Yen store and bought some cute things as well as some Japanese snacks. 100 Yen store is like our dollar store. They have everything and most everything is 100 Yen. At some point during the day we also went to a bakery called Fashion Candy which has yumminess inside!

So no judging on this next part! We went to onsen. It's a bath house. I was very wary of the idea of being naked with a bunch of women in a hot mineral bath, but I did it anyway. It was strange and I felt like I was in a commune (although I don't know too much about communes). I would not go again if I had the chance because I was way out of my comfort zone. I'm extremely modest so this was extremely weird, but it was an experience. Everyone must shower before getting in. They provide showers and soap/shampoo/conditioner. After your mineral bath you shower again rinsing off the mineral water slim and then you can either get ready for bed of for the day depending on the time you go. We didn't get to do the part where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet because it was closed, but I'm fine with that. I think Steve is a little disappointed in that. After going, I'm still wary of the idea of a communal bath. Forgot to mention: This is a normal thing in their culture. No one stares!

Today we went to base where they have awesome souvenirs. Then we went to Naha the huge city Oki. We walked along the street market that had lots of things Japanese tourists like. Lots of mainland Japanese come to Okinawa to vacation and want Okinawa to be their Hawaii. Hence the reason they have been trying to get the 7 (at least) U.S. military bases off the island. It's been a want of theirs for over twenty years. Any-who, we saw and awesome surf and skate shop where we bought Steve a towel robe for after surfing when it is cold. He is wearing it as I type this...haha.

Then we entered the fish market. I thought it would be a terrible smell that would make me gag, but it wasn't as bad as I thought. There were tons of colorful dead fish, live lobsters, crabs, etc. Steve got some extremely fresh sushi fish (not actually sushi yet) and ate it. He said it was the freshest fish he'd ever eaten. The market is fresh each day; in fact, we went before all the catch had come in for the day so we didn't get to see it all. I was OK with that. I HATE fish and I'm OK with that. :)

Well that about sums up the last 3 days. We have really enjoyed being here. Looks like we will try to leave Friday our time which is Thursday back home. Keep us in your prayers please for available flights and top pf the list status'.

As always, comment are welcome! Thanks for stoppin' by :)

ZIP!

Please ignore my terrible writing! I am tired. :)

Today was exhausting and so much fun! David unfortunately had to work, but Cessily took Steve and I to an awesome zip line park. We also saw a light house, climbed on the cliffs there, stopped by Cesily's school to see it and meet her awesome mentor, and had real hibachi dinner. Steve and I had a real hibachi dinner in Hawaii, but I failed to write about it. 

This was Steve's first time to zip line. This place was so awesome. We zipped on at least 10 lines and then there was an obstacle course (high ropes course) that was very difficult. This zip place was different from my zip lining experience in Costa Rica back 5 years ago. In Costa Rica, I zipped in the rain forest with amazing views and very long zip lines. I also used my gloved hands to pull down on the line behind to stop me. My group had a guide the entire time. But here in Oki the zip lines were shorter with no guide. We got to go on more for that reason and the view of the jungle, ocean and island was amazing! To stop ourselves we used our feet on the wood-chip ground at the bottom of the line. The obstacle course had one obstacle that scared me to pieces; I literally screamed bloody murder. I had to jump off the platform (free fall) in the air and then a rope would somehow guide me into a giant net that I had to grab and then climb up to the next platform. I seriously could have peed my pants had I not sweat so much from the heat.

On the way home from zip lining we stopped at a lighthouse but didn't climb it. We climbed on the coral cliffs instead. It was beautiful. We also saw the largest shisa on the island. Most Japanese believe that a shisa is something that protects from evil spirits. Next we went to Cessily's school, Okinawa Christian School International. It was so big and beautiful. And it has the best view! I can't imagine getting any work or teaching done with that view.

Afterwards, we were going to go snorkeling, but the water was too choppy. Hopefully a couple days after the typhoon hits we will be able to snorkel on the reef. So instead we went to the commissary to get some food and then went to eat at Goen aka The Strobe Light restaurant as Cess calls it. Goen is a true hibachi restaurant. You sit on the floor (although we had to sit at the table, no room in the floor area). In the center of the table is a pit like a small grill with a metal screen. We bought the buffet which means you pick your food throughout. Whenever you are ready to order you press the button so the servers do not need to bug you constantly to make sure you are doing well. You call them over. Also, I really loved that it was light the whole time. They did not dim the lights like in the U.S. Okinawa has it's very own sweet potato; it is purple. I do not like it, but Steve did. he ate it for dessert with ice cream. It is not like a normal potato.

Hopefully I did not miss anything, oh wait I did. Japanese use colored toilet paper sometimes and today I used pink TP! Makes me laugh that dye TP.

Okinawa, Day 1

I'm exhausted y'all! Steve and I finally made it to Okinawa last night, basically 24 hours ago. Our day started early with homemade omelets made by David that were yummy! Sadly David then had to leave for work, but we headed out to enjoy our first day in Oki.Steve says, "David made me some fancy coffee." Yoshi and Mogli (their dogs) needed a walk so we headed down to the sea wall and enjoyed the beautiful view. Lots of surfers were out this morning. Next we had to take care of some business at the base so we can come back to the U.S. when we want and then we also needed to get  some Yen.

Family mart was another of our stops because Cess and I are snackers so we needed to get some food for our day trip north to Nago. I got a japanese salad and dressing, onigiri (a rice tuna sandwich), beef korokke, chips, and Haagen-Dazs cookies and cream ice cream! All was yummy believe it or not!

Finally we began our Japanese touring at Pineapple Park! This park is sooooo funny and strange. It's a tourist attraction for the Japanese. You ride in a golf car with half of a huge pineapple thing on top of it while listening to some lady tell you about pineapples. Then you get off and go inside to rooms that have TONS of seashells for absolutely no reason considering it's a pineapple park, not a seashell park. After the crazy seashell galleries (yes there were multiple rooms of seashells), we came to the pineapple wine making. This was pretty sweet. Then we came to the best part: taste testing! We tasted many pineapple wines, cookies, cakes, chocolate, and vinegar. They also had items made from the leftover parts of pineapple such as soap, perfume etc. And of course we had fresh pineapple! YUM! Steve tried a purple sweet potato custard pastry puff, that I thought was nasty, but he said it was, "cho-oishi" which means "very delicious."

We left pineapple park and headed to the Oki Aquarium or ocean expo park. This was by far the coolest aquarium I have been to which includes the Newport Aquarium, the VA Beach Aquarium, the Mystic Aquarium, and probably more. It was raining and we forgot our raincoats. That thankfully was not a problem because here they have little umbrellas for you to take at the entrance, then you return it when you get inside and at the next door there are more for you to use, but you always return them. Loved it! This aquarium has the largest water areas and huge fish. The largest was a whale shark. We could even go above and look down in the huge tank. Dolphins, manatees, and turtles were also at the aquarium.

Time for dinner! We ate a a sushi go-round where I ate some sushi! My sushi though was not raw fish, I had one with shrimp and the rest were seafood-less. It was okay to me. Steve LOVED it! Dessert was at Yogurt-land and then we walked around American Village, specifically in the macman (pronounced make-man) which is a home depot for the most part. The appliances and furniture are much smaller here.

Oh and I forgot to mention that there was a Baskin Robbins in Guam, although it was on base. AND there are multiple Baskin Robbins here in Okinawa, Japan! I cannot believe it, I'm so thrilled! I don't have one in Groton, CT, but I get one here in Okinawa, Japan. Imagine that! We will be going to BR tomorrow since Yogurt-land was dessert tonight.

In case you have heard of the typhoon coming Monday, they are not a big deal here because the buildings are all concrete. The Okinawan's go about their normal business and grocery shopping when typhoons come so please do not worry. :)

Comments and questions are always welcome :)

Guam: Update and Sushi suggestions

There ended up being 0 seats on the first flight out of Guam to Okinawa, but the NAVY has come to the rescue so the second flight out has 68 confirmed seats. Our bags are checked and now we are waiting for the plane to get here to board. Cannot wait to see our dear friends Cessily and David!

We have done nothing today except sit at the airport. This trip is about to get way more exciting. Our first order of business in Okinawa is to get some sushi. Now I may be brave and try a few, even though I hate fish of any kind so I'm taking suggestions for sushi that tastes as little fishy as possible.

Please comment with your favorite sushi or a suggestion for me to try. I will do my best to be brave, but only if I get suggestions! :)

Guam, Day 2

Hello! Well, we ended up getting stuck in Guam for a second day. Instead of continuing to wear ourselves out we stayed in for the day. We Skyped with family, napped, and watched the Olympics. Then we went to have a very late lunch at the exchange followed by renting 2 movies: Gone, and The Artist. As I write, we are preparing for bed and our second movie of the night "the Artist."

Since we ate a late lunch we forgot about dinner until we went to the Night Market that is held every Wednesday night in Guam. Many tourists come, but we mostly saw islanders themselves. Lots of souvenirs to buy and food that was OK. We ate and walked a bit and then came back. Nothing to exciting today, but that was just fine for us.

Our next try for a flight is tomorrow morning at 10:10 am. There are 10 T seats. Pray we get on please!

Exploring Guam

Wow! Today was so fun. God has blessed me with the BEST husband ever. I cannot imagine a better person to explore an island with than my Steve. He is so adventurous and encourages and helps me do more than I would on my own. But I'm ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning of the day.

We went to the airport and found out that the 40 tentative seats to Guam went to 0, but we weren't the only ones out of luck, the other flights with tentative seats were also canceled. But Steve and I made a  day of it. What else would you do stranded on a tropical island, but explore it?!

The island is small and we had a vague map so we decided to go around the entire island. Starting at the base we took route 1 to Tamuning-Tumon-Harmon. If you have been to Cancun, Mexico than you most likely know of the Hotel Zone. This area was the Hotel Zone for Guam, but a much less thrilling, beautiful place. We parked walked to the beach and decided to leave feeling gross and uncomfortable, the smell reminded me of each 3rd world country city I have been to.

Next we went to the War in the Pacific National Historic Park Asan Beach Overlook. "Overlook" isn't actually an overlook in Guam; it merely means a beach you look at that has history. I don't remember what we saw here. The next place we went was Apaca Point. This place was pretty cool. The Japanese built a "pillbox" in the rock for a place to hide with their guns. The guns could shoot out across the shore as the U.S. ships came (obviously not great for the U.S., but nonetheless a cool alcove). There was also a cave where they entered the "pillbox." We also came a cross signs that were a little disturbing, but we trudged on anyway. The signs read: Old bombs and shells can kill! Recognize WWII bombs are dangerous, move away and call 911.

Then we came across Sella Bay,  Cetti Bay, and Cetti Bay Overlook. Gorgeous view is all I have to say! Well actually the bays are fresh water and silt which prevents coral growth at it mouth creating the bay openings. From this view we could also see the Cocos Island and resort and Mount Lamlam. From there we headed to Umatac Village. On our way we came across a "scenic view" so we stopped and walked back to the area we assumed was the scenic view. Well it just so happens that while we were walking towards the water, I look back. We saw a house but weren't sure if it was the backyard we were in. When I looked back a HUGE pig was coming straight at me so I got Steve's attention and we walked away quickly and he followed! We ended up loosing him at a grate we had to walk over. Haha  Umatac Village had a monument for Magellan, as well as some church ruins and a nice beach alcove where the locals were surfing.

Next we stopped at Merizo Pier Park for a short bit. Got a close up look of the water which was beautiful, but surprisingly not clear like I had thought. By the way chickens and wild dogs roam freely all over Guam which reminded me of Costa Rica. We happily left the chickens at Merizo Pier Park to visit the Inarajan pools. Very cool, natural place to swim. They had a diving board as well.

Talofofo falls and Yokoi's Cave was a very strange amusement park. Only stopped to use the restroom because we didn't feel like paying $20 to see some small waterfalls that will be nothing compared to what we will see in Okinawa. There was also some strange creepy music along with gunshots. Very creepy. We did realize that there was a shooting range at the park, but still a creepy place.

After that we stopped at Jeff's Pirates Cove for a late lunch. It was awesome! First tons of pirate stuff, which was fun, but the best part was sitting and eating with the view. There was beach volleyball, basketball, hammocks, and more (I think it is a camp). Absolutely worth the money it cost for lunch. It was expensive.

Last we drove back around to Hagatna to see the Plaza de Espana. The Spanish inhabited Guam before the Americans and then Japanese. Guam has an interesting history that I'd like to learn more about some day. But for now, I am pooped so I'm going to try and find the Olympics on TV to rest and relax for the rest of the evening.

Pictures are on facebook. We forgot our camera so used the iphone. :)
Comments are welcome!

Okinawa, here we come!

Hey! I decided to write about our adventure to Okinawa. It began July 27th with a 4 hour drive to the McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey. From there we were blessed to get on the first flight we tried for the Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. That was a 10 hour flight. After two nights we got a flight to Guam and are enjoying a cheap hotel tonight hoping and praying we get on the flight to Kadena with 40 tentative seats. Pray for us please!

Hawaii presented us with our first disappointment in Space A travel although it was a nice disappointment (oxymoron, I know). We spent two nights, one day on Oahu and loved it! Oh for all those who travel Space A, if you are ever stuck in Hawaii call this number to get a very cheap hotel rate (the airport does not give you the number and neither do the military hotels that are full): 1-800-279-0126. This is a great way to save you money when you don't know how long you'll be there. Granted you may end up with two twin beds like we did, but it was well worth it. Also, rent a car because it is cheaper than 2 taxi rides!

We rode a KC10 on the way to Hawaii. While we were stuck in Hawaii, we went to Duke's Canoe Club to eat per the advice of our friend Kevin R., walked on the beach and enjoyed a gorgeous drive out to Haleiwa on the north shore where we watched a beautiful sunset. We happened to be in Haleiwa during their music festival. When I say music festival, I use the term loosely; it consisted of a restaurant with a live band out back and other random groups of people playing music. One 11 year-old boy was twirling a fire stick (for lack of correct term right now) and doing it quite well!

On our way to Guam, we rode a KC135.  It was awesome, but oh sooooo cold!  I had a sweatshirt, slipper socks, and a wool blanket, but was still freezing. And just so everyone really knows how cold it was, Steve was cold AND he admits it! We sat on the sides of the plane facing in, so take off was different/fun because we had to use our abs/obliques, or hold on so we didn't fall on the guy next to us. Luckily, Steve was on my left so I didn't really have to do much at all.

After arriving in Guam, we rented a car for super cheap and got a super cheap hotel room. Guam is MUCH cheaper than Hawaii for those who may not know. I mean seriously cheap. The hotel room is only $25 a night with a mini fridge/freezer, microwave, desk, 2 twin beds, 2 comfy chairs, and a bathroom of course. We will be waking up tomorrow bright and early to try and catch our flight to Okinawa! Pray for us please!

Comments are always welcome!
Pictures later when I'm not too tired to upload them to the computer.

Please excuse any misspelled words, typos, run-on sentences, for my body and mind are not used to all the 4 different times zones I have been in the last week or so (including our Arizona trip).