Our little kayaking adventure in Okuma!

We kayaked and snorkeled all day long. We found some really cool looking shells on the beach and lots of hermit crabs. I love the hermit crabs, they're actually kinda cute! The water here is sooooo clear, you can see clear to the bottom in 10ft of water!

We rented some kayaks and paddled our way to our own part of the beach. It was so relaxing and I couldn't believe how clear the water was as deep as it was!

Daniel is all geared up for the kayak trip, he did a great job and loves the water.

Still can't believe we live here! I can't get over the beautiful scenery here. I still love the mountains and beaches of Washington, and the weather is way better in Washington.

We are enjoying island living, with white sandy beaches and crystal clear turquoise water everywhere. We love to comb the beaches and rocky shores for interesting shells and critters and while we're at it, we'll take a dip to cool off. It's cheap and a great source of family fun. We are working on building up our own "tank gang" straight from the ocean. When the tide is out, you can clearly see all kinds of tropical fish that have stayed behind in the covert of the rocks.

The net separates the swimming area from the main ocean waters where box jellyfish roam freely. There is sufficient warning concerning these pesky critters, they are actually quite deadly.

We have lots of room for swimming and snorkeling. I can't get over how beautiful the beaches are here. It's like we're living in the pictures that you see of Hawaii or the Bahamas! This is going to be a great adventure for all of us. Cameron is my little fish, he loves the water! And Daniel has now become a lover for snorkeling! He'd stay in the water all day if I let him.

This is actually just a few miles from the base, sort of a "private
beach" for military, though civilians wander on occasionally.

Here is another "shisa" on the roof of a shopping center, this one looking more comical.

This was taken from the passenger window of our car, sorry, it would be a nicer shot otherwise. We were on our way to Okuma, a nice beach resort for the military. We spent four days there in a cabin and did lots of cool stuff which by now you have already seen what we did!

Not sure what this sign was actually for, I didn't see a park or building within the vicinity. It is interesting to see just how Americans are viewed by the Okinawans. Almost all the shops in "American Village" are playing Hip-Hop Music and cater to the Afro-American style in clothing and music. I'm sure I will find out more about how we Americans are viewed as the time goes by here in Okinawa.

We visited one of many castle ruin sites here in Okinawa, these date back to the 14th century when kings ruled parts of the island. This is one of the views atop the castle wall.

Cameron enters the second level courtyard of the castle. This would be a beautiful spot for a wedding.

This is the first level of the castle ruins, opening into the first courtyard.

A map of the grounds. It was a very hot day, I believe it was near 120! We used a lot of Japanese vending machines that day! Aquarius, that's the name of the Japanese version of Gatorade.

Aaahhh yes, icecream on a super hot day! Daniel went for chocolate mint, Cameron for pineapple, me for mango, and Jason for "potato" icecream! It actually tasted and looked like blueberry icecream! I wonder if they have their fruit and veggies mixed up!

This is a view of one of the cliffs out by the lighthouse, pictures just don't do it justice! I can't get over the clear water and the beauty of this place. If the heat and humidity were just a little tamer, I might call it home! But. . . . Washington is still "home" for more than this reason! You see, I am still at that stage of, "Well this isn't like home, my place back home was way better, cause. . . . ." Don't get me wrong, this is soooooooo beautiful, but not all beautiful places are reasons to call it home!

Here is the coral that makes up the rocky cliffs. It looks a lot like lava rock but is much harder and less forgiving if you fall down! It is another wonder and beauty though! We're so privileged to have come here. (yeah, that's what I keep having to say over and over again, maybe it'll sink in)

See how clear the water? I am told that this island has the best places in the world to snorkel and scuba dive. Not sure that I want to scuba dive, I'd rather sky dive or hang glide. I think it's a fear factor kinda thing!

This is more coral. Because of it's plentifulness here, the Japanese or Okinawans use their readily available resources. One of the many uses of coral is for sidewalks and paving the streets. Though the streets resemble those of any other asphalt street in America, they are very slippery and dangerous to drive on in the rain (which NEVER happens here!). It's like driving on ice in Washington! Walking on the sidewalks and roadsides are very slippery in the rain as well, so everyone walks slow and drives slow. That's something I'll have to get used to!!! Those are the two main things I don't do slow!!

It was a hot day! I believe it was 100+ and 100% humidity, because it was hot and when we got home it was much cooler and the temp read 95 degrees on the base's scrolling sign! We visited Cape Zampa.

Cameron continues to salute. We told him it looked like this was once a battle sight and from then on he tried to act like a soldier walking around this place!

Our little sentry, Cameronious the First!

Don't let the breeze fool you! It was very hot and sticky out! The lighthouse was probably ten stories high, but the staircase was like any other house's staircase, the side by side, versus the spiraling we have in the USA lighthouses. We didn't go up, Cameron's not too fond of heights.

We visited Cape Zampa in Okinawa. There were a few engraved pictures of what looked like soldiers falling in battle and another of many people watching a departing sea vessel. Like everything else, it was all in Japanese, so it is hard to depict what is being said. There was a cylindrical wall of what would resemble a turret for guns or a fortress for gunmen, most likely used in the battle for Okinawa. Much of the terrain here was hard coral rock, resembling lava rock. I can tell you that it didn't make for a good place to sit and a bad place to fall! The sharp coral lined the sea and came up in huge cliffs on which we were standing. We had to take care to not lean too far over the edge for the shear drop offs.

This 1/2 lion-1/2 dog like figure is found all over Okinawa, usually in pairs. They are symbols of Okinawan mythology. Their name "Shisa" means "the guardian dogs". They are classified as gargoyle beasts in magic typology. They are seen on many gate posts and rooftops throughout Okinawa and were a figure to "protect from evil spirits". The open-mouthed lion was the one to ward off the evil and the close-mouthed lion was to keep in the good spirits. Many argue whether the closed-mouthed lion is female, meaning that this is how a female should be, mouth-closed, or whether is male, depicting a man keeping in his family's good fortune. Whatever the view, these dog/lion like statues are known as guardians. The more modern artists of today add their own signature and style to these cultural artifacts, some are comical and others more serious.

This is sugar cane, growing all over Okinawa. It would seem that it grows wild, but I think it is just a prominent crop here. To me, it looked like a bunch of tall grass, or bamboo.

Now here is a van/truck the size of a honda civic! The wheels on this vehicle are smaller than my bike tires!

Here is a sight that is rare, a police car! There is not a lot of crime here and the police are not used for traffic control. If a person is "caught" speeding, it is by a camera on the road and they will receive a ticket in the mail with a picture of their car or of them running a red light!

An ambulance, but sounds like the european sirens.

And the South shall rise again! The Japanese appreciate our fine cruisine!

Even their stop signs are shaped differently! And the Pedestrian gets a hat!

Our first whole day in Okinawa! Can you tell? Yeah, I'm barely alive! But I do remember that curry chicken soup! We ate Thai that night, it was great!

Cameron getting his first dose of how to eat with chop sticks!

Daniel prepares for his meal like the locals. The waitress brings you warm wet towels to clean your hands before you eat! You will find this in most restaurants! I think this is a great idea! I have noticed that the Japanese do not use as many paper products as the Americans, maybe because they minimize waste at all cost. For instance, instead of using paper toilet seat covers in public restrooms, there are containers of Purell (antibacterial misters) in each stall. You are to spritz this on some toilet tissue and clean your seat before use, thus eliminating the amount of unnecessary paper being used. I think overall, this is cleaner than the American way.

It seems that everyone here has a tiny car. The models of these cars do not exist in the USA, mostly because they do not meet the safety standards put out by the US government! The cars without "guts" (3 cylinder engines) have yellow plates, all others have the usual white plates. Also, if brand new drivers and elderly drivers must have a sticker on their car somewhere notating their status!

So this is what we owe! Try to figure that one out! Thankfully we stick out like a sore thumb, so the clerks kindly break out the calculator and show us the numerical figure that we owe! Once again, I am reminded that we are in another country!

Here is a picture of the inside of their mall or super walmart? It's this big store containing many stores within it, without doors or partitions to section off the individual stores. There are three floors to this one mall/store. We call it the Jusco. All your shopping needs in one place. You can move in and out of the "stores" with your merchandise, but you must pay at the certain register for that particular "store" item. For instance, we thought that it was all one continuous store, so we grabbed some groceries (which was some good guessing, as all the labeling were in Japanese) and some household goods from another section of the store. When we brought it all to the counter the pay for it, the clerk took only what pertained to her particular department and motioned for us to pay for the rest at that part of the store! You know, like you can only pay for the jewelry in the jewelry dept of Walmart and then the rest at any other counter; only here, you must pay for each thing at it's particular part of the store. So I guess these are stores within a store. There's a 100 yen store here too, it's their $1 store. Though for us with our dwindling currency, our $1 is only worth .90 to them! I am reminded that I am in another country once again. We must check the worth of the dollar before going out to shop in town, and when the yen is up to par with the dollar, that's when you pull out what cash/yen you can spare. When the dollar drops to the yen, then the yen you already have in your possession, is dollar for dollar. This is when the ATM machines are being used to their greatest potential!

The boys were just excited to be with DAD! This was taken on day one of our life in Okinawa! The boys were living on adenaline and I was living on man-made adrenaline! Jason wouldn't let me go to sleep, I was really feeling the jet lag! We arrived into Okinawa at 9pm on friday and went to bed shortly thereafter. I awoke at 4am Okinawa time, which felt like noon my time and that I had been in the bed WAY too long. When I realized the time, I tried to stay in bed a little longer, but soon got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 6am. By noon Okinawa time, I was ready for bed! Jason said that if I took the nap that I so desperately wanted, that I would sleep for hours and it wouldn't help resetting my body clock! So, he loaded me up on coffee and his body building/energy drink to keep me going. My mind was awake, but my body was dragging and I felt sick. By day four, I was up and going and feeling 99%. I have been here two weeks and a day and am feeling just fine. It takes a lot outa you! The boys have adjusted very well, though without their toys and friends, they get bored quickly. We have done well in getting out, sightseeing and exploring the island as a family.

We've been able to take in the scenery quite slowly. . . . at about 30 miles per hour at the max. Though small the island may be, it's population is 1.15 million and most people have cars! You will never here a horn honked in anger or impatience and I haven't seen any road rage thus far. In fact, everyone is polite and even if you accidently cut them off or they cut you off, there is no exchange of words, horns or gestures. For the first week, Jason would look at me trying to figure out what was so funny. I just thought it funny to see people driving on the wrong side of the car, wrong side of the road! You would see a car coming your way and what would appear to be the driver to us Americans, would be just looking out the window as if oblivious to those in front of him/her; when in fact, they weren't the driver, but the passenger! Then the signage, that takes a little getting used to. I know how a foreigner in America feels when they see our signage and ads and not being able to use a coupon because you don't know what it's good for or what kind of discount you're actually getting! Thankfully, in this society, the people are very service oriented and are more than willing to do the whole charades thing with you!

I was elated to find that I wouldn't be without coffee in a tea drinking society! It will just be a little harder to decipher the menu!

The boys were glad to know that
they wouldn't be without the comforts of home! The golden arches are everywhere here, but to tell you the truth, there is an A&W on just about every corner!

Aaahhh, yes! The best in the world, right across the parking lot of our apartment tower! I can just walk over!

Our "Tower" as they call it here on the base. We live on the sixth floor. The apt is actually quite large enough for us with plenty of storage and cupboard space! I will take pictures of the house, once I get it all together, it looks rather sterile or bare right now. Our place is fully furnished with government furniture, which is actually not too bad. I am in the shopping mode for interior design!