Thanksgiving Day Fun!!

We had a super yummy Thanksgiving dinner and a fun day at the Bailey's house.

Wii "Just Dance" makes for some AWESOME still shots ;0)

Truman worked up an appetite watching us dance, so he dug his treats out of his bag!!

Then it was a game of "Build-Your-Own Monopoly" and Rodney cleaned us all out!!

More fun was had playing "Who Am I?"

Truman loved spending time with friend, O!!

(Truman was sitting, watching, waiting....
for a bite of ham ;)

Mango was glad we brought his buddy Truman over.....only because we brought Truman's monkey bed!! 

A few more Naha Tug-of-War pictures

We decided to avoid trying to find a place to park "downtown," so we added another new adventure to our outing-- we parked at the airport and rode the monorail to the Tug-of-War sight!!

O helping Rodney figure out the ticket machine.

We rode to this stop one block from the tug.

It was a fun ride!!

LOVE the Japanese signage!! You may not be able to read the characters, but, as the saying goes-- a picture's worth a thousand words!!

Yep, that's what it says.....!!!!!

This one, too!!

After the tug-of-war, we chose not to go down to the waterfront activities. Instead we walked the couple blocks the other direction to this rather large intersection to meander around Kokusai Street for a while.

Looks like we weren't the only ones!!

Rodney and O were so hungry they could eat a hotdog!!

Looks like a regular GQ shot, don't you think?? ;0)

Got to give our friends the experience of the photo spots :)

Rodney found a new friend!!

We completed our adventure with dinner at McDonald's and the monorail ride back to the airport. Can't wait til next October to do it again!!

More Naha Tug-of-War Pictures

Just a few fun photo ops ;0)

Then it was time to dismantle the 656 foot 44 ton rope.....

The flatbeds and cranes on their way in....

Strap up the knot...

...then pull it up to loosen it...

...put it back down and remove the pin.

The pin is loaded on its own truck.

Then each piece of rope is loaded on its own flatbed and hauled away.

At that point, people begin to make their way to the water front to continue the fun......

Naha Tug-of-War pictures

Even with the videos, there were still some pictures I wanted to share....

The "ball drop" which we missed...
Says something about this being the 41st annual tug....
Originally, the villages would celebrate the year's harvest be making the rope from the leftover plant parts. The war interrupted the celebrations for awhile, but since then many villages have begun the celebration once again, with the one in Naha being the largest. Guiness World Book large, actually!!

Every few minutes during the 49 minutes of pulling, they'd take a bit of a break...

...then it was back to PULLING!!



Our little friend, O, was PUMPED!!

O on her daddy's shoulders where she could finally see!!

My first glimpse of the rope.

Rodney took this one... I was NOT tall enough!!

Can hear the laughing even in the still shot :)

Yep, everybody and their DOG (in a camera bag, no less:) was there!!

So, when all the pulling was done and ruled a tie, it was time to share pieces of the rope as 'good luck' tokens.

The core inside the rope

We enjoyed the day with our friends the Baileys :)

Now THAT'S a piece of rope!!!
But, don't worry, he shared :)

But, he made me work for my piece!!

(Pictures to be continued......)

Naha Tug-of-War videos

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video or two must be absolutely priceless!! Especially when it comes to the sights and sounds of the annual Naha Tug-of-War!

As you can tell, we shared the exciting event with about 245,000 of our closest friends!
(And, yes, even though this is a YouTube video, it's MINE!!)

When we got to the tug-of-war, they'd just started tugging, but since they tug for 49 minutes, all we'd really missed was the Opening Ceremony.

Rodney wanted in on the action SO BAD.....

....and got there!!

Needless to say, the event is a feast for the eyes and ears!! The day actually starts with a big parade (which we didn't know about until too late, but plan to catch next year!) complete with Eisa Dancers and Taiko Drummers. Following the tug, most people move to the waterfront where there's a whole park area set up with food and game vendors, then the day is wrapped up with a big fireworks display. The Japanese don't take many days off, but when they do, they do it up BIG!

Happy 2012!!

As we look ahead at to all the fresh new adventures and wanderings to be had on this side of the world, we wish you a very blessed year of new adventures in your corner of the world!!

Keep watch here as I finish posting last year's excitements!