Off to the Beach

We found out from one of our neighbors that there is a beach right here on base! So, we took Truman one afternoon and went to explore..... 

Our first glimpse of the beach...

 The tropical path down to the beach gave us the idea this was not going to be the type of beach we were used to in San Diego!

Sure enough, this is not the wide sweeping kind of beach, it is a tropical island beach!!

Here are a few pictures of the "backdrop"..... 

 

 

 

 

 

 Rodney's grinning at Truman who had been walking along with him, then just as I started to take the picture, took off running down the beach!! He really had a fun time, but avoided the water :)

 

 A couple of views across the "bay"....

 Truman stopped to take a little break from all his running around.

What might look like a gravel bar is actually washed up shells and pieces of coral!

 Rodney's collection...

Shells, coral, and sea glass.... And Truman's paw prints :)

Having a "Ball"!!

Not the best picture, but us with our table mates. The Marine sitting across from Rodney is from St. Louis! Met a couple that night from Webb City and Joplin---such a small world!!

All Smiles!!

This was our first Marine Ball, but have since attended another and still have one more to go just for this Marine Corps birthday season!

Our Temporary Lodgings

Rodney made arrangements for our temporary lodging at Eagle Lodge.

 I was expecting another hotel room, but we actually had a small 3-bedroom apartment! Looking at the picture above, the door to our apartment is on the right side (back) of the building and goes the width of the building with sliding glass doors out from the living room and two of the bedrooms to the balcony on the left side (front) of the building.

This picture shows the back of the building. Our apartment was on the 2nd floor at the far right.

Here are a few pics of the inside of our little place. (Please, ignore the clutter--we were getting ready for another, our FINAL, pack-out!!)

 This was an interesting feature...a step up to this little "outer" bathroom with a small utility sink. It made a great place to give Truman a bath after our long trip.

 Then, a second step up to the bathroom itself.

Here is the view from the balcony. Not that you can tell from the picture, but where the trees kind of "V" on the right side of the picture, we could see ocean! The building on the left is the East West Montessori School. It's a preschool for both Japanese (East) and American (West) children. The cool thing is the location of their playground---its on the roof!! Don't worry, it's covered and totally fenced in :)

 This is the view when we'd leave the apartment. The forest-y/jungle-y area is actually on US Gov't property. Between the trees off to the right in the picture are buildings on one of the bases. Those heavily vegetated areas are very common all around this tropical island and are inhabited be some HUGE bats!! They can have a wing span of about 1.5-2 feet, if not a little more! Their bodies are the size of some small cats! Thankfully, they eat fruit :-)

It was very comfortable lodgings, but we were so ready to get into housing, get our household goods, NOT live out of a suitcase any more, and sleep in our OWN bed!!

Welcome to Okinawa!! (Finally! ;)

October 15, 2010 ~ I was honored to be met at the airport by my own little greeting party--a few of the Chaplains and spouses!  The Command Chaplain's wife brought a basket of goodies from the Chaplain Spouses Club a couple of coffee mugs, rice cakes, chop sticks, dish soap and sponges, and an Okinawa hand towel. Even a fun little toy for Truman!!

The wife of the outgoing Chaplain brought me a little bag of Okinawa goodies, too!

Here a few pics of things that I thought you might find interesting....

a bag of rice cakes, a bottle of dish soap, a bag of little sugar packets, and a can of tea. In the front are some packs of gum, which were also in our welcome basket.

I find it kinda funny that we still get to drink California milk!! But, its not a gallon--its 3 qts! Also, its ULTRA pasteurized to have a longer shelf life. It does have just a little bit of a different taste, but not much.

One week....

I have now been a "resident" of Okinawa for one week! Much has happened in this last week, too. I passed my driver's test and just yesterday, I drove for the first time. I didn't leave the parking lot, so don't know that many would actually consider that driving, but it's a start! I only turned on the wipers one time when trying to turn on the turn signal. ;-) We also purchased a Toyota Funcargo. We'll pick it up on Monday and I'll get pictures to post. You can Google it to see how cute it is! (Be prepared to see a page full of Japaneses characters, tho!)

We have finally gotten housing squared away, but unfortunately it ended up being further away from Rodney's work than we were hoping. We'll be housed on Camp Courtney and his work is on MCAS Futenma and Camp Foster. It will be bit of a commute for him only due to all the traffic lights between here and there. But, he's been given some clues as to a couple of short-cuts, so hopefully that will help. One advantage to being on one of the smaller bases could be that we'll get the opportunity to take advantage of the native community off-base more than some people would on the bigger bases. It will be nice to get into our own "home" with our own stuff!!! All of our stuff has arrived and will be delivered to our new 5th floor apartment on Tuesday!!! I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed with my own pillow and getting the rest of my clothes!! This one-suitcase wardrobe is getting a little old after two months.... Also, looking forward to getting cable hooked up to have more than one English channel to watch!!

We'll be off-line for about a week after we move in, tho, because they can't get our internet connection hooked up until November 4!! That kinda stinks, but what are you gonna do.... I'm hoping that will give me time to focus on getting the house together and set up to be able to post pictures soon after that! I'll try to get one more post in before our move, but if not, I'll have plenty to tell you about then!!

Konichiwa!!

Greetings from Okinawa, Japan!!! I have now been here about 48 hours..... Truman and I had an uneventful but LONG journey. Truman would probably tell you differently having been cooped up in his carrier all that time, but he did live to tell the tale :)

We had a nice little welcoming committee waiting for us--a few of the Chaplains and wives, plus, of course, Rodney! The Command Chaplain's wife brought me a basket of goodies from the Chaplain Spouses Group and the wife of the outgoing Chaplain brought me a little bag of Okinawa goodies. I'll be getting pictures and post them soon.

Right now we are once again in temporary housing, but instead of a hotel room as I was expecting, we have a 3 bedroom apartment! It's nice to have the space and to be under the same roof as Rodney once again. Truman and I are trying to get our days and nights adjusted, not to mention just trying to catch up on sleep from the trip.

Rodney's gotten me out the last couple of days for a bit, so I've already seen his office, been on three different bases and to a couple of different commissaries and exchanges.

If all goes well, with the XO's help, we'll have the housing issue sorted out this week!! Looks like I'll be taking my written driving test on Tuesday. Still not sure I'm ready to be driving on the LEFT side of the road!! If I have an automatic, that will sure make it easier. It also helps that the highest speed is about 50-60km (about 30-40mph).  But, here's the pressure--Americans are viewed as "professional" drivers. So, if you're in an accident, doesn't matter who is truly at fault, its your fault since you, the American, are the professional driver!!!

Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers during this long transition! I'll let you know as housing develops and if I qualify as a "professional" driver!!

Ja mata nee!

(Jah mah-tah nay)

Later :)

12 more hours :)

God is good!! My last two BIG loose ends have been tied off :) After a trip to LA yesterday with Truman's paperwork, he is now USDA Approved and is eligible to leave the country! AND I just got back from dropping off the car for storage!....really strange to think I won't see it again for three years... Anyway, all that is left now is to complete another "pack out" and get to the airport in about 12 hours!!! Then there's just the actual travel...about 20 hours of it. That will NOT be the fun part, but the reunion on the end will be worth it all :)

Please pray for both Truman and me on the trip, especially Truman. Sitting on a plane all those hours is bad enough for people, but poor Truman will be stuck in his carrier (which he really does NOT like) down in cargo for that whole time. Hopefully, in Tokyo I will be able to take him out and spend some time with him before the last jump down to Okinawa.

Keep an eye here and on Facebook and I'll let you know as soon as possible how the reunion goes:)