Exploring Okinawa

The new title of my blog couldn't be more appropriate for what I did today because I was literally across the Pacific. Rocky took Michael, Sarah, Kristen, and I on a tour of part of Okinawa and it was incredible. No one could have prepared me for how beautiful this Island really is. I got to see it first hand today, and all I could do was take it in and enjoy every moment.

Rocky picked Kristen and I up around around 8:15 and we headed to Michael and Sarah's to pick them up. Then we hit the road and drove for a while, which wasn't a bad thing since there was so much to see and take in.

the beautiful view from the car

finally a picture of Rocky, he always seems to escape them to take the pictures

rain cloud

beautiful view from the side of the road... I love this Island

Our first stop was at a beach where you can take boat rides out above the reef. While we were waiting on the dock for the boat we had iced green tea in real teacups and pure brown sugar from the sugar cane. The sugar was very sweet but a neat experience and the tea was very refreshing on a hot day. The boat had a glass panel on the bottom so you could see the fish. The water was so clear and there were a lot of fish in some places. It was also cool to see the different drop-offs that the reef had. We even saw a clown fish and its baby that looked just like the ones from Finding Nemo.

cool boat parked ashore

boat dock that we were going to... and the beautiful rocks

cold green tea while we waited

glass bottom boat that we went on

this view sold me, I love it here

beautiful...

Michael and Sarah on the boat

Rocky enjoying the boat ride

Boat driver

Through the glass

fish!

they were fighting over something, I barely got a picture of it

coral

Kristen and I on the boat

After we got done with the boat ride we got back in the car and drove to another beautiful spot on the island. We went to a few different beaches looking for one that would be a good place to swim. We ate lunch at one but then the tide was too low and we had to drive to another spot.

pretty view from the car

another beach

I've never seen so many fishing nets in my life, they were everywhere in this one town we drove through...

we ate here... its a cool building in the shape of a boat.

another cool spot we stopped at, I love the Japanese letters on the stone... I'm sure it says something simple like no diving or something. :)

We finally found one that was a private beach so we had to pay, but it was beautiful and really fun. The water was so salty that it was incredibly easy to float... even when you weren't trying.

this is the beach we finally swam at... it was decorated very fun

swimming section with nets around it to keep out the big fish and the jellyfish

West Coast girls! We're going swimming on the other side of the Pacific!

Japanese Lifeguard

another cool dock picture

After we swam we rinsed off and got back in the car to drive back to the middle of the island where our apartments are. Kristen and I just hung out at our apartment tonight talking to friends and family and blogging (that was the goal of the night... get our first blog posts up). We had our first home-made meal in our apartment - Spaghetti!

One thing many of you know about me is that I like pigs. I haven't seen many pigs here in Japan yet, and the few that I have seen have looked angry or like they were about to be eaten. I did find a pig keychain in the place we stopped for lunch and had to buy it. It is definitely a Japanese pig and looks very different from the American pig stuff we have, but its still cute and I like it... it makes a great addition to my keys.

Japanese house key, Japanese car key, Japanese pig key chain. :D

Now that I've posted two posts today I think its time to finally go to bed... tomorrow is church and the Air Show on the Marine Base. I'm sure I'll have even more pictures to post after that.