Hafa Adai!
I just looked at my old post and see I haven't been around since July 4th! Better get something down.
I decided I needed a vacation from the grandsons so set off for a visit to Guam for three days. The grandsons were left in the care of Audra's good friend and neighbor who also gave her the last grandson, Guava Sablan Camacho (Camacho and Sablan are two of the most popular last names on the island so I named him that to make him related to most everyone here. Whenever I meet someone with those last names I inform them that we are indirectly related through the cat.......they love the story)! These cats are real hooligans and into everything. Right now they are trying to help me write this post. The biggest problem with them is they sleep most of the daylight hours and then party when midnight strikes until morning banging around, tipping things over, scooting stuff out of the cabinets, etc. I have duct tape on all the cabinets at night so they can't get into them, hide the paper towel roll or else the floor is covered with it when I wake up and put the wine bottle and any other breakable stuff into the sink for safe keeping. But I know I'll miss them when I have to go back to Az.
Going to and from Guam from here is a trip. I get a kick out of the Saipan International Airport which is about the size of terminal one at Sky Harbor. And it's hit or miss if you'll get to the plane via a sky tunnel or having to walk across the runway to walk into the plane on a tiny little stair case. This time we had to go down flights of stairs and out on the runway to board the prop-jet 40 seater plane. If you have a computer case (which I used as my suitcase carryon bag) you have to check it before you board the plane because there is barely any overhead space to put things into. What amazes me the most about that plane ride is it's the smoothest ride I've ever been on but very nosiey.
Normally I take off and land at night so never have gotten to see what the islands look like from the air. This time I left at 12:45 so got a great view of them. Saipan is so very small from the air and Tinean is almost right next to it (5 miles separate them). Saipan is very hilly where Tinean is flat. Guam is 30 miles long so is twice the size of Saipan but it also is surrounded by a reef on it's west side so doesn't get alot of wave action on the shore either.
That night I drove over to Micronesia Mall which was close to the hotel to have a look see and it was huge! It had all the normal mall stores in it and a movie complex. It even had the good old food court!
Tuesday morning I got into my car (my rental car was a good ole Hyundai Elantra......go figure) and headed over to the east side of the island to tour the southern end of Guam. I brought some pop and bottled water along and planned on getting a Styrofoam ice chest and some ice to put it in. I started stopping a gas stations I passed and nobody had any so then I started stopping at the mom and pop markets (no big grocery stores like back home). Of course most of the people couldn't speak English and when I told them that I was looking for a Styrofoam cooler they must have thought I was saying "curlers" because that's the aisle they always directed me to. I couldn't believe nobody sold coolers. I finally stopped at a Shell station to make sure I was headed in the right direction and there was a white guy in their so I asked him if he knew here I could find a cooler and he told me of a market just down the street that sold them. Of course he said the best place to pick one up would be K-Mart! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!
Well I finally got my cooler and was on the right road on the east side of the island headed down south when it started raining like hell. That was when I got a call from the neighbor watching the grandsons telling me not to worry but the typhoon was not going to hit Saipan but further North of us. I asked her what the heck she was talking about and she told me there was a typhoon happening on the Northern part of the Marianna Chain of islands. All we would feel is the outer edges of the storm. I told her I was feeling it right then and there. I thought about turning around and going back to the hotel but came upon a big old Country Club Golf Resort so drove in there and asked them if I could hang out until the storm passed. It lasted about 10 more minutes then stopped so I started back out on my self guided tour. I had picked up travel guides at the library prior to leaving Saipan and had my trip all mapped out.
From there I drove into the middle of the island to see what it looked like. I was trying to find a water fall but missed it so decided to skip it and went back to the east side again. I'm glad I took the detour though. Lots of rolling hills and beautiful scenery. I stumbled upon a Catholic cemetery and drove up on a hill to get this picture. Stunning!
My next stop was in Merizo, a little village that is the half way point around the island. There was an old Catholic church in front of the new one build in 186. The bell tower, which was on the other side of the street from the new church was build in 1910. The picture of the statute has a legend attached to it about a wooden statute of this saint that found it's way across the ocean and landed at this site. It was made from ironwood which shouldn't have floated so was considered to be a miracle. This statute was in a pretty little meditation/memorial park.
This was a very tiny village too. When Guam was invaded there was a lot action on this side of the island because it was easy to come into by sea.
My next stop was at the Village of Umatac. ARRRGHH Maties.....I felt right at home here. This bay had a lot of pirate action in it's time. Pirates from England were constantly hitting this area. Lots of sunken treasure found in these waters. There were two forts set up to protect the area from the marauders but only one is still partially there, Fort Soledad. It still has three canons in place that were used to defend the Umatac bay. The view was spectacular too.
I couldn't get over how I was usually the only one at these places. It wasn't crowded at all. I was expecting lots of tourist buses but there weren't any along the way. There was hardly any traffic on the highway either.
As I was walking back to my car I heard a man singing his heart out. Very sweet sounding songs too. Then I spied him.....and he was walking alongside this huge bull singing songs to it. He was walking away from the parking lot so I yelled to him and he came back. I guess he hangs out at these places to let you take pictures of his water buffalo, Besse and him. He told me I could get on her it I wanted to but I told him there was no way I could get up or down off of her so no thanks. I did have my picture taken with her but accidentally deleted it..darn!
It took awhile for me to leave Besse but I knew I had to get going. I happened upon part of the War of the Pacific State park which is scattered around the island. There was a little tour van here with about 10 Japanese tourist. Two of the heavy artillery guns are here that were used by the Japanese during the invasion of Guam. There were three flags flying here: the US flag, Japan flag and Guam flag. These places always kind of freak me out because all I can think of is all the battles that took place here and all those that died on both sides.
Just past this spot was a memorial for the vets of the Vietnam War. I stopped here for a look-see and to pay my respects and also to admire the view. Everywhere you go here is spectacular views!
And that was the end of my six hour drive for Tuesday. I passed a big Outlet Mall on the way back but didn't feel like stopping. It had all the usual stores in it. I'm not ready to face that yet. It's just so dang nice to be away from all of that junk and civilization. Even being on Guam I was getting home sick for Saipan, my tiny little slice of paradise!
When I got back to my hotel I found this poor little beetle laying on his back trying like crazy to get himself righted so I helped him out and he went on his way. I have never seen such a beautiful shell on a beetles back. It changed colors when the sun hit it and shimmered. Wish I had a pretty shell like that covering my body:)
It rained like hell during the night and was very windy. I kept the curtains open all night so I could watch the rain coming down in sheets. There was lightening and thunder too but all the lightening was up in the clouds so it just lit up the under sides of the clouds.
The next day I just hung out around the hotel area. I drove over to Two Lovers Point. The legend of this is of a boy from a common family falling in love with a girl from an upper class family who were not permitted to be together. They came to this point, entwined their hair together and flung themselves off the cliff into the ocean below. I was safe from harm since (a) my hair is so short and (b) no lover to worry about so I enjoyed my visit here.
I could see my hotel from here too which was neat. You get a good view of the surrounding reef from here too that the waves are breaking against further out from shore.
I visited THE PLAZA that was connected to the Outrigger Hotel. It had all kinds of funky Japanese stores in it with lots of stuff I had never seen clothes and accessory wise. I walked around it for awhile and out on the street and then drove to a beach down past the Hilton towards the southern end of the beach area. I saw all these guys pounding the bark off of trees that had been cut down so walked over and asked them what they were doing. They were members of TASA, Traditions Affirming our Seafaring Ancestary, Inc. and were in the process of building a 40 foot high structure to hold a large canoe from their native Chamorro culture. The leader of the organization told me about a village they had just opened up a couple months ago that they had build on the north end of the beach area and sent me there to go on a tour of it. I donated some money to their cause and they told me I would have a brick with my name put up on the structure base when it was completed so I'd have to come back to see it when it was completed in a year or so. I told them I would! How cool is that! They were so interesting to talk to and so proud of their heritage. That's what I like best about this place is they try so hard to keep the past alive. Even in Audra's school they teach Chamarro and Carolina languages and cultural to the native children in special classes they attend during the day so they will carry on the traditions. I think visiting these guys was the highlight of my Guam trip. We are now Facebook friends as well.
When I took the tour of the Chamorro village TASA had built my guide wore a loin cloth with his bottom bared (and it was cute). They try to keep everything as geared towards tradition as possible. Each hut had it's own story and use. The white columns with bowls holding up the structure are called latte stones. You see this symbol all over the islands here.
I didn't get to see everything I wanted to see but will definitely come back to Guam. I remember reading about Guam when I was in school so now I can say I've been there! The grandsons were happy to see me and started bugging me immediately but I guess that's what us grandmas have to put up with!
My next trip will be to Tinean and Rota, both islands that are part of the Northern Mariana Island chain. I have become familiar with all the islands now in the area. I had no idea there were so many scattered across this part of the world. I'm happy I get to go out and explore it all!
Hope your summer is going good. Mine sure it!
