Flying Over Okinawa (Summer 2012)

When Chris was just 16, he started learning how to fly. His sister was teaching him! How cool is that?!? But school and running took up a lot of time, so flying went on a pretty major hiatus. On Kadena in Okinawa, there was a small flight school that Chris had learned of. So on a random sunny day, we went over to the flight line to check it out! And just by chance, they had an opening that day to take an hour flight around the island. Super cool tour! And the flight instructor let Chris take off and attempt landing since he had prior flight training.

Flight line is over to the right; start of the Torii fields on the left. Sweet river from the ocean in the middle. Just the beginning of the pretty ocean blues!

Loved being on the flight line too... we miss seeing the jets everyday!

Concentrating

Flying over Cape Zanpa ------>

Seriously look at this reef!! The depth just seems surreal!

Circling an island

Good job circling husband. 

This is how I feel about flying :)

After going up the West coast of Oki, we turned to cross the island. Over the hills!! These are the same hills that we rode our bike through! Very cool to see from the air. There were a few clouds on the other side of the island, so Chris got a break from flying and let Tak (the instructor) take over. 

Flying down the Eastern side --->

Glad Chris got a couple more breaks to enjoy the view!

The blue track park! We always thought this track was cool :)

<---- Lining up to land!

Had to end this post with some more beautiful blue :)

Chris is still continuing his flight training today! I can't get over how much time he puts into learning... it's like another job sometimes. Pretty awesome to see him fly though. :)

Anniversary Flowers (June 2012)

I don't ever need flowers. Ever really. I'm just not very foofoo haha. But for our 2nd anniversary, Chris found this really cool little Japanese florist just a block away from our house and brought home these...

I loved them!!! Esp for not being a flower kinda girl :) It was a very nice surprise to come home to after work.

Taadake (Falls), Hedo Rock Climbing and Snorkeling (Summer 2012)

More Northern Okinawa please!!! We love it up North!

Tadake falls is what everyone calls it. Nerd alert... that's sooo redundant! Taa is the name of the falls. Dake means falls in Japanese. Okay, done nerding. Anywho, Tadake is a pretty common place to go cool off in the summer for anyone and everyone in Oki! It may seem off the grid to get there, but lots of people know all about it. It's a nice little river trek to a gorgeous waterfall...

Here's the interesting part about Tadake. There were a crapload of people there. Kids, babies and dogs too. Now I would consider myself pretty adventurous... and a bit of a worrier... but nonetheless, adventurous. I was just floored by the number of people that thought it was okay to take any version of an unstable human being or animal on that river trek! Chris and I both had on our super stealth Oki scuba felt bottom boots, and traction over the rocks in the river was still sketchy at times. I seriously couldn't get over the women carrying babies in carriers/backpacks, etc... Eeek :/ Now what was really fun to watch were all of the crazy young Marines jumping off the rocks into the deep water holes in the river. AND all of the little Japanese elementary aged kids squealing in the falls. 

Once we made it to the falls, there were some more challenging side trails to get to the top of the falls. So we went for it! Lots of slippery mud, ropes and more river to trek through. Great fun! 

My husband thinks he's Tarzan :)

The view from the top of the falls. You can get really close to the edge!

Another day, another adventure with this loveable guy :)

Next up is Hedo Day... I think I have too many favorite fun times in Oki because this one goes way up at the top of the list too! Summer of 2012 is the time when I feel like Nicole and I got some really good bonding time! Chris and I enjoyed a couple beach days with her and her husband Ryan, and then they invited us to go up to Hedo with some of their friends for an awesome day trip of rock climbing and snorkeling! I love rock climbing!! It had been a few years for me and Chris, and this was going to be Nicole's first time...

Nicole getting ready to kill it :)

Best part about this girl. She rocked this. She's a beast. And I'm pretty sure she laughed all the way up the rock :)

I bet she's still laughing. :)  ---->

 My turn!!

Like a Honey Badger. That's how Nicole and I do  it haha ;)

 And of course the monkey man himself!

Cool view :) Never rockclimbed next to an ocean before!

 Trying some different routes. Go muscles!

I found another climber. He told me he didn't need ropes though. I was pretty impressed. And no, I did not turn the camera sideways... this guy was acutally vertical!

After a couple climbs, it was about low tide time... which meant snorkel time! I'm no expert snorkeler, but I did know that Hedo was a little more of a difficult place for snorkeling. Ryan just walked us through where to go though! The reef there was a-mazing! We didn't have the best light that day, but we saw some cool stuff! I finally got to see my first Lionfish too :) The reef/coral was just so untouched! Getting out of the water was a little more challenging than anywhere I had snorkeled before. The reef was like 'fingers' with inlets of deep areas. So I followed Chris to a spot where he got out pretty easily without slamming into the reef. And as I was trying to get out, I felt something pinch my leg/butt. I turned around... nothing. And then it happened again! So I turn around and there is a fish... no kidding, like an 8 inch little red fish just muggin' me. And he's wriggling around from left to right just chompin at the bit for the next bite haha. So I poked my head out of the water and told Chris that with the next wave I was coming in and to catch me. He did! And I didn't kill myself on the reef. I got out and was so entralled with the fish biting my butt haha. I just couldn't get over the look on his little fish face! I must have been too close to his coral or something. Sorry buddy! I didn't mean any harm! 

The bay where we snorkeled

Is this place not just gorgeous! Even without the sun :) Look closely for a 'bird on the hill' and our van. 

 After we left the beach, Chris and I really wanted to see what the bird was all about... well, here it is. Looks like the 'roadkill' bird from the last post haha. Alas, the bird gave us a nice view of Hedo bay and the spot we just climbed.

Another fantastic Northern Oki adventure!

Exploring Northern Okinawa (Summer 2012)

Yes, I'm writing this in January 2014, but this is now an effort to finish this blog I started years ago so that Chris and I can have a journal/photo journal of some of our favorite memories from our time in Okinawa. Why now? Well, quite honestly, I sucked at keeping up with this blog in Oki b/c we were so busy! We wanted to be outside! Not inside writing :) Now that it's winter in Seattle and I'm recovering from a surgery, it's time to finish!

Northern Oki. I need to show you a map! Chris and I made a list about a year before we were leaving to make sure that we would do our best to do everything we wanted in Okinawa. One of the items on the list was to explore Northern Okinawa...and what better way to do that than on a tandem bike?!?

We spent a couple different weekends up there exploring the backroads. We used to joke that we would determine how good our adventure was by the lack of Americans we saw... let's just say we did really good! Mostly b/c it is just a desolate area though haha.

The Van with The Bike

We parked a few miles East of the the most Northern point in Oki and started our adventure down the road on the Northeast side of the island. We ended up riding from Oku down to near Ada. It was about a 20 mile round trip day. And just surreal! So incredibly beautiful! Oh, and Chris and I didn't have iPhones when we lived in Oki, but now that I do have one, I can show you pretty much what we did that day (bonus to finishing this blog years later haha). 

So seriously friends, go open up your map on your iPhone, go to Kunigami, Okinawa, and zoom in on this area!

Nerds :)

I will NEVER get over my love for a good animal sign... pigs, birds, turtles, roadkill?!?

AMAZING views from the road... 

It was nearly impossible for me to really capture the serenity of the day. The road was quiet... a VERY welcome break from the madness of the roads by where we lived in Oki. We really could just hear our own breathing, the sound of the windmills and the bike. The views coming in and out of the curves on the road were breathtaking. It was too hard to capture sometimes with just a photo. I have some videos, but they still do no justice to portray the peacefulness of the day. If you zoom in on a map, you'll get it :)

Sometimes I couldn't stop staring in my rearview mirror :)

Fruit snack?

After a nice ride on the bike, we stopped at Cape Hedo at the most Northern point of Oki. 

And just so no one forgets... yes, he is my Jungleman ahahaha. #okinawanvendingmachinesarethebomb

Well, that was Day 1 of exploring. And a relatively flat bike ride. For Day 2, we decided to head up into the hills! Just pick a spot on Map #1 a couple mm north of the Kunigami dot. We were in that mess of forest somewhere... near a big lake! We had no idea how beautiful the dammed up reservoir would be. But holy crap was it a tough ride to get up there. Uphill on a tandem is some work! 

Note the sign as we headed up the hill. Don't piss off the fish with your trash haha.

I should also mention that we had a couple run-ins with flat tires on this ride. Luckily Chris had the tools to fix them both! Yes, it happened twice in one ride. And no, I didn't take any photos of Mr. Handyman. 

 Our adventure on Day 2 was even more desolate. No cars at all!
Gotta love the Okinawan backroads!!

My view :)

We got lost. For real. No fancy phones with maps; just went with Chris' 'gut' that the reservoir road probably made a loop. Lucky for us it did and we didn't have to retrace our path! I have a good sense of direction, but when you don't know where the roads go, it gets tricky!! These were some of the only signs we saw at an intersection. 

Turned out to be a couple great days on the bike. 

Couldn't have asked for a better weekend with Chris!

Ps. What we imaginied Okinawa was going to look like...