A Wildflower Morning

One day Rob wanted to know what I wanted to do.  I suggested that we find the most touristy road in Guam and take our walk there.  This is not even close to where we normally walk, but I wanted to at least see what was there. This road is right in Tumaning and borders the hotel strip and the ocean.  I'm guessing we walked 1.5 miles one way past all the gift shops and restaurants and fancy places for Asians to buy American goods. By that time I was way too hot, wo we headed to the nearest hotel, the Westin, to enjoy their shade and view of the ocean. The security guard says the number of tourists are way down.  The South Koreans aren't coming anymore.  Only the Japanese are left. He says there are plenty of vacancies now, if you want a room. This is a giant pot of around a dozen live orchid plants in the center of the lobby. There is a glass elevator, and I'm guessing there are luxury suites up near the top. There were peop...

On the 4th weekend of February, there are 5 this year because it is a leap year, a group of friends went and hiked the southern mountain trail of Guam.  The trail starts at the Mount Lam Lam trail, goes up to the crosses and then south across the southern mountains, coming out at TransWorld Radio, in Merizo, Guam.  Rob and I were interested, but we didn't have equipment for an overnight trip.  And I didn't want to walk through miles of sword grass.  So we volunteered to drive the drop off and pick up van. LamLam means "lightening" in Chamorro.  There are some that say that LamLam is the tallest mountain world because it does down into the Marianas Trench.  I've wondered about that, since there is only 1332 feet that stretches up above sea level.  It is the highest mountain on Guam.  I decided to research it a bit and found a page that pretty much debunks the myth about LamLam.  You can read it if your are curious about the debate. ht...

Telofofo Bay is reguarded as the main place for surfing on Guam.  It is the only surfing site with a sandy bottom.  Other sites are advanced and have risk because you are surfing near the reef. I've never seen surfers there before, and we've driven by numerous times in the past.  But this was the weekend with the high surf warning, so I guess we had good timing.  We saw lots of family surfers there with parents teaching their kids how to do it.  And there was actually one guy out there who looked like he knew what he was doing.  Everyone else mostly bobbed around in the water. Jeff's Pirate Cove has been in operation for years.  It is famous.  They have a restaurant, a gift shop, a museum, a park, volleyball courts, and a hammock hanging station.  Rob and I stopped for mango smoothies.  We took advantage of the goofy photo opportunities.    I guess we are surfer kids now. Rob sure does look talented...

Our next stop was Inarajan Pools, natural salt water pools protected by volcanic rock from the sea.  It is a favorite swimming spot of children and adults alike.  There are deep and shallow spots, and plenty of room to play. Water flows in and out by little "streams" on the sides The water is still and quiet in the pools while it crashes out across the reef. Tropical fish swim in the pools also. This day the extra large waves were gorgeous from the shore.  Japanese and Korean tourists love the pools too. When you are all the way out there, you are just feet away from the waves. We didn't want to deal with wet clothes and salt water hair on our trip around the island, so we didn't get in. The most popular place for children was over to the left where there was a little "stream" flowing in and the water was shallow. Up on the shore the roosters were on patrol keeping peace, and searching for things to e...

On the other side of Agfayan Bay, we stopped and did some wave watching.  They were probably the biggest we saw on our drive around the island, and they were colorful.  My dream is to catch the perfect wave photo, full of power and color.  These are pretty good, but I'm still dreaming higher.   Rob patiently puts up with my photographic pursuits.  He found a bamboo bench to relax on.  I'm glad he is so easy going. There was a small island out there where some of the waves were splashing large. But straight out from us the waves were rolling one right after another, and sometimes the transparent color glowed. The water really is that color. The tide was quite high, with a high surf warning so there was plenty of action.