Displaced Beachbums

We decided to get back to hiking today and thought Maya might enjoy the adventure into the boonies. The stomp was rated “medium” so she was able to handle the hike but, unfortunately, we found out Maya is terrified of water. We ended the boonie stomp early, along with another other dog owner, when the river water was up to our waists.

The hike followed along the Fonte River and lead us to the Fonte Dam (in photo above). The Dam was constructed in 1910 to supply water to Hagâtña.

At first, Maya was very tentative since she’s still not a big fan of the leash. Once I let her off the leash, she was in her element. It’s hard to see but the other dog (a Shih Tzu) is under the palm leaf.

It was a tough stomp for us ~ we were a little frustrated with having to carry Maya whenever water was involved. FG also slipped along the river bank and landed very hard on a rock. At first, I thought she hit her ribs but she landed on her thigh and was able to still walk. She’s a trooper!

On the positive side, it was a beautiful area and the Boonie Stomp guides were SO helpful with Maya and her water phobia. One woman guide even carried her for part of the way! Both FG and FM really enjoyed the swimming hole. They both JUMPED in and went completely under the water much to my dismay. I never know how “clean” the water is and worry about the consequences. 

After hiking around for 3 hours, Maya was in sleep mode the entire 30 minute drive home:

Read Full Post »

I always forget what a “small world” living on base can be. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve lived in big cities and very small towns, and small towns offer the comfort of people knowing and caring about us.

Last Friday, I was stopped by a mom of FG’s classmate as I was doing my usual three-times-a-week walk. Kim mentioned she saw me at the yoga class the day before and then she said I needed to come to her “Body Sculpting” class on Tuesdays at the base gym. WOW ~ that’s some kind of peer pressure.

So, I buckled under the pressure, and with my sore legs from Sunday’s hike to Haputo Beach, I went to the class this morning. OUCH. Kim is a great teacher and it’s a wonderful class for an overall body workout but, unlike yoga, I don’t have to wait until tomorrow to know if I’m going to be in pain ~ I’m already feeling the burn. My plan was to hide in the back and take it easy for the first class but Kim, who is also a personal trainor, made sure I kept up with the class.

I should be putting all my exercise activity on the RunArmy10 blog since I’m listed as a contributor, but I feel strange blogging on a runners site when the only running I do is to jog while crossing the road when a car is waiting for me.

I’m hoping to recover enough by next Tuesday to head back to the class ~ if don’t make it back, I know someone will notice my absence 😉 

Read Full Post »

We decided to head back to Haputo Beach, which is, once again, my favorite beach outing here on Guam. It ended up being quite a “nature” adventure. On the way down, besides seeing all the big spiders, FG saw this monitor lizard in the thick brush:  

I know it’s not a great photo (it sort of looks like those loch nest monster photos) but there was no way I was getting too close. He was a BIG guy and looked hungry! The monitor lizards can get up to one meter and I know this guy was at least that long. Their numbers in Guam have declined a lot and it might be due to the poisonous frog.

A little further down the trail, we saw a Blue Tailed Skink which is part of the lizard family. Only the juveniles and females have the conspicuous blue tail. It was nice of her to pose for our camera. It’s hard to miss them:

Then when I went snokeling at Haputo, I found a blue starfish. I’ve seen them before but never get tired of looking at them. They are so odd looking. For anyone worried about the starfish’s welfare, I put him back exactly where I found him.

It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon ~ communing with nature.

Read Full Post »

For the last seven years, I’ve used the site IGIVE to shop on-line. It’s a great way to shop AND earn money for a chosen charity. My charity is ‘Guam Animals in Need’.  It works like this: you go into the IGIVE site, click on ‘The Mall’ for a listing of all the stores on the site, chose the store you want to shop at, then shop as usual. The store donates a percentage of your purchase to a charity of choice. The Igive mall has an extensive list of stores. I used this site weekly when I lived in Germany and still use it often here in Guam.

The other guiltless shopping I’ve been doing is here on the Air Force base. The spouses’ club runs a Gift Shop and a percentage of the revenue goes to either Guam or Military  charities. A lot of people think the community clubs are all social but having been on the Welfare Committees of both the Würzburg Club and now the Andersen Club, I can appreciate how much money is distributed back into the community. It’s heartwarming. Every military base has a spouse or community club and they have several fund raising projects. All the Army bases have thrift shops which I can say is no where near as fun as volunteering at this gift shop.

The shop here contracts spouses (3 of them) to be buyers and they travel to Hong Kong, Korea, Philippines, Bali, etc. to purchase items for sale. What a fun job! Also, the items in the store are priced VERY reasonably. When I first started volunteering, I was told the more volunteer hours I put in, the higher I would be on the “pre-shop” list. The pre-shop is for volunteers to shop prior to opening to the general public. I thought this was a little strange and couldn’t imagine things selling out so quickly, but some items FLY off the shelf. I had my first “pre-shop” this month and a couple items I bought sold out within a half hour of the store opening to the public.

The photo of FG is an example of one of the items going quickly. It’s a children’s all silk kimono from Hong Kong and it costs $4.80! I priced a couple of the wood items (made from Acacia wood) on line and all the items were at least twice the cost!

How’s that for feeling good about shopping!

Read Full Post »

Our visitors have departed and our home now has that strange quietness that occurs after having guests for three weeks. It’s always a little sad to be back to an empty house.  FG decided it was too quiet so she went on a sleep-over at a friend’s place.

FM took his family to all the tourist hot spots on Guam so they got a very good overview of the island. I didn’t make it to all the sights but I did go with them to Cocos Island.  We caught a ferry boat over, had lunch, went out on a kayak, and got off the island just in time for a torrential downpour.  I enjoyed the island and will probably return but I didn’t like that you had to buy coupons for everything you bought on the island including an ice cream cone or a soda AND they charged for everything ~ including chiars to sit on.

One of the last outings was to Two Lovers Point which offers a great view of Tumon Bay (the Waikiki of Guam):

Read Full Post »