Brad had to go to Okinawa (a tropical island south of Tokyo) for 2 weeks in August for a trial, so we thought "let's try to catch a space-a flight and go with him."
It took us 6 times over 5 days of going to the terminal here on base for us to finally get a flight.
But, we made it. We flew on the patriot express with Atlas Air and have never had better flight attendants. The girls loved every minute, especially when they got to wear the scarf and sit in the special seat.
We had a layover at a marine station, so travel time was about 9 hrs.
Cailin's face shows exactly how we felt when we landed in Okinawa.
With a good night's sleep we were ready to hit the beach the next day. We drove about 15 minutes to an Army post that has this awesome beach.
What a perfect morning.
While Brad worked, we explored the base (on foot since we didn't have a car). There were about 5 places we could walk to.
The girls were convinced these statues outside the BX are to keep the bad guys away.
Free mini golf at the community center
We went on nightly walks off base when Brad got home.
This is a diagonal crosswalk through a major intersection. First one we'd ever seen. All traffic stops while pedestrians cross. I couldn't get the whole intersection in the picture, but it was pretty cool.
We loved hanging out at the sea wall.
Brad's trial got delayed on Wednesday, so he unexpectedly got to spend full 2 days with us. We rented a car and drove to the Ocean Expo Park.
We played for a while on the nets,
saw the dolphin show,
had more beach time,
and ate ice cream.
Then they sent us home because a typhoon was coming.
On Friday we went to the Pineapple Park. We learned all about pineapple and got to sample all we wanted.
Then right in the middle of it was a huge seashell display that filled 2 rooms. We were a little confused on the sudden appearance of seashells in a pineapple park, but it was pretty cool nonetheless.
Then it was more sampling and buying anything and everything pineapple. We probably would have bought something, except that the prices were exceptionally high like this liter of juice for almost $13.
We found a great ramen restaurant for lunch. Brad loves ramen. It's not my favorite only because of the seaweed they put in most of it.
So, I ordered fried rice that came out in this bowl that is so hot it cooks while it's sitting in front of you (like a frying pan, but a bowl). I'd had other meals with the frying pan bowl, but never fried rice. I love how the rice gets crispy at the bottom. Such a good lunch.
Then we went to another fruit park, but it wasn't as big a hit as the pineapple park.
We were pretty tuckered out afterward, but don't worry we got one final go at the beach. Did I mention we love the beach? We were hoping to catch a red sunset, but the clouds wouldn't allow it.
It was a great trip. I'm glad I didn't give up after the first five times of not making a flight.
