Marine Corps 236th Birthday Ball

Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011 - United States Marine Corps Birthday Ball

Headquarters & Headquarters Squadron

Jon and I inside the ball prior to the ceremony

Sgt. Macdonald, GySgt. Paris, SSgt. Fitch, Cpl. Neher, SSgt. Rodriguez

Only the Marine Corps can pull off an Eagle, Globe & Anchor Disco Ball

Table for One....for those that have given the ultimate sacrifice
Oh yea...while they presented this, they played TAPS!

Miyajima Trip

We decided to take a trip up to Miyajima Island, and do a little sight seeing. Miyajima port is approx. 40 minutes up the coast form Iwakuni. We got to the ferry port, and bought our tickets, and immediately boarded the ferry. The ferry ride takes about 10 minutes, and drops you off in the middle of the town of Miyajima. We walked around the town, hit up the Miyajima Aquarium, and decided to hike to the top of Mt. Misen.

Never fails, whenever we go somewhere, we get stuck at train tracks!
Just outside the main gate of the base!

Jon's new friend
The deer in Miyajima are very "people friendly"

5 story Pagoda

View of the city of Miyajima from the top of the
5 story Pagoda

Just another view

Torii - Low Tide

Peaceful

Which way to go...I think we will go to the "aguarium"

View from the top of Mt. Misen

It's us
Somewhere on Mt. Misen

Almost to the summit of Mt. Misen

The top of Mt. Misen
To the left is Hiroshima

Map of where we hiked

Us in front of the river/cascade of falls



Torii - Sunset & High-tide



Finally...the link is available

My Head Coaching Debut

So here it is, the first article that was written in regards to the swim team that I am the head coach of.
The Iwakuni Approach is a weekly newsletter that is put out, and they did a little article regarding the swim team.
I was just sent the link to the article, and it was published back in September. The military does everything SLOWLY!

What's New

There is not a whole lot new to share. We are both really busy, yet somehow Tracy has become busier that Jon. Tracy has been substitute teaching for the past few weeks, and recently was hired for two different jobs, and had to turn one down. Tracy was hired as a Sales Associate at the Golf Course, and one week later, was hired as an RN for WIC Overseas. The WIC job does not begin until December, but with everything else that she has going on, she does not have the time to work at the Golf Course. The school has been keeping her very busy (everyday), and then on top of that, she still coaches the youth swim team.
Jon has been busy trying to keep up with his new work schedule. He continues to work 24 hour shifts, and has only a day or two off in between.
This weekend, we will hardly see each other, with Tracy going out of town for a swim meet, and Jon working back to back 24's...we may see each other in passing, but that is about it.

Hopefully I will have some pictures to post from my trip to Sasebo with the Swim Team!!
Happy Reading!

7 Falls Hiking Trip

On Sunday, October 2, we decided to head out into the great outdoors and do some hiking. We picked up the directions to 7 Falls, and headed out. 7 falls is about 90 minutes away from the base, and up in the mountains.

It was a pretty easy drive, with a few scary moments along the way. There are several areas where the road goes from 2 lanes to 1-at that point, who ever is going uphill has the right of way!

The weather for the day was cool, and the higher we climbed in the mountains, the cooler it got. When we left base, it was 72 degrees, and when we got to 7 Falls, it was a cool 68. Perfect weather for hiking!



Trees on the way up-really can not tell that they are changing colors, but they are



Typical mountain road...a little windy!



We followed this river all the way up into the falls

Reminds me of the Kern River....too bad its not, and it is in Japan!

One way road

Yea we made it!
Map of 7 Falls

Small river that runs through the campground section of 7 Falls

More river in the campground

This faux "fall" is actually water that pushed through the wall

Waterfall at the base of the mountain



We tried, but this was the best we could do



Another waterfall...the water is cold

Pool below the fall...we were trying to figure out how deep the pool is

Another fall
The red bridge is the pathway through all of the falls
This was an easy one to get to!

Top of the falls...so we thought.
When you get to this point, you can choose to go left or right. Both paths take you through long dark tunnels, that lead one of two ways. To the left, you can start hiking down the mountain, to the right (the way we went), you can continue to hike to the summit.

After another 15-20 minutes of hiking (all stairs and all uphill) we made it to the summit.
This is the view from on top of a huge rock we decided to climb as well.
Nothing like hiking and rock climbing-all in a days fun!



On top of Japan...sort of!



The hike back down...straight down too!



Cool Buddha statue at the top of the mountain
People have left tokens of Yen for Buddha



So we decided that we wanted to do this hike, as it is one of the hikes to prepare people for Mt. Fuji.

Jon and I have decided that Summer 2012 is when we are going to hike Mt. Fuji. This hike is rated moderate to difficult, as it deals with steep terrain, as well as altitude changes.

While hiking, we also decided that this would be a great place to go camping at, so we plan on heading back up there in the next few weeks to do some camping with friends. The weather is changing, so now we have to decide if we are tenting it, or if we are going to get a cabin....we are both leaning towards tenting it!

Getting Busy

Time should start to fly by a little faster now for the both of us. Jon's work schedule has changed, again! He is now working a funky 24 on, 48 off, 24 on, 48 off, 24 on, 24 off, 24 on, 72 off. I know it's confusing, but it allows them more long breaks...which in turn means we cna get out an do a little traveling. Then again, Tracy is now working-Not as a nurse! Since there are only 2 nursing positions on this base (and I have applied for both, and interviewed for 1 so far with no decisions made yet), I signed up to be a substitute teacher (Crazy idea)!
Well, the phones have been ringing. Last Thursday, the phone rang 4 times for dates for subbing. Today was my first day subbing, and it went well. Before I could even get out of the office, I was given 3 more dates in the coming week...not a bad start, 8 dates scheduled for $101 a day!
Between teaching and coaching, I am sure time will begin to fly. I should also find out in the next few weeks if I have a college class to teach as well....if so, that is 2 nights a week of teaching for 8 weeks!
I am starting to think that my Master's degree in Nursing should be in Education (seems to be working so far)!

The swim team that Tracy is Head Coach of, is getting ready for the first meet of the season (the season here is October-May). I will be taking my 3 assistant coaches, as well as 30 swimmers to Sasebo Naval Base on October 15, for a meet. Unfortunatley Jon has to work a 24 on the 14th, as well as the 16th, so he can't go with me, but at least he will have a quiet house for the day! (Tracy leaves base at 0545 to go to Sasebo, and is scheduled to return after 9pm)

Other than that, not much is going on here. The weather is starting to change to cooler. We had a Tropical Storm pass-by last week, and it brought much needed cooler temperatures with it. It has been in the mid 70's daily, with a cool breeze. We have been able to turn off our air conditioning, as well as open all the windows with the decreased humidity....thank goodness.
This weekend is Jon's first 72 on the new schedule, so we are hoping to get away for a long weekend, but we will see. The game plan right now is to go camping at the beach, but a probable storm out in the ocean may change our plans. If it does, we will find something to do....

Goofing off in Hiroshima

After wandering around the peace park, we walked around Hiroshima on our way to the Hiroshima Castle.

We found a little street mall, and also grabbed some lunch (we were looking for American food)

We also stopped on our way home and grabbed a much needed pick-me-up for the drive home

Funky little "vintage" shop
The smell of the store reminded me of the smell of my grandma's house in Torrance
Kind of like 60 years of collectibles, with dust

I call this "vintage" yard sale crap...it's all American, so the locals buy it up

Beagels & Geleto (Name of the restaurant)
This was yummy...everything is served in a bagel
This was the "American Burger", it was some sort of salami, provolone cheese, an egg, lettuce, tomato, onion and thousand island dressing...it was so good.

"American Soda"....I love Hansen's
Too bad they were Y350 each (~$4.50 a can)

On our way to the Castle, we passed by the Pelace Mall
Vitamin Water was there promoting their drink, so we stopped and got a free bottle
Even though the water was gross, we did not care, it was ice cold, and we were HOT!

We found this restaurant along the way
it reminded us of Kim...We miss you!

Had to take a picture of this...In town, the 7/11 are called 7i holding
This Seven-Eleven was found underground in the walkway that leads you everywhere in Hiroshima!

HEAVEN!!
Closest Starbucks to us is 75 minutes away!!

Heaven in a plastic cup
Tracy's order: Venti Black Iced Tea, unsweetened, extra ice, no water
Jon's order: Venti drip (boring)