Hello from Okinawa

I just wanted to let everyone know that I made it to Okinawa safe and sound. Getting to Haneda Tokyo Airport was another wonderful experience via the trains.

Sunday, the Okinawa team, Matt, Steve, Don, Phil, and Katrina, set off from Yokosuka. We traveled via mini-van to the train station were we waited for an express train that never came. Finally we made a guess and jumped on a local train. After 20 minutes and 6 stops, we had gone about 1/6 of the way to the airport. Fortunately and by pure accident we hooked up with an express train at the 6th stop. It took us to the 90% mark in about 20 minutes. We managed to get to the airport with plenty of time to eat a light lunch and get to the gate for a 3:00 departure.

We arrived in Okinawa around 5:45p and pulled off the long coats we needed in Yokosuka. It was humid and warm in the airport... turns out to be perfect weather to grow orchids and making my hair HUGE. We had THOUSANDS of orchids all over the place. From there, we took a cab to the hotel... the Grand Mer Okinawa. After about a 50 minute cab ride (3 people shoulder to shoulder in the back seat), we arrived at the hotel. The hotel itself sits up high on a hill overlooking large portions of the island... Given the name, it is likely that you can see the sea :) Yes Steve I’m borrowing from you. The weather is perfect... it's about 65 degrees in the evenings and is supposed to be in the 70's during the day. The waters are tropical... as in Caribbean blue!!



Anyway, the room at the hotel is very nice compared to the rooms in Yokosuka. I have a queen sized bed, small kitchen area, and room to actually spin in a circle and say "WEEEEE". I even have a balcony to sit on at night and soak in the cool breeze. I love my room.

We have found several wonderful places to eat. The first night we ate at the hotel and then crashed. The second night we found a great Indian place and last night we had sea food. We went to SAM'S.......

This is the Maui Punch, I highly recommend them and you must have two.  Sincee I am the only women on the team in Okinawa and have basically OD'd on men (I know, who would of thought such a thing); the guys took pity on me and let me take a picture of them. Here they are (from left to right): Phil, Matt, Steve, Don, and Keone.  They are great guys and a blast to travel with. Matt, Steve, and Keone are headed out this weekend to Singapore and I won't see them for awhile. It was fun hanging out with you three.