Life is short

When the news is depressing, with 260 dead in Southern U.S. states after tornadoes flattened cities, you can either hunker down and feel like Chicken Little that the sky is falling or you can do something "daring" to make you breath in life deeply . Choosing the later, we strapped on our hiking boots and got a little lost, dirty, sweaty and loved every minute of it.

About 30 minutes away from our house is Nimitz Hill. At the top, in the jungle, President Taft in 1910 had the military build a Dam over the Fonte River in order to send drinking water down to Hagatna, the capital of Guam. A group of 6 of us took the very windy scenic route trying to find this trail head marker to the Dam. It was hidden under the lush grasses and vines, and we did a lot of wandering and poking around before we found it.
A mile down we came to the top of the dam.

It was either do the "Romancing the Stone" move and slide down the vertical slope and hope for the best or take the trail down. We looked at the pretty red brick, made at a brick factory nearby at Libugon and contemplated it. But after Derick Boss, one of the teenagers, scraped up his whole side going down the Dam, we decided not to add our red blood to the brick and took the trail down.

We followed the Fonte River down stream and waded across several pools. Nan walked across this pool just fine, but Casey, the other teenager in our group, followed her and stepped in a hole and just disappeared underwater. I just played it safe and swam across.
We arrived at this 15 foot waterfall and jumped right in. The cold water felt fantastic after the sticky humidity and heat. Going down was easy-- it was climbing back up that was a bit tricky. (I have decided I need to build up my upper body strength to do all this fun rock climbing) We headed further downstream to a bigger waterfall. We needed ropes to get down this waterfall. So we sat and enjoyed the view, water rippling over rocks, and jungle chatter of birds. On our way out, we passed huge banana spiders and Guam "tarantulas." We didn't disturb them and they left us alone.

This is probably the cleanest we have ever returned from a hike.

Our next hike to the Southern end of the island to Talofofo caves, 5 caves in total, had many quaking in their boots. 3 of my friends wouldn't go for fear of snakes, bats and spiders. We joined up with the Navy MWR and found lots of brave souls ready for an adventure.
We hiked up a slippery hill and came to the mouth of the limestone cave called "Asquiroga". On the cave walls and ceilings you can still find a few petroglyphs painted in quicklime that have star courses and sea lanes drawn there by the ancient Chamoru seafarers. (In 1924 an ethnographer from Hawaii carved one of these petroglyphs out of the cave wall and took it to the Bishop museum in Hawaii, where it still is on display)

The first cave we entered had a tiny entrance hole about 3 feet x 3 feet. No one wanted to go in first after our local guide Jesse. I had been there before 5-6 years ago, so I crawled right in after him. I couldn't find Trevor's head lamp, and only had a small flashlight with me. Wouldn't you know it, the battery promptly gave out, and it was literally so dark, I couldn't see my hand in front of my face.

After sliding in the tunnel, we came to a cavern. We climbed up a slippery rise with the aid of a rope.

And then we headed down...
down...
down....

But that wasn't the end of the cave. We had wormhole tunnels to crawl through.
My friend Nan and I were literally inching forward on our stomachs. The only way I could move was by pulling myself forward with my forearms. I have lots of bruises on my arms and knees but it was all worth it for the adventure.
The main group surfaced for fear of claustrophobia but our other local guide Barbara Villagomez stayed with 4 of us to continue slithering through these tunnels.


Barb kept saying "get low" "get lower". I would have hit my head several times without her.
Barb is a lot of fun, she made us laugh the whole way.

We had 4 more caves to check out. The next cave no one knows how deep it is. Dave Lotz an expert guide/cave explorer took a 200 ft. rope down and still didn't find the bottom. It's like the Marianas Trench.

This is just one rung down. We semi rappelled down and looked over the abyss.

You can just make me out with the 2 lights on the right.

The sinkholes and stalactites (from water leaching the calcium out of the limestone for centuries) in all these caves were so amazing. You couldn't help but be impressed by nature's simple beauty.

When leaving the last cave I thought there should be a sign on the cave that says "the way is dark, can't tell what's around the bend, the rope is short but life is shorter. GO FOR IT anyway!"

Spring BREAK Your Backbone

Am I a slave driver? I was called this during our overcast Spring Break.... We were supposed to go to the Philippines but with the government shutdown looming overhead and Steve's Citizen Academy presentation, we found ourselves tethered to Guam.

So when life gives you lemons you make your kids break a sweat to crave lemonade right? I thought so. It wasn't too much to ask them to water the lawn, pull weeds, mow and edge?

Or scrap paint, prime and repaint?

Certainly using the pressure sprayer to wash the grime and mold off the sidewalk and house is pure fun don't you think? (gotta love Trevor's signature on the side of the house)

And surely washing the car is an afternoon of pleasure akin to running free in the sprinklers?
While they didn't call this the best Spring Break ever, they did work together as a team and there was laughter along the way.

We did go see a movie one afternoon and one morning we loaded up the dive gear and headed to San Luis Beach to see the ocean critters.

Our newest little Open Water Diver Natalie did swim effortlessly 30 feet down with the sea turtles and fish


And Trevor did get to work on his Farmer Brown tan on the beach before he headed back to school.

I think I finally convinced the kids that "sometimes stay-cations intermingled with work and play are the most memorable vacations anyway." Problem is though-- I couldn't convince myself of this concept as I spent Spring Break waiting in line for an hour at the post office to get our taxes sent registered mail, an hour waiting to register kids for the next school year, cleaning the house and cooking for a dinner party for Steve's coworkers from Hawaii, spending 7 hours and three nights at church meetings, and half of Saturday cleaning out closets for a rummage sale to earn money for girls camp. Okay maybe I am a slave driver! Man I need a Spring break....

US Air Force Academy- Dare to Dream

Once there was a tiny little boy who couldn't be held down to earth and dreamed of flying. From infancy he would arch his back and fight his car seat and push the limits with his seat belt. He wanted to be driving the car instead of being a passenger. He had model planes and poured over books of Harrier Jump Jets at age 3 and devoured specks, details and pictures of military planes as bed time stories. At age 5, he made paper airplane after paper airplane until he could get one that could travel long distances. When he was 6, he made kids puke as he flew the plane simulators at the Smithsonian in DC and made them do dives, rolls and flips. He begged to go to Air Shows and sit in real cockpits at Little Rock AFB. Once in a jet, he did not want to leave without trying every lever, button and peering at every gauge. He visited the Smithsonian offsite and read everything he could get his hands on about the jets. Every morning on the way to Middle School at Anderson Air Force Base, he would dream of flying the planes that sat on the run way or that zoomed overhead. This excited little boy who loved planes grew unto a big teenager boy who had flying fever.

He was in heaven when he visited the Boeing Site near Seattle Washington, and he could see planes being built and sit in the cockpits of real planes in the museum. Early on he decided he wanted to be an electrical engineer like his Grandpa Moore and get that degree at the illustrious Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO while training for the lofty dream of becoming a pilot.

Competition is very stiff to get into the AF Academy. In fact only 11% of applicants make it into the Academy because it is so competitive. First Trevor had to get a Congressional nomination. Trevor sought the nomination of Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo. Competition was fierce with 2 military bases here with Valedictorians and children of AF and Naval officers who wanted that 1 slot to the Air Force Academy. After numerous interviews and time consuming paperwork, letters of recommendation, Trevor was nominated by the Honorable Ms Bordallo. You can see his mini picture in the newspaper with the Congresswoman and Trevor's girlfriend Allison.

This is the official picture (above) was taken by Ms Bordallo's staff. The unofficial picture below was taken by Trevor's competitor. (I was so happy for Trevor but sad for the other young man who's dreams were crushed)

This is the whole group trying for the West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force slots.

Ms. Bordallo told me that Trevor already looked and acted like a cadet, and that he was in the top place for getting the Official Acceptance from the Air Force.

And this is the official letter or Appointment from the AF Academy. They called him at 5:00 in the morning to make sure he was coming. Even while half asleep, he knew this was a dream come true to get his science degree and commission as a second lieutenant in the Air Force upon graduation and hopefully to fly the fighters and F-22 Raptors .

Spring time in the Tropics

One of the best things to do in the Springtime on Guam is to get out and watch and swim with the sea life. I have a friend named GiGi that snorkels everyday at 6 am with the Manta Rays at Gun Beach. They just swim right past her and their smooth skin brushes right up against her. It's incredible!

Since I am still getting kids ready for school at 6 am, a few of us gals went out at 8 am to go kayaking to Finger Reef Beach where the 300 lb, 4 ft long Haggan Sea Turtles lay their eggs .

When female Haggan turtles reach about 23 years of age, they crawl onto the sandy shoreline of Guam from April to July and dig a large pit and lay 40-140 eggs, and then cover them with sand. They can lay as many as six clutches of eggs in one nesting season and the eggs take 50 to 90 days to hatch. The eggs will hatch at sunrise when two-inch long hatchlings emerge from their eggs, dig up through the sand, and start their journey to sea. It is a hard journey and while some are lost to the crabs and Sea Hawks that snatch them off the shore, many persevere and make it to the protective surf and ocean to fulfill their destiny.

So we head off with high spirits from Gab Gab beach in the bright sun to Finger Reef to see the turtles.

We paddled out to the reef's edge and left our smooth turquoise water behind and headed out to deep blue ocean.
One of the double kayaks in our group capsized from the big waves and one poor gal lost her brand new $400 waterproof camera. (Unfortunately 200 feet down is too deep to retrieve by scuba diving-- though there was a submarine out there just surfacing and I am sure they could have snagged it.) We secured our belongings and headed for deeper water. It was tiring paddling for under an hour in rough choppy water but my friend Nan and I were determined to make it to Finger Reef. Some of the less experienced paddlers, turned back for fear that even if they made it to the beach, they wouldn't make it back to the ocean with the strong current and giant waves.
Luckily, I timed it just right and 2 huge waves literally threw me right onto shore. At one point I thought I would tip over but those abdominal core strength exercises from Yoga class helped me stay upright.

We snorkeled and explored a rock island nearby and saw sea urchins on shore but didn't see any of the pits where the turtles lay their eggs or mamma turtles. Bummer! We just prayed for a safe journey for the baby turtles that would make a run for the sea in June and July.
We also prayed that we would find a lull in the waves and make it safely out into the ocean and over the reef without capsizing. We watched three different times kayaks being flipped over when the pounding waves hit gals in our group (if you have seen Tom Hanks in the movie "Cast Away" trying to make it over the reef, you know what we were up against) The ocean behind us here doesn't show the high tide and height of the waves we were up against.
Our guide gave sage advice that applies to most everything in life "keep the nose of the boat pointed straight ahead no matter what. Do not deviate right or left or you will get knocked over." I honestly felt like one of those little sea turtles fighting and paddling for all I was worth. The first three waves keep getting bigger and stronger, and I was so out of breath for paddling so hard and fighting to keep the boat going straight. When I saw the 4th and final pappa wave coming at me, I wanted to turn around because I was sure this was the wave that would do me in and flip me into the ocean. But I grit my teeth, said a prayer and hit the wave with full force straight on. When I heard Nan cheer screaming behind me, I knew I had made it over the reef and was safe.

Here is our surviving LDS group. We look a little wet and bedraggled but we are survivors despite falls, cuts, bruises and getting lost. This picture is of a climb we took down to Spanish Steps where the conquering Spaniards built a well. This week we are off to LaoLao and Finata Falls.

We all work really hard here building the Lord's kingdom, shouldering many callings but we realize we 'little turtles' survive and thrive against the many forces trying to knock us down and pick us off because God watches over us.