SUP Morning Sessions

We broke out the Stand Up Paddleboard! 

Pumping up the inflatable board

The water is so clear! You can see straight to the bottom when you are out there. It is really neat. I've only seen one fish, but Jonathan has seen quite a few.

We currently only have one board... We need to get another! It is a drag to wait on the beach for your turn. 

Bourbon Cocktails and Rotary Sushi

The hunt for a good bourbon drink is over. The lobby bar in the Dusit Thani is our spot. The bartender made a delicious Old Fashioned. He even flamed the orange peel! Respect, bartender. While we were waiting for the drink, we were served a jello shot in an orange peel. The presentation was awesome and it was actually pretty tasty.

Best jello shot presentation ever.

It was a pretty rainy night - but the view was still awesome.

Enjoying our drinks on the balcony.

If we live on an island, we need to eat sushi! We were told to try Rotary Sushi in Tumon. We waited for about 20 minutes, but were told by others waiting with us, it was worth it. They were correct. This place was fantastic. The unagi could be the best I've ever had. The fish was so good! I can't wait to go back.

The biggest bowl of wasabi I've ever seen.

PSA to let diners know puffer fish won't be served here?

So delicious!!

Ritidan Beach

We are still exploring all of the beaches in Guam, our latest discovery is Ritidan Beach. Wow, this place was awesome. It's a bit of a trek from our place, but worth it. There is also a wildlife refuge in the area.

Tiny church on the way to the beach.

The view from the overlook. Always pull over if there is a "scenic viewpoint" sign!

The cliff from below.

We still need to check out the museum.

Jungle path to the beach.

This place was empty! It was great.

Our belongings have arrived!

After 6 weeks of living out of suitcases, we have our household items!

Dewitt handled the delivery of our items in Guam - they were fantastic. The guys were really friendly and very careful with our things. Opening the boxes was pretty awesome. It was like Christmas morning, but better! It was funny how we both got excited about seeing certain things again. Jonathan was thrilled to see his coffee maker. I was giddy unwrapping our pots/pans, kitchen aid mixer and cuisinart food processor.

Organizing and unpacking the kitchen items was the worst. We had to hand wash everything.  We don't have a dishwasher... But it is nice everything is clean.

After the excitement wore off, we were faced with organizing all of our crap. We certainly have a lot of "things" that needed to find a home in our new house. After two weeks of organizing, we are very close.  Jonathan has pulled a lot of the weight - I'm very appreciative of that!

It has been amazing to sit on our couch and sleep in our bed.

The truck loaded with the packed wooden crates. 

I was tasked with marking off all of the numbers as the boxes were unloaded.

The tarp was awesome. It provided shade while unloading the boxes.

The carport was pretty loaded with items.

We had MANY kitchen boxes. Not one glass was broken!!

Staging our kitchen items.

The deer head looks pretty good in the home office.

Henry was very excited to have all of his toys again.

A celebratory bully stick for Henry.

Bubbly for us!

Welcome to our neighborhood, Barrigada.

Snorkling at Ypao Beach Park

One of the new recreational activities that is afforded us on Guam is snorkeling. About 15 minutes away from out house is a rather calm bay that we can jump right into. It isn't the most amazing experience (there are supposedly better beaches that are restricted to us; more on that later), but we have done it a couple times now and still see new fish each time. 

Guam has two more Toyotas on the island

Our cars arrived!

My car was ready for pick on Friday afternoon. We went to Dewitt to pick up my car and guess what we saw in the parking lot two spaces down. Jonathan's car! Apparently they were put in the same shipping container in Long Beach. I find this very interesting. Jonathan did not ship his car with Dewitt. He shipped it with Matson.  My car was picked up in Phoenix on January 29 and Jonathan dropped off his car in Long Beach on February 8. Both were scheduled to be on Matson ships, but we thought for sure mine would have a head start. ha What do we know about international shipping? Unfortunately, we couldn't get Jonathan's car at the same time. We needed to go to the Port to clear it through customs and then come back to get it. It was late on Friday and we not be able to make all the necessary stops by 5pm. But we were thrilled to get my car and drop off the rental before the weekend.

First thing Monday morning we went to the Port to clear Jonathan's car. We spoke with two different people before we realized we didn't have all of the necessary paperwork to clear his car. We would need to go to Matson to get the paperwork and stamp and then drive back to the port to get their stamp and pay the $5 customs clearance fee. Okay. We went to Matson got the paperwork and stamp and headed back to the port. We got the stamp, paid the $5 and headed to Dewitt. Jonathan got his car and we were off to get safety inspections so we could register our cars.

The safety inspections took about 10 min to complete. We paid the $15 and headed to the DMV. Of course, the DMV was quick.  It was breeze getting our Guam plates! When it is smooth, it is smooth. We really appreciate the smooth.

One little hiccup... You need to have a plate on the back and the front of the car. My car only has a holder in the back. This was not an issue in AZ. I called the Toyota dealership to see if they could install one. They don't have the part and would have to special order it. How long could that take? Aren't we closer to the parts warehouse in Guam? Apparently, we aren't closer. It will take 30-45 days to get the part. So I ordered it from Amazon and 'should' have it in a week. Or maybe the joke is on me and it really will take 30-45 days no matter where you order it. I will have to take the part to the dealership or some other place to install it since I don't have any holes on the front. That could be an adventure. Until then, I have my front plate displayed on the dashboard. Nice.