Jim and Karen's visit, Part II.

On the weekend we decided to go to Katsuren-jo to show them the sights.

It was an extremely windy day so Little Miss faced toward my body as a windshield. Thank goodness I had brought a hat and a little hoodie otherwise she would've been underdressed. The photo on the left is Dan, his dad, and step-mom exploring the remnants of a cave at Katsuren-jo.

After seeing Katsuren-jo we headed north to Nago for the glass-bottom boat tour.

Evelyn was awake on her second boat tour and got a glimpse at the fish. On the far right are some puffer fish we saw on our way off the boat.

Instead of taking the shuttle back we decided to walk along the beach. Jim and Karen walked some paces behind us but when we got close to the car we all enjoyed Evelyn sticking her toes in the water for the first time. That warrants its own post, though.

Dan asked if there was anything else they'd like to see while we were up north and Karen mentioned seeing a waterfall. Unfortunately we didn't have a copy of the Okinawa Guide in our car so we had absolutely no idea how far north it was. I'm not sure how long we drove but we finally found it.

The sign said it was a 40 minute hike; pregnant women and individuals with health issues should not hike it. We thought it wouldn't be too difficult and it really wasn't until we got to the steep, steep stairs. Those were a killer.

We hiked, hiked, and hiked some more. We got separated from Jim and Karen but met up again at the falls.

Finally we made it. The end result was worth the hard work, though. Next time we hike I'll definitely be sure to wear tennis shoes - flip flops were not a great idea but to my defense I had no idea we would be hiking.

Dan and I went ahead and walked back before Jim and Karen because someone was due for a snack soon. I had a really pretty view while resting up against a tree. They have some camping spots up near Hiji falls and we plan on going sometime.

Anyway, Dan went back to bring water to Jim and Karen while I rested and Evelyn ate. 

We planned on going for sushi in American Village after our day was done but Evelyn was awfully crabby. Though she had a free ride in the Bjorn with her Pops she didn't sleep most of the day because everything was too exciting.

On the expressway we decided to stop by base and get some pizza instead. We picked up the pizza, got home, and got Ev into her jammies. She ate while we ate and then she and I went up to bed. We were planning on playing Scattegories but getting Ev down took quite a long time.

In addition to our very busy weekend, we did lots of souvenir shopping. We went to American Village a couple times: walked around the seawall, ate at a delicious Thai restaurant, and had fish suck on our feet.

Yes, fish sucking on our feet. For 500 yen each Karen and I got our feet sucked on for five minutes. They feed off the dead skin on your feet. As soon as I got near the water to sit on the bench they started congregating in my shadow. I guess they were hungry.

I was barely able to keep my feet in for the full five minutes because it tickled so badly. They started to stray away from my feet because I kept thrashing around.

During the work week we finally made it back to American Village with Dan to eat sushi. It was delicious - it is my favorite sushi place on the island. Granted it is the only sushi place I've been to (though a few restaurants I've been to have had sushi on the menu, this menu's items were primarily sushi and sashimi) but it is delicious. I think Karen and Jim enjoyed it, too.

After sushi they went to MakeMan which is a hardware store. They bought a florescent light to replace a burnt out one that was above our upstairs sink and then we went home.

Hmm, I don't know if I'm missing anything else. We had a good time. They arrived a day late because of a darn snowstorm back home that had canceled their flight but it all ended up working out in the end.

Oh! One of the last nights they were here we went looking for some patio furniture. There wasn't much at the hardware store we were looking at on base but we did end up with two great lounge chairs and a big plastic trunk to keep Ev's outside toys in and our grilling accessories. Thanks Jim and Karen! 

I may still share more photos if I'm able to save any from Karen's facebook.

The next visitors will be my Mom and baby sister who will arrive in May. We're lucky to have so many people that take the time to make the costly trip over here to spend time with us.