Adventure to Pagat Caves

On Saturday October 4, 2014 I woke up early as usual since I have not completely adjusted to the time change. Which was a good thing; it gave me a head start to explore the Island. I drove to Gun Beach but couldn’t really find a place that didn't say tow away zone or private property. I then decided to just drive up north and see what I found. I was driving aimlessly for about 45 minutes looking at houses for sale and just seeing where the road took me until I decided to look at the tourist map and see what was close by. I saw that there were caves off route 15 so I decided to see what that was about. I just drove that road for a while until I saw cars parked and decided to give it a try. When I parked on the side of the road I saw a car that had a sign that said “no money, doors unlocked”. I read a little about this, it is to stop people from breaking your window to see what they can find. Just make sure you take everything with you. I didn't have a pen and I didn't want to keep my windows open since I rains here quite often so I decided to take the risk. When ever I go hiking I usually have all my gear with me. I usually have a flashlight, first aid kit, food, water, GPS, knife, fire starter and extra clothes. But since all that stuff is still in the move, all I had was a water bottle and camera.  As I started the hike and got deeper into the jungle I got a little nervous since I had no idea of what I was getting into. I didn't know how far the cave was or what it was like getting to it. I saw wasps on the trail and wondered if they would sting me. I heard rustling just off the trail which I finally found to be 3 little wild pigs.

 As you get deeper into the jungle the terrain got more rocky. What was a dirt trail with only a slight decline got rocky and steep. Some areas had rope tied to trees to help with the decent/accent. The trail got harder to follow in the rocks but it did have orange tape tied to some trees and branches to help you stay on it. The steeper areas had ropes to help your balance.

When I finally reached the end I saw a hole in the ground. Nothing like caves I have seen in the past, paved with a stairway entrance with lights to guide the way. This one was literally a hole in the ground. I decided to just go into the entrance and turn back.

 When inside I saw there were a tour group with flashlights inside. Not wanting to risk it I turned back up the path. As I went up I met a two groups that invited me to tag along with them. One was a military family and the other another tour group with a local guide and Japanese tourist. I joined the tour group and went into the cave. The tour guide was very friendly, his name was Kurtis. He showed me all about the cave and the surrounding area. He also invited me to join the group as they went to other parts of the area. For the cave, it was not that deep. You just go about a minute in and put your packs up and everything you don’t want wet up high near your head and wade into the water, just passed that area is the main part of the cave. It was an underground natural fresh water pools were you can swim. I have never been in a cave that wasent developed. The only light in the cave came from the flashlights from the tourist. If you go, be sure to bring waterproof lights. After the cave we went to see the ocean. It was real rocky but you had good grip since the trail was dry. At the ocean there was a natural sea cove and a place to jump into the water. Kurtis explained not to jump into the cove since it’s dangerous when swimming out of it. The safe place to jump was outside the cove and about 35 feet high. Kurtis found out I dident have anymore water or food and offered me some. He told me that the people of Guam are very friendly and family oriented. After lunch by the ocean we headed back and it was all up hill. On the way we saw lattice stones. These are reminants of old Chomorro homes.  If you are not familiar to the area you need to pay special attention to the trail marking because you can easily go off course at the rocky part of the path. Once at the car, I found that it was still in one piece and that was the end of my first real adventure in Guam.

Leaving for Guam

Since I have a little one (3 month old), we decided I will be going here on my own till I find a house we can stay in. There are a lot of houses for rent off base but we decided to buy. If you are going to do this make sure you get prequalified early and start looking because the process can take a few months. My first impression of Guam is that it is a tropical paradise very similar to going to Hawaii or Puerto Rico. Right now I am on my house hunting days so I am going around with the realtor and spend the rest of the day exploring the Island. It feels like a vacation I am taking alone. If I could choose, I would rather be working and have my wife and boy with me.

At the airport about to leave

As soon as you leave the Guam airport you feel the humidity just like any tropical area. The one thing I don't like is when you are inside with air conditioning and you go outside your sunglasses (and anything glass for example camera lenses) instantly fog up. You have to wait a minute for them to warm up and the condensation to evaporate. Another thing with the humidity is that things dry very slowly. Coming from Edwards AFB (the high desert) I am use to things almost drying instantly. The good thing about the humidity is that I feel like I have put lotion on me everyday and I stopped getting dry mouth at night. Hopefully my boy will stop having dry skin once he gets here and my wife can stop putting lotion on him twice a day.

My boy

I am staying at the Bayview Hotel which is in Tamuning. This area has a lot of tourist many from Japan and China. You will see some European tourist but not many. The signs here are written in english and what looks like chinese and japanese. There are many high end shops like Coach, Micheal Kors, Lois Vutton and Gucci just to name a few. The area has lots of gun clubs, places to eat and massage parlors. I have been told to stay away from most of the massage parlors which is OK with me since I don't get massages.

View from my balcony

I started working out, manly cardio at the beach. I did a two mile run with my Vibrams. I would say if you are going to run on the beach to wear some type of foot protection since there are rocks and coral in the sand. The sand is also really fine and compacts tight near the waters edge so it is more like running on a dirt trail. I also did a half mile ocean swim. The water right in front of the hotels at this part of the island is really calm. The waves break around 200 yards from the shore. You can just walk in and start swimming. No more fighting through the waves before starting your workout. I did see some trigger fish (Picasso triggers), the exact ones you see in salt water aquariums in the states. The one thing I didn't expect is that I got bit a couple of times by them. Nothing bad and it did not break skin just nips at my leg. During the low tide you can walk all the way to the reef which us around 200 yards away.

40 yards out and I can still stand

Life being on Edwards AFB

Edwards AFB "Middle of Nowhere" or "Middle of Everywhere", depends on how you see it. I am writing this as I leave this base, so I am going to sum up what we have done here in this post. This base is in the middle of the desert but you can go to the mountains, beaches, national parks or the city within an hour and a half drive. We are from Los Angeles, CA so getting Edwards meant that we would be close to our family.

The shuttle flying over the Edwards AFB clinic

  It was dark the first time I drove onto base, as I drove down Rosamond Blvd and seeing the sign that says "Welcome to Edwards AFB" I was in for a big surprise. Two miles past the sign and seeing nothing but blackness. I pulled over and calling my girlfriend (now my wife) I told her that I passed the sign but there is nothing out here, she tells me "it should be there". So having faith in her, I kept driving and after about 10 miles of nothingness, I get to the gate. After the gate, it's another two miles of nothing before I see the first building. The thing about this base is that everything is so spread out.  That was just over three years ago and it has been a great experience here.

Intro

Let me first start off by introducing to you who we are. My name is Ronald and I am in the United States Air Force, my wife Sandy who is a substitute teacher and son Anthony. 

This blog is about our life as being an active duty family. We will be writing about how being stationed at different bases, things to do around the base as well as vacations and traveling we do. We are open to new experiences so we will be writing about lots of different activities, places and topics. Our philosophy in life is “Nothing is impossible”.  If you want to do something, you just have to figure out the “How”.  And remember, if it’s worth doing it, it probably won’t be easy. So what kind of life experience do you want? We are pretty positive about life. Therefore most of the stuff you see here will be the great stuff we see along the way.  We are starting this post because we often go online to get new ideas on things and see what others are doing. We hope by reading about our experiences, you get new ideas for your next adventure.  We are starting this blog as we leave Edwards AFB to go to Andersen AFB in Guam. The name Tiger Stripe life is from the Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) pattern which is made up of green tiger stripes.