Guam Day 107 - South Tour with M + D

6/9/2022 - So much to capture here. You know when you have that a ha moment because you looked at something in a different way? Having Mom and Dad here has been just like that, a chance to rediscover Guam in a whole new way. See new things even. I know its crazy after close to 110 days that we haven't just about covered this 40x15 mile island, but there are some nooks and crannies yet to be discovered. 

Joan and I were really impressed that Mom and Dad didnt have much in the way of Jet lag coming to Guam. Going west always was easier for me, they are troopers, and were ready go at 8 am. We did have some rest time though, Joan had to work today so I got her in and then came back to the apartment. Fun to just get caught up, its been 4 months since we saw them. The last time was at the wedding, we were saying good bye in 20 degree weather, what a difference a few months makes. 

After dropping Joan off and getting caught up, it was time to take Mom and Dad to some of my favorite hits, which included hiking at Asan Beach by the Ocean, visiting the National Park Museum, having burritos in Agat, and completing our south loop by car. No, I didn't force my parents on a 40 mile bike ride with massive hills, they were inspired and amazed though that we were even able to attempt such a feat. 

Asan Beach was really fun to go to as a starting point. Dad was excited about the history and the hiking, and Mom loved exploring the beach and found views that reminded her of growing up in Okinawa. One thing I didn't realize existed here was these small plants that look like a fern, they shrivel up when you touch them, a memory mom had from being a kid. It's the small things. We hiked along the beach and then a little ways up the hillside where one of the Japanese pillboxes, our first history stop on this tour. They both were suprised at just how much the history came to life, and we also found a new view of the Fisheye Aquarium just a short distance away from the beach. Lastly we completed the hike with finishing at the top of Asan point, good picture opportunity with a great view of the island that surrounds us. So great to have them here to experience this place. 

As the day was getting warmer, it was time to get into the air-conditioning and cool down, so we headed to the War in the Pacific museum down by the navel base. Fewer pictures here, but finally my mom helped me capture one of my dad and I in front of this japanese submarine from WWII. Not an easy selfie. The magnitude of this ship is quite aw-inspiring, and to know it washed ashore towards the end of the war, wasn't destroyed, and was recovered and placed at a museum. Wow. Rewatching the movie overview of the museum was a great reminder of the history here, and that I had yet to see a couple of spots on the island that were part of the park. Part of the plan in future days. 

Our tummies were rumbling, and with all these fun exhibits to see we lost track of time, so a quick lunch at 1pm was in order. Heading down south to Agat, I gave my parents the Guam burrito / taco experience. I spoke about this place in a few posts back, once again great fish tacos, chips and salsa, and burritos. They seemed to be impressed as we are so far from real Tex Mex that they had living in Dallas when I was early in my years. At the same time, we were well past the hour for dinner in Iowa time. My favorite part of all this though was sharing the excitement of trying these new things on a island just so far from home. Grinning ear to ear. 

Our next stops were around the famous biking loop. There really are so many stops around this loop, and each turn is a unique view with something new. The main highlights for me were visiting Mt. lamb lamb, and a new place called Magellan's Landing.  Lamb Lamb came with a new finding of plaque that went over why the foliage on the mountain looked the way it did. Dad and I had lots of talks about the geology of the island, turns out the volcanic rock areas are were you see the tall palms, and the shorter bush like structures stick to the hard limestone. This is why the mountain has this layer like effect in the lush dense jungle that sits on it. Mom and Dad can now check off that they have seen the highest mountain in the world. 

Magellan's landing was a new spot for me, an overlook just outside the town of Umatac and overlooking a Bay. Here sits a defense tower and set of canons that protected the Bay for over 150 years while Guam was under Spanish rule. This outpost was used as a stopping point for Spanish ships to resupply on their journey from Mexico to the Philippines, both at this time were under Spanish rule. This was also the bay that Magellans ship would have come through when first landing on Guam in 1521. History shows that there were small skirmishes with the Chamorros between the time of Magellans visit and 1668 when Spain finally occupied Guam. All this history really came alive for us. And to just have seen Asan Bay and knowing the WWII piece of taking back Guam in 1945. We visibly saw close to 500 years of history in a matter of a couple hours. 

Once again we saw that we were short on time and moved forward to complete the southern loop. Joan was picked up around 5, and from there we headed to dinner at the Beach Bar. My favorite sunset of the trip so far came out as we sat waiting to get into the restaurant. As an aside, tourism is back up and almost all places are reservation filled once again, great to see. This meant we also got to sit at Gun Beach and take it all in. So glad we got the pictures here, some that I will treasure for many years to come. 

So that was just day 1 of the trip, so much more to come, grinning ear to ear knowing mom and dad are here.