Tinian trip

We finally went off island last month for our first mini-vacation. We went to Tinian, the island just south of Saipan.



There are two possible ways of getting to Tinian: by boat or by plane. The ferry costs 20 bucks a person while the plane costs just under 200, so we took the ferry.



Once inside we found that the ferry gives its passengers all the comfort of airline seats with the added bonus of sea sickness.





An hour later we were pulling up in front of Tinian's premier attraction: The Dynasty Casino. The casino is a strange thing. Its a several hundred room hotel located out on an island that only has 3,000 residents. The place was deserted when we were there, yet in the photo you can see a billboard out front announcing that they are doing a several story expansion of the hotel. Maybe the owners are just very, very optimistic.



The entrance foyer.



Our room. One thing that I would have liked to know before booking the room is that it had a "Japanese style" bed. This means that they replaced our comfy western matress with something that feels more like a concrete block.



Looking up from the hotel floor.



The pool. As you can see, it was a little too crowded for us.

Suicide Cliff

This is cliff got its name because hundreds of Japanese soldiers and civilians jumped off it to avoid being captured by the U.S. soldiers.









This is looking out at the very most northern tip of the island.

The Grotto

The Grotto is Saipan's most popular dive spot. Its a submerged cave that has a few tunnels that run out to the open ocean.



The Grotto is located at the Northern part of the island. There aren't any beaches on this side, just cliffs.







There are about a hundred steps down from the parking lot to the Grotto. After your dive you have to haul your SCUBA gear all the way back up.





The main cavern that goes out to the ocean is located under that notch in the center of the cliff face.



Jeff and I watching the SCUBA divers decompress.

Weird Abandoned Government Building

While out exploring the island with Scott and Kathleen we found this strange complex on top of a hill.




While we were looking at this a local drove up and told us that it was rumored to have been a CIA operation during the cold war.



The local man said that this was abandoned after the cold war. It used to be full of wires, but people stripped everything out to scavenge for copper.



You can see from our car next to it just how large it is.



Scott's looking down into these pits that used to house huge air conditioning units to keep the computers cooled. Now they are filled with stagnant water and tadpoles.



"Norf Syde"???? Thats ignorant even by graffiti standards.



Inside one of the empty buildings next to the satellite dish.

Calabera Cave

We went down to check out Calabera Cave with Scott and Kathleen.



This is the cave entrance. The cave goes down pretty deep. Unfortunately we all came completely unprepared without a single flashlight. So our cave exploring was limited to the cave entrance.



The cave has some pictographs on the wall that date back a few thousand years. It was also used during WWII by the Chamorros as a place to hide from the occupying Japanese.

Boonie Stomp

Joe and Katie took us "boonie stomping" for the first time. This is a popular past time out here that involves wandering off the path and into the jungle. It seemed like a bad idea until Joe explained that the island is only 3 miles wide and an hour walk in either direction would put you out on a beach.



Our boonie stomp included the obligatory ride in the back of someone's truck. Its normal to see trucks driving around with a dozen kids bouncing around in the back. In typical island logic, you can get a ticket for having your kid inside the car without a seatbelt, but its totally legal to throw your five year old in the bed of your truck.



We started our hike out at a Japanese shrine. This dates back to World War II.







This is Joe and us outside a little cave above a small waterfall. About ten seconds after this Rach stepped into some soft sand along the bank and sank in to her knees.







This is an unexploded 8 inch shell that was just laying out on the ground. This type of ordinance would have been fired from the US naval ships that bombarded the island in WWII before their invasion.

Neighbors

These are some of the random things that live in the jungle outside our house who come by to scare the hell out of Rachelle from time to time.

Sunday Drive

Rach and I went for a drive through the North end of the island a few weeks ago. That part of Saipan is pretty empty except for some war monuments, the Grotto and Suicide cliff.









This is a flame tree in full bloom. They only bloom for a few weeks each year. Which is a good thing because they spray pollen all over the place like a fireman with poor hose control and half the people on the island (including me) are allergic to them.



Us and our wussy little car. I'm thinking of painting a big flame down the side and chroming it out.



Like all drives on a small island, you eventually end up back at the beach.