The Sunday Snapshot

So true, vending machine, so true. 

The Day as a Marine

I was invited to participate in Jane Wayne Day at Matt's unit, a day where spouses are invited to come and participate in some of the highlights of our husbands' jobs. I say highlights because we only did the fun parts without all of the pesky paperwork and cleaning that accompanies all of the activities. I am so grateful to all of the marines who drove us around, and transported and cleaned the weapons we used. So many people worked to make this an awesome day!

The first step of Jane Wayne day was to be issued our own kevlar (helmet), flak jacket, and ear and eye pro. Matt had to help me put on and take off the bulky flak jacket- even when I had to go to the bathroom! He also provided me with a pouch that snapped to the front so that I could carry my own snacks. No low blood sugar today!

We then boarded an AAV - amphibious assault vehicle- to drive us to the first range. We were crammed in the back while the driver sits in a turret in the front. We put in our ear plugs since the engine is so loud inside the metal vehicle!

At our first range we were given a breach demonstration by the combat engineers (Matt's job!). Marines close by laid suppressing fire with machine guns, and in the distance we saw marines setting a charge and exploding an obstacle with a huge fireball! Then we got to witness an LAV (light armored vehicle) shooting a 25mm cannon. It was so loud! Now it was our turn.

Each of the spouses got a turn to shoot 25 rounds with the M240B. This was my first time shooting anything and it was a machine gun! We had a coach that loaded the weapon and told me when to shoot so all I had to do was pull the trigger. I never could get the right angle to look through the scope with my bulky gear, but my coach aimed for me and I hit the target on my first try. The loud noise scared me so I only got off two rounds at first, but you are supposed to shoot for a few seconds each burst and I finally got there.

Spouses in all of our gear!

The next activity was the shooting range. We were given a five minute safety class before being allowed to shoot rifles and pistols. I felt very unprepared, but my coach made sure I couldn't hurt anybody. He loaded and unloaded the weapons, kept his hand on my weapon if someone was downrange, and even turned on and off the safety for me. All I had to do was aim, and unfortunately I was not very good at that part. 

The rifle was really heavy, and while I could at least see through the scope I could not aim very well. I only hit my target's hand with the rifle. I joked that I was just disarming him. The pistol was lighter, but the kickback really surprised me and I kept tensing up. I got one shot in the ribs. When all of the other spouses had multiple chest shots I complained that my guy was probably still alive after I shot him. 

Shot in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder. He had so many chances to walk away before that one body shot. 

On the beach Matt gave a class on how to eat MREs and we got to explore the contents of the pouches as the AAVs were being readied. Our last adventure was riding into the water in an AAV. It was very dark inside, but once we were in the ocean they opened up the hatches so we could see that we were eye level with the waves. Our driver did donuts in the ocean and we were all splashed. Even though Matt's day to day is not nearly as fun, I am so glad I got to experience just a little bit of the cool stuff today. 

The Sunday Snapshot

Sunny day on the Sunabe Seawall

The Mountain of Cherry Blossoms

During cherry blossom season the entire population of Okinawa and some foreign tourists as well visit the northern part of the island to witness the first blooms in Japan. My friends and I mistakenly tried to visit a restaurant in Nago during that time period before hitting impressive traffic that made us turn around. Last year we waited so long to travel north that we missed the traffic, but we also missed almost all of the flowers. This year Alex and I tried Mount Yaedake during a weekday after the peak season, and found some of the most beautiful trees still a riot of color. Mount Yaedake just has a twisting mountain road with fewer guardrails than we were comfortable with, but it becomes famous for just a few weeks when the trees that line the road are in bloom. A few ice cream trucks open on either side of the road during this season, which seems a strange choice of business during January. To get some of the shots of the trees we had to park the car along the side of the narrow road, take the photo when no other cars were around, and jump back in the car as quickly as possible to avoid creating a traffic block. I became a little wistful as I realized this would be my last year living on Okinawa when the flowers bloom in January, but I am grateful that in three years I managed to hit all three famous sites for viewing: Nakijin Castle Ruins, Nago Castle Park, and now the mountain of cherry blossoms.