Ok, so, apparently I don’t want to sleep in vacation! 2:45am seems like a good time to get up…oh brother.

Well, after a fashion, about 5:30am, I had had enough. Let’s just say, I’m not so spoiled by hotels to not stay in lesser hotels, but I still have standards. I had to go outside to warm up! The a/c, even when turned off, didn’t turn off. The shower dripped and as we found out when we were going to take showers, no hot water. It was only for the night and it was on the water.

I quietly snuck out of the room and went to sit by the pool and then by the ocean, the pool is right there on the ocean, but I wasn’t sitting on the sand. The waves were lapping at the shore, so peaceful, it makes you think it’s what sound machines record to help you sleep.

I sat there and watched the sunrise, slow, steady, awakening the world. The people working in the restaurant were arriving, eventually patrons started arriving for breakfast. People walking, ruining, stand-up-paddleboarding, even one man collected seaweed, this was the silky grass kind, I asked what for and he said it was great bait for fishing, go figure!

I walked a bit, sat in the giant chair a bit, walked, sat in the sand and finally, it was time to see if PSM was ready to great the day. And he was!

We got ourselves together and went to The Kracked Egg for breakfast and worked on our next destinations, making sure we have placed to stay when we get there, stuff like that!

Then it was off to see more of Guam! So much history, much of it military and so rich and sobering and important.

We started at Asan Beach, War in the Pacific National Historic Park. The wide field, as you look at it, time realize it’s a killing field, what it must have looked like. You can stand next to a bomb and realize the awesomeness of it all.

There were tributes to fallen heroes, prisoners of war and the opportunity to see that no matter what, we survive as a people and can find peace.

We continued walking and on the way to view an abandoned pill box, this amazing tribute to each branch of the military.

We hiked up a hill thru the brush, much warmer up there with no ocean breeze!! Then down the steps to the pillbox.

For those of you who don’t know, “Pillboxes are concrete dug-in guard posts, normally equipped with loopholes through which to fire weapons. The originally jocular name arose from their perceived similarity to the cylindrical and hexagonal boxes in which medical pills were once sold. They are in effect a trench firing step hardened to protect against small-arms fire and grenades and raised to improve the field of fire.”

The next step was the T. Stell Newman Visitor Center. It was a museum of World War II, Guam’s involvement, Japan, the US, war stories, propaganda, news, support, men, women, children, horrors, heartbreak and hope and survival.

I was awed, saddened, inspired and exhausted from the experience. And most humbled. No more words.

After, we drove for a bit and then stopped for lunch at a local place on the water, can’t beat the view!

Next, it was a search for snorkeling fins, instead of paying to rent them each time. Got some great advice from a woman in the dive shop, she’s from where we’re going next and she gave us some great advice and suggestions on where to go and what to do!

Now, it’s off to the airport! Hang out in the United Club, thank you PSM! and wait for our flight… we’re going to Palau!

Palau is an archipelago of over 500 islands, part of the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean.

I don’t know if you remember me telling you that we only had our flights to and from Guam booked, in JJ and PSM style. So, the other morning, we go on the phone with United and they booked us to a few islands! Palau is first and we cannot wait to explore!

We are staying at the Palau Hotel, center of town and that’s all we know. Oh, except we have to see the giant clams in milk, I’ll take pics!

The hotel is nice, well recommended. It comes with breakfast, bathroom in the room, what more do you need? We got here and got upgraded…a triple! That means threr single beds!

I love all the little touches in the room and over the hotel.

Then it was time for food! One of the only places open, Tori Tori Japanese. Friendly staff and good food!

Tempura for me, a whole fried local red snapper for PSM, some edemame and a “real” Japanese eggroll, ha ha!

What an adventure today! Can’t wait to see and share what tomorrow brings!