Doug, Mary and I just returned from our first REAL vacation since moving to Japan over a year ago. Doug had some business in Iwakuni, Japan, so Mary and I tagged along then he took some vacation time for us to explore and relax. We started out at the nearby Marine base waiting for a military flight to Iwakuni. Doug was able to get his plane, but there were no more seats available for me and Mary, so we had to wait space A (space available) for the next flight. Good thing it was only an hour and a half later. Mary kept busy watching Shrek on her DVD player, eating my granola bar and running around entertaining the young marines waiting for their flights.
We were on a C-12, a little tiny plane with only 5 real seats, but man, were they comfortable. I had more leg room than I knew what to do with. It was kinda loud and they handed out ear plugs to us as we were about to board. I brought Mary's headphones that we borrowed from her friend, Jessica. Can you believe she left them on the whole time? I guess she realized that without them, it was really loud. It was nice having Doug arrive first, since he was able to pick up the rental car, check into the BOQ (bachelors officer's quarters i.e., hotel), grab a carton of milk for Mary and juices for us and still meet us at the air terminal when we arrived. The first night, we went to a restaurant that was 
recommended by the front desk staff.
Everyone calls it the "chicken shack." They told us the chicken on a stick and the gyoza are great. When I hear chicken on a stick, I automatically think of yakitori which we can get here and yes, it's delicious, but it's just small strips of chicken threaded on a skewer and grilled. It hardly ever fills us up. Ummm, this was no ordinary chicken on a stick. It was a whole breast and wing! I already bit into it a couple of times before thinking to take a picture. We all loved it...even Mary. The restaurant, itself was set back in the woods. It was cool and lush with tons of trees 
and a gentle waterfall. 
I felt like I had been transported back in time. They had beautiful statues (I only wish I knew what they meant) and of course there was the standard "touristy" cut out that we just had to pose Mary behind. 
Wouldn't she make a cute samurai? It was a great evening and a perfect start to our vacation.
What a nice base. 
Everything is within walking distance. Mary and I even managed to find a fantastic playground while Doug was working during the days. That girl sure does love a playground. Is it wrong to admit that I actually had playground envy? This place was huge and 90% of it was in the shade. Of course the fact that it was cooler in Iwakuni than Okinawa sure helped a lot. I didn't miss the humidity one bit and I had almost forgotten how wonderful 60 and 70 degree weather felt.
Thus ends part 1. The blog is acting weird and the pictures aren't posting exactly how I would like, so I'm calling it a night. I'm also writing a bit more than I had originally planned; therefore, I'm breaking the vacation blog into sections. This has become my new scrapbook, since I seem to be too busy to keep up with all my crafting, so forgive if it becomes a bit too tedious. This is for my memories as well as to inform family and friends of our lives.
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