It's the end of the world as we know it...

Well everyone, the time has come for me to sign off on my trusty blog of my adventures in the Western Tropical Pacific. I enjoyed hearing from all of you, and hearing about your stories of life in Guam and these parts. The end of the cruise was pretty slow in terms of marine mammal and seabird sightings, and ended with a lot of bad weather. However, the scientific and boat based crew were all really fun, and I had a great 4+ months out here. I can't believe it's already over!

In the meantime since landing in port one last time in Guam on April 13, I traveled up to Saipan to check out the island on my own for a couple of days. The history on Saipan is amazing, much more moving than that on Guam (in my opinion). Saipan is where the American troops landed during WWII and all of the Japanese civilians and soldiers killed themselves by jumping off the cliffs on the northern end. Nowadays the island is pretty rundown in areas, but still very lush and jungle-like. The Japanese tourist market has shifted to Guam, so Saipan felt kinda like a ghost town. Not bad for me, though, everyone was so friendly, and much less people to deal with. The only issue I had was a GIGANTIC cockroach (size of my cell phone!) that decided to hangout in my room with me for two nights - usually in my bathroom towel! EEEEWWWW! Other than that, the beaches were beautiful and desolate, the views from the mountains amazing, and the sunsets so pretty...

The island just south of Saipan, called Tinian, is where the atomic bombs were loaded into planes that flew straight to Japan. Eerie. We flew over to and from Saipan, and I could see the abandoned US Military airport and runway...

After Saipan I returned to Guam on my way East, back to Hawaii. I spent 8 days relaxing and surfing in a genuine U.S. State (believe me, it's nice to be back, in some ways) with a friend on Oahu. It was so nice to have absolutely NOTHING to do except check the surf! It's going to be very hard to get back to work...and to watch my tan fade...=( Ah well!

I landed back in Seattle at 5:08 am today, to 55 degrees, overcast and drizzly skies. I love the Northwest! I'm here for another 1.5 days, then heading back to CA to resume my "normal" life in Santa Cruz.

I hope you all enjoyed my blog, and please stay in touch!

Ciao for now,
beth