The Beaches of Tinian

Monday was a rainy day, so Liz and I stayed in and watched movies most of the day. Tuesday turned out to be an on-and-off rain day, so we tried our luck at hitting several beaches to take pictures.

The morning was clear with a few clouds, but we were a little worried, so we kept close to home by going to Taga and Tachogna beaches first. Then we traveled up the west side of the island to Tinian beach and what we call spider beach (this is a secret beach just north of Tinian beach that has lots of spiders one has to pass to get to the beach--so bring your spider stick!). In-between these two beaches is a small graveyard with white crosses in a grassy field.

Terri had asked for the clinic vehicle at lunch so that we could drive up to the Japanese Shinto Shrine far up in the Carolina hills. It is a steep climb that our scooters wouldn't have been able to make, and Liz was not up to the two mile hike to get there! The timing was perfect, as the sun came out from behind the clouds just as we arrived, bathing the area in a warm glow and making the beautiful shrine even more enchanting.

After lunch we decided to continue to press our luck and hit a couple of beaches we had missed on the far north of the island: two small beaches called Unai Chiget and Unai Lam Lam (in a previous post I had talked about Liz and I visiting Unai Lam Lam, but was corrected by my friend and resident expert, Howard Cole, that it had been Unai Chulu we had seen).

As we neared Unai Chiget, it began to rain. We debated whether or not to go home, but Liz convinced me that since we were there, we should try to get some pictures. Once we got to the beach the rain had stopped (although it was still threatening). We got our pictures just as the rain began again.

Now we had a decision to make: drive to the other side of the island to the other beach, or head for home. Looking east, it did not bode well for the rest of the day, as we could not see anything but clouds and rain. But Liz showed remarkable faith--she said she was already wet, so why not go to the other beach and see what happens! So that is what we did--we cut through the treacherous airfields (remember, we always get lost here...) and arrived unscathed at Unai Lam Lam.

To my surprise, just as we arrived the clouds above us opened just enough to give Liz both sun and blue sky for her pictures! Liz took it in stride telling me that God loved her and always took care of her...After what I had seen, who was I to argue?

We returned to the apartment after a full day, watched a movie and got ready for dinner. We ended the day by going down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was beautiful, and a perfect end to a great day!