This is what I saw on Saturday morning:
Here's a closeup:
Can you see it?
I've heard for years that when the air is clear, Anatahan is visible from Suicide Cliff. I've been to Anatahan; It is not that big, much smaller than Saipan. I always imagined that it would look like a small bump on the horizon.
Was I wrong! From Suicide Cliff, Anatahan looks huge! The camera lens doesn't capture it very well (you can barely see it through the lens), but with the human eye, the twin peaks of the active volcano look fierce and unruly. Simply amazing!
Still can't see it? Here, I'll steal Dr. Khorram's idea:
The last time I stepped foot on Anatahan was in 1995. Someday I'll go back...but I'll probably have to wait for the volcano to stop erupting.
So why was I on top of Suicide Cliff on a Saturday morning?
Because I was volunteering with the Parks and Trails Committee of Beautify CNMI, that's why! We have the long term goal of creating a system of interconnected parks and trails in the Marianas. We eventually want a person to be able to walk from Marpi to Susupe Lake along hiking trails.
Saturday's activity was a reconnasiance mission. We hiked the Banadero Trail, which connects the Last Command Post with the Suicide Cliff lookout, to see what types of improvements are needed to stabilize the trail. Ken Kramer led local Boy Scout Troupe 910 and several other community volunteers up and then back down.
It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top, we spent about half an hour at the top, and then we took about an hour and a half remarking the trail on the way down. Afterwards, Ken treated everyone to pizza.
Guess who else was there:
Jeff and Bruce, are you guys on a pizza date?
I only had time for a quick slice of pizza because I had to get down to Ada Field by 1 PM to help out with the youth skills camp. The focus of this camp was dribbling...and I hate having to admit that just about every single one of those kids was more talented than me.
Man was it hot! I had to give the kids a water break every 15 minutes.
After all, it probably would have looked bad to have kids dropping dead from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
After the skills camp, I was an AR for the Women's Guam vs. CNMI game. What a great game! The CNMI lost 3-0, but Guam missed 3 penalty kicks! Go CNMI!
After being in the sun from 9 AM - 6 PM, I went home with a nice sunburn.
That didn't keep me from going to the All You Can Eat Shrimp Fest at Aqua Resort, though. For $20 (and $20 for EJ, $20 for her friend, and $35 for a bottle of red wine), I gorged on fried shrimp, tempura shrimp, grilled shrimp, garlic shrimp, and yummy shrimp sauted with the heads still on.
Here I am about to dig into round 3:
and here is round 4:
At least I got my money's worth...and 10% of it went back to Beautify CNMI.
Sunday morning was the first Sunday in September, which meant that we had our monthly cleanup of the Garapan Tourist District. We have done this cleanup every month since October 2006; it has been one full year.
Little Miss Marianas Came out to help, along with my reliable friends from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Isa CNMI, CNMI Power, Friends of the Mariana Islands, Kinpachi Restaurant and MINA. The SAVE club even came by at 10 AM and did their own cleanup.
We don't just pick up litter off of the street. We cleaned out the drains:
And picked cigarette butts out of the tree bases:
Oh yeah, this guy showed up to help, too:
Who gave him that machete? By the way, Dr. Joyner claims to remember my mother. Mom, do you remember Dr. Joyner?
So is Garapan clean yet?
And furthermore, who sold Greg that pair of spandex?
Here's a closeup:
Can you see it?I've heard for years that when the air is clear, Anatahan is visible from Suicide Cliff. I've been to Anatahan; It is not that big, much smaller than Saipan. I always imagined that it would look like a small bump on the horizon.
Was I wrong! From Suicide Cliff, Anatahan looks huge! The camera lens doesn't capture it very well (you can barely see it through the lens), but with the human eye, the twin peaks of the active volcano look fierce and unruly. Simply amazing!
Still can't see it? Here, I'll steal Dr. Khorram's idea:
The last time I stepped foot on Anatahan was in 1995. Someday I'll go back...but I'll probably have to wait for the volcano to stop erupting.So why was I on top of Suicide Cliff on a Saturday morning?
Because I was volunteering with the Parks and Trails Committee of Beautify CNMI, that's why! We have the long term goal of creating a system of interconnected parks and trails in the Marianas. We eventually want a person to be able to walk from Marpi to Susupe Lake along hiking trails.
Saturday's activity was a reconnasiance mission. We hiked the Banadero Trail, which connects the Last Command Post with the Suicide Cliff lookout, to see what types of improvements are needed to stabilize the trail. Ken Kramer led local Boy Scout Troupe 910 and several other community volunteers up and then back down.It took us about 45 minutes to get to the top, we spent about half an hour at the top, and then we took about an hour and a half remarking the trail on the way down. Afterwards, Ken treated everyone to pizza.
Guess who else was there:
Jeff and Bruce, are you guys on a pizza date?
I only had time for a quick slice of pizza because I had to get down to Ada Field by 1 PM to help out with the youth skills camp. The focus of this camp was dribbling...and I hate having to admit that just about every single one of those kids was more talented than me.
Man was it hot! I had to give the kids a water break every 15 minutes.After all, it probably would have looked bad to have kids dropping dead from heat exhaustion and dehydration.
After the skills camp, I was an AR for the Women's Guam vs. CNMI game. What a great game! The CNMI lost 3-0, but Guam missed 3 penalty kicks! Go CNMI!
After being in the sun from 9 AM - 6 PM, I went home with a nice sunburn.
That didn't keep me from going to the All You Can Eat Shrimp Fest at Aqua Resort, though. For $20 (and $20 for EJ, $20 for her friend, and $35 for a bottle of red wine), I gorged on fried shrimp, tempura shrimp, grilled shrimp, garlic shrimp, and yummy shrimp sauted with the heads still on.
Here I am about to dig into round 3:
and here is round 4:
At least I got my money's worth...and 10% of it went back to Beautify CNMI.Sunday morning was the first Sunday in September, which meant that we had our monthly cleanup of the Garapan Tourist District. We have done this cleanup every month since October 2006; it has been one full year.
Little Miss Marianas Came out to help, along with my reliable friends from the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Isa CNMI, CNMI Power, Friends of the Mariana Islands, Kinpachi Restaurant and MINA. The SAVE club even came by at 10 AM and did their own cleanup.We don't just pick up litter off of the street. We cleaned out the drains:
And picked cigarette butts out of the tree bases:
Oh yeah, this guy showed up to help, too:
Who gave him that machete? By the way, Dr. Joyner claims to remember my mother. Mom, do you remember Dr. Joyner?So is Garapan clean yet?
And furthermore, who sold Greg that pair of spandex?