Just Another Weekend on Kwaj

On Kwajalein our typical work week runs Tuesday through Saturday. I say typical because Laura and I both work an opposite 9/80 shift. So we both get alternating Saturdays off work. The typical Sunday morning on Kwajalein starts with Irish coffees at the Price house and then down to the beach around 8am to meet up with the beach volleyball crew. We usually play until around 10:30, then end up in the water as it starts to get a little hot for volleyball mid day just a few degrees North of the equator. Then we head back home or off to a friends house for brunch.

Thanks to Dad we made wood fired Pizzas this weekend. Dad mailed me a big bag of hardwood lump charcoal and a ceramic "plate setter" (ceramic table that my pizza stone sits on top of in my XL big green egg). They turned out great. Very much like the simple thin crusted pizza Laura and I had in Venice Italy that we liked so much. Thanks Dad! I made my pizza with artichoke hearts, paper thin sliced egg plant, green olives, roasted garlic, sliced grilled chicken, red onion, drizzled with a little olive oil and a fresh parsley oil I made, seasoned with just a pinch of Hawaiian sea salt, and topped with some mozzarella. Good stuff. I loved the thin crispy crust, just like what we had in Italy. Maybe next time I'll take some pictures for the blog.

Here are some photos from beach volleyball this weekend:

Here I am serving.

Carys and Laura arrive at the beach a little later to hang out.

Carys stuffs her face with cheddar goldfish...one of her favorites....one of mine too.

Here is my beautiful wife Laura. You can also see part of my main mode of transportation on Kwajalein next to her in this photo. My laminated bamboo skateboard.

Waiting for the Mail

Hi Mom Happy Birthday!

I’m starting to get excited about going to Pohnpei. It’s only a couple of days away!

I’m hoping that my underwater camera housing arrives before we leave, so I can get some good shots of the manta rays, the submerged ruins at Nan Mandol, and of the giant eels in the pools under the waterfalls. Maybe that is just wishful thinking though. The mail planes have been few and far between lately. The ATI plane that brings our mail keeps breaking down and our mail has been backed up for little while now. I imagine most of my packages have been sitting along the runway at Hickam AFB in Hawaii for a while now. It would be nice to get some fresh produce in too, that and my new skateboards.

I took up surfing recently and have really been enjoying it. I’ve been out three times now. My first time I did a lot of paddling, caught no waves and managed to get really tired and sore. The second time I caught a few waves and had a blast just riding in lying on my belly. This last time I managed to get bounced off the reef. Nothing big, I walked away with only a few minor scrapes. It actually kind of makes me feel more like a real surfer. Next time I try and stand up. Previously I haven’t been in any real hurry to do that as we are surfing some pretty shallow reef breaks.

I’ll let you know how it goes.