I slept well until I had to get up for the bathroom. After that, the restless leg sensations started up. They were not as bad as last night and eventually I went back to sleep. When morning came, we stayed in bed late. Well, we are on vacation. We got up, had breakfast and read e-mail. I looked up falls on Guam and came across San Carlos falls, which turned out to be nearby. I called it up on the tablet, both under GPS and the map showing on the website. It seemed simple enough. Then I put on my bathing suit and clothes. Chris did the same. We packed food that must be eaten before we leave. And Chris filled a milk jug with water. It was about noon when we left. For some reason, we don't seem to be able to get ready earlier. So we drove down the street, following the blue dot on the tablet, to a small street. At the end of the small street was a field, mentioned in a review for the falls. We parked there and looked for a trail. The brush was over our heads. We found some broken stems and followed it into the woods. It was a trail after all, but not by much. I wished I had worn long pants to protect my legs. It wasn't long before we found ourselves on a dirt road. We turned left. There was a wide road to the right and I remembered the map showing the trail taking the second right. So we kept going. We found one path that did not pan out. We took the next one. It was also narrow, but went on for while before we decided that it was the wrong one. Maybe the beach was a better place to go. .
We checked the tablet and could not see any roads around. At first I thought it was because we were out in daylight, but the real answer was that we had wandered off known territory. As we headed back and passed the big road, now on the left, I postulated that maybe we should have turned there. Because it was a nice day and we could turn back at any time, we tried that road. When we came to the other end, the tablet knew where we were. So we proceeded to the left. We saw the two right turns that I was expecting on the other road. The second one had men with a bulldozer working on it. They confirmed that it was the way to the falls. So we walked that way. We found ourselves on a dirt road with grass in the middle. It was like two parallel paths where the tires of a truck had gone. And in some of the ruts we saw water. So there were muddy, slippery spots. The grass or underbrush was only waist high. We walked down and then up to a ridge, which the path followed. Eventually it came to a cliff, or at least steep hillside. It went through a dense forest so was not getting much sunlight. Ropes had been tied around trees for climbing down. But it was slippery and my shoes were not suited to mud. Chris climbed down ok, but I had trouble finding footholds. Down and down I went, wondering how I would get back up. When we got to the bottom, there was a wide stream. We had to hop from slippery rock to slippery rock to get to the top of the falls.
It was beautiful. There was a perfect sitting rock next to the drop-off. I sat there and Chris sat nearby. He unpacked our food and we had lunch. I spit orange seeds into the stream to watch them go over the falls. It was a lovely spot. The tablet played classical music. Across the stream, we could see a path that wound down to the foot of the falls. Assuming it to be as steep and slippery as the trail we just finished, I decided not to risk it. Chris remarked on dark clouds in the sky. So we packed up and headed back. Seemingly, the trail had dried out a little. And for some reason, climbing up was easier that climbing down. When we got to the top, I had to rest, and it felt like my head was going to explode. I figured it had something to do with blood pressure. But why it would spike every time I stopped to rest, I cannot explain. So we continued back, through the grass and the truck ruts, uphill and down hill, but mostly up. Chris found a mostly yellow noni fruit for me. We kept some of the seeds and I spit out the rest. It was much better than a green one, but still not tasty. When we got to the last part of the path, a lady was coming out of the brush dragging her bike. But Chris suggested we continue down the road and find a road to walk back. And we did and it was easy, much easier than picking our way through the brush. We went back to the hotel. I washed the dirt and blood off my legs. Then we headed to Gap Gap beach.
It was windy and I wondered how my scrapes would do in the salt water. But it wasn't bad at all. The sea was the perfect temperature. The shallows went out quite a ways. We swam and floated and looked at stuff on the sandy bottom. Chris picked up what he thought was a sea cucumber. It did not move and he wasn't 100% certain it was a sea cucumber after all. The air temp cooled a little. We did not want to leave because it was our last chance to swim. But the sun went down so we got out, rinsed off our feet, put on our shoes and headed back. Chris started supper, while I peeled the unknown root vegetable. It was ok raw. But to use it up, Chris cubed it and put it in the stir fry with broccoli and pork. I started writing up my blog. When supper was ready, I put half on a plate. Chris gathered up the laundry and carried it to the laundry spot. Then he ate, too. I continued writing up my blog. He also cooked up two purple sweet potatoes that we had bought at the commissary here. (Did I mention we were trying to eat up all the food in the fridge?) They were excellent, even without butter. I put on some coconut oil from yesterday's coconut. That wasn't really an improvement. I rubbed the rest of the coconut oil on my back and arm. I was hoping it would reduce the contact dermatitis on my arm. Actually, it is on both arms ever since we went on the Historical Trail. I chipped away at the remaining coconut as I read e-mail. When it was finished, I continued to read an article I had started. Chris brought the laundry back from the dryer and we each folded our own. Chris was ready to watch TV so he sat beside me and we watched two episodes of Tera Nova. He looked up some of the actors while I did yoga stretches. He washed the dishes while I finished reading the article. I cleared some of the new e-mail, then finished my blog post and went to bed.
* Chris is eating a wing bean. *
No comments:
Post a Comment