The story of Itsy Bitsy Spider (or how it finally stopped raining)

Just like in itsy bitsy spider, out came the sun and dried up all the rain. Now I don't know where that spider is - but I've got the bug spray handy just in case he comes back. And yes, I've got the umbrella standing by as well, there are still 10 days left until rainy season is "officially" over. It turns out that we have had twice as much rain as normal this year - I guess that was our special "Welcome to Okinawa" gift. Not to look gift-rain in the mouth, but I was about to look into spending a few weeks in the Sahara desert just for a change of pace. Now that we finally got the sunshine we'd been craving, Joe (my husband, for those of you not up to speed yet)and I finally got to do more exploring! We slathered on our sunblock, packed a cooler full of water and snacks, got some yen out of the bank, grabbed our snorkels and fins and headed out for adventure in my new car (or as I like to call her, Jujube). Sedona (our not so vicious, badly shaved, tennis ball addicted Golden Retriever) was disgruntled, to say the least, when she learned that her job for the day was to watch the house. If she only had thumbs I'm sure she'd have given us the finger... But off we went, shaking off the dog fueled guilt by the time we started to reverse out the driveway. ~~~ Brief interlude for a serious complaint. O.K. I know that Okinawa is not a HUGE city and I know it is not a top destination for travelers (though it is known as the poor man's Hawaii), but what's up with the lack of decent maps here??? The best map we have found thus far is, check this out, in the yellow pages of the phone book! None of the many military bases here have much more than basic maps showing only a few of the main roads and highways. We looked for maps on-line but had no luck. We searched the local bookstores - still no luck. We even bought an Okinawa guide book - and though it helped a bit it was still lacking some very basic places (like military bases) and it showed the roads, but didn't show the names or numbers. If ANYONE knows where I can get a good map of this place PLEASE let me know!!! O.K., end of complaint session.~~~ We decided (with the whole map dilemma) that the best solution would be to drive by brail and wing it. After a shakey start and some mild cursing we found our first destination - Cape Maeda (one of the top snorkeling/diving spots on the island). As you can see by the picture below, this place was gorgeous! It was like walking into a postcard (but without the cramped writing space). The hot sun beat down on us and the humidity blanketed us in sweat as we happily wandered off in exactly the wrong direction. While struggling over the sharp, rocky and treacherous landscape we came to notice that not one of the 100 or more scuba divers that were all gearing up in the parking lot were anywhere to be seen. Hmmm... Now that's peculiar. Well having both served in the scouts, we were both pretty quick to put 2 and 2 together and headed back to the parking lot. At last we found what we were looking for! We found the steps to our salvation, to the holy grail, yes, we found the steps down to the ocean. The water was a perfect blue and so clear you didn't even need a mask (though saltwater can be hard on the old eyebulbs, so we wore the masks anyway). The fish were like colorful candy (though they sure didn't taste much like candy...), blue Starfish, brilliant yellow and black Angelfish, orange and white Clownfish, and a school of bright red Pirrahanas with very sharp teeth. Maybe there weren't any red Pirrahnas - but this is MY story so I'll tell it the way I want! We swam around and around until we were tired of looking at fish and then jumped back in Jujube (remember, that's my bidgy little Mitsubishi Pajero Jr.) and headed out to the next beach. To be continued...