Planes, Cars, and Kayaks

My first visitors arrived last Saturday night. Visiting me was four friends I went to the University of Michigan with and played Trombone with me in the Michigan Marching Band. Matt, Sara, Katie, and Tiff all live in different parts of the country now and trips like this are a great way to stay connected. They met up in Detroit and flew through Japan where they had an overnight layover. Saturday they flew to Guam and then onto Palau. As five adults will not comfortably fit in my car, LB generously offered to switch cars for the week so I could use her SUV. We were unsure if all their luggage would fit in the SUV, so LB and I drove both cars to the airport to pick up my friends. On the way to the airport, despite my best efforts I hit a mammoth pothole. When I reached the airport, I noticed the car had a lean to it. Sure enough, the right front tire had a leak and was quickly deflating. I found LB and borrowed her lug wrench and had her be on the lookout for my friends as I set off to change the tire. Being a smaller car, it was fairly easy to get it up on the jack and get the tire changed. I was just tightened the lugnuts when LB showed up with my friends in tow. In the midst of changing a tire is not exactly how I imagined greeting my friends to Palau, but I was relieved to get the tire changed and that they had arrived safely. I finished up with the tire and we headed back to Koror at a reduced speed on the spare tire. LB took my car home as planned and Dave was gracious enough to have the tire replaced on Monday. I drove my friends back to Waterfront and got them settled. It was a long trip and they were tired, but they were excited to be in Palau.

On Sunday, everyone was awake bright and early as they were not fully adjusted to the time yet. I whipped up a batch of pancakes for breakfast before we headed off to Sam's to go kayaking. Tiff and I shared a double kayak, Katie and Sara shared another and Matt had a single. We headed out towards Pincher's Cove stopping along the way in little coves and inlets. WIndy conditions caused it to be more wavy than normal, so we paddled close to the islands. We stopped in at Jellyfish Cove, but only saw one little jellyfish as we were leaving. We made it to Pincher's and tied up the kayaks for a little snorkeling. The group got their first taste of water in Palau and being Michiganders they complained of the saltiness of the water. However, they did like the buoyancy the salt provides. After snorkeling and a little lunch, we headed out on the kayaks again. We round the point to the leeward side and were able to enjoy calm waters. I pointed out the Japanese pill boxes and canon to the group and they enjoyed watching the crabs scurry over the limestone. We paddled along until eventually reaching Sam's in the early afternoon.

After kayaking, we drove to PPR. On the way, we saw a cockfight in one of the driveways that enraptured Sara. At PPR, we settled in to relax on the beach. We took the opportunity to snorkel at PPR and see the giant clams and chase some fish. After sunset, we headed back home to clean up before heading to dinner. We ate at a Korean barbecue, Island Yakiniku. We ordered marinated beef, chicken, and pork that they grilled on our table. It was very good and everyone enjoyed the meal. However, being their first full day the group was worn out and not fully adjusted to the time. Starting with Sara they began getting that glazed-over look in their eyes and mentally checked out. I got them home to bed by 10 in preparation for a big day of diving.

You can check out the journal of my guests at http://www.mytripjournal.com/palau2007

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