On Tuesday night the Battalion Commander change of command took place and Michael was a part of it! He got to stand in front of his Marines with a cool breeze while I sweated under the tent (no air flow and it was miserable). They arranged to have "Retreat" played by the III MEF band at sunset and it was a really neat ceremony. LtGen Zilmer and MajGen Krussa-Dossin were both there to particate in the ceremony as well.
Here is Michael before the ceremony:
In front of his Marines during the ceremony:
Col Jones and MajGen Krussa-Dossin during the ceremony:
Tonight we went to a social to meet the Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Conway and SgtMajor of the Marine Corps, SgtMaj Kent. Each gave a little speech and then hung around to talk with the attendees:In the Pic - far left, Gen Conway, middle - SgtMaj Kent, far right - LtGen Zilmer:
I finally got to take an afternoon nap with my bebes (of which I can never get enough of - sleep or animals):
There was a big farewell for two of the girls in my new branch:
We found a pancake house with some of the most delicious pancakes ever:
Michael finally made some DiBella pizza dough and we made pizza on the grill:
I got my toes done:
and...Michael and some of the guys did some informal karaoke'ing at the neighborhood pub:
We're going to a "formal" karaoke house tomorrow night so we should get some good pictures :)
There were lots of steep steps!
Here is the suspension bridge (about 1/2 way to the falls). It was very wobbly in the middle and I didn't care for it:
...and you can tell from the grimace on my face:
Looking down from the bridge:
These people didn't even bother with getting to the falls, they just stripped down and jumped in!
Looking up at the falls (where you can see the people):
from a higher vantage point:
The rocks along the way were very beautiful with all of the greenery:
We made it!
Michael jumped out to the middle rock for some pictures:
There were only a handful of people there when we arrived:
One of the pictures Michael took from below the falls:
Michael next to the falls:
This is what it looked like when we left - packed!
Here is the big "rock formation" from the previous picture, up close:
There were all sorts of monuments - we're not sure what any of them said though:
Like this bird. Seriously. I guess it would help if we could read Kanji to see the significance of this bird, but there was an even larger bird on the side of the mountain further up (we're talking a 10-15 foot bird). Anyone know why they're so prominant in this area??
This was from the ride up there (water is on the left of us) - really curvy roads and lots of looong tunnels:
Heading back down South to hike Hiji Falls (water is on the right of us)!
Matt rockin' it like its cool:
...and then I got on drums and everything went downhill from there!
Katie and I jammin':
Michael really trying to play the guitar well (I believe the tongue was going too - to help him concentrate):
Singing and playing (not well mind you, but still singing and playing):
