Just Beachin' It

Ben and I recently visited Torii Beach for the first time in nearly six months and let me tell you, October is prime beach weather in Okinawa. After a long and grueling summer, the intense heat, humidity, and sun exposure had finally creeped down a bit. This meant that we could actually enjoy being at the beach without feeling as though we were about to expire from heat exhaustion at any minute.

​I was blown away by how clear the East China Sea was on this day, Torii is always a beautiful beach but I've rarely seen such crystal blue water here.  Even though it wasn't quite deep enough to actually swim, Ben and I enjoyed wading through the thigh deep water as we walked along the shore. Torii beach alone definitely made up for the fact that we won't have access to any hayrides or pumpkin patches this fall!

Hamahiga Island

Is there really anything better than a long holiday weekend?! While we spent a good chunk of these three days relaxing, Ben and I also did our fair share of exploring. We went back to Hamahiga Island, the first time in just about a year, to enjoy a beach picnic. The wind was really intense this day which meant that swimming was out of the question (too dangerous), so after our seaside lunch we drove around aimlessly on the tiny island. If you haven't noticed by now, exploring without any rhyme or reason is one of mine and Ben's favorite past times! Anyway, it seems like a majority of this island is uninhabited so there were many roads enclosed by thick forest which lead seemingly to nowhere. Halloween is right around the corner so we appreciated the spooky vibes we were getting. Although, I did have to stop Ben from dragging us down an abandoned road that had a giant "No entry. Do not go to the coast" sign placed prominently beside it. Admittedly, we've been watching way to many documentaries about urban exploration and abandoned building/places so we were both kind of curious to see what kind was at the end of this road... But sometimes rational thinking needs to prevail! Breaking and entering in a different country definitely seems like a good way to get in some serious trouble so we'll have to save our urban exploring for when we're stateside.

Since Ben leaves for Korea this week, this was our last beach day of the season and honestly I can't deny that I'm ready to embrace the cooler weather that hopefully will be  arriving shortly. It'll be nice to go outside again without instantly suffering in the heat and humidity. Nicer weather also means more exploration and since Ben and I still have a ton of places we still want to check out  it looks like we'll be quite busy when he gets home.

Cape Zampa Lighthouse

Another excursion we made during Columbus Day weekend was to Cape Zampa. Even though we've been here several times, poking our heads over the steep cliffs to watch the waves crashing never gets old. Ben and I actually came here with the anticipation of seeing a killer sunset but it didn't really pan out. Although I was bummed that we didn't get a spectacular color show, it was still fun wandering around the area together. I hate to get cheesy but no matter what we're doing, whether it's exploring a foreign country or going to the food store, Ben and I always have an absurd amount of fun. Just one of the many perks when you marry your best friend :) Now let's just hope and pray that the rest of October and November hurry up so I can get my husband back home!

Forever laughing at how ridiculous this picture is