Mom & Dad Visit Okinawa - Part II

Have you gone over and checked out my guest blog entry at Whipped Cream Reviews? If you haven't, do so. I mean, haven't you ever wanted to know all about extreme people-watching? hehehe You know you want to. :D

Anyway. I left off with our visit to Shuri Castle with my folks. The following day, it was off to Nakagusuku Castle:
There's a ninja in this picture:
The archaeological dig at the top of the castle ruins:
Mom and Dad at Nakagusuku:
Once we'd had our fill of 14th century castles, it was back into Naha to visit the famed Kokusai Street and all its shopping, shopping, and more shopping:
Did I mention shopping?
It just so happens a lot of shops there sell Ryukyu glass, and Eddie and I have been looking for a nice piece at a decent price. We lucked out: we practically stole the decanter, and got the glasses for a song.
We also obtained a few more shi shi dogs while out with my folks. This is but a fraction of our army of shi shis:
Anyway. More Kokusai Street.

Window Shi Shi says, "What has been seen...cannot be unseen."
I had to take a picture of these because most people wouldn't believe me if I didn't have photographic evidence. You just can't make some of this shit up:
With everyone shopped out and tired of walking, we hopped in the car and went in a northerly direction to check out Cape Mazamo...
...and Cape Hedo:
And finally today, the weather was cooperative enough for us to spend the entire day goofing off at the beach. Three beaches, actually.

First, Kanna Beach:
Photoshop? Me? Never.

Of course we had to play with some hermit crabs. This one had a bit of an attitude:
Eddie and Mom with Fred the Hapless Hermit Crab:
On to "Crabby Beach" (which we named for its abundance of crabs)...
And Camp Schwab, which I didn't photograph because I was busily collecting shells and had left my camera in the car. I did, however, accumulate a LOT of shells:
Mom collected a bunch too, and my kitchen counter is currently covered with them. Also, I was entirely too excited about the acquisition of a couple of abalone shells:

Cowrie shells are awesome:
As we washed the shells in my kitchen, we heard a noise, and realized one of Mom's shells had decided to leave. Apparently it wasn't as vacant as we thought:
Don't worry, the little guy was safely deposited at a nearby beach on our way to dinner.

Tomorrow, my folks head back to civilization, where they will probably sleep for a week after we hauled them back and forth all over this boring, westernized, nothing-to-do-here dump of an island.

And after I've also caught up on some sleep, it's back to work. Lots of projects coming down the pipe in the near future, including another foray into urban fantasy, some more het action, and probably another sequel or two. Stick around!