ISLAND LIFE: Team Turkey

This year a group of us decided to spend Thanksgiving in Ofu. There were about 16 or so in the group, and it became known as Team Turkey. There were the usual Ofu indulgences--snorkling, hanging out on the beach, losing yourself in a good book, and great home cooking. But with this group, there were also some new adventures (for me at least)--bridge jumping, sea parrots (thank you Aaron), cooking dinner with Team Wednesday, trying to find the Southern Cross in a sky with more stars than I ever thought possible, hanging out in the water for hours at a time without burning thanks to our handy dandy sun umbrella, LTM burning her back to the point of second degree blistering burns while snorkling, and then doing a cannonball off the bridge and busting open the blisters (only LTM...), karaoke with the very un-pollitically correct Uncle Ned, and the non-stop recounting of the legend of Snowy (sorry Gwen). All in all, it was a great way to spend Thanksgiving if I couldn't be at home.

Chase decided to do some tree climbing:

Here's Thanksgiving Dinner. As is the case with any meal at the Vaoto Lodge, it was fantastic!

After dinner, some folks took a walk down the airport runway. At the other end was a nice place to hang out and take in the view:

Haz-Matt, Lady Naomi & Ofu Jim:

Jer, Kiwi & Gwen:

Team Puppy:

Watching the sunset:

Between Ofu and Olosega Islands, there is a bridge. And one of the things to do while you're visiting Ofu is to jump off this bridge. There is also alot of hanging out under the bridge in the water that goes on, but it is somewhat of a rite of passage to jump off the bridge.

Here's the bridge:

Here is a view of the water below the bridge. It's a freakin' long way down!

Jer & Haz take a break from surface snorkling:

Chase telling one of his very animated stories:

Nunu, Gwen, Naomi, Kiwi and LTM lounging in the water:

As I stand on top of the bridge, cursing up a storm, and trying to psych myself up to jump off the bridge 35 feet above the surface into 8 feet of water, Chase leaps into action:

The boys assessing the situation before they jump:

Yes, I did eventually jump. Four times, in fact. Here's my second leap with Team Jump:

LTM held Kiwi's hand for her first jump. Or rather, Kiwi had a death-grip on LTM's arm...

Harper taking the leap:

Nunu's perfect form:

Between jumps:

Under the bridge:

LTM & Chase started getting into this one-upping competition with their jumps. One would jump backwards, another would touch their toes, and so on. As they were trying to figure out what each of them would do next, Jim decided to "jump the shark" and jumped up and over the railing from the side of a moving truck. Un-freakin-believable:

Here is Jim in the back of the truck:

Then, Chase got in on the action too:

After Jim and Chase took their death-defying leaps, LTM decided to do a front flip. Unfortunately, she over-rotated and smacked face first into the water. Here is a video of her "dive" from on top of the bridge. I assure you, watching it at water level and seeing her hit that water took it to a whole other level. Listen to the audio on the video for some special jems like the ambulance sirens...

How'd that feel?
LTM icing her injuries:

The black eyes and swelling setting in:

Ned after a day of bridge jumping:

LTM with her 3 pair of sunglasses after a long day on, off, and under the bridge:

Gwen jammin to some tunes for the ride home:

One afternoon a sloshball game broke out and it has since been described as the best sloshball game ever played. The scenery, I'm sure, didn't hurt:

Two down:

Doug in action:

High five Ned & LTM:

Jer & Kiwi

In the outfield:

Who saw it? Was she safe or was she out?

Aaron reaching and LTM opening:

Scott pitching to Doug:

Amity in the outfield:

Jer & Hazmatt with the airport runway in the background:

Rain schmain...play on:

Nunu built and tended to a bonfire on the beach thanks to the skills he learned in boyscouts:

Sitting around the bonfire on the beach:

Ned had a birthday while we were in Ofu. The clock just struck midnight and it's officially his special day. Sitting around a bonfire on a beautiful island...not a bad way to start the celebration.