Joe's Retirement Travels

Early 7:45-am semi-final game .. but before the men could get on the ice, they had to wait for the boys and girls to finish hockey practice ..  this little girl (5-6) was quite the skater ! Here's Jon doing some stretching before the game :    (lot of games for .. 'old' men!) The first semi-final game pitted Jon's team against the same Okinawa Military team that blitzed them 10-1 the previous evening.    This game was much closer. The Korea Geckos lost .. 3-2.   Jon had an assist and a goal.    He had a great tournament! This early morning play brought back the feeling of being a 'hockey dad' again.   Jon had many early morning practices from 10-yrs-old on.    5:30-am practice then rushing home to get him ready for school and me for work.   Mom would have lunches and hugs ready for everyone! We hung around after Jon's game to watch the next semi-final game ,, which went into OT. We found out, afte...

Okinawa - Where men play a boys' game in a frozen building next to some of the most beautiful beaches in the Pacific.    When James Michener was writing "Tales of the South Pacific", I wouldn't think he envisioned men playing hockey in a tropical setting. I've watched hockey games in many locations, but .. this is a first for me! .. and a 3-game day at that !! We had a restful morning.  Walked the beach, ate a late breakfast, went up to the skyview pool. Drove 12km to the southern part of the island to Haebaru-cho and to Southern Hill Sports World: This was looking out to the east side of the island from the ice rink : This was the "RYUKYU ISLANDS TOURNAMENT", featuring teams from Thailand, Korea, and (3) from Okinawa.     Temperature outside was 90-deg,  inside .. 45-deg. Talked to and listened to many of the players from all of the teams during the day. Country origins included .. Canada, US, Russia, Czech, Japanese(Okinawans), ...

Started early, in the dark.   Managed to fit Jon's jumbo hockey 'special suitcase', duffel bag, stick bag, two suitcases (Salli's and mine) and my backpack into their little JUKE car. Here's the picture when we unloaded at Incheon Airport's long-term parking: Flew on Asiana Airlines, an older B767-300.   Very comfortable, and again- excellent service.   Started reading a new book, "The Real All Americans", the lead-up and story of the 1912 game between the Carlisle Indian School and the US Military Academy. Carlisle was led by legendary coach "Pop" Warner and Jim Thorpe. Arrived in Okinawa, and immediately could tell that we were in a tropical climate. Felt like a hot wet towel hit you!   90-deg and 90% humidity ..  whoa!    Especially after the pleasant 70's and 80's of Seoul.    It'll be a warm-up to .. Captiva!  (not this ratio!) We proceeded to the rental car shuttle bus and melted outside.  ...

This was a major driving day for Jon!   I'm sure he's exhausted.  In Seoul, density of 42,000 people per sq.mile, and maybe a quarter as many cars, Jon made three major trips into and out of the downtown area !     Main part of Seoul is 10-million,  metro area is 25-million. We all left in the morning to drop off Salli in Itaewon for a business meeting.   Jon and I continued on to the Kyobo Bookstore, near the Gyeongbokgung Palace and many countries' embassies.   The palace was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, built in 1395. This was the view from the front seat : What a bookstore!   Jon pointed me to the 'Foreign Books' section. I used their wifi to send an e-mail suggesting a couple of books to Ruth Ann.   Salli called Jon when her meeting was finished.   We drove over and picked her up for lunch. We ate 'pho' (soup) and spring rolls at a Vietnamese restaurant named "B...

After breakfast, while Salli worked from home, Jon & I drove to Namsan Tower. A gorgeous morning, 70-deg, light puffy clouds.   Jon paid for skylift tickets and we rode the tram up to the tower platform. Jon showed me a special feature of this spot.   Following is text from special website : Love padlocks at N Seoul Tower N Seoul Tower is one of the iconic symbols of Seoul. This place has now become a popular date spot for couples. Like the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris, couples head to the tower to lock their "padlock of love" onto the railing and to dream that their love will last forever.  Here's some pictures I took : Wow!   What fantastic views of Seoul and it's surrounding mini cities!    In the picture above, you can see the Han River, where we picnic'd on Sunday. Here's a picture of the tower, which we didn't pay extra $ to ride the elevator up to the top. We bought 'iced' Americano's (yes you...

A more relaxing day.   We initially set out to visit NAMSAN Tower, but I think, this Sunday, most of Seoul also wanted to do some sightseeing there.  (it's on the right -> ) Maybe .. during a weekday .. soon.    We headed back home and Salli prepared some sandwiches and goodies, and Jon picked up the day tent.   We decided to have a picnic down at the Han River in Banpo Hangang Park.    Here we are after setting up the tent : Great views of Seoul's downtown area. After enjoying our sandwiches and goodies, we hiked over to three "floating islands". One is used on weekends at the top level for weddings.   A wedding was just finishing, so we went up and looked at the venue, Jon & Salli posing as bride and groom. It was a relaxing mid-morning -to- mid-afternoon on the river.   Headed back to the apartment to get ready to drive south for about an hour to meet Salli's parents and sister at a fami...