Shane's visit to AS (western samoa edition)

Before I get to that, I'm glad that the primary race is finally over and very happy with the result. I think if Obama picks Hilary for VP, he's nearly sure to win. But, I kind of think he really doesn't want to. So I think it'll be someone else. Maybe Jim Webb. That would be pretty good. He talks a lot of shit about W, and anyone that talks a lot of shit about W is ok with me. Hilary could be made Secretary of something, stay in the Senate, or maybe put on the Supreme Court. I'd say AG, but I think John Edwards is going to get that.
So check out this shirt:


It is awesome!

So, Buff came to visit:




And Shane made it too:


I picked him up at the airport late on a Thursday night. The next day, I rode into work with Nate so Shane could drive Barbie around the island. He went to check out a couple things, then came into town to meet for lunch.

On his way, Barbie had some minor trouble. Her wheel fell off.

What? Your wheels don't regularly fall off? I've seen many, many cars on the side of the road here with their wheels off. I suspect this is due to 2 factors:
- Everything here corrodes because it is so hot, humid, and salty, so the bolts just end up breaking.
- Most work here is done in the least thorough way possible when it finally gets done, so installation may be at issue in some cars missing wheels.

Anyway, we made it to the airport on time and headed to Western Samoa. We got in a taxi van and headed to Apia. On the way, there was a car stopped on the road for no reason. Our taxi passed it. Apparently, this pissed off the driver of the stopped vehicle who engaged us in a high speed chase for about 5 minutes. He was right on our ass and was swerving all around. It was insane. High speeds & Samoan drivers do not make for a safe experience. But, we made it and had a fantastic dinner again at Apaula Heights- though Shane had to go on the DL for most of the evening.
(19 Hosley--- out for night with unstoppable nosebleed)

The next day we hit Sliding Rock.

We gave some British guys a ride on the back of our rental car down from Sliding Rock to Apia. Naomi wanted me to gun it and knock them off, but I guess I'm just not as mean as her. (this picture was taken out the window towards the back of the car as they were trying to hang on)


Then we headed over the pass to the south of Upolu and towards Lalomanu.



Shane saw plenty of roadside pigs on the way:




Lalomanu was awesome as always.



It looks kind of cold in this picture, but it is always warm to hot not only outside, but in the water as well.

We stopped by the sea trench again

This time we got in it.

That was a really good call. It is kind of scary to go up and down the ladder, but once you're down there it is pretty spectacular. You can swim underground between the holes. The whole time you're kind of gently moved around by the tide also because on the ocean end of the pool, it is connected to the open sea. Apparently you can swim out there underwater through a tunnel. Nobody felt like drowning that day, so it wasn't tried.


We had lunch at Sea Breeze, which is not too far from the trench. It is awesome. I think the food there is even better than Apaula Heights. It also has a near perfect location.


Here's Shane, off the DL with the aid of nose plugs.


Next we hit Black Sand Beach.


There were actual waves breaking on the sand. It was really fun and we stayed for hours.

The waves beat the shit out of us though.

That night we went to Virgin Cove to stay in their fales. The water there is weird. There are no waves because it is so sheltered. We walked about half a mile out into the water and watched the sunset in about neck level water. Really really cool.


They do a really good job at Virgin Cove. All the fales are connected by paths that are lighted at night by oil lamps. The food is good as well. Maybe not as good as Lalomanu, but still a great deal.



and we survived one more flight back to American Samoa.

Restaurant review:
Rose Garden: It is yet another Chinese place, but probably the best one. Nothing we have had was total crap yet and that's through 3 visits. They actually clean their bathrooms too- incredible! Off-island rating: 3.5 On-island rating: 8.5