Scott and I returned on Tuesday from six days in Puerto Rico. (This was the trip that Scott won for us back in October.) We had a great time. The weather was incredible. Puerto Rico has a year-round average temperature of 83 degrees for the high and 73 degrees for the low. (It must make a meteorologist's job pretty boring.)
<-- This was the view from our hotel room.
The pool was really nice and there was a 1.5 mile stretch of beach right outside the hotel.
Our first order of business was visiting the Bacardi Rum Factory. Each person gets two free drinks. Although we were there at 10 am, everyone seemed to be enjoying their rum. (Case in point: me and the Bacardi Rum Punch in the photo below.)
The tour was really just a short movie and a drink making demo. We did leave with a much greater appreciation for Bacardi rum and a strange desire to drink a lot of it. (Subliminal messages perhaps?)
Here are a couple pictures from Old San Juan. The town is only 7 square blocks so it was easy to walk around on foot.
The picture on the left is the wall of the El Moro Fort.
We spent the next day at the pool and got some pretty nasty sunburns. They were so bad that we weren't even red, we were florescent pink. Not good. (For anyone that is wondering, yes, we're both peeling now.) The really unfortunate part was that our burns were not uniform at all. Now I'm not saying that I wanted to be florescent pink all over, but my left side was completely burned and my right side was completely white!
The girls and I gave Scott a GPS unit for Christmas. We took it with us to Puerto Rico and it worked out great. I must say that some of the directions it gave us did leave a little to interpretation. It seemed like it was always "recalculating" - meaning we didn't go the direction it wanted us to go. By the end of the trip, if we were unsure which way to go I'd tell Scott "Just go that way. The GPS will find us and tell us where to go from there." (Scott was not as enthusiastic about this method as me.) One source of amusement that we hadn't anticipated was listening to "GPS Lady" (as we so lovingly dubbed the voice on Scott's GPS unit) pronounce the names of streets and attractions in Puerto Rico. GPS Lady does NOT speak Spanish. Now, I admit, that I don't speak Spanish either, but I do know that Isla Verde (the street our hotel was on) is not pronounced "Ice-la Vurd." = )
On Monday we went hiking in the El Yunque Rainforest. (That's "El Yoonk" according to GPS Lady.) The scenery was gorgeous.We hiked two different trails. Both trails were paved, but they were quite narrow (we had to walk single file) and sometimes slick. We were grateful that we did not come across any of the 7-ft boa constrictors or the rabid mongooses that supposedly inhabit the rainforest. The hiking was fun, although I definitely got a little winded. Now, I know I'm not in great shape, but I have been known to hold a 23 pound child for a solid hour at the back of the church and I can even carry two screaming children at a time up a flight of stairs (don't ask). None of that really matters when you're ascending 600 feet in just .8 miles. We did realize that we're pretty fast hikers. The first trail was supposed to take 40 minutes each way, and we did it in about 20 minutes each way. Maybe that's why I was so out of breath!
<-- La Coca Falls
Scott and I made sure to try to the local cuisine. We had a lot of "mofongo." It's mashed plantains that are cooked, filled with meat or vegetables and topped with a tomato-based sauce. It sounds kind of bizarre, but it was really good. We also drank a lot of pina coladas and mojitos. The mojito was the big find. Since returning home, we have already invested in a drink muddler and purchased limes, club soda and mint leaves to make mojitos at home.
All the big hotels in San Juan have casinos in them. Scott and I are not big gamblers, but we did spend some time in the casinos. In the end, we played a total of $23 and lost $23. Not bad for about 5 hours of entertainment. Scott tried video poker for a while, but then we settled on penny slots. It's ridiculously monotonous, but you can play forever. It wasn't until the end that we actually kind of understood the games, but it doesn't really matter. The machine tells you whether or not you won. We tried to play games that the girls would have liked. We tried a shark game, a mermaid game and a sea monkey game. I settled on "Wild for Dolphins." I got lots of "Pearl Bonuses" and even got the "Training Bonus" once. It's funny how excited you can get over a bonus of 10 points (10 cents.) Vegas has nothing to fear from us.
Our vacation was over in a flash. We were walking on the beach Tuesday morning and were trudging through snow by Tuesday night. Many, many, many thanks to my mom who made it all possible by agreeing to stay with the children for a week. (I hope you've caught up on your sleep Mom!) I wonder where we'll go next...I guess we'll have to wait and see what Scott wins for us! (Yes, I have utter confidence in his tremendous luck.)
No comments:
Post a Comment