In the Middle of Winter, We Found Summer ...

Mmmmmm - with a view like this from our balcony, we felt like we landed in a little bit of paradise in Puerto Rico.

Listen:  no dogs barking, no trains or freeways filling the background, just ocean, and breeze, and birds.   What I can't give you is the feel of warmth on your skin, the scent of flowers on the breeze, and the reality of the tropical beauty where we stayed.

Wednesday morning, March 5, we flew out for Puerto Rico.  It was mostly a good flight, but we hit one stretch where the plane collided with some very rough clouds and I thought it was going to be torn in two, sending us all crashing to the ocean.  Seriously, the plane dipped slightly on its side, sending cups careening across the aisles and people crashing into each other.  I was grateful for seat belts.  Definitely have never had that experience before.  It was scary.

But arriving in Puerto Rico made up for it all.  We stepped out into a balmy 80+, slightly humid, fragrant tropical island.  What a contrast from the day before in D.C.!   We landed in San Juan, and boarded a bus that took us to the resort where we were staying for the meeting.  We drove on freeway most of the way, and were somewhat shielded from the real people there, but saw enough to know we were no longer in America.  So many Third World kinds of situations it made me wonder how we can ever get them to the point that they would be self-sufficient as a state.  Because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States, you don’t need passports to go there, they use the American dollar, and they, mostly, speak English.  They even have all the usual franchises – WalMart, Best Buy, McDonalds, etc., but that’s where the similarities end.

We arrived at the Waldorf-Astoria El Conquistador in mid-afternoon.  The lobby to the hotel was somewhat open air, and had orchids with the most divine fragrance decorating it.  A bellhop took us to our room, which was good, because we had to go through one shopping area and out into another courtyard, and into another building and down a couple of flights to find our room.  He opened the door to a room that had an entire wall made of glass overlooking the ocean.  It was wonderful!   The bathroom had a walk-in closet and plenty of room for all our clothes to be kept there.  The bed was comfortable.  There was a couch and a balcony with patio furniture, and I could have spent most of the trip just in the room, but I’m glad I didn’t.

For more on the resort click on this link:  El Conquistador Resort  

Fountain at Entrance

Bird Bath / Fountain in Courtyard

Fountain in Lobby

Wednesday night Brent went to an orientation and I tagged along.  That meant I could eat a free meal with him there, and I was hungry.  Then I found out that their snack line was all cheese and crackers.  I could eat some of the cheese, but the crackers are on the forbidden list for SIS.  I slipped out of the meeting and found a little convenience market in the lobby area where I bought some low fat yogurt and a container of fruit which I returned with and was just fine for myself until dinner time.  The dinners were all served buffet style with a wide variety of foods, which meant I could get a lot of fruits and vegetables.  So I stocked up.

And we made more new friends this trip,  and that was fun.

Plus we renewed acquaintances with friends from other trips.  One man, Mark Nielson, lives in Boise out near where my son and my parents once lived.  He and Brent have hit it off pretty good.  His son lives in Lehi and actually spoke to our ward (congregation) Sunday at Church as a high council representative.  Another friend was Gurye Smith from Arkansas.  We met her and her husband Steve last September in Canada and I couldn’t wait to get together again with her for this trip.

Salt and Pepper Shakers at Breakfast on Thursday

Thursday for this trip we did not go on a public tour.  The hotel had a private beach on Palomino Island and the conference had arranged for us to use the amenities there as well as have a luncheon out of doors on the beach.  Fortunately, the weather cooperated.   

Anyway, Thursday we went over to Palomino Island and after lunch, rather than going swimming in the ocean which was apparently quite painful with a lot of coral reefs, Brent and I took a hike up the island mountain.  It was hot and I sweat a lot, but it was a great opportunity to see vistas from the middle of the ocean.  

Ferry to the Island  (One of two)

Beach on the east side of Palomino Island

Iguanas were everywhere.  Everywhere!  We watched them running across the fields on the island.

Beach chairs reserved for the use of the conference attendees

Brent reading a sign on our hike up the Island trail

View from the top

Another view from the top, looking back at the resort on the top and on the bottom of the mountain.

Looking down at the tables where we had earlier enjoyed lunch.  They were full of people while the food was there.

How we got from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain.

Friday Brent had meetings all day.  A couple of women we had met the day before joined me for a walk over into a nearby fishing village.  To do so we had to go out the guarded gates and we were cautioned to be careful.  When a man approached us about going on his boat to the cactus island (whatever that was) we decided it was time to go back   But I got a few great photos there and it gave me good exercise, too.

Morning Sky, Friday morning

Graffiti everywhere.  Is the bird reading the post?

Back at the resort we toured the water park area that was down at the ocean front

Friday afternoon I went exploring with Gurye Smith.  She had a rental car, so we broke the bonds of the fancy prison and took a trip to a nearby beach community Luquillo where we found the real Puerto Rico.   

We also found the best shrimp I had ever tasted at a little beach side restaurant called Boardriders.

Gurye Smith

There were also soft sanded ocean beaches to go wading in.   

(Thanks to Gurye for this photo)

Gurye tried to get me to change into my suit but I was nervous about  doing that there where there were no public changing stations or bathrooms, no lifeguards,and I decided right then and there that I really need to buy myself a cute swimsuit coverup I can use in situations like these.  Her persuasions increased in intensity when I admitted I have never gone swimming in the ocean.   I felt bad to be such a party pooper, but was grateful she settled on wading in the water with me.  Gurye loves to swim and to go snorkeling in the ocean.  She's comfortable with the swells and the waves that wash over the head.  I, on the other hand, still cower with the thoughts of recurring nightmares from my teenage years when I often found myself drowning in deep waters.   There you have it - lots of reasons but none of them really understandable.  I did not go swimming on this visit to the ocean either.

We went exploring, though, and we found a dead stingray buried in the sand with one unblinking eye staring back at us. 

We also found a green lagoon.   Didn’t notice the smell until we got to the other side and then, whew!   We wondered if it carried sewer waste into the ocean, or if it simply contained too much green, decaying things.  If not for the smell, it was really quite pretty.

We also found that the people there are warm and caring.  As we were going back to the car, Gurye tripped on some boulders shoring up the roadway, and within seconds there were people there offering to help.  One man was pointing out a better path for me to take so I didn’t suffer the same fate.  Just kind people who were genuine.

On the way back, we did take one side trip off the main road to see the "country side."  We found scenes like this:

So green!!!!

We made it back to the hotel in time to join our husbands who had been out of their meetings for a half hour or so.   Brent and I got an ice cream cone and wandered for a minute around the resort before returning to dress for the final dinner with the conference.  I missed getting to say goodbye to Gurye the next day, as we all departed at different times.  Really wished we had at least one more day to explore.

Saturday afternoon we flew back to Baltimore.  But most of the morning had been spent traveling back to San Juan, and waiting at the airport.   I did catch a few pictures through the window of the bus:

 

PGA Tour was going on while we were there.

Mountains where the rainforest is

San Juan Airport

It was a good thing we had allowed enough time, because it took Brent over an hour to get through security.  I had a TSA pre-screened so I breezed through, but then I got to wait, and wait and wait.

Flags inside the airport

 I loved the colors in Puerto Rico.  The flags above were so appropriate, because everywhere we turned the buildings were all painted with bright splashes of summer colors. 

The flight back was uneventful.  Sean came and picked us up from the airport, since we were only staying overnight, and didn’t want to rent a car for the little we’d use it.  We went to dinner with him and his family at a Denny’s they like, and then he dropped us at the hotel to crash.

All the snow from Monday was gone.  The roads were clear, and it was in the 50’s.  Day and night difference.   Sunday we went to the block of meetings with Sean and the kids and stopped for a minute for lunch at their house, and to change.  He then took us to the airport and we were on our final leg of the trip home.

Ummm, I did take a few photos.  Others are here:  Additional Photos