This is from a letter I quickly wrote to Dao and Rob (as they too have experienced the kick-ass nature of Puerto Rico):
Justin and I got back from a weekend in Puerto Rico late last night. We had a blast!!!! We took one of his coworkers (Alex) and his friend (Marisa). They said it was one of the best trips of their lives (and they’ve been all over the place). This is how our trip went:
Day 1: Breakfast at Casa Cubuy in El Yunque, hike through the rain forest and swim in a variety of pools. Get back to the hotel and discover there are masseuses-in-training just down the street. We each get a 1 hour massage for $20! Drive to Naguabo and go out with Capt. Paco to see Monkey Island and snorkel. Capt. Paco was super busy so he dropped us off on our own with a kayak and supplies! We snorkeled out there – just us, monkeys, fish and seagulls for almost 2 hours. It was great!!! We even got to take turns kayaking. We also saw lots of starfish.
It was amazing. Return to Naguabo and have dinner. Head back to the hotel with a stop to grab rum and mixers. Sit outside for hours talking and drinking before hitting the hay.
Day 2: Breakfast at Casa Cubuy then head to the end of the road, where no cars are allowed. We were informed of a neat hike that takes you across a metal bridge (actually, not so much a bridge as a big pipe over a river). We were the only ones on the trail (actually – on both days!). Hiked for a while and came to a beautiful scenic overlook. On our way back, Justin suggested we head down to the river. We found and amazing lagoon at the bottom of a treacherous looking waterfall! Marisa kept climbing up rocks and finding neat places to jump in from.
There were lots of tiny little fish and even some prawns! Leaving El Yunque, we stopped at a beach on the way back to San Juan, walked along it, and spotted some hermit crabs. Back in San Juan, we bought some food to take back to the airport with us (I got amaaaazing camarones enchilados – shrimp in hot sauce, and beans) and stopped for pina coladas at Barrachina – of course!!! We made it back to the airport just in time to get on the flight!!! All in all, an action packed, exciting weekend. :)
There were only 2 minor hitches and they both worked out. 1) Our camera tumbled into raging water and somehow we managed to find it. The memory card compartment came open during the fall and somehow we managed to find the Flash card, too! 2) Alex forgot his wallet at a gas station on the way back to San Juan when he was changing in the bathroom. This morning he spoke with a woman there that found it and is FedExing back to him free of charge! So nice!!!
Re-reading my entry above, I feel kind of like I am reading a diary entry from when I was a little kid. I was pretty much never patient enough to go into things in depth. I guess that isn’t really a bad thing. :) Photos to follow. <3 :D
Photo Update
Ness’s Flickr Photo Gallery
Justin’s Facebook Photo Gallery
So, I had this determined idea yesterday that we (my mom, Val!, Justin and myself) would go hiking and kayaking this weekend in upstate NY. Joey joined us as well. Without ample preparation and having missed the New Paltz turn off where we anticipated our Saturday evening hike, we headed into Saugerties and I got directions from a local that suggested two different hikes. Val! liked the idea of the Kaaterskill Falls Trail over the scenic overlook trail, so we were off in the direction of Hunter Mountain.
The trail was beautiful… Lush green trees densely crowded the muddy, rocky path which ran alongside a creek. In the creek were glistening silver-gray rocks and many levels of small falls, creating a beautiful visual effect as well as a musical audible effect throughout our hike, which was a half mile in length and took us upwards to the main attraction: a gorge into which a tall, thin, cool waterfall streamed. Val! and I made it there first and excitedly headed towards the falls. It was during this time of mindless hurry that I slipped on a wet rock and sent my left foot (and force of my body) into a hole surrounded by rocks. One of these rocks was incredibly sharp… As I extracted my leg, I noticed a deep gash exposing flesh and white fat folded up under the skin. The first words out of my mouth were “E.R.”
After Justin bandaged my leg with part of Joey’s shirt, we all headed back to the car and to the nearest emergency room. It’s never nice to hear a doctor refer to your cut as a gaping wound… even though that’s exactly what it was.
The worst part of the experience: Other than seeing the initial, frightening damage, the worst part (by far) were the numerous, painful shots I received to my wound area prior to being stitched up (10 stitches). I lost it and ended up crying…
The best part of the experience: Having my loving family there for me… Thanks Mom, Val! and Justin.
Things like this really help put life into perspective… And also remind me to be more careful. This is the third time in 3 weeks I’ve hurt myself, and the second time I slid off a rock and hurt myself. Sheesh.
Not gonna write a whole lot at the moment as it is late and I am very tired BUT the main thing I went to get across is that I really dig Denver and the Rocky Mountains and feel like this is a place I could see myself spending a lot more time.
Summary of our day:
woke up 5:20 AM ET
left NYC 7:50 ET
arrived Denver 10:20ish MT
left with rental car 12:45ish (don’t even get me started but at least we had a convertible!!)
Drove into the mountains, drove around Central City and got hiking directions
drove to Idaho Springs and up Mt Evans to the top where it was still snowy = and 40+ degrees colder!!! We hiked to the summit. Amazing. 14,000+ feet up… we were breathing HARD. It rocked!!! We got up close to marmots and mountain goats! We also met some neat people that live here (originally from Atlanta).
checked into Magnolia hotel
cleaned up and changed for dinner
got cookies and milk on the way out of our hotel
had a yummy dinner at Samba (cuban food)
walked around downtown people watching and now we’re ready for blissful sleep!!!!
Photos to be added soon!
Justin and I are taking of in the morning and won’t return for a week! We’ll spend one day in Denver, Colorado and the Rocky Mountains!! I am so psyched to see the Rockies. Justin has talked to me about them, and visiting Glenwood Springs specifically, ever since I have known him, so I am really glad we’ll get to snoop around a little bit.
The majority of our trip will be spent in Montana with three days in Billings and two full days in Yellowstone. It’s guide training time for Austin-Lehman, which is as good a reason as any for me to fly out and meet everyone, see our offices, and work on face-to-face projects.
Justin plans to set up a remote JetBlue camp for the first few days from our LaQuinta hotel room before heading out to Yellowstone with the ALA crew. I am sure we’ll keep you updated via Twitter (easy with my phone) and the blog for more thoughts, feelings, and photos.
Special thanks a mucho love to the Val! for watching our babies and inhabiting our apartment while we are gone. Happy birthday to Olivia!!!
Love you guys and I’ll miss you!
Ness
Vallie! came over tonight so we could walk around in Forest Hills Gardens taking nighttime pictures. It was a nice, relaxing evening punctuated by happy banter and lots of blurry, orange photos. I still like the way they came out, particularly because I got a few nice pix of Val! enjoying herself! :)
We had such a good, active day today! We woke up at 9:30 AM – a little later than anticipated – and headed immediately down for breakfast. It was such a gorgous day filled with glorious sunshine. Justin had French toast, but said it was only so-so, and I had poached eggs over ham and an English muffin topped with cheese, which was also only so-so. Tomorrow I’ll probably opt for just the continental breakfast! :) We both still totally enjoyed ourselves at breakfast.
After breakfast we layered up for our first ever snow shoeing sojourn! We were out for over five hours today and trekked 1,000 vertical feet to the top of a mountain where we came upon a cabin that served soup and sandwiches. I had no idea I was so hungry until I devoured a bowl of split pea soup! Justin had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We snowshoed back down a different trail that took us among tons of moguls and remote, forested area. It was BEAUTIFUL. Some trees had bark of gold! I have a good shot in the photo gallery. It was amazing.
I have wanted to try cross country skiing for a couple of years. Loads of people out there were doing it. Maybe tomorrow before we leave we’ll have the opportunity to try it out. We scheduled time at the rock climbing wall today but allowed an angry lady with three kids from Boston to take our slot as the facility had lost hers (or she was wrong about her appointment). We tentatively schedule a 9 AM session for tomorrow.
We had a very pleasant dinner this evening. I have to admit that the food here is definitely not top notch but we had fun all the same and the service is good. I had lobster ravioli (fairly tasty), gorgonzola/walnut/grape/escarole/bibb lettuce salad with maple dijon dressing (fabulous) and NY strip steak (yuck). My steak did come with delicious scalloped sweet potatoes, though! Justin had yummy pork tenderloin and a delicious chocolate cake with mousse and cherries. We also had plenty of wine. ;)
Here is how my ideal day tomorrow:
Breakfast around 7:30 AM
Swim in the pool at the fitness center.
Climbing at 9 AM
Cross Country ski at 10:00 AM
Massage at 1 PM
Flight at 5 PM
Vee shall see!
