Oops, I just hit “publish” by accident, so here are the final few…. :)

After visiting Old SanJuan, we headed down the highway towards our night-time excursion.  We stopped in a little town called Luquillo and drove through a poor neighborhood  – located on a gorgeous stretch of real estate: the ocean.  Once again, it was interesting to see the “real” Puerto Rican life. 

A deserted fishing boat – sadly surrounded by litter.  |  A little boy and his dad practising to hopefully one day fulfill a big dream: many players in Major League Baseball are from PR.  |  How many pro players have these stands seen?  |  Kayaking through the jungle on our excursion out into a bio-bay to witness the awesome natural wonder of the luminary dinoflagellates.  Cool to see them light up as you disturb the water – very hard to photograph! :)

Tuesday’s catamaran trip to a deserted island (aside from the canibals; one of the crew on board told us not to go into the bush because a tribe of Puerto Rican canibals lived there….and they liked to eat white meat!!) with a stunning beach!  |  SUCH clear, warm water!  |  The C.O.L.O.U.R. of the ocean!  Wowza!  That’s the turquoise that I told you would be coming to these pages of my blog…  |  Me and my friend Nikon  |  A beautiful last evening on the beach. 

And the group shot.  I can’t believe I didn’t mention this earlier….that our vacation to Puerto Rico was courtesy of Buckwold Western – one of Eric/Atmosphere Floors and Design Centre’s suppliers (think “Armstrong”).  Every year they take their top customers on a tropical vacation, and we’ve said no for a few years now…but this year decided to go for it.  We’re so glad we did – what a great time it was.  Yes, that does mean that we were hanging out for an entire 8 days with our competition in the Flooring industry (we were the only ones from Chilliwack)…but it was fabulous!  :)  What a terrific bunch of people; so warm, friendly, funny and welcoming.  We met many great people…and new friends. 

So…how’d our friends Wim and Joc get there then?  Not on Buckwolds’ dime, shall we say! ;)  We’d talked a few months ago about them coming along…and then they decided against it, however, Joc called me up 3 days before Eric and I were to leave and she said “I’m really sorry, I’m not going to be able to have your kids come to play while your gone. W and I are getting away for a few days!”  I said “oh, no big deal, that’s nice for you guys, where are you going?”  Joc replied “well, there’s this little island in the Caribbean called Puerto, Puerto Rico I think?!?!”  My response was “SHUT UP!!!!  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???”  Nope, she wasn’t; they booked last minute…and I’m so glad they did.  The farmers and the flooring peeps all got along famously! ;)

So that’s it folks.  No more tropical vacation pics out of me for quite some time, I’m thinking! :)  I’m afraid Harrison pics are going to have to suffice for a (long) while….

Thanks for the amazing experience, Buckwold – Mark, Nigel and Greg!  Cheers!

Here’s the second last bunch of pics:

The fab pool where we spent a lot of time chillin’ at the pool bar – “Peach Beach” anyone??  |  180 degree view of the lobby, pool area, cabanas and ocean  |  wind-bent palms  |  napping on a tree…haha, yeah right!  Man, what an ab workout.  I have a new-found appreciation for models who make any awkward, contorted pose look relaxing! :)  |  taking a cruise through Mr. Trump’s golf course (the PGA was held at this course a few weeks ago) on a golf cart to enjoy the amazing views of our resort  |  checking out the hermit crabs – there are literally millions of perfect little shells on the beaches…but about 1/3 of them are inhabited…as Joc found out when her cup of shells began rattling on her nightstand one night! :)

Enjoying Old SanJuan; such a beautiful, historic town!  |  The El Morro fort: 500+/- years old  |  I adored the brightly coloured buildings and apartments which their flashy fronts and ornate balconies!   |  Walking through the streets was so fun – I especially loved peering into everyone’s homes!  They have no glass on their windows – just bars, so as you walk down the sidewalk you can hear conversations going on inside and get a glimpse of what their lives are like.  I’m guessing no one yells at their kids too loudly there….or maybe they do, and everyone’s just used to it! :)

The two pics on the bottom deserve their own paragraph.  This apartment was right in the middle of a block of pretty and inhabited units.  We were only able to push the doors open about 8 inches…but I would have given my left arm (well, maybe a finger or two) to walk through that place.  It looked as if it had been abandoned for at least 50 years; all the walls were intact, just the floors and the roof were missing.  Check out the terrific archways, the crumbling plaster and brick, and the trees growing in the back room!  Who on earth lived there, I wonder….and why has it been left to the weather the elements like this?  SUCH decrepit beauty.  I wish we had places with such history and mystique here in BC!

I’ll post the last of them tomorrow…

xo

Alright!  I’m so thrilled that I was able to make a looonnng day of it today, and get all my vacation pictures edited.  I so badly wanted to get them done, because as fun as it is to edit them, and relive the excitement….I find it hard to get back into the swing of “real life” while my mind is lingering thousands of kilometers away on a little island in the Caribbean. 

Here’s a few more of the many to keep ya going.  After seeing the pics of this amazing place, you’re going to WISH you were going! ;)  As I said before: Puerto Rico (the “Rich Port”) is truly phenomenal!!

Enjoy the visual journey:

The beaches at our resort the Gran Melia Golf Resort  |  Beach volley ball; Eric’s fave vacation pass-time! 

Breathtakingly gorgeous beach scenes at sunrise:  the pool across from our building.  An inviting hammock basking in the early glow.  Blissful solitude on the beach.  A self portrait; enjoying that hammock pictured on the right.  |  The resort lobby and main entrance: beautiful, pristine clean buildings.  Notice the cool fan palm trees…they have varieties of palms here I’ve never seen elsewhere!

Since there are sooo many….I’ll post some more tomorrow.  Thanks for checkin.’

Cheers!

Got home late last night, from my new favorite vacation spot on earth: Puerto Rico.  SUCH a gorgeous island; so luscious and vibrant, warm and beautiful.  Since I’ve got to get going on my unpacking, laundry etc, I’ll just share a few for now.  I can’t wait to go through them all later and relive the past week.

This split coconut and baby coconuts now grace my dining table; taken while Eric played beach volleyball 10 feet to my right.  |  Late afternoon sun.  |  Day’s end; I LOVE the tall palm trees!

Happy Friday! :)

Turquoise.  Lots of it…coming soon to a camera near me…and then to a blog near you! :) dv

Hasta la vista, Baby!

…to describe such amazing beauty. 

One day last week dawned clear and bright, and as I readied myself for the day, I thought to myself that I should go for a drive, to capture some of fall’s splendor…..until the sun came peeking over the mountain, and I saw that just 5 feet outside my window, was complete, phenomenal splendor.

My kids’ current favorite bed-time game.  Because the kids can’t hold their cards fanned in their hands very well, we just lay the cards on the table…this has it’s pros and cons.  Con: it’s rather impossible to secretively plot your strategy and hoard all the good cards ’til the end when you can unsuspectingly and triumphantly throw down a “plus 4″ as your last card.  Pros: help from your little brother deciding which card to put down next…plus free hands also make those impromptu “I love you so  much, I’ve just got to SQUEEZE you right now hugs” possible.  So, guess I’m all for it. :)

Well, they say it comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb:

Craziness abounds…thankfully…or wouldn’t life be dull?!? :)

No words necessary - such beauty speaks volumes on its own:

…with 2 nests full of mini eggs on my dinning table, wish my will-power luck! :) 

Aren’t those the coolest salt and pepper shakers ever?  Found them while shopping yesterday in an antique store.  Love the ingenious design and colour!! 

I’m also a sucker for sunbeams shining through mist, and the sunrise this morning over the mountains was one of those “gasp – mad dash through the house for the camera” moments:

I will not eat a mini egg. I will not eat a mini egg. I will not eat a crunchy, yet soft, sweet mini egg. I will not.

Will I??

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