Hey, where'd she go?

Away!  Far away!

Without the kids!

Fun..sun…sandy beaches…our 10th anniversary trip to St. Thomas was fantastic.  After we got there, that is.   I wasn’t notified beforehand that we’d have to fly in on this little gem

to get to the island.    I’m not very fond of heights, and frankly, this plane is a bit too small for my comfort.    Large planes are no problem, but in this tiny 10-seater (including the pilot!), I could feel every roll, bump and dip the plane made.  My palms were sweaty.    We landed in the dark, on a runway that started about 6ft. from the ocean.    Nothing like starting your vacation with a panic attack!

As usual, we got lost in the dark on our way from the airport to the hotel.  Happens everytime!

Overall, though, we had a wonderful time.    We stayed at a Marriott resort on the south side of the island.    I’m always a sucker for the flowers.

We spent most of our time driving the insane roads that wind around the mountains at crazy angles in our cute little yellow jeep, and doing a whole lot of nothing at places like this:

at our hotel, or this (Magens’ Bay):

and came face to face with one of these guys:

a few too many times.    One spent a full 30 minutes under my pool lounge chair before I could finally flee the area.    I managed to keep my cool fairly well, considering the loud internal scream that was happening in my head.    Turned out to be a good time for lunch.    On the opposite end of the deck.

No photos of the scuba trip, though, I forgot to pack my waterproof camera housing.  We did two dives that were purely recreational and fun reef trips, which when combined with the flight home,  I’m still paying for in the form of a massive Chiari headache 10 days later.   I guess I know now what diving will do to me.    Totally worth it, though.   I don’t get to dive enough.

Here’s a shot of us landing in Puerto Rico on the way home in that dinky little plane.

EEK!    I’m much more comfortable underwater than in the sky.

It was a great trip, a wonderful way to relax and recharge.    How long until Ohio weather catches up with the islands?

Until next time…
C.