by Judy Handley | Nov 22, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 31, Year 11 Getting Together with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco
Date: Sunday, November 22, 2015
Weather: Sunny, High in the 80’s F
Location: Simply Modern Retreat, Aguada, Puerto Rico
Early this morning Justin and Ziggy walked over to visit. And that was the beginning of a wonderful beach day with our five grandchildren, our two children, and their spouses. Jo and Coco joined us for a family breakfast and the little ones all played with Legos that were a gift from Oma and Granddad. The morning beach trip was just a short walk down the street from where we are staying. Justin carried both his old surfboard that we delivered this trip and the surfboard that Jo, Mark, and I gave him for Christmas last year. The surf was still rough today, so no good waves for surfing this morning. But it was delightful to watch the grandchildren playing with each other. I got a real kick out of Jonah and Ziggy chugging water, wondering what they might be chugging on the beach a few years from now! After our morning beach time and lunch at our place, the little cousins all walked down to Justin and Jo’s to play. They were introduced to Uncle Justin and Auntie Jo’s animal menagerie, built with Legos, and explored outside. We then packed up and drove a few miles south to another beach, looking for calmer waters. But they weren’t to be found today. At Marina Beach in Rincon, where the water is usually calm, the surf was breaking on shore with a vengeance. We had hoped to snorkel here, but it was just too rough. But a little way off the beach, the water was calmer. So we rented a couple of paddle boards and paddled them out beyond the breaking surf to have some fun. Ollie and Granddad had a nap in the van and Coco and I went to the beach bar to get rice and beans for her to eat. Then one by one the other grandchildren found us and had snacks in between paddle boarding and body surfing. Jonah and Coco entertained everyone in the snack bar with their cheeky dancing, especially when “You Got to Move It, Move It” played. What a crew!
Tonight we had dinner at the rental unit. Before dinner, Justin had one more run down to the beach with his surfboard and this time he was able to catch the waves. Heather and Jed prepared the dinner and all was delicious. Then we headed to downtown Aguada for dessert at Utopia. It was a wonderful with our family. And Justin and Jo are planning another wonderful day tomorrow. They are taking us up into mountains for a rainforest waterfall adventure.
by Judy Handley | Nov 21, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 30, Year 11: Let’s Go Surfin’
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2015
Weather: Sunny, High of 80 degrees F
Location: Simply Modern Retreat, Aguada, Puerto Rico
The west coast of Puerto Rico is always surfing country, but if you were a surfer today would definitely have been the day to be out there. There were high surf and rip current warnings. We walked down to the beach before we knew this and Mark and I were amazed at how different it was from when we were here last Christmas. Last year the beach here was calm with a few surfing waves. Today it was just one huge crashing wave after another. Mark, Jed, and the boys braved the beach while Heather and I went into town to get fresh fish from the Saturday morning fish man and pick up a few more items from the store. We joined the beach bums when we returned. Sam had been diving into those crashing waves the whole time we had been in town while Jonah and Olie had played at the edges. It was just too rough for them to enjoy, so we went back to the apartment for lunch and then all of us except Heather and Ollie set off to find a beach with kinder waves. We ended up at Playa Pico de Piedra a little further south in Aguada and had a great afternoon. When we got home the Goldstone crew headed to the beach here to watch the sunset and then we had a great dinner followed by a game of charades. We are looking forward to visiting with Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco tomorrow as they got home too late tonight to visit.
by Judy Handley | Nov 20, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 29, Year 11: San Juan to Aguada
Date: Friday, November 20, 2015
Weather: Partly Sunny, High of 85 degrees F
Location: Simply Modern Retreat, Aguada, Puerto Rico
Today we made the transition from the hotel in San Juan to a two-bedroom apartment in Aguada on the west coast of Puerto Rico. We are diagonally across the street from Justin and Jo’s, but we won’t get to see them until tomorrow night. They are flying in from England and will arrive home tomorrow night. In the meantime we will continue to enjoy the warmth and sunshine. We just have to walk to the end of the street from our apartment and we are on the beach, so tomorrow will be a beach day.
We spent our morning enjoying the three pools and the beach at the Caribe Hilton. The once very swanky hotel is showing signs of wear. But the location is fantastic. At low tide we could stand on the overlook and watch tropical fish swimming below. The kids enjoyed playing between the pools and the beach. They had up-close and personal experiences with iguanas and we even found a hermit crab in one of the pools. We figured that was not where he meant to be, so I picked him up to carry him back to the ocean. I was not as careful as I should have been and he took a really good chunk out of my ring finger. It bled for over an hour, but is fine now. We had a picnic lunch, played on the Hilton playground, and then headed to Aguada. The trip was quite an adventure. The surfboard that we brought with us for Justin was in a huge inflatable bag that we had inside the van. We knew we could not ride all the way to Aguada with me in the floor of the van hunched down underneath the inflatable bag, so we had to first stop at a Walmart to get clothesline to tie the surfboard to the top of the van. Then we drove to a Costco to buy food. It was a two-hour drive in heavy traffic from Costco to here, so we didn’t arrive until after dark. We are all a little tired, but I’m sure a good night’s sleep will solve that problem. So it is time to sign off and get to bed.
by Judy Handley | Nov 19, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 28, Year 11: Boston to San Juan
Date: Thursday, November 19, 2015
Weather: Hot and Humid with Rain Showers
Location: Caribe Hilton Hotel, San Juan, Puerto Rico
We made it! We arrived in San Juan after a painless five hour flight, picked up a rental mini-van at the airport, met Jed at the hotel, changed into our bathing suits, had a quick, informal dinner, and jumped in the pools and played in the ocean. The boys were so excited to be in the water, especially the pools, and I am sure they will be up early in the morning ready to go again.
Sam, Jonah, and Ollie were so good on the way here. We had three big bags to check, including a bag of snorkel gear and a surfboard, six backpacks, and Heather’s carry-on. She packed for herself and all three boys in that carry-on while Mark and I required a 50-pound checked bag. We don’t travel light! Jonah could handle Heather’s carry-on, Sam could handle our 50-pound duffle with wheels, I carried the snorkel gear, and Heather dealt with Ollie and carried kid backpacks and a carry-on with kid snorkel gear. That left Granddad toting Justin’s surfboard that was packed in a special inflatable (and hopefully indestructible) bag. It is about seven feet long and weighs 40 pounds. When we arrived in San Juan we must have looked quite a sight with all the bags, but we transported them all without paying a porter. Our problem now is to figure out how to transport the surfboard from here to Aguada. It virtually fills the middle of the van, so tomorrow we will come up with a way to carry it on the rooftop without racks. But one way or another we will leave here tomorrow afternoon and travel the two hours to Aguada on the west coast. Then the real fun begins.
by Judy Handley | Nov 18, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 27, Year 11: Good Scan Results
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cool, Frost Last Night
Location: At Home with the Goldstones (-Jed), East Falmouth, MA
We met with Mark’s oncologists today and received news that the results of his recent scan were good. Hurray! The radiation therapy did its job. The cancer is at bay for now and the hope is that Mark can have a break from any kind of treatment until we return here in the late spring. We will have to come back for another scan in mid-January and if things are still under control, we will continue with our plan to go to the Bahamas. So obviously, we are delighted with the news.
We were able to return the wrong computer and get the right one at Best Buy this morning, but we have had no luck getting it set up for use. Trying to download Microsoft Office was very frustrating and after a long call to someone in India and then another call to tech support in this country, we found out the problem was that Microsoft’s website was down. For two people who once thought they were at least a little tech savvy, this week has been a real challenge. Evidently we are not as savvy as we thought. But with or without technology, tomorrow morning we all leave here and head for Logan Airport in Boston. By 6 pm tomorrow night we will be in San Juan.
by Judy Handley | Nov 17, 2015 | Sailing Logs Year 11 |
Day 26, Year 11: Another Trip to Boston
Date: Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Weather: Mostly Sunny but Cooler, High in the 40’s F
Location: At Home with the Goldstones (-Jed), East Falmouth, MA
Today we made another trip to Boston. We took Jed to Logan for his flight to San Juan and then we drove to Cambridge to do a little more computer shopping. We had lunch at Whole Foods and then went to Mass General for Mark’s urology appointment. We had to wait longer than expected which had us leaving town with rush hour traffic, so that took longer than expected as well. Our next stop was the Best Buy we visited yesterday to buy a computer we saw there. They had an Asus that was the right size annd had all the right ‘stuff’–it just didn’t have the right price, but after looking, it seemed the best we could do. This particular computer had been returned so we were getting it at a refurbished price. Tonight they brought it out in a fancy box and I suggested we open it to take a look. Since we had seen it yesterday Mark didn’t think that necessary, so off we went with our new purchase. Long story short, we opened the box when we got home and it is not the right computer. Guess checking the box would have been a good idea after all. Since we are going back to Boston tomorrow, we will try again, but I’m beginning to think the gods are conspiring against me.
Tomorrow’s trip to Boston is to meet with Mark’s oncologists to find out the results of yesterday’s scan. I really hope to have good news to report to you tomorrow night. Then on Thursday we all head to Puerto Rico. The weather has been really lovely since we arrived here, but tonight it feels a little nippy. It is making me realize just how much we will enjoy life on a tropical island for a couple of weeks.
