Day 188, Year 6 End of a Beautiful Week

Day 188, Year 6 End of a Beautiful Week
Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011
Weather: Perfect-Sunny and Beautiful
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

Today was our last day together in the beach house. Justin and Jo leave on the 6:30 am ferry in the morning and we move, with Heather and family, to Windbird for a couple of days as we sail them to Puerto Rico. We had a celebration on the beach this evening in honor of Windbird’s successful circumnavigation. We drank a special bottle of Cape Point wine for the occasion and didn’t come inside until the last bit of light was gone trying to stretch our time together. It has been a fabulous week and we are going to miss the kids so very much.

110430 Day 188 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Last Day on Bastimento Beach

Day 187, Year 6 Magic Sparkles

Day 187, Year 6 Magic Sparkles
Date: Friday, April 29, 2011
Weather: Perfect-Sunny and Beautiful
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

For the first time that I can remember, I didn’t write a log yesterday. We are just having too much fun together as a family to stop and take time to write. Right now it is 1 am in the morning. Jed, Justin, and Jo are still up and I thought I’d take time to write a short log. Yesterday was a beach day with pizza for dinner. Somehow I managed to make the dough and polenta for the pizza bases between forays to the beach. Between taking short walks to find wild horses and finding treasures in the sea-yesterday it was a star fish and today it was a turtle in our little “pool”. Heather and Jed also went snorkeling on the outer reef today. Mark and I will venture out tomorrow in between stints of keeping the attention of one grandchild or another. But the highlight of today was our evening adventure. We rented an old beat up van for $50 a day so we could go to Esperanza this evening and do the night tour of the bioluminescent bay that is touted to be one of five like it in the world. The concentration of dynoflagellates is so great that when you get into the water everything around you magically sparkles. When you raise your arm out of the water, it looks like it is sprinkled with sparkles. Ziggy and Sam ventured into the water, but Jonah decided that playing in the bucket of water on the boat was just right for him. Even that produced beautiful sparkling water. We had a dinner of Puerto Rican mofongo, the signature dish of Puerto Rico, when we returned. On the main island the base is usually mashed plantains, but on Vieques it is cassava. Either way the base is filled with seafood or other meats and is really delicious.

Tomorrow is our last day together. It has been a wonderful week and Mark and I are really going to hate to see it end. Justin, Jo, and Ziggy take off for the main island on the 6:30 am ferry Sunday morning. Heather, Jed, Sam, and Jonah will move aboard Windbird on Sunday and we will sail to the main island as their flight is not until Tuesday. So we have to make the best of our last day together tomorrow and I think we’ll do that by just enjoying our time on the beach here.

110429 Day 187 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Island Adventures

Day 186, Year 6 Another Wonderful Day on the Beach

Day 186, Year 6 Another Wonderful Day on the Beach
Date: Thursday, April 28, 2011
Weather: Beautiful, Sunny Day
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

There’s no time to write a log. We are just having too much fun with the grandchildren. We spent the day on the beach walking, swimming, snorkeling, and building sand castles. We found a sea star in our lagoon today and the little ones and big ones enjoyed looking at that. Sam built and rebuilt sand castles at every different stage of the tide and Ziggy and Jonah spent time sweeping the sand with coconut palm brooms. Jonah loves playing with the little red bugs that are so abundant here-not sure what they are, but they are beautiful and harmless. So life is good.

110428 Day 186 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Another Wonderful Day on Bastimento Beach

Day 184, Year 6 A Day on Windbird

Day 184, Year 6 A Day on Windbird
Date: Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Weather: Beautiful Day with Lots of Wind
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

Today we spent the day on Windbird, but the group decision was not to sail as it was quite windy and we didn’t want the first sailing experience for Jonah and Ziggy to be a rough one. It was quite rocky and rolly even on the mooring, so I’m sure the little ones thought we were sailing. But it was so much fun to have the whole family on the boat. Just getting out to Windbird was the first adventure since we left the dinghy raised on the on the back of the boat and had to find a way to get out to her. After the lively Easter weekend here, Esperanza seemed fast asleep this morning, even at 10 am. There was no one on the waterfront and almost nothing was open. But one little business that rents out kayaks loaned us one long enough for Mark and Justin to go out and get the dinghy. They brought the dinghy to shore and picked us all up. Once on the boat, Sam became Mr. Busy Man checking out all systems. He was convinced that only Granddad knows how things work and insisted that he be Granddad’s helper. We blew up the kiddy pool we bought for two year-old Sam when he came to visit in Thailand, and this time two year-old (almost) Jonah and two year-old Ziggy really enjoyed the pool on the back deck. We all had lunch and then headed out on an afternoon dinghy explore. Mark took Justin, Jo, and Ziggy out to the close-by little island. When the rest of us went to join them, they were ready to leave as it was rocky with no beach and just no fun. So we picked up Justin, Jo, and Ziggy and took the dinghy across to a sand spit separating Esperanza from the next bay. Justin and Jo did a snorkel explore while the rest of us walked the beach. I had to stay on dinghy watch, but the rest of the gang walked to a red salt pond just inland from the shore. We all returned to Windbird by mid-afternoon so the wee ones could have a nap. I made up the sea berths so the little ones could nap there. The starboard and port settees in our main cabin both pull out and have lee cloths that pull out and attach to the ceiling. They make the perfect “nest” for small children and I think they enjoyed the experience. We all lazed about until just after 5 pm which made for a late return to the beach house, but it was a wonderful day.

110426 Day 184 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Day Trip to Windbird

Day 185, Year 6 Exploring Isabel Segunda

Day 185, Year 6 Exploring Isabel Segunda
Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Weather: Heavy Rain Overnight, Mixed Weather Today
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

The rental car had to be returned by 10:30 am, so Mark and I started the day with a run into town to the supermercado. It is amazing how much food six adults and three children can eat! We then went back to the beach house to drop off the groceries and pick everyone else up as they wanted to wander about town and take Mark and I out to lunch. There is not much of interest in the town of Isabel but we really enjoyed seeing the big iguanas that literally hang out in the mangroves just inshore. We spent an hour or so walking around and then had lunch at Mamasonga’s. After lunch we split up. I went back to the supermercado to get the makings for chocolate chip cookies and key lime pie while the rest of the gang went to the piscaderia to pick up some fresh fish for dinner. We took a publico (taxi) back to the beach house and arrived just in time for afternoon naps for the little ones and their parents. We must be wearing them out as everyone slept until almost 5 pm. Some of us had a relaxed late afternoon on the beach while others went in search of the wild horses. They seem to graze in the yard of the rental property next door, so we don’t have to travel far. Tomorrow and Friday will be relaxed days on the beach and at some point we must get motivated to do a nighttime foray to the bioluminescent bay-one of the highlights of Vieques.

110427 Day 185 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Wild…Horses, Children, Times

Day 183, Year 6 Change of Plans

Day 183, Year 6 Change of Plans
Date: Monday, April 25, 2011
Weather: Another Sunny and Beautiful Day
Location: Bastimento Beach Bungalow, Vieques-Puerto Rico

Being on land is very much like being out on Windbird. Circumstances can change your plans very quickly. And that is what happened today. The trip to Windbird today was postponed and the car rental was extended for another day. Our oldest grandchild, Sam, had what he called headache yesterday and during the night it became evident that it was either an ear or sinus infection, or both. We followed the suggestion in the Lonely Planet and took him to the Centro de Salud de la Familia just south of Isabel Segunda first thing in the morning. After much waiting, they sent us next door to the Emergency Room at the hospital. There we waited, and waited, and waited. I walked to the nearby fruit and veggie market to buy much needed fresh produce. When I returned, we waited some more. Sam was being very patient, but after three hours it looked like little progress was being made. Mark and I thought of calling Diane at Blackbeard Sports to ask if there might be an alternative to the Emergency Room. She had been so helpful the other day when we were looking for bikes to rent and today her suggestions were golden. She suggested that we go to the new doctor in town as he would not have the waiting list of the other two established physicians. We took off immediately and when we arrived, I went in and found that the doctor could see Sam immediately. Mark raced back to rescue Heather and Sam from the Emergency Room and within half an hour we had the diagnosis of an infected right ear and a left ear that doesn’t look much better. We then went to the Farmicia. Heather bought the over-the-counter items prescribed by the doctor and I waited to get the prescription filled. And I waited. And I waited. You have to take a number and wait just to leave your prescription. So by the time everything was done, it was 1:30 in the afternoon and time for naps. We did have some wonderful beach time in the afternoon mix and matching grandchildren and their parents with rotating nap schedules. We rotate time between picking up sea glass, building sand castles, and exploring the sea life on the reef on the far side of our salt-water “swimming pool.” Tomorrow we will try once again to go to Windbird for a little sail and hopefully do some more adventuresome some snorkeling.

Tonight we had a Handley favorite dinner of beef and veggie kebobs using my sister Margie’s marinade. It is just absolutely the best marinade in the world. While the kebobs were on the grill everyone but Heather and I went out in search of wild horses. We stayed behind to complete the dinner preparations and the wild horse hunt was successful. The horse hunters found six horses two doors down the beach. One was a young one and the grandchildren loved the adventure. Earlier in the day we had left the gate open after driving the car in, and within an hour we had a wild horse in the yard. So the wild horses definitely add a special to our visit here.

110425 Day 183 Vieques, Puerto Rico–Macho Men at the BBQ