What I did today!

Our ship had a skating rink.  This is our ship at St. Thomas.  Snuba in St. Thomas  It was great to get so close to the little fishes!

Saturday and Sunday

We arrived in St. Thomas around 1:30. A lot of tours were canceled because we arrived so late, but mine was still on. I debated on whether to skip it and get my money back… but I decided that when would get this opportunity again. I would love to say that I loved it but I just can’t. I went Snuba diving. It is a cross between snorkeling and scuba. The first problem I encountered is that they didn’t give me enough weight. I fought the first couple of minutes to stay on the bottom and not float back to the top. Finally, my dive instructor gave me another weight. At that point I had too much weight. I fell to the bottom. This was the highlight of the trip. As I was falling to the bottom of the dive area an ell came out of her whole. Picture me falling toward your head. I don’t know who was more horrified… her or me! She looked at me and gave the scream look and I was screaming inside my very soul. Luckily she was more frighten and flew back into her whole. I did my best to scramble away. What was neat about it is that you can get right next to the little fishes and coral. I LOVED that. But it was a lot of work. Snorkeling is no work… you just float.

ST. Thomas is known for its shopping. Since my tour got back so late I really couldn’t do much else. I really wanted to go see Blackbeard’s castle but will have to save that tour for another day.

I am now sitting in the San Juan airport. We made it through customs and also through the USDA check point. I had heard how horrible this process was but since I sorta new what was coming — it just wasn’t bad.
Whew… time to go home!

Last night we had someone to get very, very sick so we had to divert to get near land so they could be helicoptered out.  As a consequence, we will not get into St. Thomas until 1:00.  Since we do not get announcements in our room I already had my bathing suit and gear on.  Drew had to call me to tell me what was happening.  They did say that the person got to the hospital safely… which is good since the trade winds are something here.

Not as to… is it hot in the Southern Caribbean?  Nope.  Okay, let me quantify that with… as long as the wind is blowing it is not hot.  Luckily the wind is blowing 90 percent of the time.  Unfortunately, the wind was not blowing as I walked up the mountain yesterday to see the water falls.  I got very hot and all wet.  I was much appreciative of the snorkleing by the time I got there. 

I should be home tomorrow (Sunday) around 10:00.  If all goes well my flight should arrive in Roanoke around 8:40ish.  Drew has friends that are going to pick us up.  Last night I packed my gear and Drew looked and said, you must be ready to go home… yes, I am.  This has been a blast, but vacation is now over and I am ready to come home. 

Besides home, Dominica is now my other favorite place in the world. It ties with Paris… It is truly a special place with very, very special people. I have decided, when I retire, I am going to come and teach at their university for a year. Dominica which is not pronounced like you would think has everything from beaches to rainforests. Their national bird is a type of Parrot. I looked everywhere for it but didn’t see any. Today’s tour was one in which they took me deep into the rain forest, to a sulfur hot spring and then snorkeling. Must always have the “swim with the fish” time. Our tour guys were just delightful… she told a lot of great stories (and bout their culture/history) and the driver was truly something. The roads make shooting creek look like an interstate highway. Just imagine… a cliff… a bus… and oncoming traffic. There were more than one time that the entire group applauded his driving. Our tour group was the best I have had so far. They were all just very interesting people. I think, partly, the reason we all got along is that there were just 21 of us… by the time the entire trip was over everyone knew each others name and were all having big laughing conversations. My favorite was a Mexican family (money, money… can we say money). The father was hysterical… he sat in front of me and decided, since I was alone, that I would become a member of his family.

Today’s snorkeling was different… rocky. It was difficult for me to get in and out of the water. I fell face first trying to get into the water (gotta love waves). I came up laughing hysterically; along with everyone else. This wonderful young man, who told me that I reminded him of his mother, helped me out of the water. It was a wonderful adventure.

Tomorrow is our last stop… St. Thomas. I do a sort of Scuba dive tomorrow. It is a cross between snorkeling and scuba. I have had a wonderful time, but I will be ready to come home to my daddy and my cats.

Daddy, I tried to call twice yesterday and could not get a ship line.  I will try again today, but if I don’t reach you…all is well.

Yesterday was the perfect day.  I had a tour that took me snorkeling out in sheltered area of the ocean that was popular with Spanish vessells.  This time I was smart and took cereal with me… I had fish everywhere.  (I gave my camera to Drew to take to the dolphin meet and greet so I don’t have pictures).  The fish were beautiful, but the best was the great treasure fine.  You know how I LOVE to watch those travel shows… there is one that Kristen Gump does called Treasure.  Yesterday I found a deposit of spanish glass and platewear.  Most of the stuff I found is probably over 500 years old.  There were teens and children on the boat and I wanted so desperately to go get them and do a teachable moment but we were too scattered and no one was were I was.  So I scooped as many as I could and put it in my contaner.  Red is the most valuable… didn’t find any of that but I found tons of green glass which is what they had their wine bottles made from.  It took me a while searching before I found the plates but I found those too.  I was the last one to get onto the boat and when I got there I brought all the children together… showed them what I had found… did my teachable moment and gave each child there a piece of green glass and a piece of plate.  I still had plenty and divided the rest with Drew.  That will be a memory I will hold a lifetime! 

Today is sea day.  We have tickets to the ice skating show which is suppose to be superb.  Yes, there is a skating ring on this boat.  We also have our last formal meal tonight… so I will have to be all sparkely. 

Everything is great and Drew is fine… doing very well in fact. 

Love you.  Kiss  my cats for me. 

 These pictures don’t exactly go together but you get the picture.  Some of them are of our ship and others are from my snorkling trip today.  Our ship has a mall in the middle of it and our dining area is 4 stories high.  We are on the top floor.    I took this picture myself.

I have just showered and I thought I would catch everyone up on my day. First off, I had a lovely sleep in until 6:30. Breakfast would arrive at 7:00… Yes, my cabin has in-suite dining. Love it! I had to be at the terminal on the peer at 8:30ish so I left the room @ 8:00 to get there in time. I am glad I did because I experience organized chaos. The teacher in me came through though.. I just kept asking until I found the right place to be. Today’s snorkeling adventure include a tour of a sunken German boat. We climbed upon a sail vassal – the tour guy’s name was Alex and he was just wonderful. My name became “my lady” — don’t ask me how but I knew all the crew by the end of the trip. I had on my Hokie t-shirt so I was easy to spot. The first stop we landed was right off the beach… very shallow. It had a lot of choral and a lot of cute little fish who were all convinced I was going to feed them. They came so close I touched some of them. I just kept with a school must of our time at the first stop. The second stop was at the sunken ship.
The ocean was truly rocky but I was undeterred. One of the crew members said, My lady, are you sure you want to go in. I just put my gear on and in I splashed. I like to swim away from everyone so I could float but unfortunately the waves carried me too far and I had to be horn blasted (that is very bad when you are snorkeling… they don’t like it when you get to far from the boat). When I realized I was the cause of the horn blast I started to swim my way back. THEN I understood why they didn’t want you to far… the waves were really bad. Luckily I have a kind of snorkle gear that does not allow water in…I had to work hard to get back but it was easy cause of my gear. I was one tired little girl by the time the last snorkeling trip was over. The surprising thing… the water is very cool. I was shocked. I kept saying… we are close to the equator…how can this be. Then I remember, the current they have comes from close to Antarctica… they have no gulf stream current here. The men on the boat gave me this lovely little shell… They were truly nice guys. How many were on the boat… about 80, but you know how I am and catching people’s attention.

The temperature is not too hot… I am surprised. It is probably in the high 80’s but what keeps it so cool is the wind… It is soooo windy here! My first snorkeling trip was a total blast! LOVED IT!

Drew is just a delight. She has given me a birthday card each morning when I wake up… just a treat. She is out right now on a bus tour of the island. I got back too late to take that or I would be with her doing that too.

Well I was off a day… what a hoot.  This morning Drew bought me a massage for my birthday.  I told her you would not approve Daddy but the deed was done and so i got my back and legs all rubbed.  i am one rubbed person now.  This afternoon I latherd myself with 30 sunscreen and headed out to the pool.  It wasn’t that hot because it was so incredibly windy.  I am sitting now listening to classical guitar music while I eat my lunch.  Tonight is the mureder mystery dinner so I have to put on the 9s. 

Hiya from the high seas. Yesterday’s journey here was very uneventful but I will tell you this I was spoiled. When I was booking my flight I noted that I had enough points to be upgraded to 1^st class. Being my birthday week I hoped on this chance. First class is GREAT! When I sat down a nice lady came to ask me if I would like something to drink while we waited for take off. Since I had not reached my daily quota of coffee, I had a nice cup… in a REAL cup (no plastic or paper for first class). During the lunch portion of our trip I was served a delicious cheese quesh with turkey sassage on china. At the end of the journey I was given a nice hot towel to wipe the first class germs off of me. It was very, very nice. I like first class.

The ship is huge! The pictures below are of the Royal Promenade. It is like an indoor mall. We spent a lot of time here last night just trying to get our bearings. As I write this I am hearing so many different accents and languages. I love that. (Where am I? I am on the Royal Promenade at the Duck and Dog sitting in one of their outdoor tables.) Last night all we managed to do was eat dinner and unpack. We were both very tired and so we just hung out on the balcony and watched San Juan get smaller and smaller.

Today Drew is going to the Spa and I am going to the pool. I have brought all kinds of sunscreen so I will not get burnt to a little French fry crisp. Tonight we have tickets to the Murder Mystery Dinner. I have never been to one of those so I am pretty excited.

Tomorrow is Aurba and my first of 4 snorkeling trips. Woot.