A Light on a Hill

We've had a pretty slow week so far, for the most part. We're running out of things to do, and money to do them with. ;-)

On Sunday, we attended another ward where Steve had served as a missionary. He was happy to find an older couple that remembered him! They had fed Steve and the other missionaries every Sunday with what Steve described as the best rice and beans on the island. What was even more amazing than their reunion was the timing: this couple moved to Florida several years ago, and was also here visiting. In fact, last Sunday was the only Sunday they were going to attend that ward. So, Steve was very blessed to be able to reconnect with his friends.

Monday and Tuesday were pretty lazy days for us. It was really rainy on Monday again, so we didn't even get to swim, but made up for it on Tuesday. We even got Katie into the water . . . briefly!

Megan and Rachel are getting good at snorkeling!

Even Katie got in on the fun.

 Yesterday, we had a long day tour. We drove down to the southwest tip of the island. There is no freeway on that side of the island, so we were on highways most of the time, slowing our drive. (Although "freeway" is a misnomer, since the autopista, as they call it, is a toll road.)

We stopped for lunch at one of the two towns who claim to be located where Christopher Columbus landed on his second voyage in 1493. They have a really cool park there, dedicated to Christopher Columbus, with a nice boardwalk along the beach. They even had picnic tables!

Monument to Christopher Columbus

The park had several different areas, with different themes, for the kids to play. There was a cool treehouse, built around a huge ancient-looking tree (maybe it was there when Columbus landed?).  As the branches spread out like an umbrella, the tree puts down roots from the branches, so that they're supported by root "pillars." The kids didn't stay in the treehouse too long, because there were a couple of stray dogs roaming around up there. (The younger girls are absolutely terrified of dogs.)

Before the dogs chased them away.

Looking at some of the roots growing straight down from a branch.

 Then, we took them to a kiddie area for younger kids where there were several ride-on spring toys, statues of mushrooms and candy canes, and cartoon characters painted on the fence. The equipment was a little old fashioned, but that's the kind I like the best!

Steve bought us all an ice cream cone from a nearby ice cream truck, and we ate them on the boardwalk overlooking the beach. It was hard to imagine what that beach looked like in Columbus' day: now there is so much development and so many people. But the beach itself was still as beautiful as it must have been to Columbus' eyes.

 After the park, we drove down to the very southwest tip of Puerto Rico, to a little peninsula where there is an old lighthouse built in the late 1800s. Steve has been there twice before, so he knew the way. The road is in better repair than it was 20 some years ago, and more people have discovered this hidden gem, but there's plenty of room for the groups of visitors to spread out and explore, so we didn't feel crowded.

I had expected to be able to go into the lighthouse and get a tour, but we discovered it in a state of disrepair. The gate around the grounds was rusted and falling apart, the windows were boarded up, and the door locked. There's no sign of catering to tourists at all. But the light in the window turned constantly, so I guess the lighthouse still functions. At any rate, it was a very picturesque spot. I morphed into my avid shutterbug state and took tons of photos!

The lighthouse is located on some cliffs above the ocean, so we walked out to see the views. As there are no safety measures of any kind, we were super cautious with ourselves and the kids (don't worry, Mom!), and stayed back from the edge. It was a gorgeous view, in all directions!

 Then, we found a path that wound along the coast going north. It went down, off the cliffs, and to some really pretty rocky beaches. We also found a natural arch that we'd read about in an online guide, and a big ocean cave. (We didn't go in--just looked at it from above through a hole in the ceiling.) We took lots of pictures and got nice portraits of everyone that we plan to print and hang up at home, plus a really nice family photo.

On the walk down from the lighthouse, back to our car, we went by a gorgeous beach. I wished so much that we could go swimming! But there were no facilities to change into swimming suits or clean up afterwards, so we refrained from getting in the water. Instead, we just took more pictures! (Surprise, surprise)

The Caribbean is a pale turquoise blue, which beautifully compliments the white sandy beaches.

In our guidebook, Steve had read about a nice family restaurant in a nearby coastal city, so we drove east to try and find it. Just as it was getting fully dark, we finally found the place, and it was closed. This time, I don't mean the "we-missed-closing-time-by 5-minutes" closed: I mean the "no-longer-in-business" closed. It was very disappointing.

Luckily, along the dock were several little eating establishments. This is the town where they launch the tours of the other bio bay located on the main island, so we got solicited several times. I was tempted, since they have a glass bottom boat there. But then I remembered that bay is reported to be anemic of the little creatures that cause the glow, so the effect is less than impressive. I didn't want another disappointing experience!

We found a place to get some food that had a covered eating area and some ride-on toys for the kids to play on. The food was overpriced and not very good, but Steve got the rice and beans he's been craving. They also had a gift shop where we found some cute little coqui frogs, and Katie and I bought conch shells to cram into our suitcases for the trip home. I used my threadbare Spanish in this place, as they didn't seem to speak English, but in the end I had to rope Steve into helping me. I would ask them a question in hesitant Spanish, and they'd reply in rapid gun-fire Spanish that I couldn't understand!

We got away kind of late and had a long drive home, so we didn't get back to our condo until 1:00am. I guess we're trying to change our body clocks back to the time at home so it won't be such a shock when we get back next week!