My sister, Lillie, came to visit me in Puerto Rico the last weekend in July. The timing couldn't have worked out better. My birthday was that Friday, and Mike was going to miss it because he was underway on the US Coast Guard Cutter Reef Shark until Saturday morning. His trip was last minute, and I was incredibly thankful that Lillie had already planned the trip so I wouldn't end up spending my birthday sola.
Lillie arrived Friday afternoon after a long day of travel. We immediately headed to the pool for some frosty beverages. It was a gorgeous day and we sat and caught up while getting a little sun and planning our weekend. Mike was due to arrive Saturday morning, but there was still the possibility that some sort of emergency would cause the boat to stay out longer than planned. "We're scheduled for 4 days, but pack for 6," the CO had told him.
Mike arrived on Saturday morning as scheduled. Yay! We hadn't seen each other since Monday morning, and we were both ready for our reunion. Mike got settled and showered, and we headed to Old San Juan to walk around and check out the sights. Lillie was also hoping to find a birthday present for our dad (we call him Papi). I won't go into details on our shopping until after Papi's birthday, but we think the trip was a total success!
Saturday night was birthday dinner, compliments of Lulu and Papi. (Thanks, L & P!) We ate at BLT Steak in the Ritz Carlton hotel, and had a really nice meal. After dinner, everyone was super tired, so we called it an early night, headed back to the hotel, and went to bed early. We had planned a trip to El Yunque rain forest the next morning, and we all wanted to be well rested.
After a few mis-cues with the directions to El Yunque (hey Justin, the Navigator ideally should read the directions), we found our way to El Yunque. We intended to take a zip-line tour of the forest, but the hotel concierge had neglected to tell us that a) reservations were required; and b) it was $100 per person. Even though the company could fit us in for that afternoon, we weren't really prepared to drop that kind of cash, so we decided to drive through the rain forest, stopping and checking out the sights along the way.
Our first stop was La Coca Falls. (Hi Random Guy in my picture!) We stopped here to eat our Cubanos from Kasalta. Kasalta Cubanos are told to be the best on the island, and Mike and I have gone at least once a weekend. Even President Obama made a stop at Kasalta when he was here earlier this year! Ok, enough about Kasalta, back to El Yunque . . .
We continued to drive up and into the rain forest until we found a nice hiking path that would eventually lead us to La Mina waterfalls. The intrepid hikers set off. I'm not sure if you know this about a rain forest, but it's hot. And it's humid. And we were sweaty. That's not to say we weren't having fun; we were just having hot fun. Lillie and I quickly realized that we were hiking downhill and would have to hike back uphill to get back to our car. Good times.
You may be wondering about the title of this blog. Justin was all about finding the waterfalls and diving . . . or so he said. Thankfully, he realized that he'd be diving to certain death and opted for life.
Hey, Justin! Look over here, let me get a picture of you! No? Ok, I'll take a picture of you taking a picture.
Hi, boys! Cute pose!
I don't think those vines are gonna hold you up, Tarzan . . .
Back from our hike (I was totally drenched) we decided to head back down the mountain and enjoy the (dry) air conditioning in the car. By the way, we never did reach La Mina Falls - we were either on the completely wrong path, or stopped just short of reaching the falls. Note to self for next time: park at the Falls and take your hike from there, rather than set off on an unknown path and hope to reach the Falls.
On our way down the mountain, we passed this scenic overlook and stopped to take some pictures. Absolutely gorgeous views - too bad the iPhone camera didn't quite do it justice.
And now for the real fun - we totally had to stop at 2 little tourist shops to take pictures. It was the absolute highlight of the day!
Ole!
Ummm, what exactly does this have to do with Puerto Rico? Yea, I'm not sure either.
I can hardly decide which is my favorite. Lillie and Justin posing as the opposite sex? Mike and his cleavage? Or the creepy alien in the corner?
We loved having our first visitor in Puerto Rico, and I was doubly grateful for my sis to be here on my birthday!
Post Script: Justin took that dive after all! While trying to allow some ladies to pass during our hike on the narrow and muddy trail, Justin lost his footing and flew forward. Lucky for him, a tree broke his fall and he didn't go careening into the river. Not so lucky for his ribs. (I can't believe I missed the photo-op of Justin curled around that tree, but damn! homeboy moves fast when he's embarrassed!)
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