ZipLining!

Last Monday we went on a fantastic zip-line adventure.  (Smily face!  Mike was able to join us!!)  First thing, we got outfitted into our harnesses (and proceeded to take goofy pictures of each other.)  

The pictures mostly speak for themselves, so I'll leave the commentary to the minimum.

Oh yea, we OWN the harness!

And here is where Mike decides to photo-bomb Andy and Emily's self portrait.

Time to set off.

And there he goes.

Now it's my turn.

Some Andy action shots.

The view from above.

It's Emily's turn now.

Here is what happens when you don't make it all the way across.  (More on this later.)  This happened a few times on the shorter zip-lines (and on one really long one) because we didn't get enough speed going.

And this is how you make sure to make it all the way across.  After seeing that Emily had a hard time making it all the way, our guide offered to hook our harnesses together so we'd have more weight to make it across.  And he promised a fast ride.  Yes, please!

Inbound Emily!

There goes Mike!

At this point in the day, we've finished our first 8 zip-lines, and it's time to get ready for LA BESTIA (or THE BEAST)!  Here we are at the edge as we wait to get suited up.

For this last zip-line adventure, we will get harnessed in Super Man style.  What a fashion statement it is!

After we all got suited up in our new harnesses, we decided to take some pictures of our awesomeness.

The Beast is the highest and second-longest zip-line in the world.  And it is AMAZING!

Here are the boys ready to tackle the Beast!    

Now it's time for the girls to go.  As you can tell by this video, we had some technical difficulty.  (See, there's more than one way to make your way across.)

Duro!  Duro!  

Emily got a personal escort the remaining few feet to the platform.

And thus concluded our amazing zip-line adventure!  We had such a good time!  If you're in Puerto Rico, you should definitely make the time to go zip-lining, and Toro Verde is a great company!  There are so many adventures to choose from - zip-lining, rappelling, canyoning, mountain biking, and probably a few more I'm forgetting.  Mike and I are already planning what we'll do on our next day there.

Finding La Mina Falls

When my sister, Lillie, was in town we went hiking in El Yunque.  It was near noon in late July and it was stinking hot and humid.  We had started down the trail towards La Mina Falls, but gave up about 30 minutes into the hike without ever finding the Falls.

This time when the Hoopers and I went hiking (Mike was working again, more sad face), we did things a little differently.  For starters, it wasn't July so the temperature was much more bearable.  We also started at a different trail-head which was a shorter, easier hike.  We also were a little smarter about what we wore (i.e., bathing suits) so we could take a dunk in the waters under La Mina Falls.

There were 2 pools to wade in.  Since the lower pool was less crowded, we headed that way to splash around a bit and cool down after the hike.

Emily tried to get me under the falls, but I wasn't so into that given how cold the water was.

The cold didn't stop the Hoopers from goofing around for a while.

Andy vs. the water fall.

I think the water fall is winning (or at least too cold to take on for long).

The Falls are totally winning.  

Ok, so these photos were so much fun to shoot.  Great subjects who love having fun!

The Falls are gorgeous, and the pools are really refreshing after the short hike.  I think next time we'll bring a cooler and spend the day.

More adventures to follow!

Hoopler (or is it Millper?) Time

Our good friends, the Hoopers, visited us this past week, and boy did we make the most of our time!  The best part is that I was able to sit back and relax while Andy took the leading in planning our day-trips.  We managed to cram in a trip to the Bacardi Distillery, hiking in El Yunque, swimming in waterfalls, exploring Cueva La Ventana, taking a boat ride at Lago Dos Bocas, exploring Old San Juan, and a ziplining tour.  On top of the great sight-seeing, we ate and drank like kings and queens.

Friday morning while Mike was at work (sad face), Emily, Andy and I headed out to Bacardi to take the tour of the distillery and enjoy some tasty beverages.

There's just something vacation-y about day drinking.  And, of course, day drinking is only made better when it is free and in a beautiful setting.  As part of the tour, we were each given 2 drink tickets so that we could taste any of the Bacardi rums.  Bacardi Peach Red with passion fruit juice was my drink of choice, and it were good!   

The property was absolutely gorgeous, the weather was perfect (read: slightly overcast with a nice wind to soften the heat) and the tour was actually entertaining and enlightening.

After the tour, we enjoyed our second free beverage (rum daquiris for all of us) while taking in the scenery.  

Next up was a visit to Old San Juan to grab a bite to eat at Pirilo Pizza Rustica and meet up with Mike.  Free rum and a goat cheese, arugula and prosciutto pizza.  Hoopler time just doesn't get any better!