No seat on Air Flamenco

There was no seat on the ^lane so I am taking the 6:00 am ferry ( 2 hrs) and will then need to get a taxi in Fajardo to drive me the two hours, more or less, to San Juan.

I am meeting my friend Ali at noon in SJ for lunch (remember I stayed three days with him in Old San Juan when I arrived). Then it is check in for my flight by 2:05 for a 4:05 de^arture.

Arrival in Toronto 7:50

Today is cleaning and ^acking. I need to get my stuff together. For me, when in a tro^ical country, I take my suitcase outside in the sun and air it out, s^ray with bug juice, shake out all clothing items, and then ^ack it. I have done this for at least thirty years. I can handle critters when I am away, but do not want them hitching a ride home with me. I do not need a house lizard.

What is all that noise outside? Oh my, more changes to my front yard. There is a backhoe out there doing a little levelling. I was just told they are going to ^ut in a flower garden there and I will not be here to see it! Surely it will be filled with brilliant bougainvillea and other lush shrubs.

My oh my, I am going to buy a smaller suitcase when I get home. This one is much heavier than it was other years!

Dinner

Just got in from another delicious dinner at Annie's. There were eight of us this time. Two young fellows who are staying here caught this 35 lb Kingfish, Mahi Mahi, and some others.

The Kingfish was cut into steaks and Annie and Tommy cooked. Everything was amazing and a good time was had by all.

Chris and Patrick, the fishermen.

Travel Alert

What is going on back in good old KW. Just got a travel alert from WestJet saying flights may be cancelled to T.O. and KW. Then I hear that hydro has been off for hours, freezing rain this morning, people stuck in an elevator etc. AND I AM GOING HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

Let's ho^e it is all just a bad memory by Saturday.

Stay safe.

Four Days

Yes, that is right only four days left here. I am flying out of San Juan at 4:30 Saturday afternoon.

How I will get to SJ is another issue.

I always said I wanted to take the ferry from Culebra to Fajardo and then taxi to SJ, but the ferry leaves here at 6:00 am and it is just sooooo early. I am going to try to get a seat on the little Air Flamenco ^lane. Don't need a ferry; have been on lots of ferries, right? Gee, have I become even more lazy than at home!!!!!!

I definitely need to go into training for my next (tentative) adventure which will be ^hysically demanding. Yeah, I already have a ^lan.

If there is anything, ^hoto, that you wished I would have shown, let me know and I will try to get it for you.

Bring sunshine and at least 10 C for my return!!!!!!!

Cheers

Life is GOOD

Samm just emailed me that there is a snowstorm where they are today, near Cornwall, Ontario.

The devil in me could not resist going outside to take this shot from my balcony.

Only in Culebra

This came in the morning island email news and I just had to share. FYI, in Culebra one may not ^ark along a yellow curb.

"Today a large Taxi van came grill to grill with a Culebrense woman's jeep. The taxi that was on the wrong side of the road refused to back up! The woman with three cars behind her refused to pull up on the curb as her "tires are bad" For almost 10 minutes these cars stood nose to nose refusing to yield. Finally a police officer pulled up to make sense of the scene and promptly wrote tickets for all the cars parked across the street from the Post Office!!!!

I originally was told by an officer to park there 6 years ago... The other side of the curb was not yellow so I parked in front of the green house, only to return from the post office to find an officer writing me a ticket. I asked where should I park? and he pointed at the No Estacione sign! I said. "That say's no parking!!!" He said. "Yes but this is Culebra... Everybody knows to park over there."

Good luck! Park out of town I guess!"

Will that be a Don Q, Medalla, or a Pina Colada?

We sit inside.
The view from inside and for Tommy (how nice).
This is Quique, the owner.
Tommy
This is the little take out bar directly opposite the ferry dock where Tommy works a few days a week. It is beside the lovely sitting area. That's right, a take out bar......beer, rum, and frozen drinks. There is a small area inside where we sit to get out of the sun.( I have learned the art of mixing these delicious frozen drinks while si^^ing on rum ansd coke). Others would rather sit under an umbrella outside. I am beginning to think that alcohol is the new water here on Culebra. It seems as if almost everyone has a beer or other drink in hand both while walking and driving!!!!! I rarely (no, never) see a bottle of water.

Don Q is the rum of choice here and Medalla the beer of choice and legend has it that the Pina Colada was invented in San Juan.