A trip to Vieques

TravelCaribbean FriendsKramer On our last day, we got up and went to our local beach ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0319 for one more search ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0320 for shells and sea glass brought on by the waves ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0321 as they came in ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0322 and my haul ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0323 was fine. Suzanne ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0324 and I ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0325 were ready to go as I took a final self portrait ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0326 and admired the chips ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0327 left behind while we went to the parking lot ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0328 and Suzanne took a few pictures of me ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0329 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0330 and me one of the scene ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0331 and a few of her ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0332 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0333 and the bilingual sign ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0334 before the Kramers drove up ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0335 and we loaded the car ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0336 for what would be a truly unique ride to the airport, hopefully never to be repeated.

Once at the airport, we checked in ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0337 and while we waited ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0338 for the planes ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0339 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0340 we met this gentleman (PU class of 1971) ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0341 who reminded us that we had taken his picture in the group at dinner the night before. The baggage claim tags ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0342 allowed us ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0343 to head to the plane where the co-pilot ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0344 pretended to take my picture and the captain ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0345 insisted that he had never flown before as we checked out the plane ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0346 and then got on ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0347 feeling in a good mood ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0348 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0349 because the car chase was over. The ride gave good scenery ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0350 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0351 and since I was traveling with a physicist, I tried to catch a stroboscopic picture ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0352 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0353 of the rotor in place but had no success, so I recorded us as we headed down ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0354 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0355 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0356 and then headed to the terminal building ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0357 where this van ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0358 took us to the car rental place ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0359 where these gentlemen ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0360 gave us the van that would take us to the grocery store where we could scour the ointments ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0361 and decide against the nuts ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0362 before having Kenneth Rivera ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0363 check us out to the amusement of this gentleman ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0364 from Orlando. We drove on ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0365 to El Portal ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0366 where this man ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0367 let us in to see the jungle growth ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0368 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0369 including these beautiful flowers ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0370 and the croton ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0371 that led us to the visitor's center ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0372 across the bridge ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0373 over the jungle growth ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0374 that we all ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0375 admired ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0376 before heading in to the rain forest where we first encountered these falls ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0377 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0378 at which we took a group picture of our group ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0379 and of the neighboring group ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0380 before heading to the trail ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0381 and winding down ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0382 down ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0383 down ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0384 around ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0385 across bridges ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0386 until we saw water ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0387 and took a picture of this gentleman ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0388 who was embarrassed that he stepped into our picture that he insisted on taking this picture ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0389 since he didn't realize he was the subject. After getting to the end ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0390 we stood on the bridge ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0391 and watched the guitar player ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0392 and the falls ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0393 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0394 which were the main attraction for Peter ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0395 who took this picture ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0396 while I took this one ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0397 and we began the long walk back up the 434 steps. A few sites in the rain forest characterized our personalities ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0398 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0399 ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0400 before we drove on past the Saint Just sign ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0401 and past the monument to the first governor ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0402 to this point ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0403 which was best illustrated sans flash ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0404 and then on to the rental car return ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0405 where we removed the luggage ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0406 and tags ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0407 and took the courtesy van to the airport ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0408 where we checked in ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0409 and Suzanne led the walk ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0410 to our gate where Suzanne's yawn and Peter's cell phone ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0411 gave the feel of the end of the vacation. As we prepared to board ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0412 we were happy that we hadn't lost our heads on vacation ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0413 even though the vegetarian ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0414 and regular ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0415 dinners eaten to completion ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0416 might have encouraged it. Once back home, all we could do was reclaim our baggage ../../../Sabbat/2004/01.07-13.04WillisVieques//IMG_0417