I met with John Willis
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of the Near Eastern Studies Department and then noticed that the amaryllis
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in our kitchen was doing well, so it was time to go to the airport with
Suzanne, Peter and Seva
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and check our bags
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so that we could head to Krispy Kreme
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which made Peter
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and Seva and Suzanne
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quite happy, maybe because they knew that this would be their meal
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and this would be mine
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the remains of which
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were left for that strange person who would prefer a bagel at
40 degrees to a Krispy Kreme donut a few hours from fresh.
Before we knew it, the plane had landed and Suzanne
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and Seva
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were looking for our baggage while Peter
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was looking for his voice mail because he'd already found the taxi
that would take us past Roberto Clemente stadium
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and through traffic
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until the driver could pose with Peter in Fajardo
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where we would eventually catch the ferry. Peter spoke with this policeman
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and then we got closer to their conversation
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and thought about some helados
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while Suzanne
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surveyed the boats and we wondered what to do with our baggage
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while recording the obligatory phone booth picture
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and heading down the street to look into the windows
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of Jimmy's
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which was unfortunately closed (for good?) so we brought our bags
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back to the local cantina at the Hotel Delicioso where Suzanne
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Peter
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and Seva
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admired the table tiles
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as we watched the waitress
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make our food. Peter prepared
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to take a picture of me though the food
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looked much better. After our meal, Suzanne
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relaxed by the sea as I recorded the Customs House
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and these street signs
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along with a close-up of the Pare sign
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for someone's collection (I forgot who).
Once on board, Suzanne
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followed this wisdom
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as we pulled away from the shore
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which made her quite happy
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as Peter
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was on the lookout for cloud formations
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I could record as Suzanne
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phoned home and we watched the wake of the boat
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analyzing how best to water ski across the waves.
The ferry ride proceeded
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until we started to see land
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which got closer
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and closer
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while Suzanne and Seva
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wondered how Peter
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would get our bags off when we hit the shore
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so that we could have the taxi experience which was too unique to
even generate a single photograph. We will have to be contented with memories
of how the driver knew where we would be staying regardless of what we
told him and of the other passengers laughing at the radio program.
Once at our hotel, Suzanne led the tour of the main room
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and the bathroom
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with this signage
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before the Kramers returned
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and we headed to dinner with them
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and us
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admiring the candle
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as we had our first rum drinks
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and found good uses for the flowers
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they came with. The meal itself was quite good with salad
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that was not photogenic and Suzanne's fish, mushrooms and greens
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and Peter's shrimp
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before the dessert
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led us to try decorating the table flowers
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which may or may not have been real. We decided to claim the rental
car
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and call it a day so that we'd be ready the next day to check out beaches.
The next day Suzanne
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was ready bright and early as I had my toast
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and fruit
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on this lovely plate
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and then finished hers
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and waited for Peter and Seva
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to come through the brush with their suitcases
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to store in our room
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as we left the inn
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to head towards the beach
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where we saw these horses
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who greeted us
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as our first site before these traditional Caribbean scenes
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as we unloaded the car
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and headed to the beach
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stopping to admire the fallen coconut
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and wonder if it contained any milk.
Sun Beach
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was elegant with light waves
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as we set up
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and admired the scene
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and enjoyed the water before some rain came and we decided to drive on further.
We next entered the nature preserve
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and drove on the bumpy roads
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often seeing scenery like this
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before we headed to the beach
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at the point
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and started to explore
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to see what rocks
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might be good for climbing by Peter
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or might give good views
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or might be good for Seva
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to collect shells and look for sea glass while David
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undoubtedly described the fish that got away.
Meanwhile, our collection of artifacts
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was growing as Suzanne
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and Peter and Seva
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continued the search amid the rough seas
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which had brought the shells through which Suzanne sifted
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and of which Seva was choosing the very best
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including this sea glass
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as we did one last gather
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put our treasure in the hat
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and began the trek
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back to the car
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to head down this road
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and continue the exploration along the bumpy road
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until we found this hut at Blue Beach
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and headed to the beach
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after being sure that the bushes
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were free of bandidos and the water
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was clear.
But, before we could end the day, we needed to find the very elusive
Orchid Beach. After a number of wrong turns, we finally
found the left fork that came before the last right turn
and were rewarded with this great water scene
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that amused Peter
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and Suzanne
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as I marched out to sea. After various hand signals
failed to orchestrate what could only be called a great possibility,
I was waved in
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and slowly
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made my way
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back into the fold where this conch shell
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and this guide sign
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suggested that we had to head to this store in town
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where I could be fitted for these shoes
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by this gentleman
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and then pay these women
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who had just gotten decoder rings that let them take this picture
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so that I'd always remember where my Teva's came from.
Peter and Seva
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brought us the car keys and we stopped at this
Esso station
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en route to see Tom Wright where surprisingly we took no pictures.
Dinner that night involved these beverages
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which looked better without the flash
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as my salad and potato
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and Seva's BLT
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and the shared salad
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were drowned out by the cheers from the football fans. I did manage
to take the obligatory phone booth picture
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even as Peter took the obligatory banana picture
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so that we could end the day on the right tone.
Sunday began with a trip to our local beach
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where Suzanne
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searched and I found this sea glass
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that set her to further searching
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as I recorded the scene
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before we headed back to a breakfast
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at which Peter
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noted that Ben had lost a tooth even though our breakfast
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was too soft to loosen a tooth. This lizard
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amused the white rabbit
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before we headed off to see the dogs
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at the BioBay booking store where the dog theme
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seemed to interact with the Island philosophy
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that set the tone for our trip to Green Beach where this snake
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was in the water as we explored
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and saw the scenery
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before Peter snorkeled away
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and back
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and Suzanne and Seva
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admired one more conch
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before we decided to leave the refuge
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with Suzanne
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and head to the grocery store
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from which we filled our trunk
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for the journey back to Orchid Beach
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where Peter took a picture
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of this
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and then I went into the water for long enough to get wrinkly fingers
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before coming back to the salsa
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and Peter's Sobe
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properly oriented
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and Seva's coke
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and Suzanne's local beer
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as we admired the beach
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and Peter
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observed our neighbors
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as I observed my feet
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and Peter
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Seva
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and Suzanne
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did the beach thing as I recorded the panorama
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that was the sea and drank
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to Suzanne's new flip flops
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before recording the stick
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of the bandido in training and the sky (to get to 200 pictures)
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and Suzanne, Peter and Seva
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at Red Beach ahead of the setting sun
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as I
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got ready to speak to this gentleman
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from Philadelphia who might have been there to buy the island or
might have been there for more
nefarious purposes.
That evening, we picked up the Kramers at their new room
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which had this unreadable sign
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and headed to the Media Luna
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where Seva
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Peter
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Suzanne
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and I
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were amused by our waiter
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from Minnesota who said he had seen us on the beach that day
and told about his forthcoming trip to Sam's Club and the debate
about the $20 plane ride or the $2 ferry ride. The service was
great and the food was as good as could be, so we
stopped to salute the chefs
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who permitted us to stir the pot
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before we headed home for the night.
Monday morning, I walked past our local cactus
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and bush
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to record Suzanne
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as she approached
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to head for the toaster
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and adorn the meal with fruit
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that made her happy
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as I had my spreads
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and she had her omelet
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for breakfast. We admired the collection (including the rare blue sea glass)
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of our neighbors, Megan and Kim (class of 1983)
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who know Susan Taylor. After a stop here
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to get more gas
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we went to Media Luna
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where the sky
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and beach
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looked good so we walked in
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leaving the car
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and admiring the drip castle
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our neighbors made. In the rocks
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by the side of the beach were pretty coral
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though we all decided
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to stay away from the sea urchins lest we bleed black. While on this
beach, I perfected the self portrait first learning to focus
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and then learning to discard the sun glasses
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so that I would appear
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while the others
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explored. I decided to extend my technology to record my feet
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in new sandals
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with no seaweed
in the picture.
Next we parked at this sign
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which explained nature and welcomed us to Navio Beach. The gang
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watched the ships
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and then we checked out the caves
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before another self portrait
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to show my skill was improving and pictures of the beach scene before
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and after
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my long stint in the water talking to the fish. This led to more self
portraits
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after which it was time to pack up the car
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check out the sign
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and drive down this road
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to town where we saw the sales
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and rental
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ads before checking out the menu
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at the Tiki Hut
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and ordering
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fine food. Their totem
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stood near the only address
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we saw in the town as we admired the coconuts
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and I prepared
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to drive us back to Orchid Beach for lunch.
My lunch was the Bikini Blue (no onions)
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and this diet Snapple
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which didn't taste as good as it looked. My sandwich
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did. Suzanne and Seva collected lots of shells
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with this finger
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to give size perspective and Peter
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thought the seaweed ball
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was reason to come out of the water
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to have a detailed discussion
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with our ADD OCD inflicted
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neighbor who had questionable housing status and
really liked listening to Larry King as he interviewed
Bill Cosby.
That night we took this school bus
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to the BioBay
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where the people in the water
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did not look as good as Peter, Seva and Suzanne
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swimming among the glowing plankton.
Dinner that night was at the Italian restaurant in town and the Kramers
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and we
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were ready for the wine
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as we explored the menu
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and had salads
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and pasta
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not to mention Suzanne's
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Seva's
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and Peter's
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main courses as we met the owner
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and I showed my ``about to be'' clean plate
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to our waiter
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who then brought dessert
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and coffee
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as we speculated about the group at the other table
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seen from the other end as well
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who turned out to be a group of students from RISD.
On our last day, we got up and went to our local beach
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for one more search
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for shells and sea glass brought on by the waves
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as they came in
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and my haul
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was fine. Suzanne
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and I
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were ready to go as I took a final self portrait
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and admired the chips
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left behind while we went to the parking lot
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and Suzanne took a few pictures of me
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and me one of the scene
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and a few of her
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and the bilingual sign
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before the Kramers drove up
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and we loaded the car
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for what would be a truly unique ride to the airport, hopefully
never to be repeated.
Once at the airport, we checked in
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and while we waited
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for the planes
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we met this gentleman (PU class of 1971)
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who reminded us that we had taken his picture in the group at
dinner the night before. The baggage claim tags
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allowed us
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to head to the plane where the co-pilot
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pretended to take my picture and the captain
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insisted that he had never flown before as we checked out the plane
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and then got on
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feeling in a good mood
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because the car chase was over. The ride gave good scenery
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and since I was traveling with a physicist, I tried to catch
a stroboscopic picture
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of the rotor in place but had no success, so I recorded us as
we headed down
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and then headed to the terminal building
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where this van
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took us to the car rental place
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where these gentlemen
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gave us the van that would take us to the grocery store where
we could scour the ointments
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and decide against the nuts
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before having Kenneth Rivera
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check us out to the amusement of this gentleman
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from Orlando. We drove on
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to El Portal
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where this man
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let us in to see the jungle growth
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including these beautiful flowers
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and the croton
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that led us to the visitor's center
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across the bridge
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over the jungle growth
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that we all
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admired
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before heading in to the rain forest where we first encountered these
falls
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at which we took a group picture of our group
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and of the neighboring group
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before heading to the trail
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and winding down
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down
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down
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around
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across bridges
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until we saw water
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and took a picture of this gentleman
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who was embarrassed that he stepped into our picture that he
insisted on taking this picture
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since he didn't realize he was the subject. After getting to
the end
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we stood on the bridge
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and watched the guitar player
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and the falls
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which were the main attraction for Peter
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who took this picture
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while I took this one
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and we began the long walk back up the 434 steps.
A few sites in the rain forest characterized our personalities
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before we drove on past the Saint Just sign
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and past the monument to the first governor
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to this point
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which was best illustrated sans flash
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and then on to the rental car return
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where we removed the luggage
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and tags
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and took the courtesy van to the airport
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where we checked in
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and Suzanne led the walk
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to our gate where Suzanne's yawn and Peter's cell phone
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gave the feel of the end of the vacation. As we prepared to board
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we were happy that we hadn't lost our heads on vacation
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even though the vegetarian
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and regular
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dinners eaten to completion
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might have encouraged it.
Once back home, all we could do was reclaim our baggage
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so that I could see Susan Taylor
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the next day and somehow bring closure to the trip
On Friday, I ventured out into the snow and cold
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to meet Betsy Haas
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for this breakfast
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at PJs so that we could compare our daughters' shared experiences at
Princeton.