Puerto Rico 2009!!

After catching up on mounds of laundry, jumping back into mom chauffer duties, and answereing the work call that didn't go away just because we did....we finally have a moment to blog about our incredible trip to Puerto Rico. Just Tim and I... the honeymoon we never had! Tim had a great year at work and was nominated to go to the Pitney Bowes (PB1) conference in Puerto Rico for a week of sun, fun, and relaxtion with a little bit of work tucked here and there, all expences paid! It was my first time to a tropical destination and it was everything I had imagined and more!First we said "adios" to the kiddos and left them in the care of their fun (and we hoped cabable), big sister, Vanessa! They had a great time with her and I think hardly missed us at all! When we left for the airport, I realized I had forgotton my camera, sunglasses, sunscreen, and cell phone! I didn't realize how attached I was to my pda (my brain) and felt like I literally left my brain at home. It turned out to be a good thing...I really unplugged and relaxed. It was all good until having no sunscreen, no way to tell time, and a day of hot sun got the best (or worst) of me...you'll see/read more about that later. Anyway...one of the most memorable things we did was go to El Yunque Caribbean National Forest. The sights, the sounds were incredible. The canopy was thick and so was the humidity...but that is what makes everything grow so big. The plant leaves were huge. Nestled inside were the little coqui frogs which seredaded us as we hiked among waterfalls. We didn't see many of these guys, but we heard them from the time we awoke each morning to their singing us to sleep. We stayed at El Conquistador Resort which was pretty amazing. The rooms were ok, but the views, the 7 pools, the waterpark, the beaches, and of course the pina coladas were

"tolerable" :-).
View of the resort from the ferry which took us from our room to Palomino Island in 8 min. where we spent a day, sunning (burning) and swimming among the tropical fish.As we were about to leave, I realized we didn't get any pics on the island. I dragged Tim over to the shore for a quick shot as the sky began to swirl and the palm trees began to sway (kind of violently too). There was this tiny little island across the water with just a few palm trees. I tried to get more of that in the pictures, but the weather and our disposable camera just weren't cooperating. Oh well...after a "click" of the camera, we ran for cover under a tiki hut, until the sun came out 5 minutes later. You wouldn't even know we had a rain/wind storm. As quickly as it came, it left, and we ventured back out to our loungers, ordered another pina colada and relaxed....(until the next weather burst came) After a few more, we decided to call it a day....running to the ferry for cover.You can't really see it here, but I got one heck of a sunburn. I didn't realize Puerto Rican sun and Seattle sun are quite different. After shedding a few layers of skin a week later, I'm back to myself with a little color to show for it. Lesson learned!!We spent much of our time with Tim's co worker, Kathy and her friend Tom. We joined them for a fabulous seafood dinner outside near the ferry dock. We also enjoyed our atv ride, wii party, and dancing with them. I think my shirt is the same color as my skin...ouch!Our last day, Saturday we went for a atv ride throught the forest. It was hot, it was stinky, but it was FUN, especially when you ride on the back with Tim at the wheel. It was really up to him what kind of ride we got. The line of quads was slow and steady. There were about 25 of us. But Tim just held back a little right before each puddle and gunned it. Woo Hoo!...so we got a little muddy, what's fun without a little mud, right?? Kind of hurt on the sunburn, but hey how often fo you get to ride quads in Puerto Rico?!There were several old dogs just laying around the ATV barns. Here is fido, thinking the bench is the best place for cool ventilation.We stopped for a little break on our ride next to a river. The guides took some colored rocks and mixed them with water to draw on the bigger boulders in beautiful reds and browns. Some people in our group really got into it and painted their faces with the stone paint. Our last night Jim Belushi and his band were the entertainment for the evening. The pictures are pretty fuzzy, but he was out in the crowd dancing with everyone. This was the 2nd night of live entertainment. Even though Tim resisted at first, I finally got him out on the dance floor. After a few songs, we couldn't sit him down! Oh, how I wish I had some pictures of that!

Part of PBMS (Pitney Bowes Management Services). We were with this group a few times during the week. Kathy and Tom, Loran and his wife, and Joe Gomez.