La Isla de Puerto Rico

Our trip to Puerto Rico was amazing. There is such great old history there and yet it was a very modern city. In town, I felt they were a little ahead of even our city - Houston. Most of the restaurants had WiFi, I am guessing for the tourists that arrive from the cruise ships. There were recycle bins everywhere (not found in Houston).

Our trip started with a trip to Hector's cousin (Chevila). She lives in a suburb outside of Ponce. Her house was on top of a mountain, which you could see gorgeous scenery from anywhere on the mountain. Her and her husband have a large piece of property and they have beautiful floral and fruit trees everywhere on the property. It was awesome just exploring through the vegetation on her property.

Day two was a day at the beach, relaxing, playing a game of volleyball, and wading through the rough waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Day three was spent touring El Morro of San Juan. The history of this citadel was so interesting. It's amazing that a structure from the 1500's still exist, especially the beating it gets from the ocean currents. It was a hot day there but you wold go into the "garitas" (guard shacks) and the ocean current waves would cool us down. Our next visit was in Old San Juan. We did a mini tour of the city. Lots and lots of walking up and down cobblestone roads. The vibrant colors of the buildings are beautiful. We visited the Cathedral of San Juan, Marc Anthony married his first wife there. We also got to visit the musuem of a family relative. She was the first female mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico her name Felisa Rincon de Gautier. She was married to Hector's grandfather's cousin. Her home in the city is now a musuem and there are so many documents and certificates given to her by many presidents and dignitaries from across the world. We also enjoyed Parque de los Palomas (Pigeon Park). Samantha, Felicia (our cousin), and I went to got some bird seed from a local vendor and feed them right out of our hands. They attack you when they see it, but it's not like the movie The Birds. Oh yea...and I got christened with bird poop.

Day four we went to the Rum Barcardi Factory. This tour was fun. Lots of facts I did not know about Barcardi Rum and Facundo Bacardí family. Like did you know that their signature emblem was a bat? I didn't! From there we went onto the Arecibo Observitory. They filmed the movie "Contact" and a James Bond movie there. It was neat to see but the film presentation was rather boring. I nearly fell asleep.

Day five was a trip to El Yunque. That was a full day trip. At least an hour from where we were staying. We did not get a chance to hike any of the trails. but maybe next time. Hector's mom was a scared we would get lost. We were told that a couple got lost in there a couple of weeks back and they had a hard time finding them. I could clearly see why too. The forest is super thick. At least we got to climb one of the water falls. Never saw a coqui, the native tree frog, other than the gift shops. Those are some loud little things at night.

Finally on day six we saved it to return to Old San Juan to shop and catch up on some of the other things we did not get a chance to see. I did most of my picture taking that day of the architecture in town. If you have been to New Orleans much of the architecture of the buildings looks the same only the city is cleaner - San Juan that is.

I really enjoyed our time away and learned a lot while I was there. It was like a history field trip!

SeaWorld Mania!

Just got back from a mini-vacation to SeaWorld with my friend Holli and her family. She had her nieces in town and thought it would be a great opportunity to take them to see SeaWorld, which they had never visited. It was also the first time for them to ride a rollercoaster. Samantha was looking forward to riding the Great White, a flip flopping type of coaster. The last time we were there she was too short to ride. She loved it and if it was up to her she would still be there riding it.

Hurricane Dolly was stirring up in the Gulf and there were threatening rain and thunderstorms for that day, but it held off. As we walked towards our car the clouds did their little dance on us just enough for us to get semi-drenched. Thursday was definitely a wash out raining all day non-stop. Little Ms. "fish" Samantha and Holli's neices decided that the rain was not going to stop them, so they spent the morning playing in the indoor pool at the resort we were stayin at.

After their dip in the pool we headed to El Mercado and had an awesome lunch at Mi Tierra, a landmark restaraunt in San Antonio. I can remember even going their as a kid with my cousins and grandparents. So, does that tell you how old that place is!

It was a great two days of fun, a little too short though.

Smile - Mom has a new toy!

In two weeks me an my family will be leaving on a trip to Puerto Rico. I have been contemplating for a while about getting a new camera. I had made my choice back in December, but I just could not justify the expense.
This trip to Puerto Rico finally gave me the push I needed to get my dream camera. A Nikon D40 with two lenses 25-50mm and 50-200mm. I have been practicing with it trying to learn all of its little gadgets and adjustments and hopefully within two weeks I will have it somewhat mastered.

My current photography subjects have been my flower garden and my ragamuffin 'Oreo'.