After the Mortgage

Gordian Knot.....

2017-12-21T07:29:00.000-05:00

Back home for a few days now. Trying to acclimate to the normalcy (but as I will explain later this is all a matter of perspective) of having such novel amenities as electricity (other than from a generator), gasoline (that you didn't wait in line for, for over 4 hours), abundant cell/internet service, and just a general life pace that rivals the CERN particle accelerator, is difficult, to say the least. Trying to find a way to explain what I experienced in the last 6 weeks, post Maria, in a way that really conveys my raw, visceral, experience is akin to untying a gordian knot. But here it goes....

This whole trip was suppose to be our normal, well as normal as possible, November trip to Vieques. Maria be damned, I was going anyway. As I've explained in earlier posts, securing a vehicle was the lynchpin, without it we weren't going. Enter Jeff Blanding, the owner of Pure Vida in Esperanza. Jeff, through Vieques Peeps Facebook, offered me the use of his car. Through our correspondence, I decided to meet Jeff and his father Dave, at Pure Vida and stay at his house. The plan was to work on his house in return for the use of his car and his house. Before I go any further I also need to thank Frank Misplon and Ed Wintle who also offered, not only a vehicle, but also a place to stay.

Having the vehicle secured, the trip was a go. We had initially planned on flying VAL out of SJU, but due to their weight restrictions, plus the uncertainty of even being able to fly out of Isla Grande, we changed to Cape Air. Cape air, in what was a generous and smart business decision, changed their ticket prices back to what the used to be. $90 each way. Bravo, Cape Air.

The need for the extra weight was do to the fact that I was checking a generator, which totally shot one 50lb weight allowance. We flew down to SJU on United, who at first at the ticket counter, would not allow me to check the boxed generator? When I quoted to the ticketing agent (who, believe it or not was from Puerto Rico living in Indianapolis, talk about small world) United's own baggage policy...which she made a couple of phone calls to verify, I was allowed to check the generator, albeit with a $100 overweight charge. The thing is, the generator had to be new in box, United's policy. The generator itself weighed 47 lbs, the boxed generator weighed 53 lbs, They wouldn't budge on that little detail and in the process netted an extra $100. Cape Air got me for $40. So..the $470 generator ended up costing me $610. So much for there being a natural disaster and all.

SJU was fine except that a large portion of the airport is closed. Electrical outlets to charge a phone are hard to find, very hard, and when you do find one there's a large crowd already plugged in to what I, just a few hours prior, regarded as a given, readily available, resource. We waited at the ticketing counter to board. No gate. This was much like it used to be when Cape Air was downstairs at the airport.

Flying out of SJU over Puerto Rico on Cape Air allowed me to see Maria's wrath. That and a sea of blue tarps, which I would learn a lot more about in the coming weeks.

All the operations at the Vieques airport are downstairs now. The upstairs is closed off as it is damaged. Lyman is still open, but very limited hours. Jeff was waiting at the dark airport to pick us up. No phone service. It was a strange beginning to our journey.

It was raining when we arrived and as it was to turn out, it rained almost ALL of November. An absolute crazy November. Jeff and his father had arrived a few days prior to Lorrie and I. He had no electricity (no generator until I got there), no water and no cell service at all. His house had lost the roofing on the porch and the gazebo. The wifi antenna on the roof had blown off. The dryer had blown off the back porch. Even the license plate had blown off the car we were going to use. So Lorrie and I entered a dark house, absent of any running water or electricity. Jeff showed us what bottled water he had and gave us a rundown on how they were catching rainwater to flush toilets. Talk about a baptism by fire.

First order of business was to unpack and fire up the generator I had brought with me. It was a Predator 2000 watt inverter I bought at Harbor Freight. Chinese made, but worked like a champ. I even converted it over to propane, via a snorkel kit you can buy, just prior to leaving Vieques.

Difficult to see, but I had to build a bracket to hold the regulator and then pipe (hoses) propane to the regulator and then from the regulator into the carburetor. You have to take the front off the carburetor and then insert the snorkel into the carb opening, disabling the choke. There's a prime button on the back of the regulator. It took me just a few hours, but I had to fab a bracket, which you can buy, to hold the regulator. If I hadn't of had to do that it wouldn't have taken long at all. Ran like a champ. Took a bit more to start on propane, but no waiting in gas line. Costs a bit more to run the propane also. You can see the chain. Yes..they were stealing generators, so you have to lock them up.

After Jeff and I got the generator running it was time for Lorrie and I to have our introduction to what we affectionately name "bucket baths." We used rain water to bath with. One quickly realizes how much water one uses when your relying on rain water to bath and flush toilets with. Our bathroom mantra was "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down." Hope that's not TMI, but it's the reality of the situation we were in.

Jeff had brought down some packaged food. He made some jerky that was kickass. We made a run to Lydias and bought a few provisions, cash only. We ended our first day at Bananas. Fish tacos and rum punch. That combination was to become my standby meal. I ate that nearly every day for almost 6 weeks. Didn't even have to ask when I walked into Bananas. Lea or Kelly brought me a rum punch and a few minutes later it was fish tacos and lentil salad. The fact that what few places that are open are able to make such great food and atmosphere all off of generator power, moreso given the gas situation, was unbelievable.

Kurt and Kelly at Bananas have done a fantastic job and took me in as one of their own. An unexpected benefit of being on island when things are so bad and there are so few tourists (if any at all), is having the time to get to know locals and business owners on a much more personal level that ever would have been possible. That experience I wouldn't trade for anything.

And now for the damage to the Malecon. I was amazed at how much had been cleaned up, but also taken back at how powerful Maria was and how extensive the damage:

The below photos is tubular stainless steel, about 1 1/2 diameter. It was totally smashed.

It was a shock. A lot of the railing along the Malecon was gone and there are big pieces of rebar sticking out. Some areas of the paving blocks are gone or sunken. La Nasa was destroyed. That is the point there the ocean washed away the Malecon itself. They have that area boarded off. The whole Malecon will have to be rebuilt. There was this monster debris pile across the road from the Green Store than was slowly being hauled away. By the time I left the island it was substantially smaller than this video:

When we first arrived, Bananas, Lazy Jacks and El Block where the only options on the Malecon. Cholies was open, but seemed closed for the last couple of weeks I was there. I know it is really hard on Choli. His entire business is basically gone this season, as is a lot of businesses on Vieques. We ate at Cholies twice, and yes..we were the only ones there:

Its a real dichotomy. The small business need tourist $'s desperately, but the island isn't really ready for tourists, yet. I dunno what's going to happen, nor how some of the smaller entities will survive. It's sad.

With just a handful of places open on the Malecon, it was all about Lazy Jacks after 7 or 8pm and the same old crowd would show up just about every evening (more of that intimacy I mentioned earlier). Stewart had 1/2 price pizzas going and the place was sort of busy, which felt good. One night I met Neal, a physician who owns a place in Esperanza. In a Medalla, rum punch, and some other medications I can't remember, conversation... he pulled out his guitar and blew my socks off:

We attended the opening of El Block, and there was a great turn out. Once again, I was amazed at the atmosphere created on generator power and very limited resources:

But there was one wonderful surprise at El Block! Hot water in the bathrooms! I felt like crawling up into the sink to bathe.

It wasn't all rum punches and wild nights on the Malecon. Day two saw me diving into Jeffs gazebo roof. Which was followed by his front porch roof, then some plumbing work, then a dryer install, cut down and hung a slab interior door and finally a new set of steps coming off the back porch.

I had mentioned Frank and Ed earlier in this post. Frank had a packag that he sent to me to deliver to his caretakers. We managed to find them in the first few days and get them the package. Then we arranged to meet Ed who also offered us a place to stay and a vehicle. Ed has two houses on the north side. The one house in Bastemento I was familiar with and agreed to meet him over at it and help assess damages, he hadn't seen it yet. Upon seeing the damages Ed was noticeably upset. I told him not to worry, I would take care of some repairs he needed to his upper story handrail.

Lorrie and I secured the materials from Nales the next morning and by noon I had his handrail replaced. Wasn't much for me, as I was right in my element. Ed saw it as a monumental accomplishment. I was glad to do it.

I also did some work for the owner of Los Cocos. Jenni had lost a lot of palms, although the name Los Cocos is still fitting. I had a chainsaw and went over to drop the ones that had lost tops and would never recover:

Jenni had ask me to leave this one with a taller stump. She was wanting a "redneck" clothesline. Hold my beer and kids, don't do this at home.

We also did get a couple beach days those first two weeks. Sunbay, Media Luna and Navio were are only choices. All the refuge beaches were closed and still are as of this writing. Sun Bay is changed. It is not the manicured crescent beach with tons of shade trees. A lot of the palms and other trees are gone. Most all of the palms were growing new tops. It will just take some time, but it will come back.

Our only access to internet was the Subway and Tsunami on the north. For our first two weeks everyone was there in the morning. Nothing was open on the south side until noon, other than Lydias and the green store, so most migrated over to Tsunami to get a breakfast sandwich and connect to the web. I'll admit than when I heard that a subway was going to open on Vieques a few years ago I was not happy at all about it. It felt like the carpetbaggers reaching their tentacles into Vieques with the intent on changing it into every other caribbean island. But I can now say that without that Subway, life would be much worse on Vieques. They brought in a huge generator and powered the place as if nothing had happened. Even had pressured water in the bathrooms.

Given the conditions we were living in having pressurized water was a luxury. The cherry on top of it all was the free wifi. There was no place on Vieques at that time to get onto the internet. So that was a godsend. I will always try ot patronize that subway on Vieques. What they have and are providing is really helping people out.

Jeff and his father left Vieques only a couple days after Lorrie and I arrived. It was about a week later that we got water in Esperanza and man did we ever appreciate it. We learned, as most of the residents on Vieques know, that you can deal without having electricity, but not having water is tough, really tough.

No more bucket showers. We were thrilled to have a cold pressurized shower. We were also able to finally do some laundry. We were told to boil the water. We opted to just use bottled water for coffee and drinking. We had brought a lifestraw family filter, but had plenty of bottled water. The military had come by and dropped off a couple cases, which we greatly appreciated.

The gas situation was horrendous. Gas lines were of biblical proportions and there was never a guarantee one would even be able to get gas, as they ran out constantly.I got skunked more than once. not a great feeling to wait 4 hours only to be turned away. That was and still is as of this writing a very real issue on Vieques.

The below video is the line starting at the intersection of 200 and 997, by what I affectionately refer to as the "vegetable museum." This is at least a 4 hour line:

It's terrible and what's even worse there was a strike with the ferry and we went for a long time with zero gas on island. I just talked to friends on island this morning and it's gotten worse. To the point that they've moved vehicles from houses they manage to their house because they're afraid of having fuel lines cut and gasoline stolen. It was tougher for us because all we had were a couple of 1 1/2 gallon gas cans. I was using over a gallon of gas a night for the generator. It was imperative that we run the generator at night for the fans. The mosquitos were like I've never seen them before and fans were the only thing that would give you relief. It didn't seem possible to me to sleep without fans unless you were up high and had a constant wind.

It wasn't long before we fell into a routine. Me fueling and firing up the generator in the evening. Lorrie bringing in the solar lights she had put out in the morning. Lorrie strategically placed lights that were on motion sensors so that one could move throughout the house in have plenty of light to manage. We had three different lights with us. The inflatable Luci lights were by far the fav on the island and because of demand were out of stock on Amazon at the time. The brightest motion sensor we had were the urpower lights. These were really bright and worked fabulous for us. We had two of these TomCare lights also. These sat on the table better than the urpower lights. But didn't last as long, nor were as bright. Between the 8 solar lights we had there was plenty of light to make it manageable at night. You'll need to find ways to place them so that, say for instance, when you get up to go the bathroom at night, you have light. Or if you need to make coffee in the kitchen. It's a matter of trial and error. Lorrie did a great job of figuring it all out.

I had been quite busy doing projects for people on island and a few days before I was to leave, I was approached by ViequesLove and asked if I would be willing to stay to help put on roofs for people who were in dire need. I met with Brittany from Vieques love and Liz from the Red Cross. Lorrie and I talked and I agreed to stay on for another month, solo, to do roof repairs.

I'll stop here for now and continue my solo journey in the next post.

:-)

Still on island....

2017-11-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

A quick update since the cellular gods have shined on Vieques in the last 24 hours I have a cell signal, barely. Not enough bandwidth to upload pics or video..which i have a ton of.

Lorrie flew out a week ago and I decided to stay on for a month. To say it's a Spartan living is an understatement. Our first week here we had to take showers out of a bucket, bucket shower, and we're flushing toilets with sea water. The water has been on steady now for about 2 weeks it's still up in the air on whether it's potable or not, although many are are drinking it and not having any problems . I've been making coffee with it. Most of the Islanders say they can live or at least make do without electricity, but it's very very difficult without running water. Gas lines are horrendous. I got at the gas line today at 6 a.m. and I'll probably need to be here at least 4 hours. At 6 a.m. the gas line ended just past the fire station So that line runs on 997 from the fire station all the way to the Mobil gas station as you're going into Isabel crazy long lines. Ice is still sometimes hard to find and the stores seem to run out pretty fast. Some days that I can't get ice. I only run the generator at night. It takes one gallon to run the generator overnight for about 8 hours. I run two fans and charge some Electronics. For lighting in the house I'm running all solar lights and they're great.

There is plenty of food on island and a decent choice of dining options. Being one of the few vacationers, if thats what i am, has allowed me to get to know people, especially restaurant owners, on an intimate level. I just cant save enough good things about Curt and Kelly, the owners of Bananas. They are in the process of renovations on their lodging in back of the restaurant and let me tell you its really nice. I absolutely hated hearing about a Subway opening on island a few years back, but that subway has been a godsend. They are open from 6am to 11pm. They brought in huge generators and run the place like normal. The wifi they have been running was one of the few spots on island to connect to the web.

The gas situation on Vieques is horrible. I spent 2 days waiting in line for over 3 hours only to be turned away. Unless they find a solution its a killer for tourists. Plus its a regular gordian knot near any of the stations. No 5 gallon gas cans to buy on Vieques. I had a friend find me one in Fajardo for $30. I paid her $50. When i got it i felt like a kid at Christmas.

As of now, none of the refuge is open. It has nothing to do with ordnances, but with debris on beaches..i.e. acetleyn tanks, propane tanks, needles and just a bunch if stuff that could hurt someone. I got this from a guy that sweeps for ordinance s and has been on island for a number of years.

I have been able to do a lot of work for different home owners. The reason Im staying on for another month is because Vieques Love ask if i would help to put some temporary roofs on houses for people in real need. Myself and another carpenter are attempting ti make it happen. Its nice to help..we need a lot more of that in this world.

I wish i could upload some of the pictures and video i have. Amazing stuff. I am thoroughly enjoying myself..dispite the Spartan living conditions.

:-)

Crossing the Rubicon....

2017-10-31T10:01:00.000-04:00

In just 3 days Lorrie and I will be boarding a plane for Vieques. Yep...call us crazy. We are going down to help, as much as that can happen. We are going so I can stand on the beach and raise my fist to Maria and say "you will not change the way we feel about Vieques, you bitch!" We are going down with Bill and Joy to tag team this project.

Sounds good, albeit maybe just a tad naive. Vieques is a mess, a real mess. I have heard everything from little to no communication, water is hit and miss, no electricity, apocalyptic stories about waiting in gas lines that start at 3am, little food, and gangs of looters riding horseback.

But any of us that go to Vieques regularly know full well the power of the coconut telegraph. So based on what I do believe to be accurate (or as accurate as one can possibly be 3k miles away), this is what I have learned:

No electricity. Nada. Power is being restored in and around some areas of Puerto Rico. I believe 17% of Puerto Rico now has some kind of power. I heard that street lights were on in Fajardo. That's the good news. The bad news, someone cut (intentionally) the power cable running from Puerto Rico to Vieques. Scratching my head on that one, but you can add it to the ever growing pile of obstacles. The fiasco with the Whitefish contract will cause delays, maybe long delays, in restoring power. It's already been a month. Did you know there's a power generator on Vieques? Been there for many years specifically for use in this kind of disaster and has the capacity to provide power for all of Vieques. Unfortunately is was never maintained and is now in disrepair (I've heard unusable).

I am taking a generator with me. I am checking it with United Airlines. I bought it at harbor frieght at a cost of $429. It weighs 47lbs/53 in box (hence the $100 overweight charge from united). We also have a propane snorkel conversion kit for the generator. Now, I say "we", when actually the generator is for Jeff Blanding, the owner of Pure Vida. We are staying with Jeff at Pure Vida. He can't check it with his airline, but I can. I had reached out on Facebook about trying to find a vehicle and Jeff was the first to respond. You see, there is no way to contact any of the rental car agencies and I had heard that Maritza's had their fleet in use by FEMA, Red Cross and other disaster response people. Not much I can do to help without a vehicle. I have to say I was bowled over by the outpouring of help from the house rental owners on Vieques. We have multiple houses to stay at, plus multiple offers for vehicles to use, all for FREE. Yes..you heard that right, for free. I plan on working on as many of the houses that I can. Simply amazing and I will pay it forward.

Water...you need to boil it. This is not really getting much press, but it's what I am being told. Some areas (Lujan, Monte Carmelo and others) have not had water restored at all post Maria. The water has stopped a number of times, I hope this does not become a pattern. Mostly it's due to part failures on generators or pumps. Securing needed parts for repairs seems to be best accomplished by the private sector, rather than the municipality. From what I can gather they have been woefully negligent on responding to critical needs. Where would Vieques be now with Vieques Love? They just in the last few days purchased a radiator for one of the large generators at the water plant and got it installed. If you can, click on the link for Vieques Love and donate, they are the best. We are taking water purification tablets as well as a lifestraw family water purifier.

Esperanza has had problems with the sewer system. Specifically not working and backing up into houses in Esperanza. I was told this had been fixed. Once again needed part was secured by private means and fixed.

Gasoline. The gas situation seems to be much like pre Maria, only amplified. Some days there have been lines for gas that stretch a very long way, like over a mile. i.e. I saw a video of a gas line that ran from the new gas station just around the corner from the vegetable museum (if you don't know what I am talking about it's very near the intersection of 997 and 200) and it ran all the way south nearly to the Mambo. I heard people were in line from 3am. So yes...amplified...but....I read yesterday that there was no line. So it's all over the map. I've waited in a gas line while on island, most people who visit more than once experience it., for maybe 30 minutes max. I've seen this before, granted not nearly on this scale, but I've seen it and dealt with gas line etiquette, which is part of this whole combustible dance.

Food. Just prior and right after Maria, the shelves at the Morales and the colmados looked like something you would read about in a dystopian novel. But I just read a few seconds ago where Al's is open and has cold Medallas and gumbo for $3. Yee Haw!!! Subway and Tsunami are open. Lazy Jacks has cold beer and pizza. Coque Fire is open with a limited menu. There are all kinds of reports about food provisions on island. Some bad, some not so bad. I saw a photo of the Morales and it was very decently stocked. Lydias in Esperanza is said to be better stocked than the north stores. I know that the Mambo and the Green Store are open. I wonder if the cat is still sleeping on the cases of beer in the back at the Green store? We are not taking any food with us. From what I have been able to glean, the big problem with food for people on island is the lack of internet and inability to use SNAP cards. Cash is king now on Vieques. Unfortunately many of the Viequenese are cash poor.

The beaches. Obviously the refuge is closed, all of it. Sun bay was described as a desert. With the Garcia gate closed as well as Playa Grande, the only swimmable beaches left are the Sun Bay complex. I had read that Fish and Wildlife were using bulldozers to clear roadways on Sunbay. It was said that the road to media luna and Navio was really washed away. They were supposed to try to work on the roads to Navio and Medai luna if possible after work was completed on Sunbay. I have been told by a number of people not to get in the ocean. It seems there is a problem with sewage getting into the ocean. From what I have read it's both sides of the island. There has been no "official" warning about this, but there's not been much official warnings about much of anything.

So that's where we are at. I will be taking extensive video and pictures while on island , but will probably not be able to upload anything until we get back.

And across the rubicon we go, wish us luck.

:-)

Maria.....

2017-09-23T15:29:00.003-04:00

Here is a synopsis of where things stand now, 3 days after Marie. I also have included what few images have emerged from the island. I will finish this post with pictures of what Vieques really is and what it will come back to sooner than most might think. Our hearts are breaking.

As of today no water. Real bad. No gasoline. No food. No communications. Many, many homeowners still have no idea the extent of damage to their homes. A lot of displaced people. Many of the wood homes completely destroyed. Extensive folage and vegetation destruction island wide. It is being encouraged NOT to come down to try and help. The social fabric is very thin right now and resources are extremely low. There are reports of organized looting, but that element was always present. FEMA is supposed to be on island today to set up call centers. The main island is suppose to be setting up temporary cell towers. Only 10 planes are being allowed to land at SJU for now and they are reserved for rescue and supplies. So far no fatalities. A lot of people have had no contact with loved ones and friends since Tuesday eve. It is bad.

Here are some of the few images being seen:

I leave you with pictures of what Vieqeus really is. The pictures of destruction are temporary, transient. These pictures below are what it really truly is. We've met so many people, great people and had such great times. I know we have many more ahead. Donate to help Vieques if you can. Any little amount will help. Here is the link to Kelly Thompson's go fund me. This is legit and will go directly to the people on island.

:-)

Hurricanes and other odd pursuits....

2017-09-19T13:57:00.002-04:00

First...what a crazy Summer. To say July was wet here in Indiana is an enormous understatement. Whereas I eschew political punditry here in my little semi-private universe, I can't help but compare the "new norm" weather to what has been going on in the upper echelons of our elected government and think of Russell Crowe in Gladiator:

So yes...weather gladiators..we were more than entertained. The amount of rain Indiana had in July broke a 140 year old record. The whole year has been "a half bubble off", to use some construction vernacular. I had wrote previously about how short the sugar season was this year with the crazy warm Feb. weather, and that askew weather pattern has persisted, creating a new 140 year rainfall record for July. I should have known something like this would happen since I built a 350 gallon rain collector for our garden this spring. It has yet to be used and probably won't this year. Not that it doesn't work..works great....especially at growing algae.

And then there was Irma. My gawd...I spent 4 or 5 straight days watching that hurricane. Hoping it would not hit Vieques. If you don't already know about it Weather Underground has a blog called Catagory 6 that is teeming with weather geeks and amateur mets (that's slang for meteorologist on that blog. There are so many acronyms in weather lingo that you almost need a user guide just to follow along) That blog had the most up to date info I found on the internet. Literally as new forecasts and radar images were coming out, these guys were posting them and talking about it. I learned so much on that site. And although Vieques did dodge the bullet, things are not back to normal, yet. The owner of the house we're renting in November has been in contact and has offered me full refund it we wanted to cancel. Cancel? Hell no! Warm medallas....no prob. As for now, the refuge beaches are closed. Reason being there may, or may not, have been some munitions exposed and the refuge wants to check it out, plus there's a lot of vegetative cleanup to be done.

--------------------------------------------------
UPDATE:

I've been working on this post for weeks now and in the interim Maria has poked her big fat ugly category 5 head into my world. I have now spent the last two days tracking this sister of Irma. Below is a screen grab of a radar shot from last night. If that isn't a skull face from hell I don't know what it is:

By this time tomorrow we will probably know if we will be going to Vieques in 6 weeks or not. The storm looks devastating as of now and is fluctuating between coming within 8 to 16 miles of the island. Jeezus.

-----------------------------------------------

So...after not being on island for a whole year (man I hate saying that), we may not get to see La Plata. So in lieu of actually sinking my toes into that baby powder white sand and doing my curating duties at the gallery, I have painted another picture of what we think is the most beautiful beach in the world.

It's a retirement thing, alright! I used to paint years ago, in my other life, and have now come back to it. I plan on packing my french easel down to Vieques in Feb do some plein air painting (and no, just because I use some fancy French painting lingo doesn't mean I will be wearing one of those berets and growing myself some pointy goatee.)

I am amazed at the things I notice now since I'm not in the rat race. For one thing, I've become one of those people I always cussed on the freeway. I drive slow. I like driving slow now. I'm not in a hurry anymore. Strange...I always think about the lyrics in that Police song "Synchronicity II" whenever I piss someone off with my new-found driving habits:

Another working day has ended
Only the rush hour hell to face
Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes
Contestants in a suicidal race

So...what else...oh yes...I had noticed something this spring..or should I say I notice a lack thereof. It was the butterflies. I know...your saying to yourself "oh..how quaint....he looks at butterflies." Well I'll admit, I've been a fan of beauty, especially short lived, transient beauty. Be it the changing seasons, the golden light on La Plata near 5pm or the little flying jewels we call butterflies. Each and every spring near the same area in our woods around the same time of the year I am greeted by nymphalis antiopa or what I called them, Mourning Cloaks.

They are the very first butterfly I see and I've seen them on our property every year for the last 24, except for this year. They have one of the longest lifespans of any butterfly, 11 to 12 months and have the ability to overwinter. Something I find crazy. But this year I saw zero. And I took notice of it. There's a progression in the spring. Mourning cloaks, then question marks, then red-spotted purples and so on. That was altered if not absent this year.

I have believed, for a very long time, that the insects are the proverbial canaries in the coalmine. I was introduced to insects, and the study of them, at a very young age having lived next door to some college professors teaching in biology. That early introduction made me more aware of them, much more than most people are....but that's a tangent for another day.

Now where was I....oh yes... odd pursuits. I have also noticed that there's an inverse relationship between beer consumption and work. So much so, that I am now brewing my own beer. Ahem...all grain I might add. To be honest I have to admit that although this does fit into the "odd pursuit" category, the real reason was one of economics. I can brew beer for roughly .45 cents a 12oz bottle or about $11 a case and that's a 5% german lager. I made myself a mash tun out of an Igloo 5 gallon cooler and some stainless steel water supply line. Then I made a wort chiller out of flexible copper tubing and a few fittings.

( I know those sort of details are more for the home brew aficionados, but I put them in anyway) I must say they work beautifully.

Well...I must get back to tracking of Maria. I see messages flashing about the latest recon into the storm and they're reading 919mb pressure and 170mph winds. This is beyond bad.

I leave you with a couple pictures of where Lorrie and I have been going this summer to get a "running water" fix, sans hurricane force winds:

Lastly...we hope...so very much...that the damage...especially to our friends and the people of Vieques and Puerto Rico is minimized.

:-/

Just what I needed......

2017-06-12T16:44:00.001-04:00

No...this was not some other island photo. This was taken in Esperanza? How about that. We (and I'll explain the we part in a moment) guessed it was a pet of somebody. Anyway...what a colorful addition to the vista.

Ok...about the "we" part. The we were Lorrie and I living vicariously, again, through Bill and Joy. Those stinkers snuck in a quick trip to Vieques while in the southern U.S. Lucky dawgs. They are the best about keeping a continuous IV (involves vieques) drip of photos and info to me when they are on island. It's a lifesaver and just what I needed.

They're our buds and we love them. Not that Joy doesn't like to tease me with pics that really only mean anything to those of us that really get Vieques...such as this:

To which my only response was:

Yea I know, doesn't even compare....anyhoo

June in Vieques, what's that like? Well first thing that hits you is all the flamboyan trees in bloom. If you can get up at a high elevation they really are something to see, scattered across the island.

I love this picture for so many reasons. First and most obviously is the flamboyan and just how beautiful it is. Then in front you have this broken down recliner with some box and other refuse lying about. And that is Vieques. It's like there's this yin/yang full frontal at all times and it's why we love the place, because it's real. I could go on and on about that, but if you step outside the box you can relate to what I mean. Unless, of course, your one of the many looking for latest, greatest, carpetbagger stamp of approval, cookie cutter, "spoon feed me please!", abomination of the quintessential caribbean. Sorry about that. Can you tell I eschew all inclusives?

But I digress....

June in Vieques also means that the snowbirds are gone, for the most part, and the beaches are yours.

Joy was also sending me pics and asking me to guess what beach is was. This was one of the first ones. So...which beach is it?

How bout this one?

and here's the last one. This picture has enormous meaning for Lorrie and I. We have spent countless hours in this exact spot at this exact time of the day. For years this was the only spot we would go to and set up the cabana.

The above picture is probably circa 2010 or so and it's turnout 26 on La Plata. Pre cabana ban and that whole saga. "Calling Zack Kincaid...aka the beach gestapo!" Seems like a lifetime ago. The second beach picture is La Chiva, way on the east end, and the very first picture is Sun Bay. So...did you guess any?

June also means, near peak mango season (July/August is usually peak). But there are many different varieties of mango on Vieques and you can usually find ripe mangos any time of the year if you ask around. Lorrie and I love mangos and usually have fresh ones from David and Andre, gathered from one of the trees on their property, usually in Feb.

Did you know that some people can have allergies to mangoes (some even to the flesh), for most it is the mango's skin. Mango skin, bark and leaves contain the same toxic substance, urushiol, as in poison ivy

The intense irritation and blisters follow contact. Symptoms usually appear within 24 hours, but may appear in a few hours or a few days. The rash and blisters may appear at different times because the poison can absorb into skin at different rates. The blisters may break and release a liquid, but the liquid cannot cause more blisters and it is not contagious. The liquid does not contain the irritating urushiol.

The amount of poison available in the plant can vary. In a drought year the toxins can be more concentrated. You can also be reinfected by touching contaminated clothing or pets. Wash any exposed clothing in hot soapy water and not with the family wash.

According to the booklet Pesky Plants by Thor Kommedahl, the reaction of the poison with the skin is nearly instantaneous. However, immediately washing with strong soaps or rubbing alcohol can remove any excess poison that might be transferred to other parts of the body. Soap or alcohol is needed to remove the oils.

We've never had any problems, but good info to know.

There's a new sign outside Belly Buttons.

and look at how much Rancho Choli has expanded. Wow...I ate there his first year and it wasn't much more than a few plastic chairs out in what look like someone's front lawn.

One thing that didn't change was how great of a host Choli is. The guy is super kewl.

That and the food...can you believe that plate of food!

Waiting on my owners...that's what Joy wrote with this pic. Only in Vieques. I remember having a hen chicken walk under our table one time when we were at Duffys and there were these two dogs that always seem to be present there in dayz past.

Still can't get used to all the new signage...seems way too hip for Vieques.

Towards the end of their trip I get this pic and that can only be one thing. Lyman's dumplings with pickled ginger. Only to be found at the little cafe at the airport, isla-nena Well, I must correct that, it's Lyman's wife's dumplings. What a hidden gem on Vieques. It was only by chance that Lorrie and I found out about them a few years ago. It's now a staple for us.

Great trip Bill and Joy had. They also did some not so "vacation-like" activities while on island. Like helping a friend paint some rooms in a house, making trips to the dump. Stuff like that.

In other news....Lorrie and I have dumped the United Explorer card in March and switched to an American airlines mile card. It's a Citi AAdvanage platinum select with 50k signup after 3k spent in the first few months. It's takes 60k miles to buy two, coach, round trip tickets. We've already there. United's flights out of Indiana using miles were/are horrible. Plus they run like 25k miles one way. Good departure and return times out of the midwest on American. So we'll try this for a bit and see how it goes. If you use a card like we do, it's a really good deal. We are flying down in Feb for $10 on American. If you don't ever carry a balance, these mile cards can be very helpful.

No Cape Air this year either. They've decided to start charging for checked baggage? Even on the commuter book tickets? I'm like WFT? I even called them to confirm that this change applied to commuter books holders? Yep, you know it. I guess they don't want the business. A commuter book ticket is gonna cost you $115 each way now, if you check a bag. Totally defeats the point of buying a commuter book of 10 tickets. So..we are flying out of SIG (isla grande) this year. Will need to take a cab to another airport. No TSA at that airport. We will fly VAL. $75 each way to VQS. So $150 round trip. Only caveat is their baggage policy. 50lbs total per person max, including carry on. Yikes!!! We've needed to downsize anyway, so this is just the reason to make it happen.

On a personal note I'm still digg'n retirement...but ready to get back to Vieques. I leave you with circa 1978...the Cars..."just what I needed." Thanks Bill and Joy.

I had a cassette tape (yea..remember those) of this and played the sheit out of it, all while dating Lorrie...jeez man.

:-)

Gas Station, Gallery Galleon and goodbyes....

2017-02-26T23:08:00.001-05:00

Said goodbye to our fluke 70 degree Feb weather here n Indiana. It's long gone. Back to reality with light snow and 27 degree temps this morning. Yee frigg'n Haw!

Joy sent this picture to me this morning as her and Bill were beginning their last full day on island:

A far cry from 27 degrees for sure. Of course later on I got another reminder of what we are missing this year:

yeah...it's killing us.

I also got this next one today attached to a text. She ask if I could guess where she was at. Can you? I got it right on my first try.

I'll give you the answer later into the post.

Like I mentioned, there's a new gas station on Vieques. Well...it's more like a reborn gas station. Years ago it was one and now it's back. As your going into Isabell, just past the intersection of 997 on your right you see this:

Here's Bill fueling up:

And here's a picture of the inside courtesy of Dave.

Very spacious and uncluttered by Vieques standards.

Dave had sent me some pictures of him and one of his sons, Silas, at the Gallery Galleon. Silas was taking a landscape painting class. The life experiences Dave and Andrea have given their boys during their annual 1 month stay on Vieques are priceless.

Dave said it best. His words were "I can think of no other way I would rather be spending the day." I have to say I agree with that and this particular activity resonates with me. I too, dabble in painting. Can you guess what beach I've tried to capture here?

Dave also took Silas to a dance workshop earlier this month on Vieques. Silas got high marks with his flipping tricks and made new friends:

Like I said, Dave and Andrea and the boys are amazing people. And speaking of amazing, check out this new signage that has sprung up all over Vieques:

Damn...now that's pretty hip for Vieques...don't ya think!

I would get photos in slugs from Joy. She would send bursts of shots her and Bill were taking during the day. Some of the pictures are just gorgeous.

Bill and Joy say goodbye to Vieques tomorrow. This was their last evening on island. I can't thank them enough for letting me live vicariously with them these last two weeks. Oh...I almost forgot...the photo where Joy ask me where she was, is from Al's on the Atlantic side. I wish them safe travels back home.

A goodbye Lorrie and I made today is from Cape Air. They are now charging for checked bags. $20 per bag. This would ad $80 round trip for us with our usual commuter book purchase. This November we are flying our of SIG (island Grande) on VAL. It is the same price as the old commuter book tickets prices from Cape Air. Only caveat is we need to downsize our luggage. VAL has a 50lb max including carry on. So I will be blogging via my phone this next trip. No laptop.

Lastly, and on a much sombre note, the world said goodbye to Bill Paxton today. I personally loved watching that man act. In tribute to him, Lorrie and I watched Twister this evening and I've got Aliens playing while I'm working on this post. An amazing career by what everyone in the business called a really nice guy. You always rooted for Bill no matter who he was playing. He was 61. It might be game over Bill, but you will be watched for years to come.

Training Day (2017) TV stars as Frank Rourke

Life Briefly (2017)

Mean Dreams (2016) stars as Wayne Caraway

The Circle (2016)

Term Life (2016) stars as Detective Keenan

The Gamechangers (2015) aka "Grand Theft Auto" stars as Jack Thompson

Texas Rising (2015) TV stars as Sam Houston

Million Dollar Arm (2014) stars as Tom House

Edge of Tomorrow (2014) aka "All You Need Is Kill" stars as Master Sergeant Farell

Nightcrawler (2014) stars as Joe Loder

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014) TV stars as John Garrett

2 Guns (2013) stars as Earl

Head Smash: The Prequel (2013) stars as Maurice (voice)

Red Wing (2013) stars as Jim Verret

The Colony (2013) stars as Mason

Shanghai Calling (2012) stars as Donald

Hatfields & McCoys (2012) TV stars as Randall McCoy

Haywire (2011) aka "Knockout" stars as Mr. Kane

The Good Life (2007) stars as Robbie

Big Love: In the Beginning (2007) TV stars as Bill Henrickson

Big Love (2006) TV stars as Bill Henrickson

Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D (2005) stars as Ed Mitchell (voice)

Haven (2004) stars as Carl Ridley

Thunderbirds (2004) aka Thunderbirds - Les sentinelles de l'air (France) stars as Jeff Tracy

Club Dread (2004) aka Broken Lizard's Club Dread stars as Coconut Pete

Resistance (2003) stars as Maj. Theodore 'Ted' Brice

Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003) stars as Dinky Winks

Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) stars as Dinky Winks

Frailty (2001) aka Damonisch (Germany) stars as Dad Meiks

U-571 (2000) stars as Lt. Cmdr. Mike Dahlgren

Vertical Limit (2000) stars as Elliot Vaughn

Mighty Joe Young (1998) aka Mighty Joe stars as Professor Gregory "Gregg" O'Hara

A Simple Plan (1998) aka Ein Einfacher Plan (Germany) stars as Hank Mitchell

A Bright Shining Lie (1998) TM stars as Col. John Paul Vann

Traveller (1997) stars as Bokky

Titanic (1997) stars as Brock Lovett

The Evening Star (1996) stars as Jerry Bruckner

Twister (1996) stars as Bill Harding

The Last Supper (1995) stars as Zachary Cody

Apollo 13 (1995) aka Apollo 13: The IMAX Experience stars as Fred Haise

True Lies (1994) stars as Simon

Frank & Jesse (1994) stars as Frank James

Tombstone (1993) stars as Morgan Earp

Monolith (1993) aka Monolith (Germany) stars as Tucker

Indian Summer (1993) aka Ete indien, L' (Canada: French title) stars as Jack Belston

Boxing Helena (1993) stars as Ray O'Malley

Future Shock (1993) stars as Vince

One False Move (1992) stars as Chief Dale 'Hurricane' Dixon

The Vagrant (1992) stars as Graham Krakowski

Trespass (1992) aka Looters stars as Vince Gillian

The Dark Backward (1991) aka The Man with Three Arms stars as Gus

Brain Dead (1990) aka Paranoia stars as Jim Reston

The Last of the Finest (1990) aka Blue Heat stars as Howard 'Hojo' Jones

Navy Seals (1990) stars as Dane

Predator 2 (1990) stars as Jerry Lambert

Back to Back (1989) stars as Bo Brand

Next of Kin (1989) stars as Gerald Gates

Slipstream (1989) aka Slipstream: Bounty Hunter 2000 stars as Matt Owens

Pass the Ammo (1988) stars as Jesse Wilkes

Near Dark (1987) stars as Severen

Riding Fast (1986) stars as Bobo

Aliens (1986) stars as Pvt. Hudson

Fresno (1986) TV stars as Billy Joe Bobb

An Early Frost (1985) TM stars as Bob Maracek

Commando (1985) stars as Intercept Officer

Weird Science (1985) stars as Chet Donnelly

The Atlanta Child Murders (1985) TV stars as Campbell

Pat Benatar: Hit Videos (1984) VI stars as Radio operator

Streets of Fire (1984) stars as Clyde the Bartender

Impulse (1984) stars as Eddie

The Terminator (1984) stars as Punk Leader

Great Day (1983) TM stars as Rudy

Taking Tiger Mountain (1983) aka Trechi Mynydd y Teigr (UK: Welsh title: literal title)

The Lords of Discipline (1983) stars as Gilbreath

Night Warning (1983) aka Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker stars as Eddie

Deadly Lessons (1983) TM stars as Eddie Fox

Mortuary (1983) aka Embalmed stars as Paul Andrews

Stripes (1981) stars as Soldier

The Six O'Clock Follies (1980) TV

Fish Heads (1980) stars as Main Character

Crazy Mama (1975) stars as John

Sugar Season....

2017-02-22T13:43:00.001-05:00

Aldo Leopold wrote:

"There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace.”

I would add that a third spiritual danger is never experiencing "real" maple syrup, especially syrup made by one's own hands, from one's own trees.

We have taken it upon ourselves, over the last couple of years, to utilize this resource, readily available on our property. Many would say it's foolish endeavor, when you can just as easily go to the grocery and buy yourself maple (flavored) syrup, very cheaply i might add. But Lorrie and I eschew high fructose corn syrup, which is an almost impossible pursuit given that we are all nearly swimming in the stuff. That, and we are just generally into these kinds of life pursuits.

Here in Indiana it takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of maple syrup. We are by no means large in our maple syrup production. I tap, on average, 20 trees or so. You can see by the picture above I just use a gallon jug with a plastic hose attached. We usually ask friends to save jugs or us. It doesn't take too many. Maybe 30 at most. I had almost enough on hand for this year when one of my co-workers from last year called me and ask if I needed any jugs. I hadn't spoke with him in over a year and was surprised he remembered. I said "sure" we can always use some. He came up the following weekend. He arrived in a van, packed FULL of jugs. OMG!

There was over 100 jugs! I thanked him,,,but my gawd. Needless to say we will be making a trip to the recycle center in the near future. Note to self: be sure to remember that some people take things way too literally.

Last year I tapped trees the day after we got back from Vieques, makes for a very short season. This year, due to our absence on island, I began tapping trees the last week in January. So on the debit side of things we've given up our Feb Vieques trip, but on the credit side we've netted about a gallon of syrup. And I was really hoping for a record setting maple syrup harvest this year. What I got was Vieques calling to me, some 3k miles away?

When one usually thinks of sugar season you visualize cold overnight temps and sunny days. Maybe a blanket of snow. You definitely don't think of overnight lows in the 50's and highs approaching 70. But that has been the case here for the last week (which would have been our last week in Vieques on our normal Feb trip. Feb high temperature records are being smashed across the middle of the country. Obviously this kind of heat has killed the maple sap run. Maple syrup season is over for the year and it didn't last very long.

Not that I mind. This is really helping us get through this winter. That and all my great friends, who are now on island. I am fortunate that they have been keeping me inundated with photos and experiences.

Bill and Joy, who threatened to come to Indiana and "drag are asses" to Vieques when we told them we wouldn't be there this year.

One of the first pictures they sent me was when they were waiting in SJU to fly over to Vieques. I think they were hanging out at the same little bar Lorrie and I do. And of course, they've got a couple Medallas in hand. A right of passage that let's you know for sure that "yes, indeed, we've made it."

One of their first sunsets on island. How can you ever get tired of seeing that?

Wasn't long before they met up with Dave and Andrea. One of the beautiful things about Feb in Vieques is the same great people are always there.

I had ask them to toast a Medalla to Lorrie and I, while they were on La Plata. And that they did. You can see the gallery way in the background, all set up and curated by Judy and Andre. Doesn't get any better.

Joy and Bill brought along a new shelter for the beach this year:

As did Dave and Andrea:

Dave sent me a photo of the gallery, cause he knows just how much I enjoy it:

Almost makes me feel like I'm there. But not quite. I've got lot's more photos to go through. Even have pictures of the inside of the NEW gas station. We now have 3 on Vieques....yeah!

Big thanks once again to my friends on island.

:-)

Back in the saddle again....

2017-02-03T21:29:00.000-05:00

Yep...been nearly one year since I've last posted. YIKES!!!!

I've been thinking a lot about this post. I wanted to title it "back in the saddle", because...we are back in the saddle again ( but lorrie thinks the video is too risque). So probably, it's more of a dream on sort of post. I've always liked that song, and now, being ...ahem...older..it's seems quite applicable.

Great song...dream on...keep dreaming on.

But I still think back in the saddle works better.....it just makes for a better segue.

You see, getting back in the saddle undoubtedly originates from being out of the saddle, or being thrown off your horse. So...I guess that's where I will begin.

A year ago...you know "mojito Monday" or thereabout we were on island to sort of celebrate our signing of the paperwork for the house in Los Chivos. Lorrie hadn't even seen it yet. Well..we had both seen it for nearly 6 years..but she had never been on the property or been inside the house. I had when I flew down earlier in the year to start the paperwork. Anyway...we were really within reach of getting our house on the island.

That's when we got thrown off the horse.

It was actually a two fold buck, if that makes any sense. Anyway...while we were making plans and just dreaming (here's the dream on theme) about how we wanted to finish the place I got a phone call...yes while I was on island, that my job was ending in a few months. Well...sheit. Not that we couldn't make it work, I had planned on retiring in the next year or so, but we were planning doing all this stuff, and me, being pragmatic and all, got really, really nervous. Then...we find out that our daughter is getting married in a few months.

Well...that just about sealed it. Definitely out of the saddle...again.

We flew back to Indiana...in a real state of depression...on the one hand..but really excited on the other about the wedding. We waited a week or so after getting back to make our decision. Then we called the real estate agent and explained the situation...with my job. We forfeited a modest down payment...and a huge dream.

Ah...such is life. And as it turned out, I didn't miss a lick of work..moved right on to another job without even a single missed day. Jeez....could of, should of...and all that sort of hindsight. Lorrie plowed herself into wedding planning with Jessica. I decided I needed to build something. So...a barn/greenhouse/70's kickback man cave was my new project.

If this blacklight poster from the 70's doesn't cause a flashback...skip to the next pic.

Silver faced pioneer receiver bring back any memories?

Surely these acoustic research speakers from 1969 make you think back. I have 4 of them I got off ebay. I had to refurbish all of them.

Well...if you were a child of the 70's you had to have seen the poster on the right of the two lovers. I've got black lights over each poster...it's a real trip with the lights out.

If none of that brought back any memories...I'm sorry you missed it. That was a great time to be alive.

Ah..but I digress....

Between the barn, the wedding, a 2 hour commute and just life in general...last year flew by. The wedding was in October and we had family in from all over the country and even out of the country. It was a wonderful moment in Lorrie and my's life journey.

So...after the wedding we really started feeling this empty nest sorta thing. Nevermind that Jessica has been out of the house since her first year in undergrad. There's another feeling when your child is married ...a finality of sorts.

We had already decided that there would be no trip to Vieques in November, much to the dismay of our friends. We told ourselves, ti was best. We had too much going on in the fall. My work, the wedding...plus secretly we were still licking our wounds from letting go of what was a dream. I dove headfirst into my work and the barn. Time past and, with a lot of reservations, we opted to forgo our Feb. trip.

Now missing the November trip was bad, but missing the Feb trip was huge. I tried to treat it as a test of sorts. To just see how much it bothered us, not going to Vieques. I mean...I had my barn project, Lorrie was busy helping Jess with her new life and her medical career.

I got a phone call from Judy and Andre. They were about to leave for Vieques and wondered when we were arriving. Arrgh...that was tough telling them we wouldn't be there this year. I was telling everyone that I needed to finish this job and then I was retiring, which I was, but that was no reason not to go.

Then the grey days of January and the cold really set in. Gawd...it was killing us. I've had people write me that read, or at least used to when I was writing, the blog asking if everything was ok. Bill and Joy threatened to come to Indiana and "drag our asses to Vieques (gawd I love those two people).

Yesterday, Andre sent me a video of how shitty the gallery looks and about how much cleanup is needed. Then today, Dave sent me pictures of his son Silas doing flips on La plata and a new cabana his wife Andrea had bought.

So this evening....it's 25 outside and the wind is blowing like hell. I make my way out to the barn and when I get inside I take a look at the temperature in the greenhouse (yeah..there's a greenhouse attached to the barn). It's 90 in it. I open the door and it's like, well...it's like heaven. The sun is shinning bright through the roof and it's WARM...like Vieques warm. I run back to the house and tell Lorrie "you've got to come out to the greenhouse", you need it.

So out she comes and the smile she gets on her face when she feels the heat is priceless. We are really digging the heat and then she notices I have on my Mambo T'shirt. It's just about too much.

There were a lot of firsts, and last that have happened in the past year. First time I watched my daughter get married (and by the looks of how much they love each other, it'll be the last time I experience that). First we've missed our semi annual trips to Vieques, and according to Lorrie it's the last time that's gonna happen. We've got things going for November already. First time I've been able to do things according to "my schedule" and the last time I'll be wearing a hard hat. Yes...I have finally retired.

So with that, I'll say, to any that might still read this thing, I am indeed back in the saddle again. It might be vicariously, through my good friends who are now on island, but come November it's the real deal.

And since I'm feeling kinda perky with all these life changes...here's the video I wasn't supposed to post...sorry Lorrie.

;-)

Mojito Monday....

2016-02-18T07:17:00.001-05:00

We have found this mint infused rum from Don Q that makes some great mojitos. All you have to do is add club soda and ice. This was our mantra for Monday, a mojito Monday.

Back on Esondida. The privacy and vista is wonderful and because of the way the beach lays it gets constant winds, hence zero no-see-ums. Our day was spent lazily gazing out watching the boats sail in and out of Ensenada Honda.

I did some more beach cleanup. Another full jeep load and it still doesn't look like I've made that much of a difference. Gathered a couple huge fish nets from the waters edge:

Other than the trash pickup it was a lazy day....

that ended in a rum induced, tropical breeze, salt air, coma.

To say life is good doesn't even begin to capture how wonderful it all is. We just took it in, maybe a bit too much on the mojito end of the scale.

We had plans that evening to meet over at Judy and Andres. Every Tues they have an informal gathering where we discuss a topic and maybe watch a video or two that's pertinent. Finding happiness was the topic for the evening.

Left Escondida a little early in order to drive over to La Plata and confirm that things were still on for this evening. As it was we managed to hook up with them right as they were heading to the lighthouse. None of us had yet to see it so we were happy to join them.

The lighthouse, Puerto Ferro, was just opened up last year to the public. I've talked to a number of people who had tried to see it in the past but ended up just getting tickets. It had been off limits. The lighthouse was first lit in 1896 and is one of the last to be built by the Spanish government.

The road to the lighthouse is to the right, south, as soon as you enter the refuge. It's a long gravel road. There are two parking areas. It's a long walk from the first one, so I would suggest that people wanting to visit the lighthouse go to the second one. The road leading to the lighthouse is well maintained.

and the vista is...well...beautiful and hard to capture.

After leaving the lighthouse, Lorrie and I drove back into Esperanza. It was happy hour at Bananas and fish tacos just seemed right.

Great day, great food, great island....we had gathered plenty for our evening talk. Before heading over to Judy and Andres we walked to the seawall on the Malecon and watched the sun set. Beautiful mojito Monday.

:-)

Escape to Escondida......

2016-02-15T18:18:00.001-05:00

Having a little La Plata burnout. Much of it's my own fault. I talk too much. Tell too many people how wonderful it is. I think word is out. We counted 33 people on La Plata yesterday. 33...unfrigg'n believable. As I've said before...

So...today...we decided on something different. First we went to La Chiva and the surf was up, that was at turnout 10 and there was only one other jeep there. I had told Lorrie that when Brad and I walked over to Escondida it looked like sheit from the from the road, but if you walk down to the spot we always do, it was clear and beautiful. It was the same when we arrived today.

It was obvious that not that many people were going to this beach, the trash was everywhere and bad, real bad. It really puts it right in your face when you see a beach like this. There was plastic everywhere. I told Lorrie that if you removed all the plastic the beach would be nearly clean. It was so bad that I just grabbed the water bottles, oil jugs, shoes and pieces of plastic bags. We are so damn lazy as a society and if we don't stop with the plastic our seas and beaches are going to be ruined, if they haven't been already. Picking up all these damn water bottles just makes me cringe when I see someone drinking or buying them. I'm telling ya I see it. I pick it up every single time I visit this island and it's disgusting and makes me mad as hell.

I ended up with 4 trash bags full and a bunch of pieces too big to fit in a bag. There was so much trash that I just loaded the jeep and drove it to the bin at the turn off to Escondida. I only covered a very small portion of the beach and left way more than I took. It's sad.

Ok...enough of the rant, but if you ever see me drinking my water/tea out of a glass mason jar, you'll understand now.

No one else was on Escondia today. Oh a few stuck their heads out on the first turnout and saw all the seaweed and did a 180 and left. Looks horrible from the first vantage point

It does look bad, but that's the beauty. You have to walk down to the far west/south end of the beach and then it clears out. There's a reef there that creates nearly the same environment as over at the gallery on La Plata. Not quite as nice but still nice.

You can see all the way across to La Plata and the gallery from where we set up.

That's the gallery at the very top of the picture just right of center, that white line. This next picture is the reef that is protecting that west end on Escondida. It's not bad snorkeling either, but most don't know about it.

It's a very private beach and we took full advantage of it. Most of the day was spent in our birthday suits....kind of liberating.

So that's your insider tip on Escondida, just do me a favor and take a few moments to pick up some plastic while your there. Oh...and you might wait till next week. I think Lorrie and I are going to take "full advantage" a few more times this trip.

:-)

Mambo gear....

2016-02-15T08:18:00.001-05:00

The Mambo...my how we love the Mambo. It's a daily stop for us on our way to the refuge. Did you know that there are bathrooms just behind the seating area outside. I had never noticed that until yesterday. It is, without a doubt, one of our most favorite calmados on Vieques. Although you'll normally see me walking out of the Mambo like below, the Mambo is more than just a pitstop for cervezas and heilo.

At first one might assume that the Mambo is an agglomeration of items that seem random, when in fact it is a very refined cache of exactly what one would consider "island" essentials. i.e. - I was in need of a small notebook, they had 4 of them. We needed crushed tomatoes for the marinara, we bought all they had, which was like 5 cans (little did we notice that one of the cans was labeled "picante"...well let me rephrase that, we did notice after the first bite of the marinara). Need some Galliano, the Mambo has it. Noodles, both for cooking and for swimming, they got ya covered. Champagne to fresh ginger to beef jerky. All this crammed into a tiny little store that would be a playground for an ADA attorney.

That's Brad above, I tried to capture just how tiny the aisleway is. They need some kind of one way sign because your not go pass someone, just not enough room and don't spin around too fast or your bound to knock something off one of the shelves.

But there's another treasure hidden in the Mambo. One I didn't know about until Becky showed me. Glow in the dark Mambo tee shirts. You have to ask cause their locked up in a back room. Thank you Becky...we now have our Mambo gear!

Brad and Becky flew back home this past Saturday to 2 inches of snow and freezing temps. We miss them and are doing our best to endure these 80 degree days. I'm still going through all the pictures they took. I had never really given it much thought, but and added benefit of taking friends with you on your vacation (even moreso if you blog) is that they can take all the pictures. And take pictures they did. I have over 1k pics I'm still going through. Thanks you two.

There is one thing Brad is going to have to learn. That being, you NEVER EVER take a picture of your wife from behind, it's an unspoken rule. If you do,then you absolutely have to do some editing. Brad took the picture below and right as he was snapping it, Becky turned around. Brad was caught in the act.

And no, your not seeing double in the below picture. There are 2 cabanas set up. Brad did a great job of gathering the materials to create his own.

As usual, we've gotten lots of comments on them.

Yesterday Judy ask me if I wanted to paint one of the shells they have for the land crabs. They have some water based paints, actually just a childs set of non-toxic paints, that they used to paint the shells. Then they lay them out and sometimes one of the land crabs will decide to abandon his current abode and take up residence in a painted one. They've done it for years and it's interesting to see a painted shell scurrying away. So...i was game and took to painting. The shell I had reminded me of a volcano, so that was what I was trying to create. In cleaning out one of the brushed I inadvertently splattered paint over my masterpiece in progress. By accident I had moved into a Jackson Pollock method, and I liked it. So...I continued to splatter paint, getting more on myself than the shell. I presented my creation to Judy and Andre which they added to the gallery showing for the crabs.

And guess what....one of the crabs took my Pollock Volcano.

If you ask me, he has really good taste.

Other than that excitement Lorrie and I have settled down into our normal routine. Cervezas and heilo from the Mambo, morning yoga and swim on La Plata.

I did explore the cliffs again.

and the blue rope is still in the same place since I drug it out of the water 3 years ago. I need to work on getting it back and into the trash bins.

But basically things are more or less the same (hence the reason we keep coming back). Once change that we really are not liking much is the addition of golf carts to the transportation options on Vieques. The reason is the terrain and the existing driving hazards. We can now add golf carts to the milieu. So your going to deal with horses, scooters, bicycles, and now golf carts, all on the winding crazy terrain of Vieques. We are not really digging it too much.

Went to Jortas again, man that's good food. $31 for Lorrie and I and that included a $6 tip. I think it's the best food on the island right now when you include the price point. BYOB at Jortas.

I'll end this post with a couple random pictures Becky took. She really has a good eye for photography:

See you manana...

:-)

Muchos gatos, revisit.....

2016-02-13T10:13:00.002-05:00

Weather has just been about perfect, hence the reason I'm behind on my postings. We've been wanting to share so much with our friends. Part of that unfortunately is the ongoing problem with garbage. Judy and Andre have been plenty busy picking up the garbage on La Plata, it is looking a lot better, that is until the next storm blows in a new wave.

I wanted to take Brad up to the rock cliffs to the right of La Plata and then around to Escondida. I knew he would enjoy the vista and all the cacti along the cliff faces.

The vista from up top is really spectacular.

But as is always the case...with the good, comes some bad. One just can't help but notice the garbage piled up in little crevasses and inlets. Everything from plastic liters to pallets.

I explained to Brad that in all my travels to Vieques I've developed a "back of the napkin" sort of analysis of what is typically found washed up on the beaches. Plastic water bottles rank real high on the list and is why I eschew them. If one was to walk a rocky reef or some beach on Vieques you can just about guarantee you get water bottles, gallon oil jug or two, at least one shoe and a cigarette lighter per garbage bag.

But enough of that...reality checks can be depressing. There are treasures to be found in the ocean.

And strange creatures to film

After the beach it was off to Coqui Fire for dinner with Judy and Andre. I wanted to arrived in Isabel early so that we could show the cats to Brad and Becky.

Before we left Beso's we grabbed a couple shots of everyone dressed for dinner:

As it was we got into Isabel too early for the cats...so we strolled down to the cemetary. I know sounds kinda morbid, but there's a eerie beauty about all these gravestones and the stories behind the lives of each.

With the light fading I knew it was close to feeding time down at the cat house. Once again we timed it perfectly as the old man was just beginning to feed:

Nearing our reservation time it was off to Couqui Fire, which is just around the corner from the cats.

Judy and Andre were meeting us.

Lorrie had the "big kahuna" burrito.

I had the carnita...again...for the qazillionth time, and it was every bit as good as the very first time I ate it. Jimmy food and a Couqui Fire margaritta...man just doesn't get any better. Especially when it all happens with dear friends:

:-)

Hortas BBQ....

2016-02-12T07:08:00.001-05:00

We decided to take a break from La Plata and show our friends Sun Bay. It was just last year that Lorrie and I, after 5 years, had finally learned to appreciate just how beautiful Sun Bay is. No sooner did we get our chairs set up that we noticed this husky who decided he too would set up camp in the same spot. This dog spent the entire day behind my chair. Every once in a while he would stand up and spin a bit, dig out his nest a little then plop back down. He never bothered us, even though he was literally right next to our gear. He never begged for food or ever really acknowledged we where all sharing the same spot in the sand. Great dog and my new amigo.

When Brad and Becky did finally arrive and set up camp next to us , Brad had a chair malfunction. As soon as he sat down in his beach chair it collapsed. It was one of those moments when all one can do is laugh...and we all did.

We spent the entire day on Sun Bay. It is the quintessential Caribbean beach with it's palms and huge crescent shape.

`

Brad gave a demonstration on the finer points of handling a Medalla with a coconut water chaser.

In the end it was all smiles even without the Medallas. We left the beach and headed for the bio bay. It has been 5 years since Lorrie and I did the tour and I have to say we were a little bit apprehensive about just how well it might be since you can no longer swim in the water during the tour. That was a really life experience for us when we did in that many years ago.

First, I was so impressed with you many improvements they've near the entrance to the bay were you board the boats. Nice sidewalks with these glow in the dark rocks embedded in the concrete. Pedro, who works at the historical trust, was our guide on the tour. As we got out into the bay he would stomp his feet on the boat and all these fish would dart away, in the process causing the water to glow that blue that the bio bay is known for. We all got to get into the water on the ladder of the boat, kicking our feet and watching the water glow like something inside a blue glow stick. The talk Pedro gave of the night sky was much easier to follow since we had already listened to Robert and learned the winter circle.

The tour took about 1.5 hours, so it must have been 8:30 when we left in search of some much needed dinner. I had ask Pedro, just prior to boarding the old school bus that serves as your transportation on the tour, where's a good place to go eat? He told me "Hortas BBQ." He explained it was a place where a lot of locals go and the price was such that he could take his family. Hortas is located on 200 just west of the gas stations.

We had 1/2 rack of ribs in guava bbq sauce, rice and beans, and salad. The bill for lorrie and I was $30. The food was fantastic, one of best we've had in all our trips if you include the price point.

Same pallet tables that Smokey had last year.

I met the chef of our meal, Sammy, and congratulated him on a job well done.

We are planning to return to Hortas next week, maybe with Joy and Bill. I would encourage people to check this place out. Super good food at a bargain price.

:-)

The winter circle....

2016-02-10T08:36:00.002-05:00

The second half of our first day with Brad and Becky was spent on La Plata. I mean...can you imagine going to Vieques and not seeing La Plata and the gallery? We sure can't. It's also a great place to just sit and digest our excursion with Jorge. We were able to introduce Brad and Becky to Judy and Andre and in the process the four of us were invited to Sun Bay to listen to Robert give a talk about the winter constellations in the night sky.

and of course I had to balance a few pieces....

The girls had time to enjoy what is our favorite spot on Vieques.

While Brad and I split the atom over a few cold Medallas.

We ended up closing the beach down that evening. The four of us out in the surf taking in how beautiful the sunset was. Brad and Becky were all smiles.

We were told by Andre that Bananas has a fantastic happy hour, with $4 fish tacos and $4 margarittas. Our plan was to head down into Esperanza and give it a try and the over to Sun Bay @ 7pm to be entertained by Robert. As we were pulling out we ran into our old friend Officer Sanchez. In the waning light, we got caught up on what was happening in his life and the island.

So it was off to Bananas. Bananas has changed owners recently and I believe has a new chef. The offerings are different and they now have a finer dining area upstairs, separate from the more relaxed downstairs. I have to say I was impressed. The food, the service, the fantastic mango habanero sauce (handmade each day) is to die for.

As the four of us were sitting there Andre looked at Judy and said "the sun sets in 10 minutes." So the 6 of us got up, still not having finished our drinks or dinner and walked across the Malecon to witness the ending of the day. There were a number of people doing the same thing and even as we were walking out of the restaurant Andre grabbed another couple to witness what so many of us never see nor take the time to appreciate in our daily lives. As has been the custom since I've know Judy and Andre, just at the point when the very last of the sun dips under the horizon they chant "Ohmmm....Ohmmmm...Ohmmmm....Ohmmmm.

I remember the first time I experienced this ritual of theirs. I was, as I believe many people are, a little embarrassed and confused and reluctant to join in. As the years have passed and over countless sunsets in Vieques with these two, it has become a part of us.

We returned to Bananas and finished our meal and then it was off to Sun Bay. We sat up about mid way down on the beach. Actually not far at all off the beach, so the waves were crashing right near us. We all sat in our beach chairs in a circle around Robert. There must have been 20 or 30 of us. This was a sort of impromptu lecture that Robert was giving. We had not been on island to catch the one about the moon he had given last week. I have had the pleasure of having dinner with Robert at Judy and Andre's a few years ago. On that evening we delved into the night sky and how the "Epic of Gilgamesh relates to the Zodiac. Anyway...with laser pointer in hand and an utterly amazing depth of knowledge, Robert took us through the winter night sky. Telling stories about each of the constellations from many different cultural perspectives. Explaining why each story had evolved and how many had borrowed from each other. At the end of the lecture Lorrie and I were able to identify the winter circle, from it's cornerstone Orion to the great dog Canis Major with it's diamond collar and back through Orion's belt to the bull Taurus with his great red eye, on to the Pleiades, down to Auriga the chariot (which the one of the horns of Taurus connects to), further around to the twins Gemini (one mortal and one immortal), and finally to Canis minor. Lorrie and I just don't get to experience something like this very often in our lives. It was a beautiful ending to a wonder day.

:-)

February with friends.....

2016-02-09T09:30:00.003-05:00

Yes...back on Vieques again. This time with good friends from Indiana. Seems there is always some snafu with getting to Vieques, at least when your departure point is in the midwest. This trip so far has proven true to form. I've distilled down the short list:

* American airlines insisting they have no baggage agreement with Cape Air
* Cape Air losing our luggage for almost 24 hours
* My drivers license being expired, meaning that Lorrie had to email a picture of her drivers license to me via smart phone so we could get our jeep.

After all that, which took nearly a full day...our semi annual Vieques trip begins and quite honestly...with all the frustrations...and yes I was extremely frustrated....Vieques sedative quality has lulled me into island time and life is once again good.....well...probably better than good...great.

These first few days have been jam packed, akin to a Vieques style force feeding for Brad and Becky. We've been to La Plata, of course, went sailing with Little Boat, and listened to Robert give a wonderful night time talk about the winter constellations and how different cultures have interpreted the night sky. The evening ended with the lighting of Chinese in celebration of the Chinese new year.

First thing for the day was a sail with Little Boat out to Lemon reef and then to the mangroves.

I had forgotten just how relaxing and beautiful a sail with Jorge was. We left @ 8:30am for our sail.

Jorge sailed out to lemon reef and moored. We all geared up and he lead us around and through the reef. It wasn't long before he spotted this huge nurse shark sleeping on the ocean floor. We all got a very close up look at it. Jorge dove down for a closer look:

Here's a picture of the shark by itself. I would estimate it was 6 foot, tip to tail.

The blue tang schools were everywhere and we swam right through them.

Jorge showed us what he estimated to be a 70 year old brain coral. For what he said they grow 1cm per year. He also told us about a worm that lives inside the brain coral but has it's tail sticking out. If you touch the tail it retracts back inside the coral. After watching Jorge do it I gave it a go myself....really kewl.

The reef was as beautiful as ever. So many different fish. We saw barracuda, spotted eagle rays, live elk horn coral as well as stag horn coral.

What a great time. After we left the reef we sailed over into a mangrove channel. Jorge told us it was a red mangrove that was growing in the area. He found a live starfish for us and explained how the mouth of the starfish is on the bottom.

and the "butt" is on the top of the starfish.

The particular starfish he found for us was called a "cushion" starfish.

So that was the first half of our day. There's a lot more for me to write about, but for now I"m packing up and heading to the beach. This has been a great start.

:-)

Coco drill....

2015-11-21T05:38:00.001-05:00

Good friends, who are coming to Vieques with us this Feb, turned me on to a tool called the "Coco Drill." We've used it a number of times this trip and it works great. Today I took some video of me using it on a young coconut. You can pick one up on Amazon for under 10 bucks:

Today was our last full day on island. Spent the whole day out on La Plata, as usual. Met another couple that reads the blog and are now "officially" islanders ( they just bought their first house on Vieqeus a few months ago). Congrats Jim and Karen.

The beaches have once again fully recovered from the seaweed. La Plata was every bit as perfect as it is in Feb. and the same goes for La Chiva. This whole seaweed issue is really a non issue. It's building the beaches back, I've watched it happen these last two weeks. As has been the case for the last two weeks there were very few people on the refuge. There were a couple other groups on La Plata today, but it didn't last long. Lorrie and I had the place to ourselves for the better part of the afternoon. Closed it down, Hard to say goodbye when it's looking so beautiful. We finished the evening at Tradewinds, out on the terrace. One of the many wonderful things about Vieqeus, and the Caribbean for that matter, is dining al fresco. The temperature and breezes this evening were just about perfect. The Malecon was rather quiet and it made staring out at the ocean from our table all the more pleasurable. I leave you with a 12 minute clip of Lorrie and I walking over to the gallery and admiring how blue the sky was today. Nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary, just a darn beautiful sky and some crystal clear water. Can't wait to do it all over again in about 11 weeks.

:-)

A dogs life....

2015-11-20T09:35:00.002-05:00

Our morning meditation....

Last full day on island. Perfect weather, nice strong cool wind. It's so nice to be warm....

:-)

Riding the storm out.....

2015-11-17T08:23:00.000-05:00

Got a late start out to the refuge yesterday. After we stopped by the Mambo for our heilo and cervazas it must have been somewhere near noon. As we drove into the refuge I decided to go to each beach and count how many vehicles I saw. It has been our contention that there just are not that many people on island now, the reasons we've yet to figure out. So...using our "unscientific" methodology, here's what we found:

Caracas - 10 vehicles
Pata Prieta - didn't drive down to it
Chiva - 3 ( Can you believe that?)
La Plata - 2
Escondida - 0

So including us there were 16 vehicles, that we saw, on the refuge. Our plan for the day was to hang out at La Plata but that was changed when we saw a fresh batch of seaweed had moved in. I cannot believe how fluid this seaweed situation is. La Plata was perfect just 2 days ago, today it was rather turbid.

We drove back to La Chiva, one of the 3 vehicles had left and from what we could see there was no one visible on the beach. We parked at turnout 10, the only vehicle there. Weird....

Having our choice of palms we picked the one just down the beach to the west. No need for a cabana with this nice hangout.

La Chiva wasn't super clear, but there wasn't really too much seaweed to deal with either. We settled in to enjoy the day. I had been watching this bank of storm clouds that was moving to the south of Vieques. Forecast had called for some rain today, but it looked like it would all stay to the south of the island.

As it got later in the afternoon it became obvious that we were in the path of this storm. Lorrie and I decided to try and ride it out, but the longer we stayed, the darker it got.

Amazing to watch storms out at sea, they look so angry. Lorrie and I always say to each other how spooky it would be to be out there in that on a small boat, or just in the water.

At one point we actually thought we had beat it but then this wave of cold air blew in (well cold in Vieques terms, it was 76 when we checked in the Jeep). The winds really picked up and the sea got even more angrier looking. We ended up giving in once the rain started. And of course the whole refuge was empty by now. It was 4pm.

On our way back to Beso's we stopped by the VM (Vegetable Museum) and I have to say it no longer deserves that title. The owner has noticeably expanded his store and two of the semi's are now just and extension of the store. He is even installing acoustical ceiling tile in one of them. His offerings have really expanded. Much more than what we saw a few years ago. Handy place to stop by.

Rained most of the night....

:-)

Nobody's home....

2015-11-16T08:26:00.000-05:00

Lorrie and I have been taken back by the lack of people on island now. We continue to visit beaches where we are the only ones or very few.

I'm not complaining now mind you, it's just really taken us back. Maybe it was all the chatter about the seaweed invasion and there was a lot of seaweed when we arrived a little over a week ago, but it has since disappeared. Another thing that we have watched happen the beaches transform. All that seaweed is building them back. La Plata is as good as it ever is in Feb now, even over towards the gallery.

We walked over to the west side of La Plata along the rocks to check the vista. Of course it's the same, but one just can't seem to get enough of it:

It's so beautiful

It's been eerily quiet at Beso's too, either that or we're just noticing it more. So nice watching the sun light up the big island as you drink your morning coffee.

Now all this talk of no one on island doesn't mean we haven't kept meeting great people, we have. We seem to run into more at Sunbay though.

We a great couple from Canada, yes Canada. Jeff and Melissa. Luckily I had a full cooler of Medallas that day. They are first timers to Vieques and know a lot about Costa Rica, their fav.

We ended up giving them a ride back to their Villa since they had some problems securing a jeep this trip.

That same day we met Eric and Hollan. Ended up watching the sunset with these two and splitting the proverbial atom.

Like I said earlier I'm glad I had plenty of Medallas, These two were nice enough to take us out for dinner at Next Course later that evening. Super kind gesture....and great people.

So...when I say nobody's home...I might be mistaken. Those great people we always seem to meet here, are still here.

Maybe just a little harder to find.

:-)

Winds of change......

2015-11-13T09:16:00.002-05:00

If you remember the eighties the way I remember the eighties, you remember the Scorpions. If you've been to Vieques and walked into your bathroom at night and seen one of these, you'll also remember the Scorpions:

Yes, Lorrie found this guy in the bathroom here at Besos. I armed myself with some bug spray they had in the kitchen and put him out of "our" misery. Texted Jay, the property manager, just to let him know we saw one. I wasn't sure if it was worth mentioning or not. I know there are scorpions on island along with tarantulas and some other creepy crawlies. Jay was prompt and sent the exterminator out the next morning, which wasn't the reason I called, but showed good property management on Jays part. The house has been nearly devoid of pests and this is the very first scorpion we've seen in all our trips.

The scorpions, the band, were singing about "winds of change" and that's what we've experienced here in the last day or so. La Plata has turned back into what it always was, beautiful. The seaweed is disappearing with the winds and building new beachfront in the process. There's been and inordinate amount of garbage strewn along the beaches though, but between Joy and Bill's efforts plus ours, we're getting things presentable.

We've had La Plata to ourselves almost exclusively, this reminds us of old times. The returning sand, especially under the portia tree over near the gallery really makes it feel like when we first saw it. Lorrie and I have managed to reconstruct the gallery. I balanced this one piece for the 4th year in a row now.

The water clarity is nearly what it is in Feb.

It is as beautiful as ever. Closed the beach down that day with Bill and Joy. We are kindred spirits.

As you can see the beach was packed.

This is Vieques....this is what it creates.

As is always the case it was getting that time, the no-see-ums were reminding us it was time to go.

But the evening was still young and we had decided on Lobster to end this very last night with our good friends.

(((Choli!)))

Can you hear us Choli?

We want the langosta perfecta.

And he did not disappoint

To say this was a great day doesn't even begin to convey what it really was. In the end, it's just good times with good friends, in Vieques.

"Here's to nights we'll never remember, with friends we'll never forget."

:-)

Medallas and moonshine......

2015-11-09T09:53:00.001-05:00

Buenos Dias from Besos!

Yes...that's the vista from the house. Nice to set out on the deck drinking it all in, plus maybe a cup of coffee to rid yourself from jet lag.

First thing on the agenda was to secure provisions. Nothing much glamorous about grocery shopping. We went to Morales and spent $308. That included a bottle of rum, a bottle of scotch and a case of Medallas. (little did I know at the time that we would nearly exhaust those Medallas before this day would be over).

After we got all the food put away, we both decided to take a little siesta. It takes a couple days to rid yourself of the travel hangover.

Refreshed we decided to head out. First destination was the house. I plan on spending as much time there as possible to let Lorrie get a feel for the place. Both of the "pittys" (pitbulls) were there. They didn't remember me, so it took us a bit to gain their confidence. The breezes on the porch were just fantastic, and quiet, that place is so very quiet. I have been cooresponding, via Joy, with the previous renters of the house. They lived there for 16 years. They had to move back to Florida because of a medical condition. We were at the house for about 2 hours. It's beyond describing.

Next was to the Mambo and some Spanish practice.

"Dos bolsas de heilos"

That's two bags of ice. Last year the lady working the cash register helped me with that. When I finally got it right last year she gave me a sucker. It was funny.

But no sucker this time, just two bags of ice.

So with ice and medallas we headed out to the refuge. I ask Lorrie where she wanted to start? Of course she said La Plata.

Not much had changed on the way into the refuge. Sol food was open, which surprised us since it was nearly 2pm. The roads have been freshly graded, but other than that things seemed the same. Not many people. We only counted 5 or 6 cars as we passed La Chiva. No one at La Plata except for one vehicle at turnout 27 (Judy and Andres spot). We pulled in next to that jeep and began unloading.

When we got to the beach who do you suppose was there? Why Bill and Joy. Great minds do think alike.

As you can see the seaweed was pretty bad. Bill had told me that this beach was clear two days ago. He was thinking that the weather that had delayed our flight had also pushed in this new batch. Didn't matter though. We were on the beach breathing in the salt air with good friends.

Bill was the first to hand out the Medallas. We sat there catching up, talking about why we love Vieques and why nobody else understands us. Just the 4 of us. They are so much like us it's spooky.

Lorrie and I did wonder over to the gallery. The sand is coming back under the porcia tree as you wade over. It's nearly back to the way it used to be. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the seaweed is one of the reasons the beach is coming back over there. We set up some pieces. I put up the same stone that I have for the last 4 years now. It was beautiful over there.

The above shot is from late in the day, somewhere near 5pm. Bill and Joy were leaving to go find a place in Esperanza that had fresh seafood and moonshine! The owner we had met last Feb when we were at the fish market. His brother is a fisherman and the menu changes depending on what the catch of the day is. They also serve barbecue pork. Bill ask if we wanted to join them, should they be successful in finding the place. Lorrie and I were unsure. We wanted to stay a bit longer on la plata, plus we wanted to go back to the house in Los Chivos and watch the sunset. We said our goodbyes and I told Bill to text me if they did indeed find the place.

The sunset and breezes that evening up at the house in los chivos were fantastic. The pittys welcomed us with wagging tails. Lorrie and I sat on the porch with the dogs asleep at our feet. Hardly a car drove by. It was great.

I think it must have been 7 or so when I finally checked my phone. Bill had indeed found the place and he and Joy were headed back to their place to shower and change. I ask Lorrie if she wanted to go check the place out, kind of a birthday celebration. Yes, today is Lorrie's birthday. She agreed, let's do it. I let Bill know that we would meet them at Duffys. He could find Lorrie and I at the bar having a rum punch.

Duffys was great and the rum punches were as good as ever. Lorrie and I had just finished our first ones when Bill came running up. "I'm double parked on the Malecon, hurry. I'll drive". So off we went. Lorrie and I had no idea where we were headed nor the name of the place. Keep in mind that Lorrie and I haven't eaten much of anything since early this morning.

So we go on this backstreet from the Malecon, near the park. It looked like a neighborhood to me. Bill parks and we walk up to this sort of food stand with some tables and chairs set up on what seems like the sidewalk. Now, I have to admit, by this time the lack of food, combined with the medallas and rum punch that is really beginning to kick in, was beginning to sort of blurr things.

Out comes this smiling man who immediately hand each of us a Medalla.

He was so welcoming and friendly. It's hard to find this kind of hospitality back home.

Bill ordered for us all. I don't remember what we other than it was some sort of fish with vegetables.

Somewhere around this time is when the moonshine came out. It had a rose color to it and tasted really sweet. He served it in little plastic shot glasses. We never ask for it, he just kept bringing it out. As a matter a fact we never really had to ask for anything. He would just keep bring out more Medallas and moonshine.

We laughed and ate and had so very, very much fun. We were there very late, probably too late for the neighborhood. Our host never once complained.

This is a snaphot of the facebook page the place:

and here the link to the same page - Rancho Choli

Great day and a great birthday for Lorrie, one we'll never forget.

:-)

Flight Delayed....

2015-11-09T08:33:00.003-05:00

So here's what you do when your flight is delayed in SJU. You find a nice watering hole and have yourself a Medalla or two, or three. The weather was just not cooperating with us. I texted the property manager and told Jay that the airline gods are angry this eve and I didn't know if we would make it over tonight or not. As it turned out we got into Vieques about 1.5 hours late. There were only 5 of us on the plane and given how the weather was worsening I would bet we were the last flight out that day.

Maritzas was prompt at picking us up at the airport and the girls behind the counter as sweet as ever. They gave me a discount? Maybe because we come here so much or maybe just because I dunno. Anyway this is not the first time Maritzas has done me a favor. I can't say enough good things about them.

Didn't really have time to get provisions once we got the the house. We were both starved and needed some food. It was now 7pm and we had been up since 2am. I texted Jay the property manager at Besos to let him know we did finally make it over . He lives just across on the next ridge and I can see his house from Besos. While we were waiting on Jay, Joy and Bill texted and ask if we made it to the island. I told them yeah, but we were waiting on Jay to get into the house and change and then go get something to eat. They suggested we just go with them and even said they would pick us up. I decided to just drive over to their house, Casita Sea Glass, which is just across the street from Jays house. (I know it's getting confusing here) Long story short, all Jay had to do was walk across the street and give me the keys to the house. He said it was the easiest check in he had ever had! We all stood on the veranda of Casita Sea Glass and got caught up about what's been happening on the island. As promised, Bill and Joy had ice cold Medallas waiting for us. Doesn't get much better than that.

We ended up eating at Taverna, since it was so close and getting late. I was craving carbs as was Lorrie. Ended up eating some pasta marinara with shrimp and capers. Not bad, but really not great either. I know a lot of people like this restaurant, but for me, it just doesn't flip my switch. Plus, it is so very, very noisy in there that it makes dinning difficult.

I think it was 10 or so before we finally got to the house. As was the case with our last visit, we had a small welcoming package:

Very rarely do you find such a nice welcome in rental houses. There was coffee and shampoo and soap in the bathroom. Really well done.

Thank gawd we're finally here!!!

:-)

Rough Weather moving in....

2015-11-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

Yeah...that's the satellite shot from this evening and it's moving right towards Puerto Rico. Suppose to dump almost 2 inches of rain tomorrow. Should make for an interesting flight from SJU to VQS. Hope our little Cessna can handle the 20-30 mph winds forecast.

Wish us luck.

The link below is to the animated version:

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-avn.html

:-)

Big Brother is watching you.....

2015-11-06T18:20:00.000-05:00

One of the requirements of my current job is to participate in random drug testing. Never mind the idiocy of having to pee for some pseudo governing body, so you can "prove" your a perfect little soldier. (I could write a saga sized rant on that. ) No....that's not the issue here.

You are guaranteed to have your name pulled at least every two years.

So what's the chance of having your name pulled the day before you go on vacation for two weeks? Uh...pretty much a 100% chance, if your me. And don't forget, boys and girls, you have 10 days from the postmark date to pee.

We were on our way outta town to visit our daughter when we found out. I had grabbed the mail as we left this morning and it was while we were about 1 hour from home I found the letter. We were on our way up to see her, she's in Med School. Turning around to go back to one of the local drug testing sites would nix our luncheon date with her. Time is precious when your in Med School and we've had this planned for a while, plus we already had reservations at a hotel near the airport, so we really wanted to be outta town.

After some searching I found a lab not too far from our hotel where i was able to fulfill my obligation for the "Ministry of Truth. "

To say I'm ready to be in Vieques doesn't even begin to express how I feel. (Oh no....does that constitute a "thought crime?")

Now...if there's a telescreen in our hotel room I've got just the solution. I always pack a roll of duct tape for just these types of emergencies.

Winston would be so proud.

“Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull. ”
― George Orwell, 1984

:-P