'B'idney goes Salsa dancing in Puerto Rico

...ok, well not so much

Salsa dancing

but finding adventure

for sure

Four days ago, I arrived solo in San Juan, Puerto Rico after a grueling day of flying and delays. I was a little apprehensive leaving the confines of Orange County after not having traveled in the past couple years, but also with a new 'B'idney alongside. Once I touched down and exited SJU airport, I felt a gust of energy rush over me from entering a foreign place. I caught a taxi to my little B&B, Casa Del Caribe, in Condado, walked past a gecko staring at me from above and unloaded my single bag in the room, locked the door and went to explore the streets. A feeling of liberation and calm spread over me as I remembered how much I absolutely love traveling and miss it.

It was past 1:30am Puerto Rico time at this point, and I felt completely safe. It was nice and quiet with Coqui frogs singing in the trees and dim lights accenting the streets...oh, and a big corporate hotel called Marriott 100 yards down from my pad. I walked in search of a market or liquor store that might have some water and snacks. Found one a couple blocks down, grabbed what I needed and headed back, taking a detour along the way into the Marriott to use their restroom. Little did I know I walked into the biggest casino in town. The tables were loaded with kids playing Poker and Blackjack. I smiled, knowing a certain someone (*cough* Bub) would be grinning ear to ear at this place.

I headed back to the confines of my room, to get a little sleep before I took the puddle jumper to Vieques. I awoke less than four hours later to start my day. Attempted to visit El Moro, a historical fort, but ran into a plethora of protesters at the Capital, which plugged up the streets, causing a ginormous traffic jam, resulting in my running out of time. So, I got within 5 minutes from the site and had to turn around and head to Isla Grande airport.

Eight of us were loaded into a little puddle jumper and just as we were about to take off, the wind picked up tremendously and we had to redistribute the weight in the plane. The captain was saying how it'll be a bumpy ride. We ended up having the smoothest landing I've ever witnessed. Thank goodness he was a pilot for the US Marines for 20 some years. Hoo-ah!

I am in Vieques! What a wonderful place and it's even better when I am welcomed by two familiar faces, Tom and Todd at the airport. We hop into the little jeep and buggy off down the island to get some pizza by a Puerto Rican man who lived in NY for years till he returned to his roots and opened up the best pizza shop on the island. Equipped with a full and happy belly, we continue onward to the house. Driving down the narrow roads, we slow down to share the road with wild horses, stray dogs, cats, chickens and other critters. It's like being in a wild animal park. The house is located on a very steep hill with metal gates around the windows. Hmmm. I enter through the metal gates and find this adorable, quaint house that has been cleaned up and made charismatic by Todd. I am so excited!

I sleep. And sleep. I wake up for breakfast, eat and go back to sleep. I walk to the store, come back and sleep. I'm sure the boys are curious about my behavior. I have been dubbed 'Sleeping Beauty'. We've come to the conclusion that I've been going nonstop since my transplant, and taking care of my mom and having company in town, that now that I have some down time, my body has decided it's going to decompress whether I like it or not. Sleep is good. 'B'idney could for sure use some uninterrupted beauty sleep.

I must also mention that my first night, and my second night here in Vieques, I was rudely awoken throughout the night by the 'Vieques alarm cluck', also known as a rooster. A certified, crazy rooster that sounds like an old Ford Model T trying to start up without much gusto. After two months of unwanted observation, Todd thinks it also resembles how a rooster would sound making it's last call before falling off backwards in death. If you've noticed, the observations are only between me and Todd. That's because Tom is oblivious to the rooster. He sleeps like a rock. If the house crumpled around him, he'd still be sleeping with a blanket of debris over him.

Yesterday, Todd took me on an awesome, butt kicking bike ride. We searched for different beaches in between uphills and downhills and more uphills . I made mental notes on which ones I wanted to return to with my snorkel mask and fins. On our way back, I had completely run out of gas and asked to rest in the shade to rest my weary body. An hour later back at the house, my head was still beet red. I showered and went to sleep. Later that evening, we had Joe and Mark over for dinner. Todd made picadillo for dinner along with sauteed root vegetables. I was the su chef and assisted with the arepas and broccoli. Some accompanied their dinner with a nice glass of wine, while others had water. We had a lovely evening of laughter and friendship on the rooftop overlooking the ocean. Followed by a nightcap of a card game called Idiot. Needless to say, I was not the idiot.