Puerto Rico!!!

 Puerto Rico!  What a whirlwind of a weekend with quite a cast of characters.  Cramer and I went on the trip to celebrate our fourth anniversary and Ashley (our roommate) and Amy (a classmate) came along because they have learned that CRAMER actually spells HAVE A BLAST :-)

Because we are all young and students, the budget was slim and  so we booked the cheapest hotel we could find and were brave and rented a car rather than go the taxi route.  I really enjoyed the hotel (despite dubious trip advisor ratings) as it was quaint and inn-like with every room being different and having real keys.  Any chance I get to support a small business versus a corporation I try to take.  The owner was very helpful and tried to give us directions as well as he could considering San Juan.

With that said, let me tell you, unless you speak Spanish, have cat like reflexes, and are very patient....DON'T RENT A CAR IN PUERTO RICO!!!!  We ended up alive but there was a very close call involving a toll booth that only excepted US coins and

 all we had was EC (eastern caribbean) dollars and credit cards. Trust me, no matter how much of a foreign currency you throw in an automatic toll booth, it still won't open!

Also, no matter what your directions say there is only one East exit, not two :-)

We only had two and a half days but we crammed them full.  Not only did we do touristy things such as kayaking in the bioluminescent bay, riding horses, riding ATV's, and touring Old San Juan, but we also braved our way to Walmart for the goodies we can't get on island and found an open Taco Bell to satisfy our American Fast Food craving.

Candy straws and Cheap Wine

 As we were driving along, lost mostly, we kept passing all these places called Condom World.  There were so many we thought there must be a different meaning in Spanish for Condom and it couldn't possibly be a store of only condoms.  So of course, we decide to check it out and I make the rule before we go in that everyone must buy one thing no matter what.  WELL, as you can see, it was an Adult Superstore chain and everyone stuck to the rules, even Cramer.  And before everyone gets alarmed, I was taking the picture!  Amy was reading the ingredients and trust me, you don't want to know!

One of the blogs I try to read regularly, posts pictures of "sky canvases" all the time...I felt this one qualified

I had an absolute blast in Puerto Rico and it had nothing to do with the island itself as I don't think the two of us will ever meet again.  It was the people I was with that made the trip and the memories.  So moral of the story, no matter what life hands you or how many bumps are in the road, surround yourself with good, genuine people and you won't even notice trouble; you'll be laughing too hard.

 As we were riding the ATV's all over crazy terrain, we came across a mud pit...yep, me, Cramer, and Ashley all tackled each other off the fourwheelers and bodyslammed.....the guides said they had never seen anything like it and took this picture to post on the office wall.  Famous!

 The Paso Fino isn't my type of horse, but I was just glad to get in the saddle.  Swinging up and settling in always feels like coming home.....

We flew home and back to real life totally exhausted, but if we felt rested it wouldn't have been a successful trip right?  Not in my book at least; life is to be lived!