Puerto Rico

Even though Puerto Rico was supposed to be a one or two night stay here we are night 7.  We go into town every day to see new things and meet new people.  We still had to check in with customs after being registered with the Policia the night we pulled in.  We slept until noon the next day then had one cell phone turned back on so we could call customs.  I was told we needed to get to Mayaguez, which was quite a distance away, as soon as possible.  Preston and I jumped into the dinghy and booked it to town to find a ride to Mayaguez.  We bumped the dinghy on a post with some mussels on it and put a small hole in the side.  After talking to a local restaurant owner we got the number for Elvin.  He picked us up 10 minutes later and knew exactly where to take us.  Not only did he drive us straight to the building we needed but he also walked us up to the guard shack and talked to the guard to get us in the exact right spot.  We enjoyed his company and learned a lot about Puerto Rico during the ride.  Elvin is another great friend we will never forget.   He had cancer and it just went into remission, but the chemo left his kidneys in bad condition and he is on dialysis because of it.  This didn’t stop him from picking us up a few days later to go to the Laundromat.  He had told us he was busy earlier in the day and would get us later.  Little did we know he was at the hospital continuing his dialysis.  After the Laundromat we swung by his house so he could get us a bottle of homemade coquito (Puerto Rican eggnog made with coconut milk) his wife had made the day before.  This is when we realized it was 2 days before Christmas and he was taking time out of his busy Christmas schedule to drive us around.  To say we appreciated Elvin is an understatement.  Puerto Ricans have followed in Elvin’s hospitality ever since.  If we look lost someone stops and wants to help, if we need something they will find someone to get it for us or make sure we know where to get it.

Working on the Boat is Hard Work!

I wonder why this tree got fried?

We had the homemade coquito with breakfast on Christmas Eve and it was absolutely delicious.  We had to go to a Laundromat because after the crossing from Turks & Caicos I had 2 bins full of wet towels, sheets, rags, clothes, you name it and it was wet.  This was a little too much laundry to do by hand.   We walked the streets of Cabo Rojo, where the Laundromat was.  It reminded me a lot of walking the streets in New York.  We even found a pizzeria where we ordered a grande pizza for $12.  It was perfect and we couldn’t help but think that our friends on Stray Cat would have liked a slice with us.  This pizzeria made the biggest calzone we have ever seen.  It was as long as the tables and a foot thick. 

On Christmas morning I made breakfast burritos and we went to the beach to throw the ball for Lucy, called our families, and walked around town.  It was 85 degrees with not a cloud in the sky.  Preston and I splurged and had Miguel, a local artist, paint us some t-shirts for Christmas.  We also got ourselves an awesome hammock to nap in.  We couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing Christmas season.