I'm hoooooooome!

It has been a wonderful, relaxing and fabulous week. Where does one begin?

Well, we left the house at 4:50am on Saturday morning to pick up some friends that were carpooling with us to the park and ride to the airport. Much packing of baggage into the cargo area of the Jeep, and strapping on of luggage to the roof ensued.

Flight left at 7:30 am on Saturday. I slept on and off, reading some of the book I had brought. I started chatting with my seat neighbor (the one that was not my husband, of course) and discovered that she was going to be on the same cruise ship, and the fact that she actually lives about 5 blocks from me. She was going on the crusie to get married on the Island of St. Thomas. Very small world.

Landed in Puerto Rico. Met up with all the folks that were in our group and on our flight (16 on the flight - one was joining us on the ship, as she flew in from Mass.) and got ourselves to the dock to begin the embarkation process. It was ridiculously simple. I think it took about 5 minutes. The joy of doing all of the paperwork, forms, other stuff online prior to the trip!

Then, it was off to find something to eat. They kept throwing some snacks at us on the plane, but we were all pretty much ready to eat our arms at that point. A few coctails, trying to get dinner seating better arranged (the stupid travel agent did not request that we all be put at one table or at adjacent tables. Hmmmmm booking a group on a cruise, did she not think that we might want to sit together? Pretty much everyone was sitting at different tables scattered around the dining room - well, in groups of two, as the people in one cabin were sitting together. I could go on about the failings of this particular travel agent, but it would make me irritated again, and I have gotten past it... needless to say, please don't ever use Kathy at Hobbit Travel to make arrangements, becuase she sucks.) Made a tour of the ship, to figure out the lay of the land, wanted to find the running track and the exercise area, so I would know where to go in the early morning. Then we went to a seminar on the SHOPPING that was going to happen the next day in St. Thomas. After that, we were pretty much dead on our feet, and went to our room to unpack and crash.

Sunday, we were in St. Thomas. I got up and was running on the deck at 6:30am, watching as the ship came into port, and the sun was rising. I tell you, there is nothing better - it is such a zen-like experience. St. Thomas we went around to the shops until about noon, then we had arranged a tour of the island with our driver "Bobby". I would have to recommend him. He drove us to see many fabulous areas, gave a history of the island, and the best part, found us a beach where we could go snorkling. They were great to us at Cokie beach - along with the snorkling paraphenelia, they gave us a dog biscut to feed the fish. Sounds weird, but it works!

Monday, we were in St. Maartin. We had made arrangements to go deep sea fishing at 8am, so I did not get up to run in the morning... it was very choppy water, we figure the swells were 6-10 feet. I spent the majority of my time on the boat napping in the cabin, as that was the only thing that seemed to make the nausia go away. I did not actually get sick, but my husband did have the honor of being the only one on the boat that tossed his cookies over the side. Believe me, he will not be getting over that one! He also got a heck of a sunburn on his face, so the pictures from that night (formal night, of course) make him look like a bad rudolph impression, with a bit of reverse raccoon thrown in! We got some guavaberry liquor in St. Maartin, evidently they are known for it, and you cannot purchase it any where else.

Tuesday, we were in Antugua. We did a small amount of shopping, being accosted by taxi drivers almost the whole time. This was the day that all 17 of us had planned on doing an activity together. We all piled into some taxis, and made for Miller's beach. The people that had taken the lead on planning this event had thought we would go to runaway bay, but when we got to the island, we discovered that it was shut down due to some storm damage, and was in the process of being rebuild. It was a beautiful day on the beach. There were lots of different activities there too - a group of 4 of us went out horseback riding on the beach. Yes I have pictures... I even got to canter/gallop a bit, but it was a bit scary, since I was wearing my swimsuit, sitting on a towel, with flip-flops on my feet. Dinner that night was fun too, as it was Valentine's day. The wait staff handed every woman who came into the dining room a rose, so we all got flowers that night. My darling husband also presented me with a plaque reading "An old fisherman lives here, with his best catch." Thoughtful, but then we had to get the darned thing home, which was a bit of a chore.

Wednesday, we were in St. Lucia. 11 of us went on a "jungle tour" to visit a spring-fed waterfall, a banana plantation, and a volcano. Lunch and all the beer and rum punch you wanted was also included in the tour. I will have to say, the lunch that day, was some of the best food we had on the trip. Authentic Caribbean fare, and very tasty too! Eric did not go with us on this trip, but went on another attempt at deep sea fishing. They call it fishing, not catching, for a reason. I think of all of the fishing excursions at both St. Maartin and St. Lucia, there was one small baracuda caught. But, as Eric says, a day on the water beats a day at work anytime!

Thursday, we were in Barbados. On this day we went to snorkle at a couple of shipwrecks, and then on a "4x4" tour of the island. There were definately some interesting moments there. We did some "offroading" experiences that were quite fun and exciting.... although the best part was the man who kept telling his wife: "I'm sure glad you picked out this excursion, because if I had picked it out, I would never hear the end of it!"

Friday, was a day at sea. There was a late breakfast/lunch, some reading of books, drinking of buckets of beer, some line dancing by the pool, and a tango lesson in the late afternoon.

Saturday, was another travel day... off the ship at 9:30, sitting in the airport, waiting for the plane, and arrival in Minnesota at 8pm. From 90 degrees to 5 degrees. Welcome home!

All in all, it was a very good trip. I exercised all but one day, but I did get in a couple of killer workouts. There was no way that I was counting points, or not sampling any food that I wanted, so as of this morning I was up about 4 pounds, but I figure a lot of that has to do with the fact that I have not been drinking enough water.

This week is a short week, so I will get myself back on plan, and get back on track. April 1st, I want to be at 175 at WW. There, I have put it in writing, now I can start planning on how to accomplish it!

Make it a great one! Hope you enjoyed the description, and that it made you jealous!
~a