I flew from Denver to Miami on Sunday afternoon on American Airlines. Had an e-ticket I purchased thru expedia.com which was a really good deal ($211 r/t). When I checked in they told me my aisle seat and special meal were confirmed. This was a surprise, as I didn't remember requesting either of them. Walked down the concourse wondering just what would be in this special meal. Apparently I asked for either a low fat or cholesterol free meal. Worked out pretty good though, because I got chicken with rice, a nice salad and a roll. Everybody else got gooey macaroni and cheese. The only way I could have had a seat any further in the back of the plane would have been if I had been an escorted criminal. (For those of you not in the travel industry, escorted prisoners MUST ALWAYS ride in a center seat in the very last row of an aircraft flanked on each side by a guard.) Jan and her niece were waiting for me at the airport but they were beginning to wonder where I was after the long parade of passengers preceding me from the aircraft.
There were 11 of us traveling in a group on the trip. Nine of us stayed at Jan's sister Barb's house on Sunday night. We had a van scheduled to pick us up Monday morning at 7:30am. In order to be sure everyone had their chance at the bathrooms, we actually assigned specific times at 20 minute intervals to indicate when everyone's bathroom reservation was. It worked out extremely well, and we were all ready to go by the time the van showed up even though it was earlier than when it was due to arrive.
The trip to the airport and checking in for the flight was uneventful, and the flight was good. Only a 1 1/2 hour flight, but they served a full hot breakfast on the plane. Things got a bit confusing after we landed. Customs/immigration wasn't well organized or explained, and some of our group were virgin world travelers. We also added another person to the group here (flew in directly from Baltimore) and locating her was a bit complicated. After getting the group fully assembled, we got on a bus for the two hour ride from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios. They drive on the left side in Jamaica, and the roads are VERY narrow and in need of repairs (potholes even bigger than Denver's after a bad winter!) There were some thrilling moments when large trucks passed going in the opposite direction, and a long delay resulting from a previous serious accident which closed to road to one lane.
The hotel was spacious, the rooms were clean and the grounds were very well kept. Barb was upgraded to a two-room suite, so the party was moved there most of the rest of the trip. (She is a nurse and the GM of the hotel is one of her chemo patients. He told her he would "take care of her" if she came to the hotel and he came through as promised for everything.)
The hotel has five pools and over 1/2 mile of beach so the majority of the time was spent in swimsuits near some kind of water. You know how I hate being in deep water, so you can imagine how tense I discretely was during a good part of the trip. I faithfully put on my 45 sunblock daily and amazingly enough came home unscathed in the sun department. One of the pools had a small step, a little larger step and then a 3 foot drop off near the edge. It was deceptive and except for prior observation of not so grand entrances, it was hard to see it. I was in the pool already armed with one of the many waterproof cameras we took along when Jan approached the pool. I thought I would get a random shot of her approaching the pool, and I sure hope it turns out, because that was one of the more memorable sights on the trip. She was getting in the pool near a sign which said "No diving or climbing on rocks". She did one on the most amazing unintentional flip and roll into the pool. We all started laughing uncontrollably. The funniest part however was a guy from TX who was sitting on the rocks not far from her who almost fell in himself since he was laughing too. Later he said he tried not to laugh because it was rude, but when everyone else cracked up he just couldn't help it. Jan won the entertainment prize for that day. (Glad it was her instead of me. Little did I know that kharma would come back to haunt me.)
The prize for the next day was a three way tie. The girl's negotiated a $20 per person rate for a glass bottom boat ride to Dunn's River Falls including a stop on the way back for snorkeling. Excellent price since the tour operators at the hotel were quoting $75 and up. The boat was a rickety old outboard and the glass on the bottom was so cloudy you could barely see through it, but you could see that it leaked. Hey, we were in Ocho Rios for the adventure, and this boat promised to be an entertaining one. The ocean was pretty calm and we got to the falls comfortably.
Dunn's River Falls is NOT like 7-falls outside of Colorado Springs where they built stairs and railings for you to climb and take pictures of the falls as you go. You climb on rocks right in the waterfall here. In places the current is rather strong, so a guide is necessary and all people in the group hold hands while climbing. This is awkward, as you can't use your arms for balance, but apparently they feel it is the way to do it. In some spots it is necessary for the person higher up to pull the next one up the rocks. About 1/3 of the way up the falls there was a crossing where the current was very swift. The guy ahead of me let go of my hand to push his girlfriend farther onto the rocks. Unfortunately when he let go I only had one foot on a solid place so the current decided not to pass up the opportunity to send me back to the bottom. Jan was holding my other hand, but the current was too swift for her to hang on so down the falls I went. Estimates vary putting the distance anywhere from 30 feet to 60 feet. My face stayed out of the water mostly, and the current was strong enough to keep me above the rocks. It happened too fast for me to panic. I finally stopped falling in a pool of water, grabbed an outstretched hand and started back up the falls. Later we decided it was good Jan let go, otherwise it would have been like a snow plow going down the mountain and we would have taken out everybody else on the way down. Imagine it-bodies strewn all over the ocean shore all because some guy thought his girl friend was more important than I was. (Sure hope he got some that night!) I came away with a little soreness between my shoulder blades and under my arm but otherwise unharmed. Barb unfortunately didn't fare as well. Near the top the rocks got slimier and slicker. One of them jumped right out and grabbed her knee and yanked her down into the water face first on a rock. She got a "yeah-yeah" (sic) which should show up really well in the pictures. She was lucky however, because she was only about an inch away from knocking out her teeth, and her knee was bruised (BIG BRUISE) just below the knee-cap. (There are stairs and pathways on dry land to get back to the beach from the top of the falls which is a Very good thing.)
Our adventure continued as we all got back on the boat and headed out on the ocean again. By now the weather has changed and there are waves from 1-5 feet high. The guy did a pretty good job of navigating the waves. One of his friends was in another boat and he convinced him to go in front of us so we could travel in his wake. A much smoother ride. Unfortunately, (fortunately as it turned out) the other boat ran out of gas. We threw them a tow rope and started pulling them toward shore. As we made a curve the wind shifted and caught my hat which flew out the back of the boat. The guy in the second boat simply leaned way out over the edge and grabbed it. Occasionally things work out like they should.
After dropping them off near the shore we went back out to the reef for those who wanted to snorkel. I was not among them, but remained on the boat. Jan decided she would try the snorkeling thing and had finally gotten flippers which fit and had her mask and snorkel in place ready to jump in when someone in the ocean screamed. When asked what was wrong she yelled, "That fish just bit me!" That was the end of Jan's snorkeling adventure--well, sort of. After she took off the mask, snorkel and fins she had the most delightful stain on her face. She couldn't have done a better job of grease-painting a vaudeville mustache if she had tried. We laughed so hard at her we nearly peed our pants! I couldn't get it to wipe off, but Barb gave her the old Mother's spit and scrub and she was left with red marks instead of black marks on her face. A helluva bargain for $20 wouldn't you say?
We spent one day bargaining for deals at the local market. One day was more than enough for me. I got an island dress, some tee-shirts, a shot glass for my collection and a really great cat. There are feral cats all over the island, including the resort area. Relax-the one I brought back was made of wood. It is a much larger version of the one I brought back from Maui years ago. They'll look nice on the mantel if I ever get moved into the StF house.
The trip back was the usual post-vacation trip. No problem with customs. Jan bought some jewelry for $410 and had to declare it as they charge duty on anything over $400 per person. The "red" customs line wasn't open, so since our luggage tags were intermingled we went through the same green line. She explained why we were there and he asked her if she wasn't traveling with someone else. She told her we were together and he told us to go back and spend more money because the two of us still had exemptions left over. I don't think he wanted to deal with the paperwork for only $10. He took her declaration, but left mine. The guy further down the line picked up my declaration so everything was fine.
The flights on Sunday were no problem. The taxi from the airport to Earl's place was only $22 which was less than I would have paid to park at the airport, and the hail storm didn't go through there. (His car was at the airport during the storm and it was totalled by the insurance company.) The drive home was easy but I was really tired.
A lot of the time was spent just lulling around. It was a relaxing trip and quite fun. Jan's family is so much like mine that I felt right at home. We had lots of laughs and no major disagreements. It was decided that this should become an annual event Guess I should start saving now just in case! You are all welcome to join us too-the more the merrier (and the cheaper the price. Can you say "Group Rates"?)
No comments:
Post a Comment