The Marsh Family

The Marsh Family

Monday, February 19, 2007

Welcome to Puerto Rico, Curtis!

Where to begin?! We had such a full weekend. Thank goodness it was a 3 day weekend or we could have never fit it all in! After our rough start on Thursday things got better. Curt stayed at our house and hung out on Friday while we worked then we drove to Guavate for lechon, roasted pig, with our friends from Chicago. Remember my shoes and fishing post? It was nice to meet up with them again before they left today. Curtis and Al kept teasing each other about how young Curt is and how old Al is. Curtis even called the man he had just met "grandpa" so Al started calling Courtney Curt's uncle and on and on. It was fun! Here's a picture of the girls and the guys.















Courtney, Curtis, and I got up early Saturday morningto head to Parguera to try to see some manatees. No such luck! We didn't see any but we did take a Johnny's Boats tour back to the mangroves, iguanna island, and Mata la Gata. I didn't take pictures of the iguannas this time but I did videotape them. We got even closer on this trip and they iguannas were snapping at our tour guide Miguel (same one from last time). After "kill the cat" island (remember?!?!) we went back to land and ate at the sangria place that Courtney loves so much. Then we drove to Rincon. We stopped at the Mayaguez Zoo (the only zoo on the island!) with a hour left before they closed. Don't worry folks, we made it through the zoo! It wasn't a bad zoo, we've seen worse in Clay Center, but there were some definite changes that should have been made. The animals that needed companions didn't have them but the ones that didn't need them had them. Go figure! I was busy with the video camera so Courtney was in charge of the digital. He did a pretty good job! We did have some interesting experiences at the zoo like...watching an ostrich go to the bathroom, missing the chimpanzee exhibit because they close early, oh, and setting an emu free. Here are some of our favorite pictures my hubby took.


























There are so many more pictures of the zoo but not enough time or space here! After the zoo we went to our hotel to relax, had dinner, and went to bed pretty early. We got up early Sunday morning to go to the lighthouse to try to see some whales. We had barely been there, maybe 10 minutes, when we saw them! We saw probably 5 total but we think they were all in the same pod. It was so beautiful and amazing! We had been standing for just a while thinking it probably wouldn't happen when I saw some white stuff in the water. I said it looked a little weird, not quite like breaking waves. Curt got out his binoculars and saw the body! Good eye, Kelly, if I do say so myself! Especially coming from the girl with horrible (used to be horrible!) eyesight. I didn't get them on still camera because they were so far away and you wouldn't have been able to see them but I again had my trusty video camera on hand and was able to see a few glances. Amazing!! We were so excited! After the excitement died down we headed for San Juan but decided to stop at the blowhole again. We yelled for the cow again but the waves weren't too great this time. We didn't even get wet! We kept heading to San Juan to go to the Bacardi distillery. If you're ever here I highly recomend going there. The tour is free and you get 2 free drinks. We sat enjoying our drinks when we met a group of people from Kansas. One was originally from KC and his friend from Wichita who just moved to Kingman. Then we went on the tour to learn the history of the rum, how it's made, etc. Here we are in front of the Bacardi bat (during our tour we learned the secret on the bat) and here's Curt in front of a large amount of rum.




















Here's the actual distillery.
Last night when we got home we went to look for manatees again at dusk. We were trying to find a place where people said you can see them. We couldn't find it so we decided to stop and ask directions. We ended up asking this stoned homeless man and he was very confused and all he could tell us was to go straight. Needless to say we never found any manatees. Oh well! This morning we got up and did laundry. Then it was off to the beach. We spent a few hours there with the Dills and all dogs. Benny and Winston went swimming and then Lola decided to try it. Curtis carried Miller to the water and put him in. He would not move! He wouldn't swim, he wouldn't walk, nothing! Curt had to pick him up again and carry him out. But, oh well, at least he tried! I was out in the water with the Dills looking for sand dollars (they are pros and I suck at finding them!) when I heard Courtney yelling at the boys. I turned around and saw a huge iguanna sitting on a stump that had smacked Miller across the face with his tail. Curt got one of our towells and picked him up. Here he is with his catch. Notice in the background of the one with Curt poking him with a stick...there's a boy from the apartment complex our beach is at hiding and watching! Courtney is still the Lizard King but Curt is now the Iguanna King.




























We've had a great visit with Curtis. It's been nice having family around and I think he's enjoyed it too. Our next visitors come in a month and they just happen to be Curtis' parents! We're excited for more visitors...hint, hint!!


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