They came, we saw, we spelunkered...

My parents finally made the trip down this last week. They arrived last Saturday at 11:00 pm and we took them to the airport at 5:30 this morning. It was a full, fun week!

Last Sunday
We took their first day here pretty easy. We got up late and watched some TV before deciding to go to Los Bohios for lunch with some friends. Brent had his friend Colton here from Colorado so they went with us. We had the fantastic crab dip we ate with Joy and Hoshi and then had some real Puerto Rican cuisine. My dad even got adventurous and tried Seafood Mofongo. Yum!


Monday
On Monday we were going to go to Ponce and to try to meet "Chi Chi" Rodriguez but things in Ponce were closed and it was raining so instead we drove to San Juan. We went to Casa Bacardi & Casa Don Q -of course!- and then walked around Fort San Cristobal. After the fort we walked down to the docks and around Old San Juan in search of Christmas gifts. We even got my mom to take a few sips at Bacardi...until she started to get too hot and have some hives! Ya gotta love a woman allergic to alcohol for trying!! Here are some pics of our trip Monday.







Tuesday
On Tuesday we made our first attempt to meet the famous golfer "Chi Chi" Rodriguez at his golf resort El Legado. We drove out there and were told he had just left. We stood around looking at his pictures and golf shop for a while and then left. We continued on to Ponce for a trolley ride and more shopping. Unfortunately all of the museums we were to see during our trolley ride were closed so we made only 1 stop. We drove by the oldest tree in Ponce. Then we stopped at a market where we got everyone to try Mavi. Mavi is a juice that is fermented tree bark. We got the man selling it to show us the tree bark. It's actually very good...it's at least interesting. Then we shopped around the plaza before going to La Guancha (the dock/marina in Ponce) expecting to eat lunch. For some reason all of the restaurants were closed! Not much luck in Ponce on Tuesday.





Wednesday
Attempt #2 was made to meet "Chi Chi" and again we were told he had just left. I decided that he is an elusive little creature who in fact might not exist... After being disappointed again we decided to just spend the day at the beach. We needed to be home at a decent hour to start getting things ready for Thanksgiving. We went to a new beach and it was alright but nothing too spectacular. We then decided to just go to our old faithful Lighthouse Beach. We got there and our jaws dropped. There is barely a beach there anymore!! You can't get to the rocks we usually walk to, our "spot" in the shade is completely gone and there is so much erosion from the hurricanes and tropical storms. We couldn't believe it! We decided to go ahead and stay there but we didn't know for how long because the sky was awfully dark.




Thursday
Thursday, as you all know, was Thanksgiving so we didn't go anywhere. We had 11 people over for lunch and mom and I cooked up some good food! We got up around 8:00 -not too early!- and started the turkey. Things went very well and we had PLENTY of food...plenty of leftovers! Check it out...a DOUBLE DECKER CHOCOLATE PIE!!!!




Friday
Our third and final attempt to meet "Chi Chi" happened on Friday. FINALLY...he does exist!! He was so nice & funny. He sat and talked with us for a long time. He signed some autographs for us. Very down to earth!


After that we drove to Utuado to spelunker (were you wondering when that was coming?) in some caves. We were told by Mendez and his son Alex that it would be a view to die for. Better be good because this is way out of my mom's element. She doesn't like dark enclosed places. On top of that we had to hike a little and climb down some steep areas to get there. AND there were bats all around which my mom hates. We were doing really well walking through the cave with our flashlights and then we saw it..."the window". OH MY GOD!!! It was the most amazing view! I know from pictures that it doesn't look real but I assure you it was. We will definitely be going back there before we move. It was kind of fun to get inside the caves and explore. After that we drove to a lake and took a look around before arriving back home to let mom and dad pack up.









Saturday
Saturday wasn't too eventful...we took mom and dad to the airport at 6:00 in the morning and then we came home. I tutored for 3 hours in the afternoon and we caught up with Katie who got home late Friday night. She actually got up at 5:00 in the morning just to meet my parents!! Isn't she cute?!?! Now we start the long wait to come home. I thought seeing my parents at Thanksgiving would make not going home at Christmas easier on us...we'll see! Courtney has an interview on Tuesday for a job back in Kansas for next year so keep your fingers crossed for him! Hopefully he'll get that job then I'll get one and everything will fall into place for us to come home. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with your families!