Puerto Rico and British Virgin Islands

For our vacation this year we decided to try a couple new locations in the Caribbean. After spending a lot of time reading about all the different islands, and trying to find a good place for kids, adults, diving, dining, and beauty, I settled on the BVI’s. The plan was to meet up with Silvio and Louise (our friends from Brasil), and have a fun/relaxing vacation and hopefully different from our trip together 3 years ago to Aruba (also really fun, but just wanted to experience different new things instead of repeating the same trips again). In order to get to Tortola (BVI) though we had to fly through Puerto Rico and the way the flights worked out spend a night, so we deiced to spend 3 and have the opportunity to explore a little, and have a mini family only vacation, before our vacation with friends.

We arrived in San Juan (Puerto Rico) on October 26th in the evening and went straight to our hotel. We normally rent a house or condo on a trip like this as we like to have more freedom, but decided to do San Juan in a hotel without a car (more or less) because we had rented a house for Tortola. I was able to get an unbelievably low rate on a 1 bedroom suite at the Embassy Suites in Isle Verde, which turned out to be a great location. Anyway we dropped off our bags and ate at one of the restaurants in the hotel that first night.

Our first full day in Puerto Rico we spend between the pool at the hotel and the Isla Verde beach.

The beach was really nice, but the kids liked the pool better. It was a great pool for Jack and Jonah as the shallow end had a really shallow in spots and they could feel safe and still have fun splashing around. Jonah was starting to swim more, which was cool to watch. As it was the end of the hurricane season, the weather was crazy, we had a large midday storm that came through while we were at the beach, and it really let go on us. It was funny to watch how quickly the beach cleared out. We hid under a large tree, but still managed to get pretty wet and walked back the hotel after it ended. We ate dinner that night at a small Puerto Rican restaurant and we had the opportunity to try Mofongo, a staple dish.

The next day we took a city bus into old San Juan city and spent the entire day exploring.

The main points of interest in the city are the two forts, Fort San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) built in the 1500’s and Castillo de San Cristóbal built in the 1700’s. The kids (and Julie and I) has a lot of fun exploring/running around these forts.

We also found some huge Iguana’s (we later learned they are not native to Puerto Rico and the locals hate them) that the kids loved to look at.

Other than the forts San Juan was a nice city, fun to explore but nothing super special. We went into an old cathedral (Cathedral of San Juan Bautista) built in the 1500’s which was cool.

We found a Ben and Jerry’s and had lunch and ice cream there!!! We try to hit a Ben and Jerry’s anytime we are on vacation somewhere where they have one.

We also found a Starbucks which we have to have in every country/city we visit. I used to do this with McDonalds trying to prove the theory that the McDonalds french fry is the same everywhere in the world (which it isn’t, China was different), but Julie and I have grown against McDonalds and won’t eat there or let the kids, so we don’t go there anymore.

On our final day we rented a car for the day and took a hour and half or so drive to the El Yunque rainforest. El Yunque receives over 200 inches of rain a year!!!

We did a small hike (about ¾ mile each way) to La Minha Falls. It was a beautiful hike, and a lot of fun to get poured on while hiking in nice warm weather. A lot different than hiking in the cold rain in Washington state.

We spent our final night swimming in the pool again at our hotel and I ordered a pizza for dinner that we had delivered to our room. A nice relaxing way to end this portion of our trip.

When we arrived in Tortola, we quickly got 3 surprises. First, our driver to take us to our rental car left without us and the rental car pick up was on the other side of the island (about 1 hour drive, and a $50 cab bill). Second, the roads in Tortola were horrible; very windy, steep, narrow, few signs, and lot of damage, plus you drive on the opposite side of the road but in a American (left side driver) car. After the first day or so I really started to enjoy driving on them, but they were still bad and Julie was constantly nervous in the car and refused to drive at all which made it difficult when I went diving. Third, the restaurants and stores were almost more poorly marked than the roads. We spent over an hour trying to find somewhere to eat lunch and we were not being picky. Places either weren’t marked, weren’t open, or didn’t exist, but it was crazy. We learned the roads, but struggled the entire trip trying to find places to eat. I was really happy we rented a house and had the ability to eat a lot of our meals there.

Tortola was extremely beautiful though! It was very green, very natural, and hilly which I really loved. The beaches were great too.

On our second day we went to Brewer’s Bay. It was a really nice beach, a lot of fun for the kids. Paige and I enjoyed the waves, she would body board on the waves using me as her board. Jack played in the sand a lot and in the water with Louise and Julie and then took a long nap on Julies lap. Jonah basically played with his Spiderman in the sand and at the water’s edge the entire time; quite a imagination she continues to have.

The next day we planned to do basically the same thing but go to a different beach; Smuggler’s Cove. On the way there though we passed by the one touristy place on the island, The Dolphin Discovery, and stopped so Julie and Louise could swim with the dolphins, something they both really wanted to do. Louise opted out though at the last minute and I felt generous with our money and signed the kids up. Jack refused to get in the water at the last minute, but Julie, Paige and Jonah were in the water for close to an hour playing with the dolphins!!! They were able to pet them, the dolphins gave them a kiss, and Julie was able to get a ride holding on to their fins and actually be pushed up on top of two and kind of skied with the dolphins pushing her. It was a lot of fun for them; I think the highlight of the entire vacation for Julie.

Smuggler’s Cove was a great beach also. We rented a boogie board with a viewing port on it, so I was able to take the kids out “snorkeling” one at a time. That was really cool for them, and me.

The next day Silvio, Louise, and I went diving in the morning/afternoon. We dove two dives off Great Thatch Island, a nature reserve.

They were nice dives. The visibility was not super, especially for the Caribbean, but it added a lot of nutrients to the water, which attracted some bigger life. We saw some sea turtles, some larger fish, a barracuda, and a couple of sharks.

Julie and the kids spent the morning at a pool at the country club next to our house. Our house had a pool also that they played in, but the country club pool was better and had a small bridge you could jump off into the water.

When we got back Silvio and Louise took a nap and Julie and the kids and I drove down to Josiah’s bay (the beach 5 minutes from our house) to see how it was and if Julie would feel comfortable bringing the kids here the next day when we were diving. The access to the beach though was washed out, and from what we could see it was a pretty rough water surfing beach and it wasn’t going to be fun for Julie. I did let all the kids drive the car though on our way back to the house. One at a time I let them sit on my lap and steer the car. Jack especially loved it and kept telling me to take my hands off the wheel while he tried to steer us into the ditch.


Jack Driving in the BVI's from Julie Tull on Vimeo.

The following day we went diving again in the morning. This time we went to the wreck of the RMS Rhone a ship that sunk in 1867 but is still pretty intact. They were two great dives, I think in the top 5 ever for me, if not my favorite. We were able to swim through the boat a couple of times and through/around the propeller which was about 20 feet in diameter. We saw more turtles, and lots of fish, but the ship itself really was the exciting part of the dive.

Julie and the kids hung out at the pool again. I really hoped they could have gotten out, but Julie was so scared of driving on the roads that they couldn’t really go anywhere.

That afternoon Silvio and Louise took a nap again and Julie and the kids and I went to Cane Garden Bay. This was our favorite beach. It was very calm and protected and the water got deeper very slowly so even Jack was able to play and had a lot of fun there.

That night we went out for a nice dinner at a place call The Last Resort. It was a restaurant on a tiny island about a 3 minute boat ride from Tortola. It was a fun evening, but was stupid expensive!!! We bought a shrimp appetizer for $18 and it was only 2 shrimp and really nothing else.

On our final day we took a ferry to Virgin Gorda. Once there we rented a truck with benches installed in the back and drove to The Baths.

The Baths were really cool. Basically they are formed by a lot of giant granite boulders that are believed to have moved here during the thawing of the last ice age. It is the only place in the Caribbean that has any granite.

We had a good time playing there and then had lunch at a restaurant just above that had a fresh water pool that the kids played at while we were eating. After lunch we did a short hike to another beach nearby to find a Geocache and then drove to another beach called Savannah Bay.

Savannah Bay was our favorite beach of the entire trip. It was just really nice and beautiful and clean and we were basically the only ones there. Unfortunitely we didn’t leave much time for staying there as The Baths were supposed to be the best spot on the island (they were great also), so we only stay for about one and a half hours before heading back to return the truck and catch our ferry back to Tortola.

That night we went for dinner a place that felt like a more local’s restaurant. It was a good meal and not crazily priced. After dinner with went back to our house, put the kids to sleep, all had a drink together and said our goodbyes. Our flight left at 7 in the morning the next day. We had a long day flying home back through San Juan, then Dallas and finally home. The kids were great on the plane, as they always have been, and we had Ben and Jerry’s again, this time in the Dallas airport. It was a long trip 3 days in Puerto Rico and 6 in the BVI’s with a travel day on either side, but we had a great time and it was really nice to spend time with Silvio and Louise again.

Jack's Song

Yep, it has been a good and funny day!


Jack's Song from Julie Tull on Vimeo.

What they are asking Santa for...

I know it's a little early, but the way Jack says "drum" and "drumsticks" is hilarious.  Especially "drumsticks".  If you haven't heard him, here is your opportunity! Also, the way Jack wants to be just like Paige is too cute.  Hope you're all having a great day!

frumdicks from Julie Tull on Vimeo.

Camping!

So last Labor Day weekend, we tried to camp at Battleground Lake State Park.  Well.... We did camp, but only for one night because of torrential rains.  We had rivers running through our campsite and a lake in our tent and no more dry clothes by lunchtime on Saturday. But this year, our Labor Day weekend camp-out was a success, Friday through Monday!

Jack loves to have his picture taken.  Here he is, right after we got to our campsite. He looked around for a good place to pose (this is the pole that you can use to keep food out of the reach of animals) and said, "Here Mom.  Take my picture!" He loves his Dora backpack...

Mike loved his new camping stove! This is the first night- hamburgers. Yum! He also successfully cooked eggs, pancakes and chilli (that I made at home and froze for our trip).

We also used the campfire quite a bit for cooking. Of course, we had s'mores but we also made hot dogs and biscuits on a stick!

Biscuits on a stick were a bit doughy, but were pretty good if you cooked them on a low flame for a long time.  Jonah's was mostly dough, since he thinks he can cook over smoke.

The kids and I thought this video was pretty funny.  Hope you enjoy it! Oh, at the beginning, Jack is saying, "Where's stick? Where's stick? Where's stick that I found?" And later, near the end of the video, he says, "Can you take a picture of me?" You should be able to understand the rest! :)

Campfire! from Julie Tull on Vimeo.

Our routine.  Either Mike or I wash the dishes, but the kids bring the dirty dishes down and the clean dishes back to the table. In this picture, Mike is washing the dishes (obviously!) and the kiddos are waiting for clean dishes.

Saturday afternoon was spent at the lake since it was warm enough to play in the water.
Mike and Paige loved playing on a log out in the water.  They would balance for a while and then jump off.

Mike, Paige and Jonah built this sandcastle while Jack and I sat nearby.

Here is Jack again posing for another picture.

And here is Jack sleeping on my lap at the beach.  He just laid down in my lap and fell asleep for an hour or so.  I loved this! I miss holding my sleeping babies.  They are so sweet!

We spent most of Sunday geocaching.  Here was one of their finds! Jack had to use the bathroom, so we missed out on finding this one.  But it was a good thing.  Mike, Paige and Jonah got entangled in a swarm of bees and Jonah (of course!) got stung- proving that he does in fact get stung by a bee every time he goes camping.  Poor kid.

Monday morning we found a few more caches in Battleground park.

Here is Jack again, posing.

And Mike, Paige and Jonah posing in front of their earth cache.  An earth cache is like a geocache in that you find it with the help of a GPS, but there isn't a box to open or anything.  It is a good way to find cool things, like this lava rock.  This earth cache had a little lesson with it, comparing the weight of lava rocks to regular rocks. Oh, if you didn't know, Battleground lake is in the crater of an old volcano.  The water is slightly warm (74 degrees F or so) because of the lava tubes underneath.

On the way home on Monday (Well, not exactly on the way home...) we went to the "Ape Cave." It is an underground lava tube from an eruption of Mt. St. Helens.  Really cool, really cold and really fun for us.  Jonah was soooo cute.  He was walking very slowly with his headlight pointing down, searching for mice, even dead ones.  He never found any... I thought the kids would be afraid with it being so dark in there, but they weren't. I think it was like being in a Scooby Doo movie for them.  They loved it! 

The kids were all sad to go home. I think that is proof of a great camping trip!

Quinault Rain Forest

This year we decided to go explore the Quinault rain forest in the Olympics for our annual hike.  The group was bigger this year. Zac and Jeff came along with two of Zac's brother in laws; Doug and Eldon, Eldon's son Hunter, and Jeff's dad Randy.  Unfortunately Ben and Greg couldn't make it, and I think after Rainier we scared Paul away.  Anyway it was a good group.  Unfortunately we never used my camera for any group shots, so I really only have pictures of the scenery.  We planned for about 40 miles with 4 days to hike, always leaving extra time for an easy day if needed. 

Eldon has a big family and therefore has an Expedition so we were all able to easily fit in one car with our gear and drive together.  We arrived to the ranger station close to mid day, got our pass, drove a little further and started our hike.  Instantly the scenery was beautiful.

The route that we chose went by the world's largest yellow cedar.  When we got there though, it was pretty disappointing. Apparently, yellow cedar's aren't as big as other world's largest trees, and this one was either dead or barely alive.  Oh well.  The hike was great getting up there, and the flies were huge and many there so we didn't want to stop for long anyway.

On of our options for the first night was the Three Lakes camp.  The area was nice, but it wasn't late when we got there, and everyone but Randy still had a lot of energy so we decided to continue on the last 4.5 miles and camp at Three Prune, where we would camp the second night also. 

As we continued we saw lots of great meadow's where we hoped maybe to spot a bear.  Everyone, or most everyone I think was really hoping to run into one, just to watch him.  Zac, I believe, wanted to wrestle one, or watch Ben do it, but as Ben wasn't there, it probably would have been me to get mauled.  Zac bought a suture kit before Rainier and is still dying to try it out.  Crazy..., but I kinda want to also.

The first night there were two other groups at the same campsite, we were tired and really didn't talk to them.  Only one group briefly who told us that our planned hike for the next day was mostly under the cover of trees and there was no places for pumping water so we should make sure to take enough.  Great information...

Day 1: 11.3 miles and ~4000 feet elevation gain

The second day we planned to head up to a peak called Kimta peak; elevation 5399 feet.  The hike was about 5.2 miles and we left the majority of our gear as we were camping at Three Prune again the second night.  The hike ended up being about 90% directly in the sun and there was plenty of streams and snow melts (forming small ponds) where you could pump water.  But in the end, it didn't matter, again the scenery was incredible and that was what was important.

During most of the day we hiked in basically two groups; Zac, Jeff, Hunter, and I and Eldon, Doug, and Randy.  Throughout the hike Doug would take on the role of solitary man though, didn't seem to want to go quite our pace out front, but also didn't want to hang back with Randy.  Anyway, after what felt like we had gone more than 5 miles we started to question the point in the distance that we thought was Kimta, especially as the trail started to drop away from this point and we continued to lose elevation.  At this point our group had split up a little more and it was now just Zac and I.  This is when we came up over a small hill and found ourselves face to face with a pretty big black bear.  He couldn't have been more than 20 feet away.  We stopped of course, and did what all good tourists do and started to locate our camera's to take some pictures.  The lighting wasn't great though and the bear didn't want to pose, so the pictures weren't that great.

The bear basically just looked at us for a minute and then decided he wanted nothing to do with us and turned and started down the trail the other way.  So we followed.  After a bit the bear stopped to go to the bathroom.  This I got a decent picture of...

After this he walked a little further and then finally decided he didn't want us following him anymore and took off the trail and pretty quickly disappeared into the brush.  It was amazing actually how quickly he just disappeared, really makes you appreciate how well they can hide if they want.

Anyway, we continued on for a while longer and after continuing to descend further and further finally got smart, stopped and pulled out our topo map to figure out where we where.  As it turned out the peak we were looking at wasn't Kimta peak at all.  Kimta peak was much less dramatic and we passed it about 2.5 miles before.  This made our day quite a bit longer.  There was another campsite, Lake Beauty, that was 5.2 miles more past Kimta peak.  We had actually talked a little about trying to go all the way there earlier in the day. This wasn't a popular plan with most at it would have made the total day 20.6 miles.  But once we realized we had already traveled half the extra distance there we really had to think more about this idea.  In the end we decided to turn back as we didn't know how far back the others were.  We ran into them only about 20 minutes back, but were still glad we turned as we were totally exposed to the sun and already starting to get tired.  After a couple stops to fill up water and a long hike back up and back down we all arrived back to our camp site a couple hours before dark.  I took this last picture on the way up because I liked the way the tree framed the view. Looking at it now though, I like the way it centers on the spot where we turned around for the day; in the middle of the large exposed clearing.  The peak in the distance is what we thought was Kimta peak; it wasn't.

As a side note, Julie and I had just watched Roots a couple weeks before this trip (a really great mini series if you haven't seen it) and during the entire day I was thinking "Kunta, Kunta Kinte," because of the similarity in name to Kimta peak. Anyway...

Day 2: 15.4 miles and ~4100 feet elevation gain

On the third day we had a pretty easy day planned.  We were going to hike all the way down to the north fork of the Quinault river and stay at a campsite right on the edge of the river.  It was about 11 miles but we lose about 2500 feet of net elevation along the way.  That morning before we left camp the fog was floating over the valley.  It looked really cool. 

Most of the morning we were again hiking in a more rain forest area, which I really loved.  I just can't get enough of how many shades of green you can see at once all together.  Truly beautiful, pictures don't do it justice.

We reached the campsite at only about three in the afternoon.  When we got there we immediately started talking about continuing on. Our car was only another 3 miles away and we could easily get home one night early.  The only potential problem was Randy was starting to get really tired and we thought he might be done for the day.  About 30 minutes later when Randy arrived we asked how he was doing and if we wanted to continue.  He didn't want to, but the idea of getting home early and eating Subway that night was as appealing to him as the rest of us, so we took another 30 minutes break and then continued on to the car.  We had perfect timing too, even though we were technically in a rain forest we had perfect weather the entire time (we seam to get really lucky every year and get perfect weather for these trips), but when we got to the car rain cloud started to move in.  It started to rain before we had even driven completely out of the Olympic National Park.  Perfect timing and Subway never tasted better...

Day 3: 13.45 miles and ~900 feet elevation gain

I have never (I can't believe this actually since I have lived most of my life in Washington) hiked in the Olympics before, but was truly taken back by the diversity of what we were able to see and we only covered a small amount of all the possibilities.  We will definitely be back to the Olympics again.  Add them to a list of hikes that is already longer than we will be able to do yearly hikes.  But oh'well, it is great to have some many choices and I don't think any of them will ever be a bad one.  All together this was a great trip.  Totally different from Rainier or the coast hike, but really cool all the same.  Let see what next year brings...

3 Day Total: 40.15 miles and ~9000 feet elevation gain

Nope, we're not announcing anything!

Jack is wearing his "Templeton the rat" costume (a balloon under his shirt) that he wore for much of the afternoon today.  The kids and I are really into "Charlotte's Web" lately.  It started when we all (well... the kids and I) went to a free showing of the movie at the theater.  Then, we had to watch the old version of the movie, which we have had from Netflix since the 13th of August. Jack LOVES it so I haven't had the heart to send it back yet.  Plus, it is such a cute, wonderful, touching, beautiful movie. Really.  And now we are reading the book together.  It amazes me that Jack sits so quietly as I read from the chapter book and tonight he was even anticipating our story. "Mommy, yets read Charyette's Webb! Yay!"

I am hoping to do a little catching up on our blog.  I have, in fact, been informed of my neglect. As the summer dies down, I'll be home more and will have more time to do this! We do have quite a bit to share!