We made it to Puerto Rico!

After arriving in San Juan at about 10:35 pm Saturday night, we collected our luggage and took the "Dollar" rental shuttle to get our car . Apparently, the rental place is a ways from the airport. When we picked up the car, we were debating whether we should stop at Wal-Mart on the way home for some water and snacks. Also, holy steamy outside! The lady at the Dollar desk told us that "Wal-Mart is like a party at 2 am," so she advised us not to go. We ended up getting a FIRE red 2012 Ford Focus. Well, most Puerto Ricans drive semi-beat up Toyotas or other foreign cars, so Kate and I don't stand out one bit! (hint of sarcasm).

We ended up getting a little lost by trying to find our way to Hwy 26 to our resort. We noticed there were lots of cop cars everywhere (policia) that kept the blue lights flashing. We found out that cop cars just keep lights flashing so we know they are "present" and in a true emergency, we will hear sirens. We also heard that some people like to "pretend" they are cops. Super. The streets were busy and there were lots of men in the cars next to us. I said to Kate, "I bet they are saying, "Hola, Blondies ."  To which Kate replied, "I'm pretty sure they are saying worse things than "Hola" '......

We made our way to Hwy 3, which we discovered is the "Ashland Avenue" of Puerto Rico - a highway with stop lights - the "yellow brick road" of Puerto Rico. Hwy 3 takes you anywhere.

We finally made it to the Rio Grande Resort, checked in, and (apparently) got "upgraded" because it's my birthday. I must admit, the view of the courtyard and ocean is pretty sweet. It's something I could definitely get used to! The room is nice, but could use some refurbishing. Apparently in two years a brand new resort will be built. After settling in, we ordered a good old pepperoni pizza as a "snack" since we starving and hadn't had anything to eat since 1:30 pm. The snack bar thing was also the only place open at this hour.

Today we got up, had breakfast and went to "Amigo" which is like a Wal-Mart grocery store . We mainly wanted to stock up on bottled water. The weather was beautiful - windy, sunny with clouds and around 85. A man at the resort told us the ocean water might have a "brown" tint as the run-off from Hurricane Irene (when they got 5 FEET of rain in 2 DAYS) from El Yunque (rain forest) goes into the water. It still looked fairly blue to me. Most people around here speak English, but I actually wouldn't mind trying practicing Spanish.

Tonight we went to Shimas (in the resort) for birthday sushi as we were a little tired. It was divine, and now we are watching the Packers game, hoping for a victory! We heard the Brewers won via the internet. Tomorrow we plan on going to El Yunque to hike and see some waterfalls. Apparently nothing scary or poisonous is in the rain forest, which works for me.

That's all for now. Go Brewers and Packers!!
Hasta Luego!
Jamie