Category Archives: Friends and Family

A Few Months of Life in One Post! Fall in Puerto Rico

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Excursion to Wilderness/Pena Blanca in Aguadilla

We continue to update our life mostly on Youtube and Instagram now, but I figured I would put together a long post of the last 3 or 4 months or so. I have peppered in some of the videos here, but check out the channel for lots more! Life has been a little more stable lately than it was in the spring and summer and we, like most people, are pandemic fatigued. But we’ve been staying busy and healthy going on outdoor explorations and working on the farm. Thankfully daycare has been open since the summer so that really took a lot of pressure off. Maybe because of all the talk of dying, we have felt the YOLO sentiment even more and have seen more of this island in this last year than ever before. Every time I think we have “seen it all” there is something new! This island truly is the “Island of Enchantment!”



Fun in Aguada




Lots of fun in the gardens and even got to play with butterflies!




Incredible Sunsets!

We tore down the old shed, built a new shed/wash room and are starting to build a new tiki hut/gazebo in the old space! It has taken a lot of work and time, but poco a poco we’re almost finished!


Swimming with a sea turtle and lots of fish at Pena Blanca

You have to check out the sea turtle underwater footage in this video! Start at 8:30 if you don’t want to watch the whole video but want to see the turtle! Super magical moment!

Abandoned Youth Detention Facility in Cabo Rojo

Fun random moments, flowers, bananas, friends, abandoned buildings, tarantulas

Ermita San Antonio

 
Fun excursions around Isabela including Royal Isabela and the Guajataca Tunnel

Fun with family who were visiting


Visit to a waterfall and molino in Maricao

Playa Buye is so buyetiful haha

Playa Buye in Cabo Rojo

Good times in Aguadilla: Crashboat, Cerro Cabrera and More even though we had to deal with a traffic ticket (dark tint)


Fun on Halloween

 


Cool new waterfall: Charca el Zumbo in San Sebastian!


Stopping by downtown Cabo Rojo after a Dr Appt


Cool Bridge in Morovis called “Puente Mata de Platano”

 

A Super Unique Experience to see an Abandoned Castle in Morovis


More good times that I don’t take for granted anymore: Thanksgiving, haircuts, flower deliveries

 
Awesome cave to explore: Cueva del Viento in the Bosque Estatal de Guajataca!

 
Photoshoots to keep up the creativity


Visit to a Gothic Cemetery (San Rafael)


Checking out a cool Hacienda (Casona Amador) including an interview with the owner!


And Barrio Charcas of Quebradillas with its Parque Jibaro


And the Portal de Los Reyes and the Cantina Custer also in Quebradillas


More flowers, gardens and out and about in RIncon


And that just about catches us up!


We wish you all a Merry Christmas and best wishes for a much better 2021!

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Puerto Rico Adventures and Home Life: Guajataca, Aguadilla, Baby Birthday and More!

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Beachside in Guajataca

We have been staying busy exploring the great outdoors whenever we can and appreciating our daily life routine. Things aren’t quite back to ‘normal’ but it feels good to get out and see the real world instead of ‘doomscrolling’ and reading about all that’s not right.


Mountainside in Yauco

There is so much more that is not just good, but awesome! So we’ve gone out to explore them whenever we can. Here in Puerto Rico, we’ve had a couple of yo-yo policies opening up, locking down (for some reason they really didn’t want us going out on Sundays for a few weeks) and now back to opening up, so we try to just go with the flow of it as much as possible. When we can go to the beach we do, and when we can’t we go explore other places.  Here’s a few adventures near and far from home we found recently!


Fun day exploring the Guajataca River by kayak and Guajataca Beach with our friends Heidi and Pedro


Fun day trip to Camuy and Hatillo


Lots of fun and improvements on the farm. New concrete pad, new plants, flowers, and even new ponds for aquatics plants and fish!


Went through Tropical Storm Isaias and Laura


Short Excursions around Rincon, Aguada, Mayaguez, Anasco areas


New Waterfall Blue lagoon we found in San Sebastian


Amazing day in Yauco exploring a coffee finca


Exploring more of Quebradillas and its amazing cliff views!


In Aguadilla we finally found the “Secret Stairs” of Survival Beach! We’d been looking for them forever!


Our little boy turned TWO! I can’t believe it! Felicidades!

 



A wonderful day for a swim under a rainbow in Rincon!


Our little jungle boy!

Overall, life is good! We’re staying busy trying to remember that the best way to appreciate life is to LIVE it. Hope you are all doing well! Remember if you want to see what we’re doing more regularly, follow us on Instagram and subscribe to our Youtube Channel where we make videos weekly!

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Horseback Birthday Adventure and Tropical Storm Isaias

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Uncertainty has “certainly” been the name of this year. And while things aren’t back to “normal” and the arbitrary and confusing rules change practically every other week, things are at least a little more calm around here. And meanwhile in the midst of the chaos that 2020 is shaping out to be, another year of life has gone by and so we did our best to celebrate my making it another trip around the sun.

I have always wanted to go on a horseback tour here in Puerto Rico, so we thought if it was available we’d try to book a tour.

There’s a great company in Rincon called “Pintos R Us” but I know the trail and area they take so well that I wanted to go on a tour of an area that I’ve never seen. We decided to go with Tropical Trail Rides in Isabela. It was a great experience. After dropping Aeden off at daycare, we drove up to Isabela and met up with new friends Kristie and Hernan there. We checked in, paid (discount is given if paying cash), got weighed and a horse assigned to us. We wore face coverings to check in, but they weren’t required during the actual ride which is literally always a horse-length away from anyone haha. The views were wonderful and it was a different perspective to see everything a little higher. Such a connection with the animal when you are on her back too, almost like being one creature.

We rode through the back side of Villa Montana Resort and then onto Shacks Beach and finally all the way to Survival Beach in Aguadilla and back. We mostly walked and trotted on the horse.

Afterward we met up with a few more friends for a nice meal and drink at Villa Montana. It was a great, chill way to celebrate my birthday.

On the day of my actual birthday we just went out alone to explore the black sand beaches of Mayaguez on the litoral. This beach is often ignored because the dark sands are considered dirty by the local people there even though they are just the mineral colors of the sand and I found it to be incredible! We walked up and down the beautiful coast and took pictures before having a nice simple meal at Carbon de Palo, a sweet little seaside restaurant.

There’s a lot that is out of our hands right now, but our own happiness always is. And that’s what I’m focusing on right now. To another solar cycle! Hope everyone is staying safe and happy as well!

We also recently went through a pretty major Tropical Storm (Isaias) and thankfully we didn’t suffer any damage though some of our friends did have landslides and flooding unfortunately. You can watch the video of our experience here:

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Quebradillas Adventure to La Ventana, Puente Blanco, El Merendero

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Quebradillas: Behind-the-scenes making of the video

A while back before the lockdown began we had the opportunity to meet Heidi Aviles at an open house for her butterfly collection.

Since then we have stayed in contact and found that she is also an avid explorer of Puerto Rico and we made plans to meet up when things settled down a bit. Last week was our opportunity. We have done a little exploring of Quebradillas, but Heidi said there are even more treasures in this Pirate town!


These are a few videos from previous adventures to Quebradillas!


Cute little gazebos they call bohios, each with the name of a famous Cacique or Taino Indian Chief


Look at this cool “Octopus Tree” – it really does look like an octopus! Even has “eyes”

Our first stop was Parque el Merendero just beneath the Mirador that overlooks Quebradillas on the highway. I was impressed with how nice the trails and views were. I would definitely go there to stop for a picnic again as the name implies (Merendero means a place to snack/eat). The trails even led all the way down to the beach!

Next up, we went down the road where Heidi had found a “window” hole that looked through on both sides to the sea! It reminded me a little of Cueva de la Ventana except instead of a river/valley view it was the ocean! A really cool little hike through the quebradas and then up the cliff side to a spectacular vista!


Just spectacular!

Something I love about Puerto Rico is that these special gems are just hidden in plain sight. In other places of the world they would be turned into tourist attractions -and some are, like Cueva Ventana in Arecibo, but most are still raw and just there for everyone to find and enjoy!

Our final stop on our tour with Heidi was to the Puente Blanco. This bridge at one point in time was used for passenger and sugarcane transport train travel. From the top it looks like nothing special (besides the view), but beneath it you can see the wonder of architecture that it once was!


At El Puente Blanco in Quebradillas


View from the top of the bridge with our friend and guide, Heidi

We are already planning more explorations of the island with our adventurous new friend! Please subscribe to our channel on YouTube to see the latest adventures and updates to the farm. I’m also trying to use Instagram a little more if you’d like to follow along and see some fun pictures.

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