Category Archives: Travel

Just Flew Back to Mayaguez

….and boy are my arms tired!!

I took a short trip back to Colorado to visit my family while Cassie stayed behind and took care of the finca.

Colorado Trip

Almost 2 years has passed since I saw this silhouette.  I was greeted by this on the way to work and back everyday for many years.

This trip was the first time I had taken the Cape Air flight out of Mayaguez.  I have to say that it was super fun.  I have my pilots license but it had been several years since I have been on a small plane.  I was able to sit in the co-pilot’s seat on both trips which was awesome!  Check the video above of the landing, we even went through a little rain on the way in!

San Juan Airplane Ride

San Juan Cape AirCool Paint Job! (In San Juan, not the plane I was in)

It was great seeing everyone!  Friends in Longmont and Greeley and all the family.

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A Tour Around Rincón in Pictures

As requested, I have compiled some pictures of Rincón, Puerto Rico. Rincón is surrounded by water on three sides, so there is good reason that most pictures of the town show the beach and/or ocean. However, to get a better sense of this area, here is a pictorial display. I hope this shows both the inner workings of Rincón as well as “slice of life” scenes.

First on the tour: The Lighthouse or Faro the farthest west you can possibly go on the main island of Puerto Rico.

Faro
Lighthouse/Faro

From the lighthouse park you can overlook one of the most popular surfing beaches:Domes named after the globular now defunct nuclear power station

Domes Beach      Corona Pro from Lighthouse
Domes Beach on a quiet day and during the Corona Competition

Next is the downtown plaza area that is bustling with activity.

Alcaldia Rincon
Alcaldia/Town Hall

Downtown on Thursday night is the place with the best night life because of the Art Walk! You can check out great artisanal work as well as have a beer at the hugely popular Rincón Beer Company.

RBC
Rincón Beer Company from the road on a Thursday night

Sipping coco
Enjoying a coco frío from the farmer’s market

Downtown Rincón is great on Sunday mornings for the organic farmer’s market where you can find fresh fruits and vegetables

Center at Rincon
Fountain in Downtown Plaza

Cerro los pobres
Strange name for a neighborhood near downtown: Cerro los Pobres -Hill of the Poor People

Around the corner from downtown is the cemetery, public works (trash and recycling), an indoor skate park (Skate Town) and the rarely utilized public library.

Skate Park
Mural at the skate park

Obras publicas
Public works: Trash and recycling

There are also lots of little shops, doctors, dentists and pharmacies near downtown as well as a medical center/emergency center.

Emergencia small
Costa Salud Medical Center

Going in the other direction from the plaza you’ll find the police station and further down the road, the post office.

Post office
Rincón Post Office

There are many little fruit stands and food shacks all over town.

Store1
La Placita

And plenty of restaurants too!

La Cambija
La Cambija Restaurant

Besides the immediate downtown area, most of Rincón is pretty rural and it gets pretty steep quickly. If you drive up the hills of Rincón/Aguada/Añasco for about 3-5 miles as the crow flies or about 20 minutes you can look out at some incredible vistas!

Viewatalaya

However, down a little lower the views are pretty spectacular as well!

Beach House Sunset  english rose view
View from the Beach House and the English Rose

Mainly because of the gradation of the slopes, houses are mostly right on the road and about 80% of them are simple rectangular concrete construction, though occasionally you’ll see a wood house too.

Typical concrete house Concrete House

IMG_2742 woodenExamples of houses in Rincón

 Kayak 10 BlogRincón from a different perspective: on the water

Because Rincón IS a beach town, it is really hard to describe it in pictures without the beach! You must literally try to avoid the beach since it is surrounded on 3 sides by it! There are so many activities, businesses and events that are beach centered. And in some ways it is just the background of life here. Right behind the Econo grocery store not 50 paces away is the beach! The beaches in Rincón are phenomenal and each one is a little different. While Rincón is mainly known as a surf town, there are beaches for everything: boating, snorkeling, surfing, swimming, bonfires, camping, secluded beaches and beaches to party with restaurants and bars!

Surfer Xing
Beware! Surfer Crossing!

steps(small)

Relaxing on the grass Cassie Sunset small

IMG_0825 Paddle Out bonfire

Welcome to Rincón in photos! I hope you enjoyed the picture tour!

bienvenidos-a-rincon
Nos vemos pronto, espero!

 

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And the Momma Too

This past week my mom came to visit us again and we had fun doing some of the touristy things we don’t often do. When she arrived there was a rainy storm system that brought in much cooler weather as well as some large waves. We went down to the beach just down the road from us (Sandy Beach) and watched the huge waves as well as a wonderful sunset.

Waves and BK and Mom small

Sunset with mom and cassie small cropped

We went out to lunch and dinner a few times and we went snorkeling. Overall we had a nice time with her “de visita” on la isla we call home, Puerto Rico. And I even had time to do a little bare handed lizard hunting!

PR Flag

Charlotte and BK small

 

Coconut water small

 

Beach and palms small

Mom and I at beach small

Sunset small

We weren’t the only ones to have the momma come out and visit. I went down to check on the little frog eggs (I think a type of coqui) and I saw what I think is the momma!

Coqui

 

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Cool Sights: Golden Basilica, Lightning Show and a Gecko with Chrysalis

We have seen some interesting and strange sights lately, but they are all sort of random. So, rather than making a separate post for each one, I thought I would just share the photos of them in this post.

The first sight was of a golden domed building off in the distance as we were driving to the nursery in Cabo Rojo. I asked Britton to go off track and so we checked it out.

Basilica small

It turned out that it was called Basilica Menor: Nuestra Señora de la Monserrate in Homigueros, Puerto Rico. We climbed the numerous steps to the top and looked out over the city and beyond. It was a beautiful little detour.

Jesus Hormigueros

The next cool sight was an awesome lightning show over Aguadilla bay one  night. I probably snapped about 100 photos before getting the timing right for this one.

Lightning
Lightning show

And finally, we were walking around checking on all the plants when I noticed a big green worm on the underside of a papaya leaf. We fed it to a turkey who had fun running around with it like it was a football. Then we looked under some other leaves and saw this fluffy chrysalis. We weren’t the only one to be interested in it. One of our ever-present gecko friends was checking it out as well.

Gecko and crysalis small
Gecko lizard and Chrysalis

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