El Yunque Rain Forest

We explored a bit of the El Yunque Rain Forest yesterday. The directions said it was 36 mins away I would say it was more like an hour away but next time we go it won't feel that long because I won't feel like I'm lost. There are several trails to explore and even a guided tour you can go on with the US forest service for a donation of $5. We were too late to join a tour so we just drove to the end of the road and started with a 30 minute hike to a look out tower.

As you can see it was beautiful but my favorite part was when the heavens opened and we got drenched! We had to find some shelter so I could put my coat over my backpack and we happened to pick a tiny shelter that was already full of people. The funny thing was Kristah and Sins wanted to get out of the rain just like everyone else and there was a lady deathly afraid of dogs, she just had to deal with it.

We made it up to the tower and it was "socked in". The clouds would roll through and if we were lucky we would get a sneak peak of the ocean. We plan on going up there again on a clear day. On our way home we stopped off at a road side restaurant where none of them spoke any English and the only thing we recognised on the menu was "camarones". We got a plate of shrimp and tostones which are fried mini pancakes made out of plantains, delicious!

Our Big Puerto Rican Adventure

02.17.2011
We've been here for a week now and have finally been able to relax but not completely. Matt started to get a back ache (not in the same spot but in the same area) right before we left Seattle, he is on steroids and that is helping. He's had two full days of work in a row and is really enjoying it. There are no scheduled lessons today and it is his last dose of steroids so he will be taking it very easy.

When we arrived at SeaTac Airport the girls (Kristah & Sins) didn't know what was going on because they've never been able to get out of the car when we have been to the airport before. Inside they were on their best behavior (or maybe it was just so early they didn’t bother making any ruckus). Matt dealt with getting the girls paper work and flights situated and we walked them with the airline representative to TSA so they could preform their standard inspection of the kennels before we said goodbye to them. We had been kennel training the girls for this very moment and Kristah couldn't have done any better getting in (at one point she ask if she could get in her kennel early by scratching on the door because she was tired). The airline representative even commented on how easy she was. Sins on the other hand took a little more persuading with treats.

In Dallas, TX we were able to watch them get the girls off the plane and put them in a “holding area” until they were transported to the next plane. Matt had his binoculars and was able to see up close that they were fine. Sins was even drinking out of the hamster type bottle made for dogs that we attached to the kennel doors! It was so great to see that they were not bug eyed, panting or foaming at the mouth.

We arrived in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 10:30pm local time. It was so hot and humid, more so than Belize. We rushed down to the baggage area to get the girls. They came out on the conveyer belt and the workers got them off. Kristah was scratching and winning to get out even before she saw us. We got them out and I took them straight outside to go to the bathroom. They were so happy to be there. Matt was collecting the baggage and realized we were missing one bag, our clothing bag. He put a claim in as I walked outside with a porter, the girls and all our things.

The taxi cab didn't quite know where our hotel was thankfully I could get to my email on my phone to get the address. Matt checked us in as I waited outside. Two girls walked by and said hi to my girls. They were so excited for us when I told them what we were up to and they said my girls would have so much fun running around on the beach. They went into our hotel and out again and said the bar was closed. That was too bad because Matt and I wanted to get a cervesa as soon as we put our things in our room.

We had a good chat with the hotel receptionist and he told us we could walk down the street less than a mile and there was a bar that would be open. We saw the bar but we didn't think that they would let the girls in or sell us a beer to go so we kept walking. We ran into two police officers standing on a corner. Matt did an excellent job asking them where we could find a beer and snack. They pointed us to the Super Max a grocery store a few blocks away. It felt more like a few miles away but we were successful and headed back to the hotel.

We didn't sleep very well knowing that we had a lot of work ahead of us. We took the girls out to the beach for their morning walk and was surprised with all the early morning dog walkers. It was like an off leash dog park beach! We headed back for our continental breakfast and to call Mrs. Sanchez the realtor I have been talking to via email for the last couple of weeks. Breakfast was the best continental breakfast we'd ever had and the coffee was delicious as well.

Mrs. Sanchez called me back and said she would pick us up at 2pm. Matt took a nap and I did some more research online for a place to live just in case she didn't have what we were looking for. 2 pm rolled around and Mrs. Sanchez called to tell us there was a lot of traffic but she was on her way. 3 pm rolled around and she called to tell me she was lost. I text her the address and got Matt and the girls up ready to go. We waited out on the beach for her to call.

She took us to a huge apartment/condo complex in Isla Verde that we later found out she lived in as well. The place was nice but not completely furnish like we had asked for and was at the top of our budget. We think she took offense to us telling her that is was not what we were looking for and tried to explain what we were looking for. I was starting to get irritated because I had a feeling this would happen. You tell a realtor what you are looking for and they just show you what they want you to buy. As we drove away she kept saying that all the things I was looking at on the internet were for long term contracts and they probably did not allow dogs. I wasn't going to argue that I only looked at places that allowed dogs and I contacted every ad asking them if they would do a 3 month lease.

She dropped us off telling us that she would do some more research and call me tonight with some more things to see tomorrow. When she didn't call me that night I knew she would not be coming to pick us up the next day. All I have to say is that Mrs. Sanchez is a cow.

The next day Matt and I got busy calling ads we thought might be what we were looking for. A realtor by the name of Brenda picked us up and took us to an apartment that her husband was the contractor of the building. Once we took the tour we new it was perfect, again at the top of our budget including utilities but we were getting desperate. Brenda took us home and we went for a walk down the beach. There were some kiters at the very eastern part of the beach so I suggested we walk to them and find out if it is Matts future boss. We met Justin and Poulo who did in fact work for Phil at Kitesurfing PR. Justin told someone to go and get Phil while we chatted. Justin asked us if we knew a guy by the name of Formo. We told him ya we knew Jason & Lauren and that we hang out & kite with them back at home. He told us a funny story about Jason in college (Jason I'll tell you later ;-) Phil came out and was excited to meet us. His wife Karla came out and introduced herself and told Phil there were some people wanting a lesson tomorrow. He gave Matt a look and said we need you dude. Matt laughed and told him that we were still getting settled in. We got to talking about what kind of places we had found and both Phil and Justin said there must be some places for rent in the neighborhood next to us (when the place we found was only a few blocks in land of where we stood).

We got a rental car the next day at a steal because nobody came to pick us up when we had arranged for one and when the guy did finally come to get us he got lost and was pretty late. It felt good to have our own transportation to look for places by ourselves. We checked out of the hotel and went searching for rent signs in the neighborhoods Phil and Justin told us about. I called and or talked to every sign we saw. The places were either to big, to expensive or unfurnished. We thought we should find another hotel to sleep in one more night but couldn't find a room. Matt called Brenda to ask what she could do for us to get us into the place she showed us.

Brenda and her husband met us at their office after business hours to sign the lease. We drove a few blocks to the apartment where we did a walk through with a check list of what was there and what things needed to be taken care of like a few spots needed to be painted, nothing big. They handed us the keys and we had a new home for the next 3 months!

We knew it was going to be stressful but not that stressful. The last few days have been running errands to stock up on groceries and little things that we will need, putting stuff away and trying to figure out how to get internet. The building isn't full but we have met 3 of our neighbors Brenda (not the realtor), Rebecca and Milton all very nice people willing to help us with anything and they all love the girls. As I said Matt has been working and really enjoying it and is now resting his back. That gets us all caught up for now I'll be advertising through facebook again when I have added more.