Buds

Elaine had both horses out today and I got some fun pictures of the buds together. I had fun playing around with this one in Photoshop. I like the pencil sketch result. There are a couple more from this set I want to play with when I get time.

Beach party

Hope the people who had this beach party had a good time. Wish they would have taken their trash with them. Don't worry, somebody else will pick up your trash for you.

People going to the beach should follow the backpackers' creeds: "Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints." "You carried it in, you carry it our!"

Not much diving

There hasn't been a whole lot of SCUBA diving lately so here is a photo from a dive at Natural earlier this month.

This big spotted eagle ray swam right at us. At the last minute he veered off and swam right past us almost within arms reach. Usually they turn and swim away from divers but this guy was pretty unperturbed by our presence in his ocean.

There are more pictures from this dive and one a little later in the month on our Flickr site. Here's hoping the ocean cleans up and calms down so we can do a lot more diving soon!

Mixed bag of a night

We headed out this evening with some friends for dinner at a restaurant up on the cliff. We've all been there for lunch before. We've always felt welcome and enjoyed ourselves - until tonight.

As is customary, we seated ourselves. After several minutes, the waiter came over, brought us menus and took our took our drink order. The bar was busy but the wait for drinks was reasonable. That was it. That was the last time the waiter bothered to come to our table. Several times we called him as he passed. We tried to get his attention so we could order dinner but he pointedly ignored us. Pointedly? Yes. The one time he even looked at our table he made eye-contact with me. I signaled him that we would like to order. He turned his back on us and walked away. He never came back to our table or in any way acknowledged us again.

We then decided we'd had enough. I went to the bar, paid for our drinks and we left.

But we still needed dinner. Our friends suggested a new-ish (new to us anyway) restaurant they'd heard about - El Anzuelo (The Fishhook) in Villa Pesquera. Villa Pesquera, a"fishermen's village" mostly consisting of kiosks selling beer and empanadas, has a sketchy reputation. For a long time it was considered unsafe - especially for gringos - to go there. The municipio has done a lot to clean it up. There really are fishermen there. Not at many as at Crashboat but you can actually get fresh fish there.

Our reception at El Anzuelo in this supposedly "sketchy" area could not have been more different than the "nice" place up the hill. Ari, the owner was welcoming and friendly asking if we preferred to sit inside or outside. She explained the menu and specials to us. Although she speaks primarily Spanish and we primarily English, there was never a moment's hesitation or sense of conflict.

The food was marvelous! Elaine had grilled tuna - "maybe the best tuna I've ever had" - with her favorite, tostones de pana (tostones made with breadfruit instead of plantains). Ralph had an amazing curry. Maree and I had grilled kingfish. It's the first time I've had kingfish. It's a firm white fish, a little drier and stronger flavored than mahi-mahi (dorado). Very good, very tasty.

So we now have a new great little restaurant. We're taking the Ola Lola team there for lunch on Wednesday. Can't wait to go back!

"I'm two? Better believe it ,buster!"

Hard to believe our baby boy is two already!!! Happy birthday, Kai!

Oh, yeah - happy birthday to your cousin Shawna too. You two share birth dates. Gotta tell ya, Kai, that's pretty good company to be in.

Happy birthday, Amy!

PR misses you but we hope you have a great fabulous birthday!

Happy birthday, Darryl!

Happy birthday to the best dive master and instructor on the island.

And happy birthday to one of our favorite ConAir pilots. We miss you, Billy.

Happy Birthday, Steven

Seems like all we've done here lately is wish people happy birthday. Well, here's another one: Happy birthday to our son Steven! He's in the DC area and we miss him bunches. This photo was taken in 2009 when Steve and our granddaughter Angel came to visit.

We love you, Steve - happy birthday!

Kite on kite

"Up among the stars"

There was a kite surfing competition at Playa Montones just up the beach road from us over the weekend. There were a few photographers on the ground. I took the opportunity to do a "kite on kite" shoot and covered as much of the event as I could with my KAP rig. It is truly a unique viewpoint. It's the only way to see what the kites see.

There are two sets of photos from the weekend on Flickr, Saturday's are here, Sunday's are here. There are more on our website, PuertoRicoSurfPhoto.com just click on the kite surfing button.


This is from directly overhead of the jumping competition on day two.

Happy birthday, Sara!

It's our "baby" girl's birthday. Happy birthday, Scoot!

One more dive

Dan got one more dive before leaving and I got to tag along. He must be living right because his final dive was the outside reef at Shacks. That's almost unheard of this time of year. Usually Shacks is too rough, too wavy, in the winter. But about once a winter we get a chance to do the outside reef. This was our chance for this winter.

Dan had a pretty good week: he got to dive our best near-by dive sites in his first two weeks of diving.

We're all off to San Juan tomorrow to send Amy and Dan home to Ohio. It's been a great couple of weeks with them. We are really really going to miss them!

Dan the fish

Dan is so taken with this ocean stuff. He didn't get to dive yesterday but we did go snorkeling at Shacks. We went out into New Hole (the hole just east of Blue Hole) and saw this guy:


and this guy:

It was a good swim!

Diving with Dan

Yesterday I finally got to go diving with Dan. I don't go with Darryl on first-time discover dives. It's too distracting for the new diver and for Darryl. But if the first dive goes okay, than I can go along on the second dive.

For Dan's second dive we went to Natural. There was a bit of current from the south but not bad. Since this was going to be a shallow dive anyway (because Dan isn't certified), we turned south into the current instead of our usual north. It's not always possible but we prefer to swim into the current on the way out and then get a free ride back with current.

After some hammock-time (for Dan at least), it was Ola Lola's for dinner.

Hangin' with the kids...

then OneTenThai for dinner - again. This is rapidly becoming Amy and Dan's favorite place for dinner. Can't say I blame them. It's our second favorite.

Another day in paradise

Lunch at Cocina Creativa...

then exploring at Playa Borinquen...

then pictures at Ruines.

Just another day in paradise!

Trailride

Amy and Dan took a private trail ride on Monday with our good friend (and "island kid") Kelda from Tropical Trailrides. They just "happened" to meet another horse and rider on the beach.

This is the same trail ride that got Elaine hooked on riding horses on the beach the first time she was here almost nine years ago. Now she rides at least some part of it almost every day. The ride starts out on the beach then cuts inland along the trails, then back out the beach at Survival Beach. Survival is a beautiful, somewhat remote beach - you can drive to it but it's easier on a horse. The rock cliff at the end of the beach offers a beautiful view of the beach and the ocean.

Happy Birthday, Marti!

Posting this photo is a twice-a-year event, once in January on the anniversary of her death and again in February on our mother's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Marti! We love you and miss you.

She would have been 85 years young today.

The No Super Bowl party

It was Super Bowl Sunday but not so's you'd notice at Ola Lola's. We have a "no TV at Ola Lola's" policy, not even for the Super Bowl. Not even for the World Cup final.

So after snorkeling at Crashboat we headed back for the No Super Bowl party with live music by Rique Colon. Okay, a lot of people left to go watch the game. But a whole bunch of people stayed and partied and danced! It was a great night.

Back to Crashboat

Elaine and Dan and I went snorkeling at the north end of Crashboat again today. Amy had an earache and chose to hang out on the beach.

First dive!!

Dan had his first SCUBA dive today at Crashboat with Darryl. He loved it and he is hooked! There will be more dives this trip!