#jhuson2015

May 12, 2015 – Today was a jam-packed today in order to get as much done as possible before our departure.  We had breakfast at 7:30 and then dropped Kristie off in Frederiksted  at 8:30 for more research.  Melinda & I went to a beach right next to the Frederiksted pier for a couple hours.  We got in the water as one last farewell to the beautiful waters here.  Then we headed to Christiansted to pick up some last minute gifts.  We took a few more pictures for our community map too.  Then we headed back to Arawak to completely clean & pack up the room.  We paid our bill, gave Jennifer a gift, and then went back to Frederikstead to pick up Kristie around 2:00.  Then we got gasoline, dropped off the rental car, and got to the airport. 

Homemade fritters & muffins with sausage & fresh fruit

Lionel & Jennifer: The best innkeepers & cooks in the world.

Waiting for the cloud to pass to enjoy the last few hours we have at the beach

Beach bums

On the way back to Arawak Inn to check out.  Forgot to mention this earlier.  This harbor has at least 5 abandoned ships that the marina doesn’t do anything about.  Its just random floating creepy boats.  We learned about this on the kayak tour

Bags are packed and ready to go!

May 10, 2015 – Melinda dropped Liz off at 6:30 for her flight and then we started our day.  Breakfast was at 8:00.  Michael, Melinda, Kristie, and I were the only ones left and Michael’s flight was at 4pm.  We ate a yummy breakfast and made plans for the day.   The girls and I wanted to go to point Udall (Point Udall is the eastern most point of the United States), but Michael stayed behind to pack & study for a quiz on Monday.  We headed out around 10ish.  The drive to Point Udall was very scenic toward the latter half of the trip.  We were up in the mountains toward the east end of the island, which Pepe the Ford Focus did not appreciate.  It was definitely a struggle.  We could see all the beautiful landscapes & shorelines.  We also saw Buck Island.  Then randomly we saw a giant satellite dish that looked like something out of Men in Black. Come to find out it is a super cool NASA satellite.  I’ll post a link at the end if you want to know what it was.  We were the only people at Point Udall when we got there.  It was pretty so we took some pictures.  It was also very windy, so some of the pictures are hilarious.  The couple also staying at Arawak showed up so we took pictures for each other.  We left shortly thereafter and explored the area.  We saw the satellite dish moving, which totally creeped us out because it looked like some kind of alien thing.  Then we tried to find a beach and failed miserably before heading back to Cane Bay.  We went to the beach for a bit and then went back to Arawak to get ready for dinner; however, we all passed out until like 8:30pm.  By the time we went to Rowdy Joe’s for dinner the kitchen was closed, so we went to Above the Cliff & shared appetizers and bananas foster.  Short and sweet dinner.  Then we went back to Arawak to shower and pass out.

Eggs, salt water cod, spinach, and Johnny cake - Amazing!

At Point Udall overlooking the sea

We made it!

Kristie with the monument

Super bright & windy

Buck Island in the distance

Giant satellite dish that creeped us out, but that is actually pretty cool

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/nrao_agreement.html

Saw a rainbow around the sun at Cane Bay... amazing stuff right here.

May 9, 2015 - At this point staying in Saint Croix any longer was completely OPTIONAL.  Six of us are left (It’s like people are being voted off the island LOL).  We ate breakfast at 8 and then packed a little before going to Carambola.  To get to the tide pools you have to hike 40 minutes up and around the mountain.  A few of us hiked in water shoes, which is not ideal.  We made it there and pretty much had to hang off the side of a mountain to finish up the venture.  It was definitely scary and you need to be super careful. Michael helped all the ladies. We hung out for a little while.  A family of 5 showed up blasting music, splashing around, and totally ruining the ambiance.  We headed back just to be safe about getting Kate to the airport in time. We hiked back, grabbed a drink at the hotel, had a BBQ at Arawak, and then got Kate on her way.  We headed to Cane Bay Beach to finish the day

Salmon cake, eggs, toast, & tea

Kate’s last day

After we hiked forever we saw this gorgeous view.

 At the tide pools

Beautiful waves behind me

Lionel helped us barbeque when we got back

Wings, ribs, & potato salad. 

MEAT!

Bye Kate!

Next we hung out at Arawak for a bit and then went to Cane Bay Beach before dinner. We were pleasantly surprised to find that several 4-legged friends were there

Rottweiler, Scalawag the Sheep, and local doggie

This is Scalawag the Sheep.  He is a 3 week old St. Croix hair sheep.  I can’t handle his cuteness

Lady picture

Such beautiful skies

Awesome restaurant!

Lime ‘N a Coconut. Yes.

Cool local band.  By the end of their set we were dancing like crazy with an out-of-control older couple.  It was super fun and goofy.

We went for a night time swim and this crazy lady wanted us to do a funny pose...Voila! 

May 8, 2015 - So after a LONG 8 days of health screenings, home visits, & lectures, we got to reward ourselves with some adventures for our last day together.  We had breakfast at 7:30, took Ogechi to do a home visit, and then went to sail & snorkel.  We got on a catamaran at 9:30am and stayed out until 3pm-ish. Our guides were awesome.  We sailed to Buck Island and then got out to snorkel in shallow water for practice.  The water was so beautiful! Then we sailed to the coral reef.  We wore life vests and were very careful not to touch anything.  It was such an amazing under-water world.  We saw a shark, puffer fish, lobster, barracuda, and school of fish.  The fish were so bright & colorful.  The school of fish was iridescent purple & blue.  Michael had a camera to take pictures under water, so I’ll share them when I get the files.  It was so much fun exploring. 

After we were done at the coral reefs, the guys on our boat got out some rum punch.  We drank & got ready for a BBQ that they prepared at a cute little spot on STX.  We had hotdogs, hamburgers, & mahi....& some people had more rum.  We went to the beach to sit and eat & I took a quick little power nap under the sun.  It was so relaxing.  We got on the boat to come back to the harbor.  We saw dolphins & turtles on the surface briefly.  So cute!  It was so fun spending the day sailing.  I love boats. PS. We reapplied sunscreen a bajillion times and we still got burnt :( It was worth it.

Waffles & sausage with fruit & coffee

Ogechi went to do home visits because she doesn’t like water activities.  Then we got her hair done afterwards.

Kate is dressed to impress

Michael waiting patiently to get to the catamaran

Big Beard! Our catamaran for the day

We are ready for some sailing!

Goodbye land

Michael is happy now

Beautiful ladies

We pulled up to Buck Island and this is what the water is like...

Seriously, can you believe this?

I just can’t believe the color of this water

Yay!

One of the pics from Michael. Us snorkeling

Our group with the sailors

Andy, Tommy, & Michael

The seaplane about to take off

May 6, 2015 - Today we woke up and had breakfast at 7am.  Breakfast was a stack of pancakes with sausage & fresh fruit.  We separated into three different schools, so we had a little carpool session to drop everyone off.  Ogechi & I went to Alexander Henderson School to teach 4th graders about puberty.  Kate and Michael went to Charles Emanuel School to teach 5th & 6th about puberty.  Melinda, Kristie, Liz, and Kathleen went to John H. Woodson School to do scoliosis screenings & to work with the school nurse.  After that we had lunch and then toured the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center with Janzie. We saw the ED, Med-Surg, and OB/L&D units and asked a ton of questions. Then we were determined to get to the beach because we didn’t have enough time to hike down to the tide pools at Carambola before dark.  Then another yummy dinner was at 7pm.

Charles Emanuel School. No Bullying!

At Alexander Henderson... The calm before the storm.

Ogechi preparing to teach the boys about puberty

Ogechi made it through.  The things those 10 year old boys were saying...OMGoodness!

I taught the girls about puberty

Picking people up from school!

After we were done at the hospital we quickly piled into the van to head to a beach close by.  Down a few winding roads we finally found the destination: Cane Bay Beach

Operation Cane Bay Beach accomplished.

Beer in hand, Michael is happy.

Melinda & Kristie got the wine open!

Kristie ballerina in my hand LOL

We needed to de-stress

Selfie!

No beach outing is complete without jumping pictures

The girlies minus Ogechi

Sunset!

Selfie with Michael

More jumping because we love it lol

Kristie & the dog

LOVE

Dinner at Arawak Inn... Mahi with asparagus, potatoes, & papaya salad.  Complete with fruit pizza.