Puerto Rico - Sabado

Annie and I spent a good portion of the day in Lajas with Tata, Yalitsa and Pachi. They have 20 acres and Pachi is raising cattle to support the land taxes and expenses.


Pachi


Cattle and friendly birds


Tata, Annie and Yalitsa


Tata's car


Their pet Iguana that was adopted when only a couple inches long

Tat and Yalitsa took us for a drive around La Parguera


Chickens (Oops!) Roosters and flowers along the road


From the hill above La Parguera


A radar blimp moored - our drug interdiction money 'at work.' Or rather, at the moment the picture was taken, 'at rest'

Later, at the hospital we met up with Sammy's family:


Sammy's grandson (we'll try to get his name soon)


In the background, Lynn Marie, in the foreground (left) daughter of Lynn Marie and (right) Samarilee, Lynn Marie's sister and Sammy's daughter. Samarilee is a volleyball player and has just received some great accolades for her abilities.

And here's Maria Yvette's family:


(Still gotta get the names... Maria on the left)

On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at our new favorite Mayaguez restaurant, 'Don Quijote' for a plate of grilled pork chop, mofongo (mashed plantain) and salad. That's a half serving! We split a plate!:


And a local brew:

Another Day with Titi Aida

Annie and I spent several hours at the hospital today holding Aida's hands and keeping her company along with Annie's cousin Sammy. Cousin Carlos and his wife Becky will be staying at the hospital overnight. Though Aida has lost a lot of strength since we arrived, she is still lucid and responsive.

After a short hospital visit this afternoon, we visited San German and grabbed a bite to eat before returning to the hospital. Here I am in a plaza of the old town center. You can see Porta Coeli in the background at the left. It was built in 1606.



On the way from the San Juan airport last Monday, Annie shot this picture through the car window. (Notice the reflection of the road map in the glass.)



Here is Sammy's family including his son-in-law and granddaughter in front.


Here are Pachi's grandchildren:



Here's Annie, Flori and Maria:



That's all for now. It's been a long day and I need some sleep!

Nothing like Florida in January!

Annie and I spent last week in Jensen Beach, Florida. It was in the low to mid seventies during the days and fifties at night. The ocean temperature was cool but wonderful. I could stay in for a long time once I got "used of it." The swimming pool was heated to 84 degrees!

On the way home we stopped off at Fort Frederica on St. Simons Island, Georgia. The trees were festooned with Spanish Moss.

360 View from Max Patch

Max Patch is a grassy bald in Western North Carolina. It's just off I-40 on Exit 7 to be exact. That's about one hour from Asheville. The view is awesome and well worth the trip, expecially in the fall. Here's a panoramic video from the top of Max Patch. (The video got horked on the way up to YouTube, but it clears up about four seconds in...)

Hiking the Rattlesnake Lodge Trail

I went hiking with some friends yesterday along the Rattlesnake Lodge Trail. That's just a couple miles north of home here in Asheville. Thought I'd share a snap of the view from up there...