Chelsea and dad in Puerto Rico 2023

Day One Wednesday

Chelsea accompanied me to blue water and snct. 

We got a little behind on our schedule and were 45 min late for dinner at la copa llena. It was rainy so no sunset on the deck. But we still saw a nice sunset. At dinner we had Ricarda Ramos and his father. I think his father had a stroke. He spoke slowly but seemed to follow the conversation. They had a lot of beer and then drove. Yikes. It was a very nice time though. 

We stayed at a great air bnb very near the water. It was actually a condo we had tried to buy. I was sad that deal had fallen through. 

Day Two Thursday

I visited Propper and Pentaq. 

Chelsea was going surfing but the surf was too calm and we rescheduled the next day. 

After work we walked to Lala Beach. It was a small beach with nice sand but no amenities. 

Thursday night was a party in the town square. There were about thirty artisans seeking jewelry, paintings, art and rooster cans. The Rooster Can is an amazing invention that allows you to make an amazing rooster call. Chelsea bought one from a really nice older man. 

We walked to Rincón boricoa for our first mofongo. 

After dinner we went back and the party was getting fun. There was a band now and salsa dancing. There was one gentleman that knew how to dance and was dancing with a bunch of ladies. I served I need to learn to salsa with my wife. 

Day Three Friday

We had picked up some good looking fruit the sidewalk the night before. There was TONS. We had identified it as passion fruit but after cutting in to it realized it was a small mango. Yummy. 

I visited Puerto Rico Industries of the Blind, Point Blank, and Prama. 

Chelsea went surfing this day. Of course she got up easily and was a surf queen in no time. She booked a taxi to get there and unlike with Lydia I did not stress out about it. Chelsea got sunburn on her back of her legs like Lydia. 

I picked her up and it was time to eat from a road side stand. We found with pinchos or meat on skewers. We got a box for $25 which would provide four meals. 

Then we headed off to San Sebastián to the fresh water water fall at Gozalandia we were told we had to visit. It was much colder than the ocean and a lot of fun. First we jumped off a five foot rock and that was fun until someone showed where to jump off a15 fort rock! It looked pretty scary and we decided not to risk it so we packed up and did some more hiking up the trail. Coming back we were on the way to the car when we changed gears and decided to confine down the trail. lo and behold we wound back at the waterfall. We were only one s and Chelsea said she’d make the jump. So… we climbed up the perilous at rocks to the jumping spot. There, water was pummeling you and you could barely see. I jumped and Chelsea followed right after. 

Triumphantly we left for Villa Cofresí a Rincón landmark for nearly sixty years. However, we made a quick stop at Crash Boat Beach to capture the sunset. It was a previous Air Force base turned into public beach. 

Villa Cofresí was, unknown to us, closed to outsiders for dinner. But since we walked no one stopped us. We arrived at the host table at 8:30pm and she let us know we were persona non grata. But she decided we could break in and surreptitiously gave us bracelets so we could enter. The food was great and we tried the pirate special served in a coconut shell since 1965. It turns out the drinking age is 18 in Puerto Rico so Chelsea jumped in and helped me drink it. For dinner we had red snapper and sweet plantains. 

Day 4 Saturday

We checked out and headed to el Toro Verde in Orocovis to ride the largest zip line in this hemisphere, el Monstruo. It was crazy fun. 

We headed to old San Juan but when we arrived it was raining. But we want to make a”quick” car swap at the airport since the check engine light was on so we headed there. Well… that sucked. At the airport there would not take back the malfunctioning car if it was not full of gas so we turned around. Finally returning we found ourselves writing with fifty other people trying to get cars from the same company. Fortunately they “expedited” ours and we only waited 45 minutes. Ugh. We jumped in and almost immediately stopped. I had left my air pods in the console. Back to the desk! Fortunately it only took 15 minutes to find them.  We were running short on time now, so we just drove through old town and then headed to luquillo and checked into our hotel, luquillo sunrise Beach inn. It was a quick turn and we were on to Fajardo for dinner and a bio luminescent kayak tour. Chelsea proved her value by walking through the putrid algae Air. So gross.  Dinner was more mofongo but with skirt steak and turnovers. 

Then on to the kayaks. 

It got really crazy paddling over. Before we even went 100 meters someone fell in.  At one point there was our group headed out and another group headed in and there was a huge mess. Kayaks were everywhere pointing different directions and most at least partially stuck. We got free and vowed to be in the front coming back. 

The bio luminescence was cool. We were both able to see it. I brought our night vision goggles, thinking it would be so cool but it was a disappointment. 

Day 5 Sunday

We woke up and headed to El Yunque to hike the rain forest. First was coco falls. 

Then we began the long hike to El Yunque. First stop though was the Briton tower. 

The trail to the top was closed so we had to walk the service road to the peak. It was smooth but so steep at times! We did an appropriate amount of whining on the way but when we made it to the peak it was well worth it. After a total of six miles we were back to the car. 

The next trail was the Jesus Diego trail up to a small waterfall and wading pool. 

There was more adventure to be had so we headed to Rio Fajardo to hiked to the water park there. We paid the nice man $5 to park and headed off to the trail. This trail was a bit more muddy and avoiding it took some strategic stepping. We struggled to find the best route but eventually we arrived. 

There was a 22 foot jump from a rock and a cool rope swing that we loved. Then this kid tells us that we are at the small cliff and that there is a thirty foot jump just up river. What! We wasted no time in bare feet scampering up the path. Our feet did suffer greatly there. We would have given anything for water shoes. When we arrived there it was a huge rock and a waterslide. We started slow and went for the slide. It was great except for a significant wedgey 

And sunburn scrape for Chelsea. In the pool the magnitude of the jump was clear. With intrepidation we climbed up the rocks to the launch pad. Oh my was it high. And it was scary. But I jumped and Chelsea jumped. Unfortunately we had no phones, but we checked it off our list and headed back to the rope swing. 

We had earned our dinner and headed to the Kioskos, a Luquillo landmark. We looked at all our options and settled on Edelweiss. Amazingly, it was the same restaurant Lynne and I had gone to two years before. 

We shared crab rice and lobster stuffed avocado plus yucca, sweet plantains, and salad. Delicious. Some how a Piña colada showed up too. 

We experienced something very unique. There were about three vehicles that were tricked out with tons of flashing lights and massive speakers. They just drove around the kioskos rocking the world. I think baby truck or space ship may need similar treatment. 

Day 6 Monday

In the end my dealer did not set up any meetings for us on Monday so after a little work it was a beach day for us. We spent some time in the seaweed garden, the rough seas, and the gentle seas. Rain and Thunder threatened a few times but we still had a great time. 

For dinner we decided to find a local restaurant so we walked to La Forda. It was rainy but we sat outside under an umbrella. We enjoyed some trifongo and tacos boricoa. 

Day 7 Tuesday

I had a meeting with my dealer in San Juan so we left early and headed there. We dropped Chelsea at a coffee shop and went to the police station. The whole process was much slower than needed. That’s Puerto Rico time. I finally picked up Chelsea and we headed for old San Juan and found a closer free parking space.  We did not have nearly enough time for San Cristobal and el Moro but we did a short tour of both. Walking back we were so hot. We grabbed some gelato to keep us from over heating. They did having amazing flavors at tourist prices. It was delicious but it was so hot it was dripping everywhere. Tom made more of a mess than Chelsea. To Chelsea’s embarrassment I rinsed my hands off in the public fountain so I was not a sticky mess. 

Now we were a bit behind schedule headed for the airport but to our disappointment made the flight and had to come home