I am back from all my travelling so here is what happened.
The last week of January was spent getting ready for my trip. Prior to that though, I was taking it easy around the house and playing a bit of hockey before the break. We were leaving very early on Saturday, Feb 1, so I tried to keep the activities to a minimum that week. As a result, Friday was a busy and stressful evening as MA and I were packing up for the trip. It is always tough to decide what to bring and not bring for such a trip. Also, we were limited on weight for our checked bags so it restricted what we were packing even though there was still space available. Mental note: always bring the largest roller bag that can be carried on the plane regardless of how empty it will be on the way there. I was able to get to bed before 11:00 PM however Mary Ann was not so lucky. Not sure if she got any sleep before our 3:30 AM wake up call. Our friends, Gilbert and Yvette, were picking us up around 4:00 to meet up with Pierre and Rita, our cruise buddies. For the most part, our flights were uneventful however going through US customs in Toronto was not fun as it took over 1h to be processed.
We landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to a beautiful sunny day. The boys’ luggage took forever to arrive for some reason but it made it and we were off to the cruise shuttle. We checked in and walked onto the boat to be greeted with a glass of sparkling wine. We dropped off our carry-on bags in the room and headed to the martini bar while we waited for our other luggage to arrive. We eventually worked our way to the main dining room for an early dinner and took in the comedy show that night. Because of the previous late night, we called it in early for our first day on the boat.
On Sunday, Feb 2, we were in St Thomas where we spent the day on the beach. It was the best beach for snorkeling as I was able to see plenty of fish, an octopus and an eel. Unfortunately, my waterproof camera’s battery died before I could use it so I did not capture any photos here. But I did catch a nasty sun burn on my back. I had lathered up with sunscreen but, for some reason, forgot to do my back. Felt it for the rest of the week. That night, MA and I had a special dinner as we celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary early while on the boat. After dinner, I made it to the main theatre with the boys to watch the end of the Super Bowl game. I arrived just as KC started their comeback win. After the game, we toured around the boat outside and then called it a night.
On Monday, Feb 3, the boat stopped in St Maarten where we searched out a taxi away from the port. We got a great deal for a private tour. We drove around town and visited an island that we could walk to during low tide and then visited an airport that was across the street from a beach. You probably have seen pictures of people on the beach while huge jets are landing right on top of them. I was surprised how close you are to the end/start of the runway. Then, we had our taxi driver drop us off downtown so we could do some shopping and sightseeing.
Tuesday, Feb 4, was spent in Dominica. This was by far my most favorite island. It was beautiful and full of green and flowers. Once again, MA did her magic and negotiated another private taxi for the day with its own tour guide. Unfortunately, we shared this one with three people from New Jersey who were not pleasant to be with and only wanted to go to the beach. Our first stop was at a gorge where most went swimming to see an amazing waterfall within a canyon. Rita and I decided to skip the swimming this time. The rest had a blast in the very cold water. Afterwards, we went to the Mama and Papa falls and then to the sulfur hot springs. We ended the trip on top of a hill that overlooked the city and the port where our ship was docked. Back at the boat, Pierre and I called it for the day while the remainder did a bit more sightseeing in town. We met up for dinner where we celebrated Yvette and Gilbert’s 25th wedding anniversary.
Wednesday, Feb 5, was Barbados day. As we walked off the boat and into the port, MA asked a customs agent about getting a taxi. He recommended that we ask for Trivian so we did. We waited a bit while they tried to reach him. We met up with him as it was starting to rain hard. We rushed to his taxi but could not avoid getting wet. Once in the car though the rain stopped while we headed to our first stop, a rum distillery that his father works at. It was a bit off the beaten path but it was well worth it. His father gave us a tour of the place and then treated us to some 14 year old rum. As we left, he handed us a parting gift, 6 bottles of rum, one for each of us! Not bad for a free tour. We then toured the coast and stopped off at a beach where we hung out for a bit. The water was too choppy to swim so we just looked around before heading back on the road. We stopped at a few more tourist traps around the island before we headed back to town. Once in town, our driver stopped at the oldest church on the island. After this, he stopped in front of Rihanna’s $25M mansion (famous signer) and then to her humble former home that is now a museum and a shrine in her honour. We then hit the beach for a few hours where the water was much calmer and we got see a few more fish but this time there were a bunch of large turtles swimming as well. I was able to capture one of them with my camera. We wanted to capture the moment on the beach so MA asked this girl to take our photo. Turns out she was Canadian and studying medicine in Barbados. We chatted with her for a bit before heading back to the cab and onto the ship.
Thursday, Feb 6, we were in Grenada for our final port on this cruise. We bargained for a taxi and off we went to tour around. Our cab driver was an interesting fellow who would not stop talking. We learned a lot about him during the trip and seen a bit too much of him at the beach! Anyway, we still had a good time. Our first stop was at a local waterfall. Not much to see here but still very nice anyway. Afterwards, we went to a local spice vendor where we got to see some of the many spices that are grown on the island including cocoa, nutmeg, and allspice, just to name a few. There were a couple of stops afterwards that were ok but our plan was to hit a beach to snorkel. We finally stopped at one that our driver said would be good. Unfortunately, the water was very murky so we could not see much. We hung around for a while before heading back to the boat. On our way, we stopped off at a local cheese shop where they had some great cheeses. That night, at dinner, we celebrated Rita and Pierre’s 40th wedding anniversary.
Friday, Feb 7, was a cruise day so we hung out around the boat. I spent most of the day relaxing as I had had a very long week and was very impressed with how much I was able to do during our excursions. I guess sunshine and salt water help heal wounds. I did check out the shops on the boat as I still had a lot of ship credits to use since we never used them for our excursions or other purchases on the boat. In the afternoon, we packed up our checked bags as we needed to leave them for the porters to take off the ship the next day. By this time, we were all getting tired from all the fun we had all week so it was an early night.
Saturday, Feb 8, meant our time on the boat had ended. We headed off the ship around 9:30 AM to chill in San Juan. We had booked an AirBnB in town for the next few days but we could not get in until 1:00 PM. We took a taxi to its neighbourhood where we met a guy who lives nearby but was formally from Chicago. He got us up to speed on everything around including the local coffee shop and the best restaurants. We stopped off at the coffee shop for some food and drinks while we waited for our room to be ready. Afterwards, some of us went for a walk around the neighbourhood while MA had a nap in the restaurant and Pierre watched our luggage. Just as we were walking out of the restaurant and into the courtyard across the street, we could see that here was something going on as there were a few police officers around. As we got closer, we found out that someone had died on the park bench and they had poorly covered him/her. This was not how we were expecting to start this part of the trip. Needless to say, the neighbourhood was quite safe despite what we saw on our first day. Shortly after 1:00 we got the codes to enter into our room. It was on the top floor of a 3-story building. It was on the smaller side but it fit us nicely. Pierre and Rita were only staying the one night while the rest of us were there until Wednesday. After settling in, we all went shopping for necessities (alcohol and snacks) while MA’s brain needed another nap. Later on, we did another walk about along the pier and found a place to eat dinner. We settled on a place that served local food but had the worst service ever. It took over 1.5h to get our food and not everyone received it. Yvette and Gilbert did not get their main course with us though they did get their appetizer beforehand. As we were paying, MA found a strand of metal in her food as well. The waitress said she was having a hard night especially since they were missing two cooks in the kitchen and the one that did show up was not experienced. MA and I headed back to the room while the others went for another walk.
Sunday, Feb 9, was Rita and Pierre’s last day with us. Their flight was in the late afternoon so we went to the closest beach in the morning. Again, the water was too rough to swim so we laid around soaking up the sun before heading back to the apartment. They packed up and we toasted them goodbye before escorting them to the taxi station. Afterwards, the four of us toured around San Juan for a bit. We headed back towards the room and along the way we hit a local Mexican place, just a block away from the apartment. The food was great and we would be back there again later in the week.
Monday, Feb 10, we toured the Bacardi Distillery. It is where 85% of Bacardi’s rum is made for the world. We toured the facilities and got to smell the different varieties they make. We did not get to taste them but we were given a specialty drink of our choice at the end of the tour. Then we walked around Old San Juan some more before heading for something to eat.
On Tuesday, we had our last beach day. We ubered to our first beach expecting some good snorkeling. We assumed there would be lots to see given that they have scuba and snorkeling tours running out of this beach. There was not much to see here and the waves were quite strong. We did see some fish and MA found some smaller turtles. Around the corner from this beach is another one that was walking distance away. We spent the rest of the afternoon there and the snorkeling was amazing. I was able to see many fish, a very well hidden octopus and an orange and black sea cucumber. Could have stayed there all day but we needed to head back to pack up and get some dinner as it was our last night in San Juan.
Our wonderful vacation came to an end on Wednesday, Feb 12. It was another early morning as we needed to be up around 3:20 to catch an Uber to the airport for our 6:00 AM flight. Though we all tried to push the weight limits for our checked luggage, American Airlines was really strict and forced us to be under their limits otherwise we would need to pay an additional $100 USD on top of the $30 baggage fee. We somehow did it but it was not easy. We grabbed coffees before heading onto the plane to Philadelphia. We had a very short layover in Phillie and the gates were not close together so we arrived at the gate just as they were closing the door. A short flight to Ottawa and we were now back home, at least most of us. All our checked luggage did not make the second flight. We wrote up our claims and Ubered home. We were told that we would be credited for our luggage charge. I think we should have paid for the extra $100! I had a nap in the afternoon and did nothing else for the rest of the day. It was great to see the family again. However, for me, it was going to be a quick turn.
Thursday morning, Feb 13, I got the call from the airline delivery service. My luggage was in and they were going to deliver it by 11:30. I was scheduled to do a practice call for my webinar at 10:00 AM so naturally that is when the delivery guy showed, just as I was getting online. I hushed him away quickly and got online. After the test run, I started to unpack my bags and organize all the pictures I took during the trip, over 600! We made dinner for the family and sat to watch hockey. I really missed watching it while I was away. I then went to my Thursday Night hockey game and out with the boys afterwards.
Friday morning was an early one as I needed to finish packing to head to North Bay for the Family Feud hockey tournament. It was a nice sunny day and the roads were smooth with no issues. I was at Mom’s place by noon, just in time to have lunch with her and my brother. That afternoon we all headed to Astorville for our first hockey game, which we won. We stayed for a bit after the game to chat with the family before heading home. I helped Mom with dinner. My brother and I lounged around that night having a few beers before heading to bed. Not quite how I should spend Valentine’s Day but it is becoming the norm lately. I am still trying to get my family to come up for the weekend but it is always a busy time at home so I am usually by myself on the way up to North Bay for this hockey tournament.
On Saturday, Feb 15, our 10:00 AM game was moved to 3:00 PM. Great for me as it meant I could sleep in. In the morning, I was able to give a really good sharpening to my Mom’s knives with my whetstones and finally install her timer for her lights outside. This timer plagued me for a while as the previous one was not keeping its time. I tried to change it with an identical one during the Thanksgiving weekend but it was defective. It is now working and Mom is happy she does not need to set it every time the power goes out. We played our game and it was a close one but we still were able to win. This would be the team we would meet in the finals the following day. After the game, we again headed upstairs to spend time with the extended family. There were more people today and it was good to catch up with them as I typically only see many of them on this weekend every year. I was feeling really tired after the game and was not sure how I was going to make the 9:30 PM game that night. We were hoping to get some cipaille before leaving but it was not ready. Instead we decided to grab some Greco’s Pizza on the way, our favorite pizza! After dinner, I rested as much as I could before our game. Luckily this last game meant nothing as we were already guaranteed to make it to the finals. Needless to say, we still won the game. Afterwards, many of the team headed upstairs for the dance while my bro and I headed home to watch the Leafs/Sens game we taped earlier.
On Sunday, Feb 16, we played for the D Finals. This was our toughest game but we were able to win again, going undefeated in the tournament. This is not much of a surprise as we are a very good C team and should not have been in D division to begin with. After the game, we had our traditional tequila shots and back upstairs to see the family for a bit before heading home. The rest of the night was spent resting and watching another Sens game. I did get some bad news in the evening. One of my friends, Richard Kowalski, had passed away earlier in the day. He had pancreatic cancer that was pretty aggressive. I was hoping to see him on Monday before he passed. I am very saddened with this loss.
Family Day was spent with the family. We played card games and Wii in the afternoon. In the evening, the kids went and did homework while MA and I caught up on some of our shows. I had my webinar starting at 6:00 and it went until 7:15. Afterwards, the organizers said that it went very well and were happy to have me. It was not my smoothest talk as I struggled a lot getting the right words out in French but I think I still got the message out. The highlight for me was that one of the invitees sent a comment saying that her daughter was recently diagnosed with Leukemia and the last round of chemo did not help so she received CAR-T Cell therapy and now she is in remission. She wanted to thank people like me for being the pioneers for these types of therapies. I was very touched by this comment and it helped me justify all that I went through last year. Once I get a link to the recording, I will share it with you.
Tuesday, Feb 18, started with another hockey game. Afterwards, I headed home to read my paper and drink my coffee. After lunch, I gave blood and did some grocery shopping. Once home, I prepared dinner for the family and then sat down to watch the Sens play again. This game was a special one as they retired Chris Philips jersey, the player with the most games played in Senators history.
The upcoming plan is to do the usual routine of hockey, coffee, read my paper and give blood. On the weekend, I plan to go to my friend Dave’s cottage in Calabogie for his annual hockey game. I was hoping to stay the whole weekend but now I will leave Saturday afternoon for Richard’s wake. Next week, I see Dr. B-B for a check up and the following week I am in Toronto to get PET and CT scans and see Dr Kuruvilla. I am expecting that at these appointments we will start planning my back to work schedules. Will update y’all later on these events.