Moving

OK, so on September first we moved into our house... the Fish House... after about six weeks in a condo in Isla Verde.  Both kids have been in school a couple of weeks now and it's going well.  The day before we moved in we had our 400lb "unaccompanied baggage" delivery with pots and pans, etc.  On Weds, they bring our 11000 lbs of household goods.  Going to be crazy.  Enjoying the new house.  The kids (and we) love the fish, and have been eating dinner and breakfast on our laps outside with paper plates. These photos are all out of order and a mess... we are "borrowing" a very slow internet connection while we await our cable internet.  Fortunately MR gave us a spare netbook and we accidentally were traveling with our router, so we are able to share this slow connection throughout the house.  

In addition to pictures of us camping out in the house are two recent outings to Old San Juan and a return to El Yunque where the kids made an incredible climb to an observation tower in the clouds. There is a photo of my car next to a huge strand of bamboo...  

In Old San Juan we parked at the CG base and walked up to see "la Casa Ancha" one of the narrowest houses in the world at about 5.5 feet (pictured).  Then we walked Paseo La Princesa to el Murro, the second of the fortresses protecting OSJ.

Wish us luck with the chaotic delivery.  We are now zipping around the metro area like pros in our little cars and looking forward to finally being settled. The kids are anxiously awaiting their donosaurs and dress up materials.

Oh, a couple of things we forgot to mention... a while ago walking on the beach in Isla Verde we watched as a man got down on one knee and proposed... everyone clapped.

When we arrived at the house the owner still had two carloads of stuff, so we babysat her 5 huge persian cats and yappy deaf dog while she finished moving.

On our way out of our complex this morning there was a pickup truck  wrapped around a bus.

Two cars stopped in the right two lanes of the expressway... stopped... and one person switched cars.  This is 22, a 5-lane super busy expressway.

All of this is normal in Puerto Rico. 

PS: We added a box on your right where you can enter your email to be notified when there are updates to the blog.  Hopefully we haven't lost everyone's interest with sporadic posting.

Eating Crepes (Crepas) while we wait for the mall to open.

A hint of the chaos to come

Jeremy Wade, Extreme Angler and Biologist

Rico's going to love it here - no known escape route from the patio... so far...

He is afraid of the huge Koi

Feeding time

Leaving USCG Sector San Juan

Piraguas kept the kids cool and motivated

La Casa Ancha - The Narrow House

Bamboo!

We climbed up there

Trail Running

This post is for my VA trail runners! I miss you guys!

Thursday (Jane's first day of school) was the first time I've had to myself all summer. Marcus had told me about a great new trail in Bayamon called El Paseo Lineal. I think it's 15 kilometers long. It's very close to our new house (BTW, we sign a lease tomorrow and plan to move in on Sept. 1st), and I was really excited to check it out. The only problem is that the parking lots for the trail are a bit of a drive, and the part of the trail near base and our future home has water on two sides and dead ends into the ocean. But Marcus had seen utube clips of a ladder, and I figured it was worth a try. First, I parked and walked under the busy road (45mph, lots of trucks) to see if I could get across the water to the trail. But it would have meant getting through this murky mess, and I couldn't tell how deep it was.

 I climbed back up and parked on the ocean-side shoulder. I could see a ladder leading from the bridge to the trail. But it looked scary! There was bumper-to-bumper traffic, and I'd have to walk on the shoulder to get to the ladder. And Puerto Rican drivers often treat the shoulder as another lane.

But I really wanted to go for a run. So I walked along the road (Yes, people honked. And one guy yelled, "No te tires!" which means "Don't jump!"). I looked down and saw the ladder.

It was attached and seemed sturdy, so I climbed down. The trail was awesome! Separate lanes for bikers and walkers/runners and great for bird and iguana watching.

I had just enough time for a quick run, and a cyclist took this photo as I climbed back up.

First Week of School

We survived the first week of school! I woke the kids at 5:45 on Monday and left the house at 6:20 for the drive to school.

It took an hour door to door, including half an hour from the gate of Ft. Buchanan to the elementary school. Everyone was dropping their kids off on the first day of school.It was chaos! I didn't realize there was no parent parking available at the top of the hill (where the school is), so I had to hand Liam off to a greeter in the drop-off area.

He was a little unsure where to go, but I don't think there were any tears...at least not from him. The next few days were a bit better as more kids began taking the school bus, but it's still a lot earlier and a lot more driving than we're used to.The kids were accustomed to "Garfield Limo" service back in Alexandria and didn't leave the house until 7:45.

Driving all the way to Isla Verde didn't seem worth it, so Jane and I hung out playing cards, reading, and swimming at the water park on base. Her first day wasn't until Thursday. By then, I knew to park down at the bottom of the hill and hike up to the school. Her pre-K program is only 3 hours, and she seemed to enjoy it. Her teacher spent all summer in El Cerrito (near Berkeley), and her son is a professor there. Her daughter-in-law is in charge of the hyenas that you can sometimes hear on the fire trail near Lawrence Hall of Science. Small world!

It was a long week, but we made it!