My trip to Puerto Rico

I get a call 24 hours before I’m supposed to by flying to LA for a family trip. It’s my mother-in-law. It’s apparently going to rain and flood in LA and this trip was supposed to get Natalie’s grandparents outside. So. Would we like to go to Puerto Rico?

YES! So off we went to the Grand Melia resort near San Juan. We usually take trips with Natalie’s family the week before christmas because anywhere you go, it’s pretty empty and everything is much cheaper. And I love empty vacation spots. So we enjoyed the massive pool, the iguanas who were pretty much everywhere, and the cabanas. These cabanas were so awesome- fluttering pink drapery and cool air while I read. Well, thankyouverymuch I will enjoy that. Because when I vacation and am relaxing I do two things: watch waves on the beach and read. Oh, and brainstorm ideas to make my business better (bad Kelly!).

Besides relaxing, we went to the rainforest to hike, which was amazing. I had never been in a rain forest before, and though Puerto Rico has very little wildlife in the form of mammals, it was kind of like being in a “Planet Earth” movie. I actually lagged behind the family group to listen to the forest when no one was talking and just absorb the different noises a rain forest makes.

We also went on a Bio Bay cruise- which is namely kayaking, in the rainforest, at night, really far to see microorganisms glow in the water. Which was really cool once we got in the bay and saw the water glow when you disturbed it. It was like the water was sparkling glitter. I was totally obsessed and drenched myself as I kept taking the water and watch it run down my leg, sparkling. But I had never been kayaking and for sure not at night. In a tiny rainforest canal. I admit I was panicked everytime we hit a mangrove tree’s giant roots that I was going to be eaten by the non existent giant mammals in the rain forest. We were told not to yell so as to preserve the rain forest ecosystem. So let me take the space here to say, “I’m sorry ecosystem. I totally screwed you up that night with my shrieking as we slammed into roots”.

San Juan was also really close to us…and became closer when we were stuck in Puerto Rico for an extra week because of the blizzards in NYC. It’s not a huge city, so you can get the feel of it pretty quickly and can really feel like you got to see the whole city. The colors of the buildings of course were bright and popped out. And I liked exploring the two old forts, looking out over the sea.