Puerto Rico Part IV - Mimi

Mimi Saves the Day

The last 9 days of our trip were exactly what the doctor ordered. My sister, Mindy, joined us. She's the aunt that every kid wants. She is fun, funny, fashionable, flexible, and fabulous. She doesn't live to far from us in Minnesota so we get to see her frequently and she is very engaged in the lives of her nieces and nephews. (My kids have another aunt who is also fun, funny, fashionable, flexible, and fabulous, but she lives in Iowa and that distance makes the engagement/connections harder.) Mindy - a.k.a. Mimi - has been quite the world traveler this year. She traveled to Turkey for an entire month this year and now joined us in Puerto Rico for 9 days.  (Yea for lots of vacation time!) Everyone was excited to have her come. I've learned that a week of rest, relaxation, and solitude without regular engagement with other friends/family is about the max for us. Mindy's arrival was the change we needed. We spent the week bringing her to some of our favorite places and on some new adventures.

Our new dwelling was 25 minutes further southwest from Palmas Del Mar in a town called Yabucoa. It was a beautiful, spacious home with an ocean view and it's own shared/private beach entrance. This gorgeous home had 2 levels, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a big ol' kitchen table, and a sweet living area upstairs. And, of course, we had a pool. 

This is what every morning (except one) looked like. I took the below photo from my bedroom. Just before 7am I would see the world start to brighten. As I would roll over and peek out my window I could watch the sun rise up over the ocean. At night, the only lights were the neighbor's Christmas lights. We saw lots of stars. Also at night, the ocean waves would literally thunder into shore. I woke up a couple of times wondering if we were having a thunderstorm. It does make me wonder...does Puerto Rico have thunder storms?

On Tuesday, December 20, we made the hour-long journey up to San Juan to meet Mindy and have dinner at The Oyster Shack in San Juan. Calla had a hankering for oysters and we knew Mindy would be ready for a meal and enjoy oysters as her inaugural meal in PR.

On one of our adventures with Mindy we went back to Old San Juan. This time we paid the National Park entrance fee to explore one of the forts/castles and cemeteries. Mindy is a history major so she was geeking out. We learned a lot about Puerto Rico's history here.

We made a stop at Pigeon Park. (It was super creepy and I actually got pooped on - even though Lincoln was the one with birds sitting on him. I'm trying not to read into it. 🐦😈) Lincoln made a new friend. Finally, we stopped at Señor Paleta - the popsicle place we found with the Ellingsons. It was still SOOO GOOD! 

One not-so-fun fact about Mindy is she almost died once by means of rip current in the waters off Todos Santos, Mexico. As you can imagine, oceans are not really her thing anymore. While in Turkey this year she put her feet in ocean water, desiring to conquer any fear of the ocean. But that's as far as it went - just her feet. Knowing this, we brought her to the calmest, best beach around - Luquillo. It was super close to the spot we had gone with the Ellingsons. Good sand, chairs and umbrellas available for rent, and easy waters. 

In Luquillo, Mindy submerged herself in the water. Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence since we all went with her into and under the water, but we are all witnesses. However, in the background of the photo below, you see Mindy with Calla in waist-high water. 

Taite found a sandcastle-making book at our house that morning, skimmed it, and began building an impressive structure. One thing he learned is that the best sandcastle-building sand is located in the depths of the beach - closer to the water table. Lincoln and Taite dug a deep hole. (Notice Taite is standing in the hole in the first photo. Lincoln joined the construction of this estate. All the beach goers were impressed. Adults were taking photos while holding their kids back from kicking down the castle lookouts and walls. 

A family from Florida had taken up space near us and their two boys (5 and 2 years old) decided Taite was their new friend. Kruz and Zeke "helped" Taite add to his sandcastle then played football and had running races with Taite and other athletes on the beach. The Santos' were a super sweet family and next time we are in Destin, Florida, we are for sure working out at the gym they own - Militia Fitness. 

Degree 18 was calling our name again so at the end of the day we brought Mimi there and we invited our new friends, the Santos', to join us. 

The coffee plantation Hacienda Muñoz brought us back out to the San Lorenzo mountainous farm life. We learned all about the growth of the coffee bean and its journey to our mugs. We also learned that even coffee has been tainted in the name of profit...except at Hacienda Muñoz. 😉☕️

Once our coffee plantation tour was over, we needed to make a decision - where should we have lunch? Should we stay at Hacienda Muñoz and eat at their restaurant? Or should we head to La Ruta de Lechón...the Pork Highway in Guavate. We chose the Pork Highway and it was one of the top 3 most authentically Puerto Rican experiences we had. I was told the people in Puerto Rico LOVE pork. A portion of a highway is entirely dedicated to it. Restaurant after restaurant roasted full pigs on a spit. The place was packed. There was music and dancing and laughter and food. So much fun! As gringos, it was clear we were tolerated more than welcomed, but we enjoyed our time just the same. 

In this middle of it all we spent Christmas in Puerto Rico. On Christmas Eve we went back to Palmas Del Mar and participated in a beautiful church service that was mostly in English, but had songs and some messages in Spanish. It served a somewhat diverse community.

On Christmas Day we played lots of card games, swimming pool games, and basketball games. Facials and foot soaks. Beach time and hammock time. A cheesy Christmas movie. There was even a night swim.

"Keep Up" was the very creative name the kids gave to their Christmas Day keep-the-ball-in-the-air pool game. The record was 150 touches to keep it in the air! This game kept the majority of the family entertained for hours. 

For me, it was a very impactful and life-changing Christmas that deserves its own post. 

More to come on that...

We spent a day back in El Yunque. This time we didn't call in advance to purchase the pass for access to go to the top of the mountain. Instead, we drove to the various other sites within El Yunque on this very rainy day. Charco el Hippie was recommended to us by our friends, the Englers. Interestingly, a not-so-fun fact about me is that I, too, almost died while cliff jumping in Mexico in college. So to take my children cliff jumping was no easy feat. The spot was a hidden gem (very hidden). We all hiked to the swimming/cliff jumping spot. While the kids made their way into the water and then up to the cliff, I stayed on the rocks across from them with one hand holding the camera, the other hand over my eyes half covering them, and doing A LOT of praying. Taite first swam around doing "research" on where the rocks were. He showed the kids where the safest place to jump was. It was a very calculated risk. They all took it and lived. Praise God.

Lincoln

Parker

Taite

Calla

Within this El Yunque day drive, we stopped to see the most expensive house for sale on the island - Hacienda Ilusion. It's on Zillow for a cool $48 million. 

Then we found Las Paylas - the Natural Waterslide. All the kids ventured to try this, too. It was painful watching them go down this slide. One by one they all said, "Owww" as they got to the bottom. They each did it twice and decided that was enough. (Another calculated risk.) 

Hopefully you can see the expression on Lincoln's face.

At both Charco el Hippie and Las Paylas we were able to do some rock climbing/hopping. We all looked a little bit like Tarzan, but with all the rain it was super slippery so it was important to don our most authentic jungle man. 

Finally, we topped off this day with possibly the best meal we had on the whole trip - La Estación. It was an old, renovated gas station turned restaurant. They are known for their brisket and Oh. My. Pickles!!! It did not disappoint. I really want to figure out how they did that. I can't be going to Puerto Rico just for brisket.

We had one more meal worthy of mentioning. Prime Market in Guayama. It was a tapas and burger restaurant. Vanna was the star of the show here. This is another restaurant worth the drive and money.

To top off our trip, we returned to the Wyndham Rio Mar two more times (once on the 27th and on the 29th before our flight while we had time to kill). The draw to the Wyndham's beach was the waves. They were big enough for body boarding (unlike Luquillo) and we all had a blast body boarding the first week. Since we still had our boards, we spent the day making sand castles, body boarding, and shopping. (The Wyndham also has a really great gift and sundries shop.)

This was Calla's sand art. 🥸

It was a fabulous 9 days. It was a fabulous 33 days. And now, as I type, we are home - just in time for the New Year. We've asked each person in our family to contemplate and document their final reflections. I'll plan to post those very soon. Until then...thanks for joining us on the journey. We love you guys!