St. Thomas and Dominca

I look through these pictures and it already seems like a long time ago. As soon as you step back into the United States, the Caribbean islands all seem to fade away and become dream-like in memory. The air I breathed was different, the people I stared at were different (I was discreet with the staring - I hope) the whole world just seems more bright and beautiful. I love vacations. Flipping through these pictures helps me remember it all. I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship but I did take a lot of pictures. You were warned!

St. Thomas. Loved it. Could live there - happily.

We went to Magen's Bay for the day and it was everything I had heard it would be. We only have one picture from our stop there because about five seconds after this picture was taken, we had all stripped down to our birthday, oops I mean bathing suits and jumped in the water. It was amazing. Warm, clear and turquoise.

This is Dominica. It is crazy green and lush and gorgeous. It has the Peton mountains (and Peton beer which is surprisingly good. It is also very cheap for thirsty tourists - strictly FYI).

All the shopping, buildings, stores, hotels are all right here by the harbor to make it easy for the cruise ship people to access. As soon as you are ten minutes away from the pier it is crazy. I don't mean good crazy either. I mean close-your-eyes-and-don't-watch crazy. We had a tour van take us to our excursion in Dominica. River tubing was what we had signed up for but little did we know we had also paid for a drive that would take years off of our lives. My poor husband was practically leaning out the window so he wouldn't vomit and I was holding on for dear life and trying not to stare into the white's of the oncoming driver's eyes. Not only do they drive on the wrong side of the road - they just drive wrong. It would be like driving with a drunk 5-year old behind the wheel. Lots of speed, lots of honking and lots of swerving.

Finally we made it to our destination. I must admit I was a little anxious about the river tubing. I am not fond of snakes and I had a feeling there might be some living in the rain forest and wanting to swim in the river while I was in there. I was worried about my hiney being in the water. I should have known they would make sure wimpy people like me had nothing to worry about. The bottom of the tube had a plastic piece so that your hiney wouldn't scrape (too hard) against the rocks. That being said, I did hear some people complain about rock wedgies.

Warning: Mark had the camera so there are a lot of pictures of ... me.

The helmet look is making a come-back. Or so I've been told.

We tubed down the river for miles and it was hands-down my most favorite excursion. We did a vote at the end of the trip and all four of us loved it the best. It had awesome rapids, great guides and I didn't see even a baby snake. During the slow parts of the river I would just lean my head back and look at the forest canopy that would spread above me and it was like I was in Jurassic park. Everything that grows there is huge. Huge leaves, huge vines, huge plants and huge bushes. It was unforgettable.

Tomorrow I will be posting pictures of sea turtles, sunken ships, and (drum roll please) some ziplining videos!