Aruba - Jeep Tour / Poker

These are some photos from our Jeep Tour. We went to where the Natural Bridge used to be as well as the gold mines, natural pool and the highest point on the Island. We took the tour w/ a couple from Canada who were very nice. We got extremely dusty and had the ride of our lives. We traveled down "roads" that weren't roads and climbed rocks that were more of boulders. Note to self: Bring tennis shoes next time..I had on flip flops.

That was the night I fell in love w/ Carribean Poker. I played twice while we were there. Once we played and I started w/ $30, played for an hour and a half and left w/ $300. Next time I played I started w/ $100, played for around 45 minutes and left w/ $200.

We are still talking about the trip and really wanting to go back...like NOW.

Aruba Day 5 - Parasailing Day

Monday in Aruba was a BEAUTIFUL Day! 100% sunshine and a wicked breeze. I was feeling a little down since I didn't do crap on Monday. We woke up and J went down and got me an awesome iced coffee drink. We got packed up for the beach and found a spot to sit down. We were right next to one of those tents that had everything from jet ski rentals to raft rentals. I looked at Jeremy and said, "I want to parasail today". I had never parasailed EVER before in my life. Jeremy said, "Go up to the room and get some money out of the safe, I'll sit here". So I arranged for my 15 minute $50 parasailing trip. The guy radioed for the boat, "Georgie, Georgie, come into the Marriott"....as you can see above the boat came right up to the beach. Georgie was on boat welcoming us aboard. I was not keen on the metal stairs but I made it in the boat without falling, great accomplishment for me. On board was Mom and Dad Long Island w/ their princess and two scrapper boys. Dad New Jeresey was also on board w/ two teenage girls and one boy. Georgie informs us, "Yesterday was Easter and everyone got really drunk and everyone is too hungover to work today, so Sergio will be my helper." Sergio was 10, MAYBE 11 years old. Darling little brown boy with jet black ringlets, he looked like an angel. I realized that I was putting my life in Sergio's hands.

Mom Long Island wanted OFF the boat. This was because princess, who was maybe 3 1/2 was scared to death. The boat was going fast and Sean Paul and Justin Timberlake were BLARING. Princess was screaming. We got out away from the shore and Georgie looks at Dad Long Island and says, "You Ready?"...so with the help of Sergio Dad and Scrapper (approx 5) get strapped in. They go through their safety training which I am paying attention to w/ both ears. Up they go...so this is how this works. I didn't pay much attention to them since I was enjoying the splashs of water in my face and checking out the scenery. They bring them back to the boat without incident. Princess is still crying. Georgie decides it is time to dump these folks. He radio's a boat full of people to meet us. Mid water the two boasts come together...held together by Sergio as Team Long Island walks from one boat to the other. Dad helps transport the two scrappers, then gets mom over. I hang on to Princess, who is now very calm, they should have given her to me in the first place. So off they go.

Sergio looks at me and says, "Lady, you ready?". I had my underwater camera off to New Jeresey Teen, along w/ my sunglasses. I step into the harrness, Sergio tells me, "DO NOT HANG ON TO THE METAL CLIP"..there was a little fear in his eyes, I make a mental not to NEVER touch the clip. There I am in my life jacket and clip. Sergio informs me that when I go up I should sit like a swing, he shows me as he squats, holding a pole to steady himself, "See lady, like a swing". I nod that I understand, Georgie cranks the music. New Jeresey points the camera and says, "Smile!!"..I have to get these pictures developed.

The breeze catchs the chute and I can feel an upward tug. Georgie releases the line and up I go, just like a flipping kite. Up, sidesways, down, sideways, up again...a couple times I was down so far I was sure that I was going to touch the water. OMG, I could see all the dive sites and I was up SO high...Then the up the down...I was SO done. I did the sideways arm wave, I was ready to get down. Sergio and Georgie were too busy getting the NJ Teens getting ready for their tandum ride. Hmmm, Lady high in the air white knuckeling the whole thing or two tight body teenagers in bikini's...You see where their priority was. 5 minutes later down I go, it was really a smooth ride back down and very uneventful. Sergio was there for me, "STAND LADY, DON'T SIT"...I did as he said.

Total time out on the boat was at least an hour, I guess I got my $50 worth. I can't wait to see these pictures.

I get back to Jeremy who tells me that I was SO far up and so far away from the beach he really couldn't tell when it was me up there. Then he tells me the story about when he was in Mexico and the guy's thingy broke and he flew up, then back down into a reef, they had to take him away in an ambulance. Glad J waited to tell me. I was also glad I did that on an empty stomach.

Now I'm famished, we eat a late lunch then go up for a nappypoo. Poor J forgot to put sunscreen on the bottom of his legs..burt.. I feel refreshed! J says, "Lets go for a walk and hit that bar you want to go to". Off we go. We go to the Soprano Piano Bar, Kati our bartender was from Columbia, very pretty girl. We are there before Barry begins his set, there are only a couple people in the joint. We chat about music with Kati..then Barry comes out. I wave, he asks, "Mary Pat Killmer from St Louis"...I smiled. Of course I emailed the Piano player before we went!! Barry was amazing, great selection of music and an awesome player. Somehow w/ my glow in the dark, malibu rum drinks I racked up a $80 bar bill. Damn. Thank god J's cokes were free refills.

Walk home was uneventful, I still had my whirlpool bath then crashed...what a great sleep that was.

MP's Aruba Creation - Day 2

I'm doing major catch up at work today. The porn is off my computer but it was stripped bare, so now I'm trying to get it back to the way I need it to for work.

Day 2 of Aruba was a bit uneventful. I woke up, had some great french toast made by Sherrie Buffman then it was off via cab to the Marriott. Tommy the cab driver was AWESOME. We arranged for him to pick us up at 5pm to take us to the Flying Fishbone.

J and I weren't able to check in right away at the Ocean Club but we were able to check our luggage. We took a walk on the beach then got a bite for lunch. Before 3pm our room was ready for check in. We were trilled w/ our room. One bedroom, full kitchen, dining area, whirlpool tub, stand up shower and balcony.

5pm Tommy picked us up and we traveled South to almost the tip of Aruba, 15 miles from Venezula. We ate at the Flying Fishbone. Shoes off w/ our toes in the sand. Should I rephrase, my shoes off and my toes in the sand. It was pricey but the food was good. The bad thing was that they sat you so close together we felt the need to whisper. Added bonus, the Dutch family next door has a deck. Dad and son were out there smoking and drinking wine. 2 of the little ones came out to play. The baby, maybe 16 months..was nekkid..little bondie boy without a stitch of clothes, boy, the dog and a fishing pole, it was hysterical!! We headed back to the Marriott after dinner and hit the casino. This time it didn't hit back, I think we made up for the night before. Well I guess I should say Jeremy did...I lose, he wins ususally. After getting back to our room the first thing I did was fire up the old whirlpool tub...man that was aweome. I have to get myself one of those.

Slept like a baby..except for the trobbing elbow and burning knee.

See the cool collage I made???
Day three later...

Aruba Part One

Injured MP sitting at Buffman's. ....View across from Tulips...

Wedesday: I leave work early. It's an OK day and we are packed and ready to go. Temperature is dropping fast. We take a cab with a Chinese guy from Vietnam to the Days Inn at the Airport. What a HOLE!! We watch TV and I sleep while Jeremy is awake by the "party" in the next room. We make it down to the shuttle by 5am and get to the airport without incident. Of course it is around 25 degrees outside. Flight to Chicago was on a puddle jumper. When we get to Ohare we actually have to get out on to the tarmac and back up into the airport, it was even colder there. I'm in my navy velour sweatpants and a shortsleeved shirt. We get Starbucks and a muffin and wait for the Aruba flight. We're not sitting together but we're in the same row, I have my window..in the LAST row, I'm seated next to two Canadians who were very touchey feely. Jeremy was on the aisle next to two from CT..they chatted alot. I read. I had seen both movies so it was great reading time.

We land in Aruba and smoothly make it through customs, we pick up our luggage and walk outsite. BAM! The warmth of the sun hits you in an instant. We figure out we need to just grab a cab and get moving. I couldn't wait to get out of those pants and into some shorts! We have a nice cab driver, I take out my handy blue folder w/ the trip details. We give him the address for the Buffman's...smart MP has their phone number as well. We eventually make it to their place. They may has well rolled out the red carpet. They upgraded us to a 2 bed apartment/villa. We had a kitchen and bathroom as well as a couch and cabel TV. They took us to the patio and offered us a drink. First things first though, I was in shorts and flip flops right away. They offered to walk us to the beach. This was a CRAZY walk. Drivers in Aruba drive...because they can. We made it over to Eagle Beach, chit chatting along the way. The Buffman's are from Mass. They chucked it all and moved to Aruba and opened a business. NICE!!

Easter is a HUGE holiday for the Arubans. A majority of folks camp out in tents on the beaches around the Island. There was families, music, partying... We walked along the beach but we had one thing on our mind, FOOD! The Buffman's recommended Tulip. What a cute place, it was owned by a Dutch family. The kitchen didn't open for a half hour so we chit chatted and I emailed Bess to have her call mom to tell her I was OK. Mom likes to know when the planes land safe.

Dinner was excellent. Jeremy and I split a shrimp appetizer, then he got the salmon and I had tuna. The vegetable medley of sorts had South American Carrots which are now my new favorite vegetable. I had an awesome glass of Sangria too. We left there and spotted the Key Largo Casino..it was air conditioned. We didn't do very well but we had fun. We met some nice people..well everyone was nice actually..on the whole flipping Island. We left for the walk back to Buffman's. I wasn't looking forward to this. It was a bit like Frogger hopping accross the road. I was in flip flops too. We made it over to the gas station, I wanted ice cream, J needed a coke. We have our bag of goodies and navigate through the dark. Cross the street, head behind the Taxi Stand, over the parking lot, down the curb, onto the street...6 houses down on the right. Sounds easy, right? WRONG...that "down the curb" part...that really messed me up. In flip flops holding my shopping bag and nylon pack...I ROLL off the curb...thinking as I am falling..."do NOT break your ankle"...so I have ALL of my weight dispursed mainly to my right elbow..and my right knee. Jeremy turns to me and says, "What the Hell? Oh My God!"....followed by "What did you do?"..right after was "Are you OK?"....I was NOT moving...the PAIN...I tried brushing myself off and reaching out for J to help me up. If he said "Oh My God" once..he said it a million times. I had gravel stuck into the palm of my right hand w/ skin falling off...wait, lemme look..yep..there is STILL gravel in there. My knee...blood..just like when I fell off my bike..when I was a kid. My elbow..that is an entire paragraph which includes words like blood, clotted mess, bloody mess, raw, bloody raw, oozing..get the picture. The next morning I looked, there was a blood trail from the scene of the incident all the way to the door of our place. I stripped off my clothes and got into the shower. Luckily Buffman's supplied each room with a first aid kit. I actually put the alcohol pad on first followed by gauze and then wrapped and taped it. Remember the story about how seriously Aruban's take Easter? Well the next day was Good Friday...everything will be closed. Hopefully those alcohol pads will do what they are supposed to. I took 2 Tylenol PM's and passed out...knee, hand and elbow throbbing. I didn't care..I was in Aruba.
**Image from Buffman's. That is where we sat and talked, and ate breakfast. We watched Iguanas and enjoyed the company and the wonderful breeze.

Day Two coming soon.