And I Thought Cabarete was Crazy!

We had a great visit with Ryan and Brandee, they treated us to some great meals (both homecooked and at an amazing restaurant in Miami)....and they even let me cook once.  Love their hospitality and spending time with this great couple....and the wonder dog Buster.

Finally...a pretty good photo of Herm

The night before we left

But Saturday morning it was time to roll.  Matt spent most of Friday getting us packed up....and we discovered that despite giving away nearly everything we own....we still have too much stuff!  Our Mariner was stuffed!

Right before we pulled out, Herm wouldn't face the camera 

Too Much Stuff!

Telling Ryan Good Bye

We spent Saturday night at Tallahassee, about a 7 hour drive and then Sunday we had arrived in New Orleans.  I've been to New Orleans several times before.....but I must have forgotten how crazy this town is!  I was always amazed at the crazy things I saw in the DR....well New Orleans takes the cake.  I tried to imagine what visitors from another country would think the US is like if this were their only stop?  

This guy reminded me of Linc from Mod Squad

Now obviously we didn't take pics of all the nut jobs we saw, but we did get a few.  Check out the guy with the afro.  How long it's been since you've seen one of those?

Now this guy, we saw several times on Bourbon street, quite the outfit.  Once when we walked buy him he smiled and Matt and told Matt he liked his shirt.  I thought the obvious response was "thanks, I like your bra", but Matt thought it best to just keep walking.

A guy and his goatt

Monday we signed up for a two hour walking tour of the French Quarter.  We debated over whether to take Herm or leave him at the hotel.  Matt actually thought we should take him as he'd spent way too much time in his crate lately.  So Herm was able to see New Orleans.  He was actually incredible on the tour and sat pretty nicely under our table when we had lunch.  He did make a lunge for the oyster po-boy the guy at the table next to us was eating....but to be honest I wanted it too!  Then Matt and I walked around for a couple more hours.  Big day!  And to think we were concerned about bring Herm to the French Quarter, when it seems to be perfectly acceptable to bring your goat.

But of course what New Orleans is really known for is great food and even better music.   We experienced plenty of both!  We had raw oysters, fried oysters, and stuffed oysters.  We had a muffletta, gumbo and pralines.  The only disappointment is we couldn't find room for some bread pudding!  And then the music.  Just about every bar had live music and no cover, starting in the afternoon.  And then along Royal Street were some incredible street performers.  What a cool town!  We took a short clip of one of our favorite bands we found on Bourbon Street.  

Now today we hit the road again.  We'll spend tonight near Houston and then we'll have about four more hours to drive on Wednesday to get to Pharr, TX, the boarder town where we'll cross the baorder on Thursday.  Matt and I need to re-read all the postings on what we need to make for a smooth crossing and I've started cramming on Spanish podcasts.  I haven't used my Spanish for a week now and know it will come in handy the two days we're on the road in Mexico.

And findly an apology.....we bought an Ipod Touch and plan to use it for most of our blog photos since it's so easy to carry around.  But after posting these photos, it's obvious we need to work a bit on figuring out how to use it.

Hasta Luego!

We're Out of There!

Will, it happened.  Our time in the DR was up.

We left the DR on April 23rd and flew to Miami.  Leaving this spot was very hard to do.  I know I've said it before, but the DR is an incredibly beautiful country and we'd met so many amazing people (ex-pats, vacationers and Dominicans).   We quickly felt very much at home....and I definitely plan to return.  Lot of crying going on that last day as we said goodbye to our Dominican friends.

Syd, Nona, Benni, Matt, Jose Luix and Matilde

 Jim and Kristine happened to be in the DR when we left.  This was great, we were very happy we had these two to send us on our way.  They took us to dinner at Alley's our last night...and beat us at Spades (as usual).\\

The flight to Miami was fine...although a bit delayed.  Hermann had no problem whatsoever in the cargo hold.  We were very happy to see Ryan and Brandee, and of course Buster.

The three days we are spending in Ft. Lauderdale have been very busy.  I went to an ENT doctor the first day as I've had problems with one of my ears for six months.  Not great news....I probably need another surgery for polyps but that doesn't fit into my schedule right now.  The doc injected steroids into the polyps (not the most comfortable thing I've ever had done in a doctors office, but not the worse either) and that seems to have helped for now.  We also had major shopping to do to stock up on supplies before we head into Mexico.  And then we've been packing and repacking the car!  Now everything is pretty much ready.

Ryan and Brandee are making their famous Paella tonight and my friend Tri is coming for dinner.  Then tomorrow morning Matt and I hit the road.  We'll spend the first night in Tallahassee, then two nights in New Orleans, two nights in Pharr, TX preparing to cross the boarder, one night on the road in Mexico and then'll by Thursday, May 3rd we'll be at our new temporary home.

We've researched and researched and feel we're prepared....but have some issues still up in the air.  Not sure about we need to do about getting Hermann ready to cross.  Sounds like I need to get another health certificate and it really should be certified by the USDA.  But then some blog postings I've read state that if you take the dog to the vets in the boarder town you can cross without this USDA certificate, and then others say that the Mexican authorities seldom check the paperwork at all.  So we're going to play this by ear.

We also need to get Mexican insurance.  We could do this on line but think instead we'll probably buy it at the boarder.  And then we'll need pesos....lots and lots of pesos.  It's cash only at the gas stations and we'll be filling up several times in Mexico.  In the DR, we'd just draw our money out of the ATM in pesos....but not sure how many towns we'll be passing through that have an ATM.  We'll probably just bite the bullet and exchange currency at the boarder....even at a crappy exchange rate.

So next update should be on the road!!!

Packing Up!

The past five months have flown by.  We have two more days here....hard to believe.

Cher on Hurricane

My friend Cher was planning to be here for a 10 day visit and leave on April 17th.  But she loved it here like we do....so she extended her stay until the 20th.  Having her down her helped keep us busy and our minds off what we needed to do.....which is get ready to leave.

Classy....drinking jumbo size beers in the pool!

Beach at Sosua Oceal Village

Dinner at Gorditos

Jim went with us - but couldn't put down his Ipad

Dr. Bob - Herm's doctor

We had a great time taking Cher to our favorite spots....sometimes a couple of times.  She also went with us to take Herm to the vet to get his health certificate.  

Dr. Bob's Office

Oreo wanting to know when she can go back to the beach!

We've also been pet sitting!  Our neighbors Pat and Angie are in Montana for a bit.  Angie had some health issues she need to get taken care of and Pat went back to help her recover.  We are taking care of their three dogs.  One is their spoiled little Shitzu Oreo and the other two are the "security dogs" Houdini and Angel (Angel is the street dog I found and had spayed and Pat agreed to take her).  Thankfully Cher was her to help with spoiled little Oreo as she likes a lot of attention.  Now that Cher is gone, Matt and I are doing the best we can.  She is really a good girl and is accustomed to going our with her people where ever they go.

Oreo at the Beach

Angel always has a sweet hello for me!

Houdini wants some attention too!

Dinner, Cabarete Style!  Grilled Langostinos!

Matt dug our suitcases out and we're starting to think about filling them up....maybe tomorrow.  We've done a good job of emptying our fridge.....so looks like we'll be eating out the last few days.  But that's OK, lots of great restaurants in this town!

Angel trying to teach me Spanish!

My Spanish tutor, Angel, proposed that we work together every night my last week....sort of a mini-immersion class.  He gave me a great discount to do this but I have a lot of homework.  Don't want to disappoint him so I try very hard.  I actually am able to "think" in Spanish much better now....but actually getting my thoughts out as words is still hard. And I guess I could have found a tutor that wasn't so dang cute, but why?




Saturday my neighbor Jim and I took our motorcycles up to La Cumbre.  This is absolutely my favorite ride and was so glad to get the opportunity to do this mountain ride one more time.  Jim was test driving a bike he wasn't familiar with so he went much slower than what I'm accustomed.  I told Matt that Jim drove like a "vieja".  When I did this trip with the Lush Ladies we kept our speed about 45 kilometers per hour, which was nice and comfortable.  Jim was good at that speed up hill, but going down hill he was going 20 KPH.  The upside is that I saw a lot of great scenery I hadn't noticed before!  We went to El Rancho for lunch and admired the view but then we needed to move....Jim's girlfriend was arriving on the flight from Miami.  I thought that might inspire him to move a little faster on the down hill trip......but not so much.  But then we reached the bottom of the mountain and he was flying!  He said he was up to 70 KPH....the fastest I'd every been on that bike was 50 KPH.  So quite the trip.....but a great one.  Always fun with Jim!

Sunrise from our balcony

One of the reasons why I love it here is how beautiful this country is.  Everywhere we go here has a special and different kind of beauty.  But some of my favorite views are from our condo  Gorgeous view from either our back balcony or our front door.

View from our front door!

 And here are just some random photos.......

Matt and I on "our" beach

Sweet Hurona wanted a beach day

Dukie loves the beach too

Our condo from the beach

Looks like Matt is saying goodbye

We've spent a lot of time under "our" tree

Nona, our housekeeperl.  One of my favorite people in the DR

Hurona always comes for a hug when she sees me

Cookie (Hurona's mom) and I - trying to have a conversation

Sweet Lassie

Duke

Lassie would sleep outside our door, our guardian!

Good Byes, Easter, El Grippe and a Visitor!

Yes...it's been a while.  Our excuse is "el grippe".  We've heard about el grippe, once our gardener was sick and that's what he had.  He said it was "muy mal".  Well...yes.....el grippe IS muy mal.

I started getting sick on a Friday....but tried to hang in there until Sunday.  At that point I had to go to bed.  I had a sore throat, fever and body aches.  On Tuesday I thought I felt well enough to go to school....but I was wrong.  I got back from class and went back to bed.  I woke up later that evening with a sharp pain in my back everytime I breathed.  I started to get very worried and Matt and I discussed what to do.  We knew that if we were in the US we would go to see a doctor by now so maybe that's what we should do.  We roused up our neighbor Pat and he drove us to Sosua to CMC, which is a clinic, emergency room and small hospital.  We walked right into the emergency room, they  got me right in and a doctor came in to exam me within 5 minutes.  No paperwork at all, they didn't even ask my name.  The doctor listened to my chest and determined it was "muscular".  He didn't speak any English so it was my little bit of Spanish that got us through.  He wrote out a long list of meds I should pick up at the pharmacy....no prescription needed here.  We stopped at the front desk and paid - $400 pesos or about $25 US.  Quite a deal.  The drugs were about $30 but within a few days I was feeling better.....of course this was just about the same time Matt started getting it!  So for two weeks one of us has been sick.  We do think we're past it now....and ready to move on.

Fort at Puerto Plata

We have managed to do some fun things....between being bed ridden.  We went to Puerto Plata and attended a Dominican hearing at land court.  Our friend Robin had a terrible experience with a condo she bought about two years ago and the dispute is on going.  We went with her for moral support.  It was quite the experience.  But we managed to stop for a beer, visit La Sirena and go the old fort that is in Puerto Plata.  So not a bad trip.

Gun Turret from the Fort

Then there was Semana Santa.  This is the week leading up to Easter and is a huge celebration for most Dominican families.  We were prepared for a lot of guests at our condo and a lot of activity at the beach.  Well...then the weather turned.  It rained nearly every day for a week and the temperature was in the low 70s.  Really miserable.  Although there were several families booked at our condo, we rarely saw them since they stayed inside for most of the week.  We made one trip down to Cabarete beach just to see the crowd....and it was a crowd....although not nearly as large as normal.  The worst was the traffic!  Well...we saw this once....I don't think we ever need to see this again.

Breakfast at Dick's

Robyn left on Easter Sunday.  We went along with Pat to take her to the airport.  We stopped at Dick's Bakery for breakfast on the way to the airport....and as usual Robyn had a bottle of Bailey's in her bag to top off our coffee.  We will miss her....and the Bailey's.  There's a chance Robyn and her husband Greg will come to Mexico this summer to visit!

Then we had our first visitor!  My friend Cher arrived at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning.  She is a trooper....she took the Spirit flight out of Ft. Lauderdale that leaves about midnight and arrives in Santiago at 2:00 a.m.  Then it's an hour ride through the mountains to get to our condo.  Matt and I got up to meet her and then we all went back to bed for a few hours.  Then we were ready to show her around!

Complete Rainbow

We spend Saturday at our beach and pool, just to relax.  About noon we were hanging at the pool and happened to look up....this is what we saw.  A circular rainbow.  It was very surreal and just a little eerie.  We took her to dinner at our fave spot - Alley's Surf Camp - that night and it was incredible as usual.

Sunday we rented a car and drove to Playa Grande.  Cher and I had a beach day while Matt played golf....I think we got the better deal.  It was a toasty day on the course, but perfect on the beach.  We had been to Playa Grande two other times...both times the weather was cloudy and rainy.  We were due for this visit!  Perfect weather, lots of time in the water, and a great time to catch up!

Pina Colada Pequena

Tuesday was my last day at school.  Lynn had given the kids the final exam the previous week, but only seven of the 13 kids were in class.  So we needed to test six kids.  Lynn had planned an art project for the kid's last day but that was going to be difficult since so many kids needed to be tested.  Luckily, Cher came to the rescue.  She got to do the art project while Lynn and I helped test the kids.  Oh....these beautiful kids.  I'm so going to miss them!  This has been my favorite Dominican experience.

Future Heart Breaker

Eurie, Raphael, Ranfi, Jonathan & Marcel

Jonathan, Marcel & Jennifer

Marcel's Art Project

Our Kids!

Me with Omar (my favorite)

Since we still had the rental car, we drove up to La Cumbre for lunch.  I love this drive....it's always so amazing.  Had a great lunch at La Molina once we made it to the top.

La Molina Deck

View from La Molina

Saw this sweet guy on our way back down the mountain.

Wednesday Lynn had invited Matt and I over to her house for lunch.  She's leaving Friday to spend three months in England....her first trip home in over six years.  We'll be long gone when she gets back so this was our last opportunity to spend some time with her.  Unfortunately Matt was too sick to go, but Cher came with me.  I really wanted her to have a chance to meet Lynn and see her sweet little house.  We had a great visit.  Lynn showed us photos from the years volunteered on the southern side of the island teaching in some very remote and primitive pueblos.

Lynn's Sweet Gypsy Girl

Lunch on Lynn's Back Patio

And then today we went to Sosua Beach.  I have been telling Cher that this is my fave spot in the DR.....and I'm so glad she loved it like we do.  It was a beautiful beach day!  Sunny and not too hot and very calm waves.  We spent a lot of time on the beach and snorkeling.  Good trip!

Cher at Kiko

Sosua Beach

Pina Colada Grande

Another View of Sosua Beach

Beach Musicians

And finally, I wanted to post this pic of Hermann.  Everytime I leave on the motorcycle or return home, he's out of the patio looking through the balcony....just checking on me.  What a sweet boy!