Ok Family.....It's finally here!

Camping in aTropical Isle aloft the Tropic of Cancer

 I need to really think this one out.  Rafe was so disciplined...he journaled just about every, or every other day...whilst I lounged about and ....well, basically lounged.

     For some odd reason...the taxis and some of the restaurants blast Country music.  Not any Country music..but the vintage 1970's cry in your beer kind o'country music.  Rafe knew all the words and sang along, as I sat wondering where the hell was the calypso?  Even the ferry taking us to St John blared the same music.

     We rented a Jeep. Thank goodness. You'd think growing up in West Virginia that you would be immune to being scared by twisty turny hilltop roads.  Ok, Imagine if you will, a roadway designed by Dr. Seuss.  Pl ace it in a tropical setting.  Shave off about a foot off of each side.  Now, lay this tangled heap of asphalt up over hillsides and beautiful tree lined cliffs.   I chose to focus on the blacktop.
I marveled at the smoothness of the road. No potholes, or even road kill or fur was stuck on the pavement.   I didn't see one Opossum, polecat, regular cat, or snake splayed out across the road.   We did see some tiny little deer a few evenings lingering around the cottages and towards the beach.

     Several evenings we noticed the dog-sized deer milling around . They were fairly tame, and did not run off, but did keep their distance.  After dinner, we could stroll down to the beach for an evening swim.  The beach was always empty.  I do remember thinking..."hmmmm...perhaps there's a reason no one else is here....are we gonna be dinner for something???".  Anyway, It didn't stop us.  Once we discovered that we were rolling around with bio luminescent plankton, we were hooked.   Just waving your hand around underwater would produce a lightning bug effect....only really small flickers of light..
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     We grilled out or cooked on the propane cookstove just about every evening.  We found a great place to buy fresh fish caught earlier that morning.   One of the best meals Rafe fixed was swordfish and a hugh lobster tail that we split.  We also had some local vegetable and fruits that worked nicely together.  Mango was in season....but I noticed it at WalMart when we returned home..and it looked exactly the same at the market in Cruz Bay. Hummpf. 

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     Would I camp on the beach again?  Maybe ---but not for 7 days. 

You have to make peace with 'grit and sand' and God knows what else in the bed.

Unheated showers are quite bracing and near unbearable until about day 3...when you walk around clammy and salty and you just WANT fresh water to rinse you off.  I have a better understanding about perhaps why the whole Rastafarian thing  is so popular down there...You try brushing out your hair after days of salt and half rinsed out shampoo and other assorted treats....   I was ready to buy one of those handy over-sized rasta berets.  Perhaps a rainbow one, with a tiny tassel.  I used a WHOLE trial sized conditioner tube the night before we left so I could 'civilize my hair. 

     The sand was powder soft.  The closest thing to a snake I saw was a millipede.  The water was as clear and warm as a soaking tub full of water...  

If you can make peace with all of the above....cook your own grub....shower outside whilst clad in your birthday suit and flip flops....dine alongside of citronella soaked air.....walk no more than 90 steps to the shore....then you to would enjoy camping on the beach....a tropical beach!

Royal Wedding / Birthday Brunch

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Chicagoland metro ...train excursion part 2

     We were let off the train and so proceeded to meander our way with hundreds of others through the large hallways of Chicago's Union station.  We found our way to the Metrolounge and had to show our tickets to gain entrance.  Inside we could store our backpacks and get snacks and drinks.  We noticed alot of Amish / Mennonite groups wandering about.  Inside the lounge there were even more.  They were really enjoying the drink station and several spent the entire time loading up on soda pop....as did I. :D
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     After looking at the some maps, we decided to go out into the city and have a look.  We had about 3 1/2 hours. Out we went.  The Sears Tower was within sight.  It was 37°F and windy.  Very windy. Well, it is the windy city.   Back in we went.  In our quest to pack lightly and only have carry-on luggage, we neglected to pack or wear heavy coats. Ok so back in to the soda pop machine and the Amish / Mennonite and their sensible outerwear.  They had hats and capes.  They could've painted the town red.  Or at least a subdued brown. 
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     We boarded around 2:30.  We were again taken toward the front of the train.  We were told that we were in car 330 and room 5 on the upper floor.  We toted our scant carry on luggage into our 'roomette'.  Wow. It was half the size of our 'deluxe bedroom'  Just two chairs facing one another beside huge big windows.  The seats were the size of 1st class air travel seats.  Looming overhead was the top bunk.  A luggage area was available downstairs for trusting types to stow their goods. Rafe trucked ours upstairs so we could unzip the day packs off and stash them under each seat.    We made dinner reservations for that evening and sat back to enjoy the ride.

Train Expedition-part one

     We boarded the train in Charleston, West Virginia around 9:20. P.M.   Unknown to us the train there "never runs on time". ok. Our trip out west was to include planes trains and automobiles.   It began with an almost key fight at the depot in Charleston.

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     After much plotting and planning we decided to save a few bucks and have an adventure by taking the train out to Phoenix, AZ.  Actually, the train only skims Arizona on the northern side by way of Flagstaff.   On the southern part of Arizona,Tucson was another possibility, but takes almost a week to get there. We decided that three days on the train would be GREAT and that we would just rent a car and drive to Paradise Valley.  But first, the fight.
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     We parked the car at the Charleston Airport and got a taxi to the depot.  I had read that the depot on MacCorkle Ave. was not a great place for your car to wait on your arrival a week later. hmmm.  red flag # 1.  Upon walking into the depot it looked deserted. Almost.  There was a older man slouched over in a seat by the door and a younger man with a duffel bag and a neck tattoo talking on his phone.  The older man had a leather pouch/flask around his neck. He was passed out. I preferred to think of him as taking a nap.  The guy in the office said the train was running behind, so we sat down and waited.  He offered us a deal on an 'upgrade' to a deluxe bedroom.  These are the berth/rooms with their own bathroom and shower.  Think cruise ship bathroom, and squeeze that together.  We jumped at the chance.  When we had originally booked the trip, all the rooms like this had been sold out, and at that time I had thought that riding in  coach would be just fine since we were only riding about 12 hours. We jumped at the chance and got the room.  When we sat down the office guy proceeded to get on his phone and we heard him say: "Why aren't you texting me back?" as he went into a back room.  Red flag #2.
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      Tattoo guy had been digging around in his duffel bag and had containers of pills he was shaking around while he tried to start a conversation with Rafe.  Leather pouch guy continued to 'sleep'.  He got out the words: " I came down here to visit a friend and ended up getting two stents in my heart...." when a big greasy haired guy burst through the doors and shouted : "Where's my f****key???".
     The tattoo guy and his 'friend' yelled back and forth as they circled around each other.  I kept my eyes on the Amtrak Schedule book and proceeded to study all of the westbound routes.  As I whispered to Rafe to keep his eyes down I noticed that he was rolling up his booklet into a  pseudo-rolling pin / eco-friendly billy club. I had bad visions of him getting mouthy with these guys and then somehow getting caught in the ruckus by pouncing up off the chair to take them both down with upper cuts.  Super Rafee.  He continued eyeballing them as the greasy hair guy took a swing at tattoo neck and missed.  Strike one.  Red flag #3.
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     Thankfully the 'sexting' office guy came out and settled things down.  He told them the law was coming.  Greasy hair said he would  change his locks and he split.  Tattoo guy went out for a quick smoke before the policeman showed up.  Leather pouch guy continued to 'sleep'.  The policeman asked the office guy if everything was ok and didn't even fully come into the depot. Red flag #4.  A few more people ambled into the depot and shared their own drama, via cellphone.  At this point I realized that the Jerry Springer show probably wasn't staged and that he was a true pioneer in reality tv.  I also realized that had I kept my original seating reservation, that I too would be sharing their reality, along with the coach seating arrangement.  All 12 hours worth.  The loud steel horse roared in at 9:20, about and hour late.  The office guy kicked the boots of leather pouch guy to wake him.  He gave him the option of  buying a ticket or moving on.  He decided to move on.  Customers with sleeper cars are referred to as First Class, and the office guy led us to a different boarding around outside.  I did look back as we were highstepping it behind the guy to the front of the train.  I saw some others lingering around the front of the depot.  Some "ladies" had apparently gathered by the front entrance. We stepped on a stool and were directed to berth A.

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      We crammed our two rolling backpacks into the L-shaped space and turned out the lights as we watched the city lights outside roll by.  When we reached Huntington the attendant converted the couch into a less than full sized futon bed.   I decided that we needed to leave the curtains open.  We had two large lower windows and upper windows.  I thought this was akin to leaving your balcony door open while staying at the beach or on a cruise. The rail between Charleston and Indianapolis can be a bit rough with periods of very bright lights that seem very close to the rail. Think school bus on an unpaved road with police spotlights directed your way every so often.  At 6:00 we reached Indianapolis.  We decided to get up and see what was for breakfast.   All first class passengers are given breakfast, lunch and dinner in the dining car.  Most meals are reservation only, but breakfast is first come first serve. All meals have community seating.  What red flag number am I on??
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      There was a woman and a one man slinging the hash in the kitchenette.  She was shoving frozen meal foil trays into a convection - microwave type oven.  When we sat down Rafe ordered the french toast.  A lady and her son were seated begrudgingly across from us.  She actually asked the sever/cook/bouncer lady if she was really supposed to sit with us.  I'm not adding any more red flags.
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      This trip from Charleston to Chicago was not an indication of how the rest of the trip would go.  I will note that the lady had her hair in a huge turban/hoodie thing, she was sporting tatts on her upper arms and....golden teeth.  Ok, a couple of gold teeth, but 'golden teeth' sounds alot better.  Her son was in third grade.  We talked with him about the passing landscape and windmills.  They were headed for the Big Easy.  He didn't eat his oatmeal and his mama looked liked she had been tricked into going back to school for the duration of her breakfast.  She didn't talk to him the entire time but just plowed through her oatmeal and fruit.  I had raisin bran and a croissant.  Rafe's french toast were more like the fish sticks of the french toast world. They came with two turkey sausage patties...which he avoided like the red flags they surely were.  We wobbled back to our berth and enjoyed watching the scenery pass by.  I must say the the rail yards in most of the cities seem to be in dicey run down areas.  Did I know this already?  Were train hobos dangerous people? We pulled, or really backed into Union Station in Chicago around 10:30 a.m.  It is a wonderfully grand old station that had more of a mall feel to it.  It was at this junction that the population and feel of the trip went 180°.  From tatts to Mennonite caps.