Hola

Como estas?

This post is coming to you live from Ponce, Puerto Rico. The family and I are here for a week of bonding and togetherness. I just wanted to check in and post a little update. We arrived yesterday and visited el Castillo de Santo Cristobal and El Morro...two amazing forts that were so well designed and built, that they protected this little gem of an island from seizure for over four centuries. They're quite impressive, and of course Gator LOVED them!

After that we checked in to our cheeky little motel in San Juan. We're on a budget trip here...free flights and all...so I spent hours searching for lodging that wouldn't be too horrible but was within my minuscule price range. The two-block rambling Coqui Inn won out. It was painted floor to ceiling with airbrushed garden murals...giant insects and frogs, birds, greenery etc., and boasted two swimming pools. The paintings were a very cute way to make a budget place more appealing.

This morning Doc and I both went running. I'm nearly a third of the way through my Couch to 5K running program and I am SO SO SO SO!!!! happy to announce that I've been pain-free for a while now. Pain Free. Now even the dull achiness I used to routinely get has disappeared completely. I'm really enjoying the fact that I have a list telling me what to do every other day. I just put on the shoes, stretch, do what the paper tells me, and it's working! Now I just need a cross-training assignment to follow on alternate days...including strength training. Seems like that's the best way for me to go about transforming myself successfully...just have a list I can check off.

Anyway, I ran along the beach in San Juan. It was hot (10:00 a.m.) and humid and perfect. After we checked out of the hotel, we drove to Arecibo Observatory and toured the facilities at largest radio telescope in the world. You know the one...it was in the movie Contact with Jodi Foster and Matthew McConaughey. Then we embarked on what we thought would be a quick hour and a half drive to Ponce, but which actually took over 3 hours on the twistiest jungley road I've ever been on. We probably averaged 13.243 mph the entire way...but it was absolutely beautiful scenery, and fun to get off the beaten path. The kids were snoozing in the back seat, so Doc and I just enjoyed the topography of the interior of this enchanting island.

The kids asked us after we checked in at our first hotel yesterday if any of our other hotels were going to be "Fancy Hotels?" In response, I said "Is your daddy in medical school?" They chorused "yes!" "Well, as long as that's the case, we won't be staying in any fancy hotels." I told them.

Fast forward a day. We pulled up to the Howard Johnson Ponce hotel...and they both started chiding me for telling them we weren't staying anywhere fancy.

"It's got that golden cart to put your suitcases on...and they give you soap and shampoo and towels and there's a clock in the room. And a pool and TWO jacuzzis! That's all we mean by fancy! This is a fancy hotel. Not grand, but definitely fancy."

Pardon me, I stand corrected.

So we enjoyed a balmy evening swimming in our fancy hotel's pool and jacuzzi, and I laid on a fancy lounge chair soaking up starlight with Doc. It was so relaxing we felt like we were actually on vacation! It's good to be here together.

Tomorrow we're going on a boat snorkel trip to the waters around Coffin Island, which is off shore about 45 minutes. Afterwards, I'm sure we'll return to our fancy hotel, worn out, but happy and ready for some more fancy pool time.

I'm kind of taking a fancy to this place...♥

This post was brought to you by the letter F and the number 2