I'll have a full day report soon, but I have great internet here and can't wait to share.
My #1 goal of this trip was to jump off the bridge at Tensing Pen. Today, after the skies and water cleared, I strapped the gopro camera to my wrist and made my way up the steps to the bamboo bridge. I turned on the camera, checked to make absolutely sure it was recording video, took a few deep breaths, and timidly walked out on the bridge.
Last year I wouldn't jump from the bridge because I was sure that once I stood still, I would not be able to convince my feet to leave the solid platform. It turns out I was wrong... as I stood on the bridge my thoughts were...
"Holy crap that's a long way down, I'm sure it's deep enough, other people jump... this bridge is scary as frack, I'm getting off of it..."
Here is the view of my jump from below the bridge, shot by D.
I set the GoPro on the slow motion setting to get the semi point-of-view video.
WOO, I DID IT!
Friday, April 29, 2011
April 28 - The drive to Negril and the first afternoon
Due to various weather issues, our flight from Charlotte was delayed, re-routed, then re-routed again mid air. I had the window seat, and as we approached Jamaica I looked out to see fluffy clouds floating over the ocean, and a few islands. (I believe we also flew over Cuba) We approached Jamaica from the west, flying over the road we'd be driving on shortly.
Immigrations and customs went pretty smoothly, this is the first year we managed to fill out the forms properly before we got off the plane, so we were able to line right up and scoot on through. The first thing that struck me as we exited the plane was the warmth and humidity. After the winter and spring we have had, it felt like a relief to be a little too warm. As we make our way to the exit there are about 50 or so uniformed drivers, waiting for anyone who needs a ride. We say "No Thankyou" as we walk past, and step out into the humid Jamaican air to find our friend Tryone.
D took the lead, and as I searched the crowd I found Tyrone sitting on a bench. We made eye contact and he jumped up to greet us I called to D to stop and turn around. Tyrone had recognized me, but as he walked up to us he said to D "What did you do Mon? You look younger, I did not recognize you! Welcome back home!"
We climbed into Tyrone's familiar van and caught up with each other as we drove out of the airport, turning west on the main road to circumnavigate the island around to Negril. Along the way we stopped in Lucea (pronounced Lucy) to a stand owned by one of Tyrone's friends... for fresh coconut water and a snack of honey bananas.
There are lots of plants to take pictures of in Jamaica :)
Another 45 minutes or so and we were driving along the familiar strip of Negril. I recognized many of my favorite restaurants, and noticed a few new shops as we cruised the length of the beach. A quick stop at the cambio to change our US dollars to Jamaican, and we finally arrive at our first destination, Tensing Pen. They greeted us with ice cold washcloths scented with lemonbalm, and glasses of fruit punch. After a quick check in, we were taken to our room... the Middle Pillar.
This room is the smallest we've stayed in on the property, and pretty much in the center of the grounds.
We were all pretty exhausted, but as we wandered the grounds and settled in for lunch, G found herself a second wind in the form of a new friend. Lunch was a shared plate of jerk chicken pizza, and ackee pizza for D and I... sort of a Jamaican take on Italian/American. After having spent the last upteen hours confined to a plane, I was happy to just sit by the pool for the rest of the afternoon and let G get a good amount of playtime in with her new friend.
For dinner we made our way to Tensing Pen's dining room again... this time I had snapper simmered in a pumpkin sauce.
I love the way they treat pumpkin here, and the snapper was much thicker and firmer than what we get back home (very much like halibut) After dinner we crashed completely... I recall the rough sound of the ocean just outside the window, and at some point the dogs barked and I halfway woke up... other than that I was dead to the world for a solid 10 hours at least.
Fluffy white clouds leave shadows on the ocean below.
The road to Negril hugs the coastline.
Immigrations and customs went pretty smoothly, this is the first year we managed to fill out the forms properly before we got off the plane, so we were able to line right up and scoot on through. The first thing that struck me as we exited the plane was the warmth and humidity. After the winter and spring we have had, it felt like a relief to be a little too warm. As we make our way to the exit there are about 50 or so uniformed drivers, waiting for anyone who needs a ride. We say "No Thankyou" as we walk past, and step out into the humid Jamaican air to find our friend Tryone.
D took the lead, and as I searched the crowd I found Tyrone sitting on a bench. We made eye contact and he jumped up to greet us I called to D to stop and turn around. Tyrone had recognized me, but as he walked up to us he said to D "What did you do Mon? You look younger, I did not recognize you! Welcome back home!"
My view from inside the van.
We climbed into Tyrone's familiar van and caught up with each other as we drove out of the airport, turning west on the main road to circumnavigate the island around to Negril. Along the way we stopped in Lucea (pronounced Lucy) to a stand owned by one of Tyrone's friends... for fresh coconut water and a snack of honey bananas.
The stand has fruit snacks, fresh coconuts, conch shells, baskets and other gift shop type items.
G and her ice cold coconut - you cannot get fresher than this!
G and Tyrone
There are lots of plants to take pictures of in Jamaica :)
Some local foliage
Another 45 minutes or so and we were driving along the familiar strip of Negril. I recognized many of my favorite restaurants, and noticed a few new shops as we cruised the length of the beach. A quick stop at the cambio to change our US dollars to Jamaican, and we finally arrive at our first destination, Tensing Pen. They greeted us with ice cold washcloths scented with lemonbalm, and glasses of fruit punch. After a quick check in, we were taken to our room... the Middle Pillar.
This room is the smallest we've stayed in on the property, and pretty much in the center of the grounds.
Me at the base of the stairs, our outdoor shower is to the left of the frame (behind me)
The view of our room from the other side of the bridge
We were all pretty exhausted, but as we wandered the grounds and settled in for lunch, G found herself a second wind in the form of a new friend. Lunch was a shared plate of jerk chicken pizza, and ackee pizza for D and I... sort of a Jamaican take on Italian/American. After having spent the last upteen hours confined to a plane, I was happy to just sit by the pool for the rest of the afternoon and let G get a good amount of playtime in with her new friend.
For dinner we made our way to Tensing Pen's dining room again... this time I had snapper simmered in a pumpkin sauce.
The photo is fuzzy and doesn't to it justice... I was far too exhausted to notice that it was out of focus before I scarfed it down.
I love the way they treat pumpkin here, and the snapper was much thicker and firmer than what we get back home (very much like halibut) After dinner we crashed completely... I recall the rough sound of the ocean just outside the window, and at some point the dogs barked and I halfway woke up... other than that I was dead to the world for a solid 10 hours at least.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
April 27-28 flights
As I type this, I'm currently winging my way somewhere over the south eastern portion of the US. Modern technology is amazing! :)
The shuttle service to the airport was an unexpected surprise. We had booked a shared ride to the airport to save a few bucks and ended up with a private ride anyway. Turns out nobody else in our zip code was needing a ride to the airport at the same time we were, so we had the entire van to ourselves. (We have splurged for a private ride home, however, to completely avoid the "stuck at the airport for an extra hour waiting while a fellow passenger argues with the service" scenario of last year)
The overnight flight was as pleasant and quiet as an overnight flight can be. The man in the seat next to me snored something awful, but having grown up with my dad being the Master of Snorers, I actually found it lulled me to sleep, and I did not even need my iPod.
I was a little concerned about sleeping on the plane because I've been feeling my back tensing up for the last couple days... probably all the tension from litany of last minute "To Do" items we were scrambling to get done. However, we were packed and ready to go a couple hours early, and I spent that last bit of time stretching and rolling my back on my foam roller before the airport shuttle arrived. After having slept in contorted positions on a turbulent flight, I'm surprised my back is better now than it was when I left the house.
We flew over some pretty crazy weather on our way from Seattle to Charlotte. The turbulence woke me and I peeked out from under my sleep mask to see the bright flashes of lightening going on outside the plane.
A word to other airline passengers: I won't presume to be the voice for everyone, however I'm guessing that I am not alone when I say that loudly expressing your desire to not die in a plane crash while inside a plane flying through a lightening storm is not appreciated by your fellow passengers... as well as telling your partner that he *should* be afraid to die because he's the one going to hell. I understand feeling fear, but for the sake of others... some things can be kept to yourself.
The lightening storm was actually quite cool to fly through, and we landed without incident... just a wee bit of shaking through the descent.
We hiked through the airport in Charlotte, pausing to freshen ourselves up and grab a bite to eat. The 2 hour layover was just about perfect... once we had checked in, ate and had changed our clothes they were just about ready to board. When they called our zone we popped right over to the door and were the first people on the plane. We had plenty of time to settle ourselves into our seats as other passengers trickled onto the plane behind us. The door to the cockpit was open, so D suggested that G go ask if she could see what it looks like inside. She was a little nervous at first, and I truly thought they wouldn't allow her anywhere near that open door, but they welcomed her in and the flight attendant asked if we had a camera with us.
I leaped out of my seat, camera in hand, and timidly poked my head past the door to find G inside, absolutely delighted with herself. They let her climb into the co-pilot seat and even raised the seat up so she could see out the windshield.
How unbelievably cool is *that*?
I'm off to post this before we fly out of range... time to fill out immigration forms!
The shuttle service to the airport was an unexpected surprise. We had booked a shared ride to the airport to save a few bucks and ended up with a private ride anyway. Turns out nobody else in our zip code was needing a ride to the airport at the same time we were, so we had the entire van to ourselves. (We have splurged for a private ride home, however, to completely avoid the "stuck at the airport for an extra hour waiting while a fellow passenger argues with the service" scenario of last year)
The overnight flight was as pleasant and quiet as an overnight flight can be. The man in the seat next to me snored something awful, but having grown up with my dad being the Master of Snorers, I actually found it lulled me to sleep, and I did not even need my iPod.
I was a little concerned about sleeping on the plane because I've been feeling my back tensing up for the last couple days... probably all the tension from litany of last minute "To Do" items we were scrambling to get done. However, we were packed and ready to go a couple hours early, and I spent that last bit of time stretching and rolling my back on my foam roller before the airport shuttle arrived. After having slept in contorted positions on a turbulent flight, I'm surprised my back is better now than it was when I left the house.
We flew over some pretty crazy weather on our way from Seattle to Charlotte. The turbulence woke me and I peeked out from under my sleep mask to see the bright flashes of lightening going on outside the plane.
A word to other airline passengers: I won't presume to be the voice for everyone, however I'm guessing that I am not alone when I say that loudly expressing your desire to not die in a plane crash while inside a plane flying through a lightening storm is not appreciated by your fellow passengers... as well as telling your partner that he *should* be afraid to die because he's the one going to hell. I understand feeling fear, but for the sake of others... some things can be kept to yourself.
The lightening storm was actually quite cool to fly through, and we landed without incident... just a wee bit of shaking through the descent.
We hiked through the airport in Charlotte, pausing to freshen ourselves up and grab a bite to eat. The 2 hour layover was just about perfect... once we had checked in, ate and had changed our clothes they were just about ready to board. When they called our zone we popped right over to the door and were the first people on the plane. We had plenty of time to settle ourselves into our seats as other passengers trickled onto the plane behind us. The door to the cockpit was open, so D suggested that G go ask if she could see what it looks like inside. She was a little nervous at first, and I truly thought they wouldn't allow her anywhere near that open door, but they welcomed her in and the flight attendant asked if we had a camera with us.
I leaped out of my seat, camera in hand, and timidly poked my head past the door to find G inside, absolutely delighted with herself. They let her climb into the co-pilot seat and even raised the seat up so she could see out the windshield.
How unbelievably cool is *that*?
I'm off to post this before we fly out of range... time to fill out immigration forms!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Preparations
It seems as though no matter how far in advance I plan, how many lists I write, itineraries I print, or schedules I outline... something is going to come along to try to frack it all up for me.
In the last week we've had to take the truck into the shop twice (for two unrelated issues), had our fridge break, had a leaky toilet, and the frosting on the cake was when the guys working in our yard shattered the sliding glass door with a stray rock. (It slowly spiderwebed, but by the time anyone noticed the impact, the entire door was imploding in slow motion. It would have been cool to watch if I were not freaking out.)
However, I refuse to be deterred in my endeavors!
I am in the final stages of prepping for the trip... laundry is spinning happily away, piles of "must pack this" things are forming, I've set up a suitcase staging area in our spare bedroom. Thanks to the broken fridge we have pre-disposed of all potential mold growing experiments, and the lack of cooking has kept the kitchen nice and clean. My camera equipment is set aside, SD cards are cleared and ready, and my new Kindle is set up to keep me entertained for the long flights.
This year, one of my goals is to get through the flights without having the familiar adverse sinus issues crop up. Almost every time I fly I get sinus headaches for days after (at best) or sinus infections (at worst), so I've been doing some research online to see if there are steps I can take to avoid these kinds of things.
One article I read, which made a lot of sense, talked about how dried out we get when we travel... not only from the recirculated air, but because we tend to not drink as much water when we travel in order to avoid frequent pit stops. The suggestion is to stay hydrated, and deal with the multiple trips to the bathroom (which ends up being better for your circulation while flying anyway) So I'll be taking that approach, along with some of the suggestions from these articles:
Allergy travel tips
Sinus Pressure While Flying
I'm armed with ibuprofin for sinus pressure, nasal gel to keep my sinuses from drying out, my netipot for post-flight flushing, sudafed for decongesting, and hand sanitizer for all the germy germs.
I haven't purchased sudafed in many, many years... by the way. Not since they put it behind the pharmacy counter and required you to sign a waiver and hand over a dowry just to clear your nose. When D came looking for me in the store he found me at the pharmacy counter and I explained what I was buying. He said, in a very loud voice, "Oh... is that for your meth lab?"
Thankfully we were surrounded by people with a sense of humor.
I've also loaded up my iPod with meditations to help me relax on the overnight flight. The podcasts are free through iTunes, or you can go to the Meditation Oasis website to see what else they have to offer. I've actually used a number of their meditations to help me get to sleep at night when my mind is buzzing too quickly to settle down, and they are very effective.
So with this... I am officially within the 48 hour mark of my first flight off to the island. We have some ideas for the trip, a few excursions we're hoping to explore... but as the last week as taught me, having too tight of a grip on your "plans" can make for a stressful time. So... we leave them as ideas to keep in mind, and we'll see what happens.
In the last week we've had to take the truck into the shop twice (for two unrelated issues), had our fridge break, had a leaky toilet, and the frosting on the cake was when the guys working in our yard shattered the sliding glass door with a stray rock. (It slowly spiderwebed, but by the time anyone noticed the impact, the entire door was imploding in slow motion. It would have been cool to watch if I were not freaking out.)
However, I refuse to be deterred in my endeavors!
I am in the final stages of prepping for the trip... laundry is spinning happily away, piles of "must pack this" things are forming, I've set up a suitcase staging area in our spare bedroom. Thanks to the broken fridge we have pre-disposed of all potential mold growing experiments, and the lack of cooking has kept the kitchen nice and clean. My camera equipment is set aside, SD cards are cleared and ready, and my new Kindle is set up to keep me entertained for the long flights.
This year, one of my goals is to get through the flights without having the familiar adverse sinus issues crop up. Almost every time I fly I get sinus headaches for days after (at best) or sinus infections (at worst), so I've been doing some research online to see if there are steps I can take to avoid these kinds of things.
One article I read, which made a lot of sense, talked about how dried out we get when we travel... not only from the recirculated air, but because we tend to not drink as much water when we travel in order to avoid frequent pit stops. The suggestion is to stay hydrated, and deal with the multiple trips to the bathroom (which ends up being better for your circulation while flying anyway) So I'll be taking that approach, along with some of the suggestions from these articles:
Allergy travel tips
Sinus Pressure While Flying
I'm armed with ibuprofin for sinus pressure, nasal gel to keep my sinuses from drying out, my netipot for post-flight flushing, sudafed for decongesting, and hand sanitizer for all the germy germs.
I haven't purchased sudafed in many, many years... by the way. Not since they put it behind the pharmacy counter and required you to sign a waiver and hand over a dowry just to clear your nose. When D came looking for me in the store he found me at the pharmacy counter and I explained what I was buying. He said, in a very loud voice, "Oh... is that for your meth lab?"
Thankfully we were surrounded by people with a sense of humor.
I've also loaded up my iPod with meditations to help me relax on the overnight flight. The podcasts are free through iTunes, or you can go to the Meditation Oasis website to see what else they have to offer. I've actually used a number of their meditations to help me get to sleep at night when my mind is buzzing too quickly to settle down, and they are very effective.
So with this... I am officially within the 48 hour mark of my first flight off to the island. We have some ideas for the trip, a few excursions we're hoping to explore... but as the last week as taught me, having too tight of a grip on your "plans" can make for a stressful time. So... we leave them as ideas to keep in mind, and we'll see what happens.
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