Isla Verde and beyond

Yesterday Geoff and I wanted to start getting cracking with our chores, but with all the travelling we totally lost track of which day of the week it was and of course everything was closed being a Sunday. So instead, we decided to explore our local area.. instead of heading west like we did on Saturday, we went east this time.. which ended up being a 6 hour walk!

It was great though, we passed a little garage sale where I picked up these really cute mugs, handmade from the Dominican Republic. The handles are whales tails! The start to our new household collection...

We passed through Isla Verde (the touristy area of San Juan) and kept walking, walking, walking until we reached Boca De Cangrejos - this is the sort of area that Geoff and I have been looking for since we arrived! It was all locals, enjoying their lazy Sunday on the beach with their families, listening to the spanish salsa pounding from the little beachside restaurants. We just had lunch, but we HAD to eat again! We treated ourselves to a pina colada and tacos de camarones (shrimp taco) and got chatting to the owner there - who also happened to be a spanish teacher! He gave me the menu which had both the english and spanish names for everything and also showed me all of his salads that they had, explaining to me the spanish names of each of them. We've discovered that in general, Puerto Ricans will not give you the time of day unless you show an interest first - I often smile or say "Hola" to someone, and all of a sudden their entire face changes and they will blabber something in Spanish to me, or offer me a smile in return - and are ALWAYS more willing when you make an effort to speak in their own language! They really are beautiful, helpful people once they know your intentions are not that of the general white tourist that is there just to spend money and get drunk.

Old San Juan

Our first day in our new home so we wanted to get out and explore!

We actually wanted to visit a tourist info office and pick up some maps so we could start getting our bearings, so we thought we'd venture to Old San Juan where there was one. We ended up getting sidetracked and could'nt stop exploring all the nooks and crannies of this beautiful part of the city. This was everything that i imagined - brightly painted buildings, cobblestone roads and old forts. We had lunch in a little alleyway - traditional Puerto Rican fare coupled with salsa music and friendly wait staff. Pina Colada icecream to follow!

Miami

Below are a few photos from our 3 days in Miami on the way to Puerto Rico. It was my first taste of the Carribbean and all the different cultures, accents, foods - and I LOVED it!

The wrap up to Miami

Well our last few days here in Bellingham certainly havent been quiet!

We worked till 2am on the truck last night..its up and running! All our rush for nothing though, because the shipping company emailed and said they wont be here till Thursday...ggrr....

She's all fired up though and pretty much good to go.. some things still need fine tuning and installing (pump, wiring for lights, new seatbelt) but the main thing is, the truck can run.

Our last day of cold weather was spent in Seattle, Geoff had a pre-op exam for his laser eye surgery and I finally managed to pick up my medical forms. One last dinner at my mother-in-law's and we had an early Christmas - ham and pressies!

Warm weather - here we come!!

Plantains

Geoff and I have read alot about plantains. Plantains come from the banana family, but is more used like a potato and it the staple in a Puerto Rican diet.

We came across one at the store here and thought we'd give it a go, to wet our appetite for Puerto Rican food. At first we had great difficulty peeling it, since it resembles a banana in every way (just a little bigger). Geoff cut it in long slices, and fried it lightly in a frying pan. Many recipes said to flatten it after cooking ,so it looks and tastes similar to a potato chip. Not bad actually. I can see us making this dish more often to accompany veggies and meat.

With the rest of the plantain, we caramelized it with brown sugar, cinnamon and milk. No recipe - just our own invention. The result - YUK! Tastes like a stale potato covered with sweet stickiness.

Our trip to Portland, Oregon

So...after hunting around the last week for the truck's title and realising that it was nowhere to found, Geoff and I woke up at 3am to leave for the Dept. of Auto Vehicles near Portland, Oregon yesterday. The truck was still in Geoff's Dads name, and needed to be transferred into Geoff's name, and in order for that to happen, they needed the title and needed to apply in person. I slept half of the way down there...and half of the way back up - but it still hurt since I was still recovering from Black Friday's early morning get up!
On the way back, we stopped by Mt St Helens, a dormant volcano. It was a clear day with perfect skies and absolutely gorgeous views. Too bad we were a bit strapped for time and couldnt do any walking, but the view in itself was satisfying enough.

To top off any good road trip, good food was needed.. we strayed off the freeway and ended up in Monroe - to the best BBQ place I've ever been too (Teddy Bear BBQ) - it was a tiny little hole in the wall wooden house, family owned and really cutely decorated inside - and we stuffed ourselves with pulled pork, beef briskit, pork ribs, corn bread and of course LOADS of their specialty bbq sauces...

So did I sleep well after that? I'll let you decide.

Getting the truck ready...

Geoff has been working really hard on getting his Toyota 4WD ready for shipping to Puerto Rico. I do what I can, cleaning here and there. Not very mechanically-minded I am.. but its something different and its great to have a project that we can work on together.