Sunshine & Beaches . . . in Puerto Rico.

Yes.

Papa and I are home from our . . .

30th Anniversary Vacation Trip.

We took an overnight flight from Seattle to New York on Saturday, October 6th,

and on to San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday the 7th.

We spent a week exploring, resting, walking, laughing (and so much more),

flying home on Saturday night the 13th.

It was . . .

. . .  Fun.

. . .  Relaxing.

. . .  Amazing.

I hope you enjoyed all of my pre-scheduled blog posts last week.
Today, I want to answer just a couple of questions that we have gotten recently . . .


1.  Why did you keep it a "secret"?

      answer:  While our close friends and family knew when we would be gone, and where
                    we were going, I didn't want to share with "the whole world" (through the blog)
                    that we would be leaving 4 children home alone for a week while we were
                    out of the country

                    Elijah spent the week at Gregg & Kayla's house "perfecting his Uncle skills"
                   (as one friend put it) and Ben (19) came home to stay with Hosanna (16),
                    Sarah (13), and Josiah (12).  Sarah spent the middle of the week at a friend's house;
                    while Ben and Josiah spent a few days of "brother-bonding-time" building a tree fort.          
                 
                   No "secret" at all . . . just a bit of protection for the children at home

2.  How did you choose Puerto Rico as your Vacation Destination?

     answer:  Actually . . . we have never thought of traveling there, it was not any type of
                    dream to go there.  Nope.  But . . . we were looking for "Sunshine & Beaches".

                   A year ago, we were supposed to fly to Boston, to attend Jeremiah's graduation
                   from Officer Candidacy School (in the Navy).  However, a few days before we
                   were to travel, we had to unexpectedly cancel our plans.  Sooo . . . we had some
                   "money on account" with Jet Blue Airlines, and one year to book a new trip.

                   I watched ticket prices closely all summer, and our tickets could still only
                   get us to the East Coast.  (Jet Blue has very few stops on the West Coast,
                   and does not fly to Mexico.)  While I'm sure we would have enjoyed a visit
                   to New England, we were really just looking to relax in the sun.

                   Just 1 week before we had to book our flights, or lose our tickets, Jet Blue
                   dropped their prices for Fall Vacation Travel . . . and I discovered that we
                   could, indeed, fly to the Caribbean with our "money on account".

                   We could have gone to the Bahamas or to Aruba (or a few other places),
                   but the cost of hotels and things would have been much more expensive.
                   After much research, I discovered a little "Boutique Hotel" . . . one block
                   from the beach . . . in San Juan . . . for just over $400 for the whole week.

                   I quickly sent Jim a text, saying, "You wanna go to Puerto Rico with me?"
                   and plans were put in place.

                  Yes.  That is how we chose Puerto Rico for our 30th Anniversary Vacation.
                  Basically . . . it was the furthest that we could get with our Jet Blue Credit . . .
                   it has Sunshine & Beaches . . . and the cost of food & lodging was exceptionally low.
                  (We even had a little left on our account, so I get to go to Southern CA for a 
                   few more days of Sunshine & Beaches for my birthday in January.)

Stay tuned for more pictures and stories of our wonderful vacation.