Cara and Madison came over this afternoon to help me rearrange the living room and do a little cleaning. Being a natural slob and living alone with no one to hold me accountable means that I get super lazy. It took me 30 minutes to find my Swiffer duster today! There was a lot of work to be done. The living room and part of the dining room look really great now. Thanks to those gals for helping so much!
While cleaning, I came across a paper bag with some postcards from our trip to Tumbling Rock Resort in North Carolina. Also inside that bag were two sheets of paper stapled together and folded in three. I opened it up and read the heading: Last Wishes and Last Testament of Kelly Anne. I checked out the second page and it was signed in 2007. I read it to Cara and Madison in the car on the way to pick up pizza for dinner and we laughed. I now post it for you.
Last Wishes and Last Testament of Kelly Anne
In the case of my untimely, or timely, death, I want to say that, although I never married and never had children, I did have love in my life. I had close friends whom I loved and I made them my family away from family. I had family I loved and with whom I think I grew closer as I got older, as often happens. I may not have made much of an impression on the world during my life, but I enjoyed my life in little ways that I may have never spoken of. I found many things humorous and I hope I brought a little humor into the lives of people who knew me.
In the event of my death, I appoint Kathryn and Gregory the executors of my estate, such as it is. Please sell whatever belongings you need to in order to pay off my debts. A nice "everything must go" yard sale would be good. the executors can decide who gets what out of my many many valuable possessions. Now, now, don't everyone argue about who gets to take home my 1987 Mardi Gras poster! There's plenty of good stuff to go around for everyone! I only have two basic requests that I ask my executors to honor.
My cats, Cowboy and Pidgin, if they are still living, need a good home. Surely someone in the family will want to have these two darlings. Michael can have Cowboy if he wishes. I think Mike needs a good pet. Pidgin needs a good place to retire, as she is quite an old lady. She might like Miami. Greg should let her come live with her estranged sister, Alex. Don't worry about separating Cowboy and Pidgin in two different homes. I doubt they will miss being separated, especially Pidgin.
As far as my paperwork, Greg can go through the personal stuff and Kathy can go through the financial and decide what is important, what they might want to keep, and what can be thrown away. They will know what to do.
Medical Care Decisions:
In the event of my being on life support in a hospital, I instruct Kathy and Greg to make the best decision they can based on the doctor's recommendations, family wishes, and their best instincts. I would like to donate whatever usable organs I have left.
I was always a bit of a control freak, so it won't surprise anyone when I say that I have a few more wishes that you should do your best to fulfill.
I wish to have my body cremated. I REFUSE the idea of being in a coffin. I REFUSE embalming of my body. Please, NO showing or viewing of the body. I would prefer just a memorial service. I would prefer that no church service be held in the event of my death. A short prayer with some reassuring words by a clergyman is fine. I would prefer the memorial service that is not loaded with Bible stories and rants against sinners. I was a sinner and who knows where I will end up? I don't want anyone to have to worry about their own souls during my memorial service. No churchy music if you can help it. Play an Elvis Costello song instead. I will let Kathy and Greg decide on what type of service to have, if any. Of course, I won't be there so I will leave that to the living.
You can do with my ashes whatever you wish or nothing at all. It is up to Kathy and Greg. Maybe you could sprinkle them in Lake Michigan or the Gulf of Mexico. I always like being near the water. However if you decide you want to bury my ashes with a little plaque, that is acceptable too. Something to remember me by, something college kids can sit on in the middle of the night while drinking. I have no preferences as to where to be buried. Kathy and Greg can decide on the location. Whatever is done with my ashes, I want to be cremated in the cheapest possible container allowed by law. A cheap cardboard box is a good choice. Kathy and Greg are instructed to not throw good money after bad, i.e. do not buy a nice wooden box for me that is just going to be burned up. I don't want a viewing so there is no need for a nice casket.
In closing, I will say that I have always hoped for, if not actually believed in, reincarnation. So I don't think I will be haunting anyone, unless you put my embalmed body on display! In that case, I WILL come and get you! I also don't see myself floating around in some kind of heaven. Hopefully I will come back and live another life. Until we meet again, I will say goodbye.
This was only 2007 but I have changed my mind about some of these things. First of all Pidgin is dead already, as is Alex. Secondly, I will want a little more spiritual service. But I still don't want money wasted on preserving a dead body that is just going to cremated, which is still my desire for body disposal. Either that or putting me on a body farm for forensic scientists studying decomposition. Shoot, just chop me and throw me in the Gulf for chum. Guess I better get to rewriting.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
My Sunday
Just a report from my Sunday, September 9.
Started off by getting up a little later than I should have. It was raining all morning and the skies were dark and I just kept hitting snooze on the cell phone alarm. But finally around 7:15 am, I got up and took a shower. I especially enjoyed the shower since yesterday I scrubbed and applied several different layers of soap scum and mildew remover to it. The tub doesn't look perfectly clean, but it's better than it was. I also put on a new clear vinyl liner. I laundered the shower curtain too. It's not the first time I have washed the curtain. I've probably washed it 4 times in the 8 years I have had it. It doesn't get dirty so much as it gets dusty. Yes, I should wash it more often, but I forget about it hanging there. Anyway, I washed and dried it as I have done before, but this time the curtain shrunk...about 2 inches! It barely hangs past the top of the tub. It looks weird and runty there now but it still works and I still like it and I don't have any desire to go out and buy a new one.
As I walked out the door at 8:30 am, I grabbed my folder and Bible and a big poster for the Sunday school lesson I would be teaching. I had spent 2 hours the night before preparing. I had previously in the evening typed all my notes for the lesson on the computer, forgetting that I had no ink in my printer. I have had no ink in my printer for years. How does one forget that? So I had to write it by hand. It took up 2 pages of 81/2"x11" paper, front and back. Today's lesson was from 2 Kings. The story was about King Josiah discovering the Book of the Law in the temple while it was being repaired and him renewing his promise to the one and only God.
As I drove to work, slowly applying makeup at the red stoplights, I listened to NPR. At 8:40 am, they give a puzzle quiz and then give a puzzle for listeners to work on during the week. This week's puzzle is this: Take the name of world capitol city and rearrange the letters to spell the name of a popular and widely-advertised drug. Brittany texted me to tell me she would be late because she set her alarm for PM instead of AM. I had to laugh. She is the other teacher in the class with me.
I got to class and there was no one there. It had been raining so perhaps many families were just staying home. Slowly kids arrived, including the pastor's daughter, a brother and sister, a visitor, and a boy who just graduated to the older kids class this year. This last boy has some major family issues and he is not one to behave and listen on a regular basis. I started in on the lesson as soon as I could because I thought it would take us the whole time to get through my overly-detailed notes. Brittany showed up soon. Good thing. The one boy made it his mission to disrupt, disrespect, and make fun of everything and everyone. I needed help.
After Sunday school, I marched the kids going to "big church" down to the sanctuary. There I ran into a lady I went to the women's conference with back in the spring. I had not seen her all summer it seems. We caught up on things in her life and then the service began. Today's sermon was from 1 John 2:7-11 on the theme of loving others.
I left church and headed to the Tyrone Square Mall. QVC has decided they no longer want my business, by discontinuing my favorite jeans ever and one of their most popular items ever, a pair of jeans by a company they call Denim&Co. I had to go check out some stores. I loathe looking for jeans. I spent 30 years doing that and finally found one that I absolutely loved at QVC. I have bought about 8 pairs in all over the years. Now, when my inventory of these QVC jeans is falling low, they decide to discontinue them. The comments on QVC regarding this are all pretty much like the comment I posted. I don't know why they would get rid of an incredibly popular item and then give us no other similar option. I went to their site yesterday and searched all of Denim&Co and it was mostly shirts and sweaters and sweatshirts. They should just call themselves &CO because they had very few jeans and most of them weren't even made from denim! Outrageous. Soooo, I headed to the mall to check out Lane Bryant, where the clothes are so expensive and a little bit hoochie at times, and Avenue, where the denim is low quality. I thought I might also go to JC Penneys and see what they had. Because I could use a new pair of tennis shoes, I parked by Sears where I have had good luck in the past. I ended up finding two pairs of jeans on sale at Sears that I thought made my tremendous rear end look pretty good. They were also a little tight. Perfectly OK since I am on a diet, right? One of the pair was Levis. Having been fat my whole life, I don't believe I have ever owned a pair of Levis. Seems almost un-American to have never owned a pair of Levis. they just didn't make them for chubby girls for a long time and now they do. AND they were on sale for $17.99, down from $42.99, so I had to get them!
Well, the jeans shortage being handled (and I bought a cute little embroidered henley shirt that was on sale), I went over to shoes and tried on some tennies. Nothing floated my boat too much. I left the mall having only been to one store. Next stop was Walmart for some basic supplies like cat food, tweezers, toilet scrubbers, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.
Lunch was another stop, this time at Subway. I got the Italian BMT on Honey Oat. I got a footlong since it was on sale for $5.00. I skipped the cheese, since I was going to have salami and pepperoni on this sandwich. I added spinach, tomato, onion, green peppers and topped it with mustard to keep the calories and fat down. I was very hungry but I didn't dare eat yet. I drove home so I could weigh myself - Sundays are weekly weigh day for Weight Watchers - before I gobbled down that sandwich.
When I got home, I weighed myself. I had lost 3 lbs. Hurrah! I ate half of the footlong and put the other half away for dinner. Then the sad part. I looked up this site which calculates the nutritional content of Subway sandwiches. You plug in what you ordered, what kind of meat, what kind of cheese, etc. and it tells you how much fat, calories, carbohydrates, sodium, protein, fiber, etc. With that information, I was able to plug in the required data on the Weight Watchers site to see how many points it was. It was 12 points per 6". I hadn't had breakfast so this counted as both lunch and breakfast. Not too bad. I had berries and peaches with Cool Whip for dessert.
I had to go to church in the evening because I was scheduled to work in the nursery. I was very sleepy (no nap today) and accidentally left 30 minutes too early. I arrived very early at the church and decided to read to pass the time. I laid down on one of the cushioned pews in the sanctuary and read while the praise band diddled around a little on stage, sometimes practicing but mostly just chatting. I worked nursery with Brittany at 6 pm. We had quite a few kids in there for an evening service, including a 12 week old baby boy. I always enjoy working nursery with Brittany. The kids pretty much entertain themselves and the two of us talked while sitting on the floor, ooing and aahing over the infant. We ended by playing a game of musical chairs with the kids.
Now I am home and it is 7:40 pm. It's nearly the end of another compelling weekend for ol' Kel. I have to cook some low fat parmesan scalloped potatoes for work tomorrow. I am also going to tune in to the Broncos playing the Steelers. Wonder how Peyton will do?
Started off by getting up a little later than I should have. It was raining all morning and the skies were dark and I just kept hitting snooze on the cell phone alarm. But finally around 7:15 am, I got up and took a shower. I especially enjoyed the shower since yesterday I scrubbed and applied several different layers of soap scum and mildew remover to it. The tub doesn't look perfectly clean, but it's better than it was. I also put on a new clear vinyl liner. I laundered the shower curtain too. It's not the first time I have washed the curtain. I've probably washed it 4 times in the 8 years I have had it. It doesn't get dirty so much as it gets dusty. Yes, I should wash it more often, but I forget about it hanging there. Anyway, I washed and dried it as I have done before, but this time the curtain shrunk...about 2 inches! It barely hangs past the top of the tub. It looks weird and runty there now but it still works and I still like it and I don't have any desire to go out and buy a new one.
As I walked out the door at 8:30 am, I grabbed my folder and Bible and a big poster for the Sunday school lesson I would be teaching. I had spent 2 hours the night before preparing. I had previously in the evening typed all my notes for the lesson on the computer, forgetting that I had no ink in my printer. I have had no ink in my printer for years. How does one forget that? So I had to write it by hand. It took up 2 pages of 81/2"x11" paper, front and back. Today's lesson was from 2 Kings. The story was about King Josiah discovering the Book of the Law in the temple while it was being repaired and him renewing his promise to the one and only God.
As I drove to work, slowly applying makeup at the red stoplights, I listened to NPR. At 8:40 am, they give a puzzle quiz and then give a puzzle for listeners to work on during the week. This week's puzzle is this: Take the name of world capitol city and rearrange the letters to spell the name of a popular and widely-advertised drug. Brittany texted me to tell me she would be late because she set her alarm for PM instead of AM. I had to laugh. She is the other teacher in the class with me.
I got to class and there was no one there. It had been raining so perhaps many families were just staying home. Slowly kids arrived, including the pastor's daughter, a brother and sister, a visitor, and a boy who just graduated to the older kids class this year. This last boy has some major family issues and he is not one to behave and listen on a regular basis. I started in on the lesson as soon as I could because I thought it would take us the whole time to get through my overly-detailed notes. Brittany showed up soon. Good thing. The one boy made it his mission to disrupt, disrespect, and make fun of everything and everyone. I needed help.
After Sunday school, I marched the kids going to "big church" down to the sanctuary. There I ran into a lady I went to the women's conference with back in the spring. I had not seen her all summer it seems. We caught up on things in her life and then the service began. Today's sermon was from 1 John 2:7-11 on the theme of loving others.
I left church and headed to the Tyrone Square Mall. QVC has decided they no longer want my business, by discontinuing my favorite jeans ever and one of their most popular items ever, a pair of jeans by a company they call Denim&Co. I had to go check out some stores. I loathe looking for jeans. I spent 30 years doing that and finally found one that I absolutely loved at QVC. I have bought about 8 pairs in all over the years. Now, when my inventory of these QVC jeans is falling low, they decide to discontinue them. The comments on QVC regarding this are all pretty much like the comment I posted. I don't know why they would get rid of an incredibly popular item and then give us no other similar option. I went to their site yesterday and searched all of Denim&Co and it was mostly shirts and sweaters and sweatshirts. They should just call themselves &CO because they had very few jeans and most of them weren't even made from denim! Outrageous. Soooo, I headed to the mall to check out Lane Bryant, where the clothes are so expensive and a little bit hoochie at times, and Avenue, where the denim is low quality. I thought I might also go to JC Penneys and see what they had. Because I could use a new pair of tennis shoes, I parked by Sears where I have had good luck in the past. I ended up finding two pairs of jeans on sale at Sears that I thought made my tremendous rear end look pretty good. They were also a little tight. Perfectly OK since I am on a diet, right? One of the pair was Levis. Having been fat my whole life, I don't believe I have ever owned a pair of Levis. Seems almost un-American to have never owned a pair of Levis. they just didn't make them for chubby girls for a long time and now they do. AND they were on sale for $17.99, down from $42.99, so I had to get them!
Well, the jeans shortage being handled (and I bought a cute little embroidered henley shirt that was on sale), I went over to shoes and tried on some tennies. Nothing floated my boat too much. I left the mall having only been to one store. Next stop was Walmart for some basic supplies like cat food, tweezers, toilet scrubbers, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc.
Lunch was another stop, this time at Subway. I got the Italian BMT on Honey Oat. I got a footlong since it was on sale for $5.00. I skipped the cheese, since I was going to have salami and pepperoni on this sandwich. I added spinach, tomato, onion, green peppers and topped it with mustard to keep the calories and fat down. I was very hungry but I didn't dare eat yet. I drove home so I could weigh myself - Sundays are weekly weigh day for Weight Watchers - before I gobbled down that sandwich.
When I got home, I weighed myself. I had lost 3 lbs. Hurrah! I ate half of the footlong and put the other half away for dinner. Then the sad part. I looked up this site which calculates the nutritional content of Subway sandwiches. You plug in what you ordered, what kind of meat, what kind of cheese, etc. and it tells you how much fat, calories, carbohydrates, sodium, protein, fiber, etc. With that information, I was able to plug in the required data on the Weight Watchers site to see how many points it was. It was 12 points per 6". I hadn't had breakfast so this counted as both lunch and breakfast. Not too bad. I had berries and peaches with Cool Whip for dessert.
I had to go to church in the evening because I was scheduled to work in the nursery. I was very sleepy (no nap today) and accidentally left 30 minutes too early. I arrived very early at the church and decided to read to pass the time. I laid down on one of the cushioned pews in the sanctuary and read while the praise band diddled around a little on stage, sometimes practicing but mostly just chatting. I worked nursery with Brittany at 6 pm. We had quite a few kids in there for an evening service, including a 12 week old baby boy. I always enjoy working nursery with Brittany. The kids pretty much entertain themselves and the two of us talked while sitting on the floor, ooing and aahing over the infant. We ended by playing a game of musical chairs with the kids.
Now I am home and it is 7:40 pm. It's nearly the end of another compelling weekend for ol' Kel. I have to cook some low fat parmesan scalloped potatoes for work tomorrow. I am also going to tune in to the Broncos playing the Steelers. Wonder how Peyton will do?
Monday, September 3, 2012
Puerto Rico Pt 4 - Palomino Island
The El Conquistador Resort has a private island called Palomino Island. According to what I heard, some scenes from one of the Pirates of the Caribbean were filmed on that island. There was a water taxi that left from the marina every half hour. We took an early morning boat out to the island. Our plans were to go swimming in the sea and go horseback riding. The trail ride promised to take us the highest point of the island and end up on the beach. I was very much looking forward to the horse ride because I miss being on horses. I wore a pair of capris that had thicker material so that I could ride without getting rubbed raw. I brought tennis shoes and a hat too. The day was beautiful, sunny, and incredibly hot.
We sat on the open deck of the water taxi so that we could see better and take pictures. Once we got out of the marina, the boat started to undulate up and down with the waves. The boat picked up speed and we rocked up and down even harder. It took us about 10 minutes to reach the island.
We exited the boat and immediately headed for a kiosk where we would book our horse ride. The first appointment was 12 noon. We had to prepay. The cost was $70 per person. While making the reservations, we were greeted by a large green iguana perched on a bush. Perhaps he was the ambassador of Palomino Island.
It was about 10 am and we had time to go swimming. We staked out some lounge chairs that were under some thatched umbrellas. We walked down to the water. Ryan and I got in and swam around a bit. The beach right in front of our lounge chairs was close to the boat dock. About 2 feet into the water, there was lots of seaweed. Ryan did not want to swim there. We walked down toward the beach where they were renting kayaks and jet skis. The water was much clearer there. After collecting several rocks and pieces of coral that had washed up by shore, we had to go shower off and get ready for the horseback riding. I did not want to be either wet or salty when I got in the saddle. I rinsed off the salt water and then laid out on the lounger to dry off.
Our ride time was quickly approaching so we sat in a shaded waiting area for them to call us back. There was a barn and some chickens running around. When our time arrived, they walked us back to the barn. The first thing I noticed was the group of horses already saddled and tied up along a fence. The horses were all pretty small. One was smallish palomino horse that looked like he had manure or mud smeared on the top of his rump. I wondered how that dirt got there and why they didn't brush it off.
The leader came out and gave us some basic instructions on how to start, steer, and stop a horse. Ryan had never been on a horse before, but I think the rest of us had. All I kept thinking was that I hope they have bigger horses. I am a big girl and I dreaded thinking that one of those little horses would have to carry me up a hill. I am sure those little horses were looking at me thinking the same thing. After instructions, we waited a bit more while they brought out 2 more horses. The first one was unsaddled and bigger than the rest. The second was even beefier. I hoped they were bringing out those horses for us, or at least me.
After the instructions, Mom announced that she was not feeling well. Her stomach was bothering her and so she opted out of the ride. She stated she would rest on the loungers and wait for us. The leader came by and asked us to rate ourselves on our experience and ability with horses on a scale from 1 to 10. I rated myself 7 or 8, but I really felt like I could handle any of these trail horses with no problem. One by one they put us all on horses. Ryan was the first one into the saddle. He was put on a pretty little black and white paint horse that was just the perfect size for him. Kevin ended up on the muddy palomino. The first unsaddled horse the leader had brought out ended up being mine. I was so grateful to have a bigger horse. He had saddled the horse and called me over. My horse's name was Taino, which is the name of one of the very old native peoples of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. I thought he might lead the horse over these boxes that were stacked, so that I could climb up on the box and then onto the horse. I knew I would not be able to get on a horse by myself as I could when I was younger. Nope. He just pushed me up into the saddle, after I made some fumbling apologetic comment about needing help and being so big. The saddles were unlike any other saddle I have seen. They were not Western saddles and they were even smaller and more minimal than an English saddle.
Once we were on a horse, the ride began. We headed out across a large grassy area and then turned up a trail heading uphill. This trail is also used by people on foot. We all leaned forward as we went uphill, as instructed. As we reached the top, the leader announced this was the highest point. We looked around. The water was just gorgeous. We rode around a bit more on top of the hill and then headed back down the trail. We walked toward the beach. The leader led us around an area where there were some people hanging out on lounge chairs enjoying the beach. However we never actually went down on the beach itself. I was disappointed to not being able to ride on the sand and water's edge. Then we headed back. The ride was short, too short for me, but perhaps some of the others were happy to be done. Ryan seemed to enjoy himself. He handled his horse very well too. Did his horse-loving aunt's heart good to see him have fun on horseback.
After the ride, I was feeling so sweaty and hot. My choice of thicker capri pants was good for the horse ride but not a great choice for cooling off afterward. I like the ocean but not on super hot days. The idea of dipping into the salt water did not sound refreshing. I told Mom I was going to head back to the resort. There was a boat at the dock already and people had already boarded it. To avoid having to wait another 30 minutes for the next boat, I half-jogged down the dock and got on. I took some more pictures as I rode back to the resort. The boat trip back was not as enjoyable as the trip out had been. It was midday and the climate was intense with sun and heat. I did get some nice pictures of the mainland and the water though. The water had stripes of color in it, blue, turquoise, green. The skies over the mainland now had more clouds but it was still soo hot.
I arrived at the marina and rushed to my room. My face was so hot, it seemed like I was burning from the inside out. All I wanted was a shower and fresh clothes. I did get my shower, all cold water. I meant to go back to the island the next day, dressed in some cooler clothes, and do a little walking around. I never got back, but Kevin and Larry did. They told me there was a clothing optional beach on the other side from the dock, but when they walked by, there was no one there or no one there who was nude anyway. They hiked all the way around the island and took some good pictures, which I don't have so I can't show you.
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| the family waits for the boat |
We sat on the open deck of the water taxi so that we could see better and take pictures. Once we got out of the marina, the boat started to undulate up and down with the waves. The boat picked up speed and we rocked up and down even harder. It took us about 10 minutes to reach the island.
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| Riding the water taxi boat out to Palomino Island |
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| The island in the distance is where we were headed. |
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| As we got closer to the island... |
We exited the boat and immediately headed for a kiosk where we would book our horse ride. The first appointment was 12 noon. We had to prepay. The cost was $70 per person. While making the reservations, we were greeted by a large green iguana perched on a bush. Perhaps he was the ambassador of Palomino Island.
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| Welcome to Palomino Island |
It was about 10 am and we had time to go swimming. We staked out some lounge chairs that were under some thatched umbrellas. We walked down to the water. Ryan and I got in and swam around a bit. The beach right in front of our lounge chairs was close to the boat dock. About 2 feet into the water, there was lots of seaweed. Ryan did not want to swim there. We walked down toward the beach where they were renting kayaks and jet skis. The water was much clearer there. After collecting several rocks and pieces of coral that had washed up by shore, we had to go shower off and get ready for the horseback riding. I did not want to be either wet or salty when I got in the saddle. I rinsed off the salt water and then laid out on the lounger to dry off.
 | |||
| Our loungers in the shade |
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| Ryan and I take a dip |
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| Kathy and Ryan examine his rock collection on the beautiful beach. |
Our ride time was quickly approaching so we sat in a shaded waiting area for them to call us back. There was a barn and some chickens running around. When our time arrived, they walked us back to the barn. The first thing I noticed was the group of horses already saddled and tied up along a fence. The horses were all pretty small. One was smallish palomino horse that looked like he had manure or mud smeared on the top of his rump. I wondered how that dirt got there and why they didn't brush it off.
 |
| Horses lined up for a ride |
The leader came out and gave us some basic instructions on how to start, steer, and stop a horse. Ryan had never been on a horse before, but I think the rest of us had. All I kept thinking was that I hope they have bigger horses. I am a big girl and I dreaded thinking that one of those little horses would have to carry me up a hill. I am sure those little horses were looking at me thinking the same thing. After instructions, we waited a bit more while they brought out 2 more horses. The first one was unsaddled and bigger than the rest. The second was even beefier. I hoped they were bringing out those horses for us, or at least me.
After the instructions, Mom announced that she was not feeling well. Her stomach was bothering her and so she opted out of the ride. She stated she would rest on the loungers and wait for us. The leader came by and asked us to rate ourselves on our experience and ability with horses on a scale from 1 to 10. I rated myself 7 or 8, but I really felt like I could handle any of these trail horses with no problem. One by one they put us all on horses. Ryan was the first one into the saddle. He was put on a pretty little black and white paint horse that was just the perfect size for him. Kevin ended up on the muddy palomino. The first unsaddled horse the leader had brought out ended up being mine. I was so grateful to have a bigger horse. He had saddled the horse and called me over. My horse's name was Taino, which is the name of one of the very old native peoples of Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands. I thought he might lead the horse over these boxes that were stacked, so that I could climb up on the box and then onto the horse. I knew I would not be able to get on a horse by myself as I could when I was younger. Nope. He just pushed me up into the saddle, after I made some fumbling apologetic comment about needing help and being so big. The saddles were unlike any other saddle I have seen. They were not Western saddles and they were even smaller and more minimal than an English saddle.
Once we were on a horse, the ride began. We headed out across a large grassy area and then turned up a trail heading uphill. This trail is also used by people on foot. We all leaned forward as we went uphill, as instructed. As we reached the top, the leader announced this was the highest point. We looked around. The water was just gorgeous. We rode around a bit more on top of the hill and then headed back down the trail. We walked toward the beach. The leader led us around an area where there were some people hanging out on lounge chairs enjoying the beach. However we never actually went down on the beach itself. I was disappointed to not being able to ride on the sand and water's edge. Then we headed back. The ride was short, too short for me, but perhaps some of the others were happy to be done. Ryan seemed to enjoy himself. He handled his horse very well too. Did his horse-loving aunt's heart good to see him have fun on horseback.
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| Heading up the trail with the Caribbean in the background |
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| Kevin and Ryan on their horses |
After the ride, I was feeling so sweaty and hot. My choice of thicker capri pants was good for the horse ride but not a great choice for cooling off afterward. I like the ocean but not on super hot days. The idea of dipping into the salt water did not sound refreshing. I told Mom I was going to head back to the resort. There was a boat at the dock already and people had already boarded it. To avoid having to wait another 30 minutes for the next boat, I half-jogged down the dock and got on. I took some more pictures as I rode back to the resort. The boat trip back was not as enjoyable as the trip out had been. It was midday and the climate was intense with sun and heat. I did get some nice pictures of the mainland and the water though. The water had stripes of color in it, blue, turquoise, green. The skies over the mainland now had more clouds but it was still soo hot.
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| The boat at the dock |
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| A view of the mainland, mountains, and sea from Palomino Island |
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| From the boat, you could see the entirety of the El Conquistador. Every building in this picture is a part of the resort. |
I arrived at the marina and rushed to my room. My face was so hot, it seemed like I was burning from the inside out. All I wanted was a shower and fresh clothes. I did get my shower, all cold water. I meant to go back to the island the next day, dressed in some cooler clothes, and do a little walking around. I never got back, but Kevin and Larry did. They told me there was a clothing optional beach on the other side from the dock, but when they walked by, there was no one there or no one there who was nude anyway. They hiked all the way around the island and took some good pictures, which I don't have so I can't show you.