Friday, June 16th

Can someone tell me what the tiny red bites are that caused me to scratch 10 layers of the epidermis off my leg? Think I'm kidding don't ya?

Ok, so after a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and juice at the villa we didn't really have any plans for today but Graduate Girl had a special request. She wanted to ride Waverunners. Now before you get your unmentionables in a wad and go off half cocked, let me tell ya that not only could this child have sprung from the loins of Evil Kenevil, but she hadn't asked me for a damn thing (except for handbags and RUM) the entire trip so far. We're talking about the Queen of the Gimmies here people so it has to be some kind of record! We have those 4-wheeler things at home that she scares the hells out of me with and she's a thrill seeking adrenaline junkie just like her papa. Please remember that this was a special trip planned for her (I keep trying to convince myself of that) graduation to celebrate Miss Smarty Pants' accademic accomplishments and forgive me if I've committed an island faux pas.

I wanted this trip to be especially memorable for her and so we head out to the Westin to see if it would be possible to accomodate her special request. We got to the Cruz Bay Watersports desk and inquired about the waverunner tour. They had a tour going out at 10:00 that was the only one for the day not booked. We decided to go ahead and take the 10:00 and so it ended up being our own private tour. We did two singles and one double (cause Lizard Boy can't drive yet) and I don't remember if the trip was one hour or two but if it was one, it felt like two. Since it was a private tour, our guide was a little more loose with what my peeps wanted to do.

Call me crazy but two hours of bone jarring, muscle bruising can't walk for two days wave jumping is not my idea of swell time. Add that to the pipeline of seawater that was breaking in my face about every other minute seriously hindering my ability to see or even keep my eyeballs open and well, it was rockin good times (NOT!). Honey also kept yelling at me to keep up but I just think he was pi$$ed as he felt he needed to curb the Kamikaze instincts since he had Rash Boy on the back of his runner. There were times I could barely see the Wild Child as she was doing some seriously hard riding. I know the guide tried to shake her but she stayed right on him the whole time. Her father couldn't have been more proud of that fact. The tour took us close to Stevens and Lovango Cays and Caravel Rock and almost right up to the point where the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean meet. The guide was very cautious with where we went making sure that we were respectful of the National Park boundaries.

After what felt like 4 hours, we needed to head back toward the Westin. The guide promised the Wild Child that we would do some serious wave jumping on the way back (Joy!) and of course I got a good tongue lashing about keeping up this time from the a$$ that use to be known as Honey. We all made it back bruised and waterlogged but otherwise in one piece and Graduate Girl proclaimed that was best good times (I guess that makes all the dislocations tolerable). Honey went to get our stuff and came back really pi$$ed. He was adamant that one of the counter guys had stolen a $5 dollar bill out of his wallet. HELLO! There was $400 dollars in there, does it seem strange to anyone but me that someone would only take a $5. Anyhoo, if he was stupid enough to leave his wallet with that much money at the counter for them to hold, then he deserved to have all the damn cash stolen!!!

We left the Westin with plans to head out to funkay Coral Bay for the rest of the day. Along the way one of the locals became impatient with the spped of our driving and started to tailgate us. Before long, he passed us with attitude and ripped up ahead around the corner. As we rounded the corner, same said local now had his car painfully wrapped around a thick pole that was no longer firmly planted in the ground. He wasn't hurt but you'd think he'd have learned the limits of driving on his own roads by now!

After stopping at 17 different scenic spots for pics, we were craving for burgers and thirst quenchers. Destination Skinny's! Upon arrival and after taking the Skinny's pics with my peeps, we went to find a spot to park our bums for a while. Along the way, the Graduate and Bikini Girl happily ensconced themsleves in the shops while the boys copped a squat imbibing themselves with Red Stripe and Root Beer. We loved those little shops and did contribute mightily to the local economy for a while. As soon as we joined the boys, Mo himself walked over and joined us. What a great guy! He sat and spoke with us for at least 40 minutes like we were old friends. He asked us about our home and our trip and told us of his wife and Doug and also stories about the Coral Bay Community. He was most interested in the Salt Lake Marathon that had just taken place a couple weeks ago. He likes clean air and running. A cool and funkay guy and it was a pleasure to meet him. We all had mouthwatering burgers and drinks. I can see that Skinny's is an institution in Coral Bay and for us it's a must stop on our next trip! Honey especially liked him and was elated when we saw him later in the week going for a swim at Hawksnest. He had him continue on with a story from lunch that day. I guess we're vacationing celebs and they posted a picture of us with Mo during our sitdown on their website, www.skinnylegs.com. It's under Funny Faces at the Bar, page 6, first one at the top on the left. Mo ROCKS!!!

We decided to take the Jeep to the end of the road and along the way stopped at Miss Vie's for tarts and Redstripe. She was very sweet and flabergasted when I told her that she was famous on these travel forums. We drove all over that end of the island. Up the mountain, down the mountain, someplaces I have no idea where we were, places where the pavement ended and back again. It was much fun. On the way back we shared the road with goats and a pig, I love it! We stopped at Donkey Diner for Pizza to take back for dinner. It was $16 plus tip and was really good! Back at the villa, we hit the pool, hit the tub, and sat on deck in full view of the twinkling lights of Cruz Bay and beyond. Went to sleep by the sounds of the tree frogs. A beautiful day! More to come...