Day seven-Wake up to wonderful, marvelous sunshine! Can't wait to hit the beach. DH says I am trying to pickle him in salt water. He's not a water person like the rest of us. The kids want to try the east end of the island & we have read good things about Salt Pond, so off we go. The ride was wonderful. We keep saying it looks like we are in Jurassic Park! Salt Pond was not what we expected. The book we had said it was a short 5 minute walk & I think it was much more, all down hill. We lugged our stuff down, set up camp on a picinic table & went snorkeling. Saw lots of flounders, one even right up near the beach. Not much else was there. One small turtle, but by this time we had seen so many turtles that we didn't even get excited. In the beginning we would all yell to each other & point when we saw a turtle or ray & now it was,"Oh, by the way I saw another turtle." Decided to leave & asked the kids where they wanted to go. All three wanted to go back to Trunk Bay. Now, going down the hill was a bit of a struggle, but we didn't even think about what it was going to be like going up the hill with all our stuff. DH & I thought we might expire! We realized that the beautiful, sunny day brought more heat than we had been used to during the rainy days. We huffed & puffed our way up stopping several times for breath. I sent the oldest up to get the car started. I was ready for air conditioning! Had a marvelous day at Trunk! Tarpon were gone, but there were still plenty of fish & beautiful coral. Saw another ray by the shallow water. No one yelled or pointed this time, but others were shouting. Much more crowded because of cruise ships. We left around 4:00 because I was so paranoid about no-seeums. I stayed mostly in the water all week. Dinner that night at Pastory Gardens again. What a difference! Really crowded & we could see all the stars in the sky. I have never seen so many! We leave tomorrow. Weather report still says chance of rain is 30%. Don't trust them because while it rained all day, the weather channel still said chance of rain 30%.

Last day- Another beautiful day. Our plane leaves late in the afternoon & we want to go shopping. I saw a ring at a store in town & decided to go buy it. So we pack & travel one last time down the hill. No big deal now. We are used to it. Even DH! Bought my ring while our youngest & his girl go shopping on their own. Had scones & coffee at Grotto Deli while waiting. Finally the kids joined us and noticed that our youngest's girl was wearing an engagement ring! About time, too! They had been dating for years. Celebrate by having lunch at a place recommended by the jeweler. He said it was the owner of Rumbalaya who opened a new place near the dock. Good thing we had directions because there is no sign, just a bar & a few tables. Food was good & we persuaded the waitress to take our photo. Waved goodbye saying we will need to come back again. Maybe in the non-rainy season this time! Will miss the wonderful night sounds. Wish we had tree frogs!
Forgot to mention some more items I forgot to take with- hair dryer & all the lunchmeat & cheese I had in the freezer. Maybe I should make a list next time!

Observations:
-People were extremely friendly everywhere. We made sure we said good morning or afternoon to everyone we met. In the grocery I was admiring the smell of something cooking in the deli area & asked the woman stirring a large pot of rice what it was. It was some kind of vegetable rice curry. It smelled so good, I came back a few minutes later & asked if I could buy some. She told me it was for a catering job, but then she filled a small container & gave me some for free! It was scrumptious.
-Brought some food with us in a wheeled, soft-sided cooler which we carried on the plane. Just froze the meat myself & everything was still frozen by the time we unpacked. Saved quite a bit of money doing that.
-Next time I think we might rent a car in St Thomas. The reason is that we wanted to go to St Thomas, but the taxi fare was outrageous for 5 people. Maybe in-season when the ferry is running more often it wouldn't be necessary.
-Choosing a villa was a nightmare. We finally decided on one with great views, fairly new, but with a small pool. Glad we did. Used the pool once the whole time. The view was the best part.
-We brought with shampoo, shower gel & detergent thinking that these items wouldn't be supplied, but they were. Ask the management company before going.