6/30/2006
This morning when I got up I decided to try and do something about the damaged Jeep. I took the fairing form the back and looked close at it. I realized that all the ting plastic clips were still intact but the jeep itself looked terrible. I tried several time to reposition the fairing but something was not right. I found the inner fender needed to come up and inside the lip of the fairing and then several of the clips fell into place and all but the front lined up good. It was the bumper pulled too far forward to align that stopped me. I borrowed a screwdriver to pry up a lip on the bumper and “magic”; it went right into place and looked good as new. WHEW!! I immediately returned the jeep to the rental place. Something mechanical never sounded right in the back end and the left turn signals never worked so I told them I wanted to exchange for something else (before the pieces started falling off). They were very nice and replaced it with another.
Our plan for today is take a hike. We looked over the “bible” ( Feet, Fins & Four-Wheel Drive) and decided on the Reef Bay Trail. This is a hike of about 3 miles each way from Centerline Road down to Reef Bay on the south side of the island. We knew it was all down hill going one way and all uphill back. This is a great hike to see St Johns nature. There are signs along the way that are very informative. The State park offers this hike as a tour and I guess that they meet you at the bottom and boat you back instead of hiking back up. We saw so much on this hike. There were so many butterflies. I was able to get some great pics, which I will post when I get home. The lizards are absolutely everywhere! We came across a mongoose at one point. The termite nests were huge and we even saw three bees’ nests right beside the trail. They hang in a tiny thread from the tree and the well-mannered bees just continue on their work and pay no attention to you at all. On the side trail to the petroglyphs and dry waterfall, there were deer that allowed you to walk right up to them. Near the beach, there is a sugar factory Ruins that had several brown bats hanging from the rafters. NEAT! We soon came to the beach and put on our swimsuits. There was a nice large area just offshore to the left where you could sit on your bottom on the sand the water was only chest deep. This area was completely protested buy the reef offshore. The water was incredibly warm. The current brings the water over the shallows all the way along the very shallow reef to our left and by the time it gets to us it was just like bath water. I found it almost too warm for my taste but my wife just loved it. We spent about one hour there and headed back up hill toward the car. I am sure glad that be brought several bottles each because it was needed! The uphill climb starts out with a slight grade but ends up quite steep for the last mile. We were soaked with perspiration and very exhausted by the time we got to the car. We walk marathons and figured it would not be hard but with the heat and humidity – it was not an easy climb. All this said, if you are in good shape and like seeing St John the
“nature” way – then is a definite Must Do for your visit!
Now for a weather update. Up until yesterday we only had a passing shower or two since we got here. This morning while I waited for my wife to wake up, there was a very strong squall move thru. The winds were high and the rain heavy – for 10 minutes. Last night, however, a bigger squall mover through about 4:00 and it really blew and rained for the rest of the evening. Even the satellite TV reception was lost. I have learned that when the sky gets dark and the winds starts to blow, you have about 3 minutes until the sky “opens up”.
Because of the rain, we decided to eat at the resort and then watch a movie before bed.