Day three- Wake up early & anxious to go when I realize the sun is not out. Not only is it not out, but it is starting to rain. It rained off & on (mainly on) for most of the morning. We were really disapointed & decided to wait & see if we could go out in the afternoon. Enjoyed the views off the veranda, but had to slather ourselves with bug repelent. Speaking of bugs, loved the tree frogs & their noises. Just like Puerto Rico! We are used to the lizards because we have them in Texas, so the occasional lizard roaming the rooms didn't bother us. We encouraged them to eat the mosquitos! Everytime we opened the screen doors mosquitos got in. Practically had to wear repelent inside also. About 1:00 it stopped raining & we headed to Cinnamon Bay. Spent the afternoon snorkeling there in the drizzle. Snorkeling there was just ok. Have found it depends on the conditions, etc. We got out of the water about 4:00 & sat around for awhile before leaving. Big mistake! I know people have warned others to leave the beach before dusk because of no seeums, but we did not realize those bugs might bite earlier due to the rain. By the end of the day & the next morning my son & I had bites everywhere! They looked similar to red ant bites & took as long to go away (about a week or longer), but I didn't feel a thing while we were sitting on the beach. With ants, you feel them bitting. I had masses of bites behind my knees, all over my ankles, & some on my neck. I was miserable.
We now were getting more comfortable with driving up the hills & decided to go to dinner at La Tappa instead of eating in. Had finally figured out how to access the 4 wheel drive & that made a big difference. La Tappa was a great place & had wonderful food. Had a very enjoyable if expensive evening. Parked in St John Rental lot, but was told we could only park there after 5:00. Parking was not much of an issue in the off season. My oldest son wanted to try driving up the hill & from then on he took over. He thought it was the best part of the trip. I just sat in the back with my seatbelt on & eyes closed. DH was still clutching things.

Day Four- The worst day of the whole trip! Not only did it rain the whole day, but it poured & poured. Everytime we mentioned it to someone, they said,"Gee, that rarely ever happens". We decided to go shopping in St Thomas & consulted the schedule in a travel book for the ferry to Charlotte Amalie. Drove down, parked the car, walked in the downpour to the dock & found out they had changed the ferry times to twice a day, 7:45 a.m. & 3:45 p.m. We didn't want to take the Red Hook ferry because it would have cost a bundle to get 5 people there. Walked back (people in the roadside booths along the way laughing at us walking without umbrellas) to the car & drove back to the villa where we spent the rest of the day & evening. Thank goodness for videos & alcohol!
Day Five coming up...more rain.