Vacation Day 2

I'll start with a picture from our balcony this morning. All we went through to get here was worth it. And this is what I mean by "all we went through"...

Our second vacation day was also a travel day. We began in Miami at the Wyndham hotel which has recently been remodeled. The room was very nice and we slept hard. Our room service breakfast came about 15 minutes after we woke. We were so hungry and thankful to be pampered. As we stood there praying and thanking God for our luxuries, King (*see note below) began to fidget. I kept praying. More fidgeting. Praying. Fidgeting. Finally, David interrupted my prayer and said, "You can keep praying, but there's something in my pants and it's biting me!" Sure enough, he had ants in his pants! They looked like fire ants, but we don't think they were fire ants. Upon further inspection, he had them in his shoes, socks and pants. As we checked out from the hotel, we requested "special consideration" for the extra guests in our room. We'll see how Wyndham responds...

We hopped on the airport shuttle and had a surprise at the airport! We arrived an hour and 45 minutes before our flight, which we had read was plenty of time. OBVIOUSLY, that information did not take into consideration a Friday morning at the American Airlines International section of Miami airport. I have never seen lines so long. Ever. I don't know what the occasion was, but American employees were stationed everywhere and were answering questions from hundreds and hundreds of passengers like ourselves. I like organization and let me tell you, there was none at the airport. Not at American Airlines, anyway. The international section of American wasn't even labeled "international". We got in line and found out that they close the flight an hour before it takes off in order to get all the baggage, etc. That left us 20 minutes to get through a section with many hundreds of people. Later at our gate, we tried to estimate how many people were in the area and we guessed a couple of thousand? Anyway, we got in another line and we still weren't going to make the flight. I asked another American employee what we needed to do and she took our passports, swiped them in the machine there and told us to go over the the counter. Basically, we jumped over everyone else in line (at least a 40 minute wait) and our bags were checked. Then we had to take our bags to the next line to have them stowed for delivery to the plane. That line was growing FAST because their computer broke down. Finally made it through that line and then we had to go through security. That line was three lines wide and very long. God blessed us again as a very harried lady called out that there was another security area around the airport a bit and it had no lines. We shot out of there in search of the other security check through. She was right. It was a breeze ... until they called me aside to inspect my bags. I had no worries because we had been very careful of how we packed our backpacks. Duh. I had left a resealable diet coke in my backpack from the night before. God blessed us again as the guy just through it away and gave me a dirty look. Eeek. Off we went to our gate. I was so rattled by the time we got there that I was just sweating. As we encountered the chaos intially and throughout the ordeal, I truly believed that God would work out the details and get us on the flight, but it didn't look like it was going to work out time after time. Throughout the morning, He was so obvious in showing me that trust isn't about things looking good, but about ... trust. Believing in the Truth and knowing Who He is. He works out the details. I was humbled.

Our flight to Barbados from Miami was a piece of cake. Many of these little islands are their own little sovereign countries, so I got my passport stamped quite a bit, which I like! We flew a turbo prop airplane from Barbados to St Vincent. We went through customs and immigration yet again and walked outside to see a friendly guy holding a sign that said "Young Island" (our resort). Delight!! We drove from the airport a short distance to the dock and I was amazed to see how beautiful and enchanting Young Island is from a distance. Here I am with Young Island in the background. Our cottage is very visible in the background. See the two sailboats parked right next to each other (they are over my left shoulder). As you look at them, look at the one on your right. If you go to the back of the sailboat and then go straight up, you will see our cottage, the top one. There is one just to your right and lower, but we are the upper one. In the picture, there is something grey above our roof. Not sure what that is.

The little ferry that takes you back and forth from St Vincent to Young Island only takes about 3-5 mintues ... very charming. When we stepped out of the boat from our ferry ride, Giselle from the front office, met us and a nice islander also greeted us with rum punch. Strong drink, especially for this non-alcoholic gal! Giselle personally gave us a short tour of the lower part of the island and took us to our cottage. She gave us a tour of our cottage. We were already feeling so pampered. The weekly cocktail began about 15 minutes after our arrival, but we preferred to settle in. We unpacked and washed our faces before dinner. It is suprising how refreshing it is to simply wash our face. It truly takes away the "sticky" humidity feel.

We walked down to dinner which was served by the beach in a thatched, open hut. Very charming. It was a 5-course meal, so I can't remember everything we ate, but I do remember the bread! They bake 6 different flavors of bread daily and our choice last night was coconut bread and cinnamon bread. YUM! I had a carrot soup, smoked salmon roulade, Mahi Mahi with saffron and a warm bean salad. David had a salad with papaya and vinaigrette, the salmon
roulade, veal yams and tomato basil. We had banana cake and homemade ice cream sandwich for dessert. (licking lips sound)

When we got back to our room, we realized there were three of us inside! This little frog liked the a/c and decided to join us. As cute as tree frogs are ... we decided his songs would be a bit much a few hours later. Here he is pictured on our patio (after leaping from King's hand).

It's very humid here and has rained a couple of times, but they are quick tropical showers. The sun is shining now and there is a constant breeze. Last night we turned the a/c on in the room and by the time the room cooled off, we were wishing for sleep. The disco across the channel at St Vincent (200 yards away) tuned up after we went to sleep. It woke David temporarily, but I knew nothing until 6:45 this morning!

Breakfast was under the same thatched "kiosk" or hut as dinner and we had fresh fruit, vanilla yogurt, incredible omlettes, strong coffee, fresh orange juice and more cinnamon bread! You may wonder about the pounds that we will pack on this week, eating like we are. Let me reassure you that it might just all even out. :) We are on a volcanic island, after all, and just to get to our room, we walk up 39 steps! I can't imagine the hike up to the upper cottages. We are
down by the beach. I want to go play tennis a fair amount and it's at the top of the island. Last night we looked up at it and David says it was about a 30-35 degree angle from where we were standing. The local parrot is the St Vincent parrot and they are here on this island, too. They have a couple in a *huge* cage by the office and the name outside the cage is "Misty". The parrots are beautiful and talkative, even so late last night.

We can't wait for our friends to arrive. O & J arrive tonight around 8:45 and we plan to surprise them by taking a taxi to the airport and meeting them. This airpot is tiny and so unlike anything back home.

* As a reminder, "King" is my husband and I am "Queen". "Princess" is our daughter.