Hello

I'm just going to pretend like I never left... Here we are in the middle of summer. Summer always reminds me of being a kid, off from school, and nothing to do but get up late, watch a couple cartoons during breakfast and then heading outside to cause all sorts of issues for the rest of the day. Now I come to work and stare at 50 diaganol inches of computer screen and repress my urge to yell at people and point out (with evidence) how schockingly stupid they are. Oh, how times have changed. At least I had a short break recently, which was none too soon, and an AMAZING surprise from the wifey. Out of nowhere, she shocked me with a fully planned trip to St. John, where I believe my soul may actually reside (with or without me). One of the best parts was that I only had two weeks to prepare, and it meant not being tortured for months on end waiting for the departure date! This time we stayed in Chocolate Hole, and the view from our house wasn't quite a spectacular, but I sure wasn't complaining (plus the house had some other benefits over the last one...)!!

The first day there, it was just Jessica and I, which worked out nicely since we took the chance to celebrate our wedding anniversary a day early. After getting settled in, we had an awesome dinner on the beach; literally our view from the table.

The next afternoon Jesse, Kim and her mom were set to arrive, but we had the morning to kill, which of course meant plenty of time to hit the beach first! It was great, and even being the Fourth of July we nearly had it to ourselves.

I had broken down for this trip, and picked up a sweet underwater housing for my NEX and I was anxious to try it out. It was a bit terrifying taking my camera into the water at first, but the housing ended up working flawlessly the entire trip.

Then it was off to town to pick up the crew from the ferry. They were arriving right as the Carnival parade was getting ready to start, and while it would have been a great scene to get off the ferry to, it was also hectic! I was mostly kicking myself for thinking (somehow!) that I wouldn't need my camera! What an idiot! The parade had some wild sights! And the evening was a total blast. The busiest day of the year on St. John, and massively more people than I ever imagined (on the island). Everyone there seemed to be in good spirits with vendors, beyond-packed bars, rum being consumed faster than the bars could pour them, and then awesome fireworks on the beach. After that night it was back to "island time", and after getting up the next morning our little group settled into the usual daily routine; wake up, breakfast, determine a beach for the day, snorkle for hours on end, lunch, snorkle more, go home for dinner, consume rum drinks in our swimming pool. It's a tough place to be. Without a doubt, Salt Pond Bay is still my favorite beach... in the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One day we had a great day planned, jumping on a boat to head out of the country for the day. I was super excited, since we were heading to the Baths in Virgin Gorda, one of the most scenic places in the islands.

From there we stopped at a reef to snorkle with an amazing amount of fish. Followed up by a stop on a tiny island for lunch;

And then finally off to the amazing Soggy Dollar for drinks! It's not too often you get to see Jessica double-fisting the rum drinks.

Then... we eventually came home (against all my wishes) and it sucked. Now I've been in a deep dark depression ever since. Work pretty much only exists so I can work on plans for our next trip to the islands. At least, that's what I keep trying to tell myself.