Red Is A Flavor

Yesterday, I learned the diagnosis of my arm/wrist that I injured while snowboarding.  It is officially broken and I’m now wearing the first cast in my life.

While wearing it around the office, I’m finding two things interesting; people’s curiosity about it and their surprise when I tell them I broke it snowboarding.  The later truly amazes me.  I’m looked at in such a way that says “I should have known better”.

I am now 38 year old and I hurt myself doing something that I’ve wanted to do since I was a teenager.  What exactly is surprising about this?  The fact that I still chase my dreams and have refused to live with Adultitis (See Adultitis.org for Diagnosis and Treatment), or is it their inability to do the same?  Life is for experiencing that which I’ve yet to, without fear?  As we do not get a do-over at life.

While I’ve (thus far) neglected to blog about the details of our Puerto Rico Vacation, here are some “lessons learned” for those of you that are considering it for a vacation.

Soda – In the nearly two weeks on the island, only two restaurants had fountain soda.  Nearly all of the rest had only cans.  So plan or order accordingly if you are a big soda drinker.

Rain – Rain in Puerto Rico is inevitable.  Make sure that your itinerary has some “fluff” to accommodate rain days.  We were extremely lucky, with only one full day of rain.

“Cheap” is Relative – You will read reviews of restaurants noting their cheap or affordable menu.  Be aware that this is not quite what it is back at home.  An affordable dinner is sub $25 in Puerto Rico.   Plan on paying at least $15-20 per person, if you want full service, even in the Luquillo Kiosks.

This year’s vacation was somewhat a last-minute plan.  The contract that I work on, had not been renewed until May 1st, and I was reluctant to make any firm plans until my employment was guaranteed.

Earlier in the year, I had created a couple “idea itineraries”, so that when we knew something, we could quickly make plans.  Ideas included San Francisco, Cruise, Puerto Rico, New York, Moab, Denver, RV, etc.

The day I got word of our contract award, I began looking into actual prices of the options.  Quickly I determined that Puerto Rico was our most cost effective option and the only one that I could plan in the short timeframe that I had.

From my preliminary research, I discovered that Puerto Rico was a realitively inexpensive place to visit and there is quite a few options for “outdoor” activities that we enjoy.

After a little work, here is out itinerary…

American History – The Berlin Wall

National Archives

Pennsylvania Avenue

Arlington National Cemetery

Capitol Rotunda