In early May we left the dogs at the dog hotel in Cozumel, Mexico while we went to Makenzie’s graduation in Boone, NC.

We celebrated Makenzie’s graduation by having an afternoon lunch.

It was fun hanging out with Makenzie before her big Graduation ceremony.

Makenzie opened cards and presents from friends and family before the graduation walk.

We had a party after graduation – all of Makenzie’s friends got to come over. We catered Chinese food from Taste Grill.

We played a game called cup pong. You pair up in teams of two, I was paired up with Alex. We were the champions, don’t tell my Dad.

We had a disco dance party.

What’s great about being in Boone is getting to see friends. I got to see Brendan. We went to Waffle House and went to the mall. I picked out my birthday present, which was an agate bracelett. We had a great time. I hope to see him again soon.

I got to see Kelsey as well. We went to the pool and Chick-fl-a. We had a great time. I hope to see her again.

When we went back to Cozumel, we then sailed the boat to Key West. We stayed at a hotel with a pool and two food trucks while work was being done to the boat. We went to a museum that was part of the First Flight Restaurant and Brewery It was Pan Am’s first headquarters in the 1920’s. Pan Am was the first airline to fly planes out of the area. It’s kinda like American Airlines, now. We walked around the plaza and went shopping. I had a great time there. I hope to go back someday.

We then sailed up the keys, making our way to a marina near Fort Lauderdale for more boat work. We went to Jaxson’s Ice Cream Shoppe for Kent’s Birthday. They have good hotdogs, burgers and sandwiches as well as big servings of ice cream treats. We had fun and the food was delicious.

We said goodbye to Jaxson’s.

Another day, we went to Le Tub. We met up with Joffry, Kent and Kathy. We told them that we sold the boat. Kathy cried when she found out. I didn’t blame her, I was sad too, when I found out. What I’m gonna miss most is boat friends, being adventurous in various cultures, exploring so many islands, different beaches for the dogs to play on without being on a leash all the time and trying all the particular foods in each distinct location. This experience has helped me to expand socially and it has helped to expand the foods that I eat. It has also helped me to appreciate everyday things. When I was growing up there were places that I would go to like Bojangles, the mall, and the movie theater, which the islands don’t have a lot of these places.

It is the beginning of a new chapter for us. We bought an RV and are getting ready to travel around the United States. I miss the boat life, but I can’t wait to travel around and see all the different states. Stay tuned for our next blog about our adventures on RV Aventis.

We left Belize and sailed to Cozumel, Mexico. Don and Mel came down to Cozumel to visit!

We stayed in a house because the marina didn’t have a lot to do there and it gets really warm on the boat. The house had air conditioning and a pool.

Caper really enjoyed the pool. He stole Chance’s ball, chased it, and played with it. Chance enjoyed the shade and the air conditioning. Caper also enjoyed the shade and air conditioning.

The house also had a patio by the pool, a rooftop living room area which was pretty small, and large bedrooms. 

We went to Cabana Beach Club. We got a cabana with a fan, a couch and plenty of shade.

We entered the water by going down the steps because it was a rock wall. The water was clear like a swimming pool. We were able to do what we usually do on the back of the boat, sit on a floatie with a drink. I had a coke.

We went to the Cozumel Pearl Farm to learn how pearls are made. It is a small family business and they do everything by hand.

We learned that Japan uses bigger machines. The oysters there grow much larger and have a longer lifespan. We also learned they are the number 1 pearl producer in the world. They produce lots of pearls, most range in size from 2.0-9.5mm and very rarely 9.5-10.0mm. The pearl farm that we went to only produces about 200 pearls a year and they are very small 2-3mm. 

Don, Mom, and I went on a 20 minute hike to see a lagoon, while Dad and Mel swam out to a sandbar. For lunch they grilled burgers. I had a veggie burger for the first time. I had it with cheese, pineapples and grilled zucchini.  It was really good. I’ll probably start eating veggie burgers with bean patties.   

We went to an Italian restaurant. It was really good. I had tortellini with cheese stuffed inside with pesto. We also had different types of bread with cheese, onion, tomato etc… There were not a lot of Italian restaurants in the Caribbean. We were really excited to find one in Mexico and have it be really good. We had to stay at the house all day one day because everyone but Don and I were sick with upset tummies. They never were able to figure out what got to them. Another day, we went to town to shop and have lunch. One morning, Mom and Mel went to look for sea glass while Dad, Don and I went to Starbucks.

It was fun having Don and Mel visit. I can’t wait to see them in North Carolina.

We had Makenzie, Ella, Gavin and Sara on the boat for their Spring Break week. I did the boat survey which basically asks what everyone’s favorite food and drinks are. I also helped plan the meals for the week.

When they got here we took them to a bar on the beach called Barefoot, where we had dinner. They were starving after their long travel day. The next day we went to Lark Caye where we swam off the back of the boat with Caper.

We went to King Lewey’s. We jumped off a trampoline, had a drink(I had a coke) and ate lunch at the bar. We even played golf. It was a fun day.

We then went to Southwater Caye. We checked out the beach, went snorkeling and explored the island. We also hung out in the sun chill and the floats and swam off the back of the boat with Caper.

We then sailed back to Placencia, it was a long sail. The next day we went to the beach club to hangout. We swam in the pool, had lunch and drinks. I had a virgin pineapple mango daiquiri and a coke.

We went shopping on the way to dinner.  We ate at Chachi’s and got gelato for dessert. The next day Makenzie, Ella, Gavin and Sara had to go to the airport and we said goodbye for now. I really enjoyed  having them on the boat. I hope we get to see them again soon.

We went on a snorkel tour around Caye Caulker with a company called Caveman.

We fed the tarpons. The tarpon came and was ready to take the sardine out of my hand, but then I pulled my hand back and threw the sardine into the water because I was scared.

We then went to see the manatees and swam with them. We didn’t scare them so they stood still which was pretty cool.  Some people call them sea cows because they are ugly, but I actually thought they were really pretty.

We then went on a guided snorkel tour where we saw an eel. The eel’s name was Angela. She was really friendly with the boys. She particularly had a crush on Dad and loved his camera. 

Next we saw an alligator on land. It was actually pretty cool that we saw it right when it was going hunting. Next we saw a Christmas tree worm, which are underwater worms shaped like a Christmas tree.

We then saw about 50 nurse sharks and a dozen sting rays.  Dad and I went swimming with the sharks and rays.

At the end of the tour, we had fruit and happy juice. I tried a couple sips of happy juice and it wasn’t bad. I still would prefer to drink a coke. I was used to snorkeling with people I know, so this adventure snorkeling with people I didn’t know was new to me, but it was enjoyable and I had a really good time.

We took a ferry to Belize City. It took about an hour. They picked us up from the ferry dock and took us to a little hotel where they served us breakfast. We then went on a tour of the Mayan ruins.

I was really interested by the Temple of the Sun God. The story behind the temple fascinated me.

We ate at this little restaurant on the side of the road; you wouldn’t really know it was a restaurant. They served either beans and rice or beans with rice. I had the beans with rice (beans and rice mixed together) and Dad had beans and rice (beans and rice separated). Dad’s beans were like a soup. They made it however you like it. After lunch, we went on a river tour.

We saw howler monkeys. We could just barely see them because they were hiding in the trees.

We went back to the hotel where our tour guide Ben picked us up and took us back to the ferry terminal. The ferry took us back to Caye Caulker and then it was back to the boat. It was a long day. On our other island tours they did not always remember to feed us. What was cool about this tour is that they actually remembered to feed us and we ate really well. It was a fun tour.

Everytime we go to a new country we have to check-in.  For Belize this included Immagration, Customs, Health Department and Port Authority.  Our visa was only good for 30 days. We had to pay $1,500 Belize which is $750 US for the first check-in. Our first check-in was very expensive but easy. We were able to dinghy to the dock in Placencia and meet the people right there. We had to recheck-in twice because we stayed so long. When we went to check-in a second time we went on a water taxi from Placencia to the mainland.  The water taxi ride only took 15 minutes, but it was not somewhere we could bring our dinghy. We went in this old beat up taxi car with a missing door and the other door was being held by a string. We called it an “open air taxi”. It probably shouldn’t have been on the road. We went to Port Authority and to Immagration which was in a different building. We didn’t have to do Customs because this time we were rechecking-in.  It took a while for us to get our passports back.

This time we paid $550 Belize or $275 US.  We then got back to Placencia and ate lunch at the Pickled Parrot. It was a long day, but it was pretty fun.

When our second 30 days were up and we were ready to head to Mexico, it was time to check out.  In order to do this, we had to take a ferry from the island we were on, Caye Caulker to another island, Ambergris. When we got there, Kathy, Mom and I sat outside on the steps while Dad and Kent went into Customs and Immagration. We had to pay $150 Belize or $75 US. In total it cost us $1,100 US to visit for 2 months. This was the most expensive country to check in and out of that we’ve been to so far.

We went on a passage to Belize from Jamaica. On the 5 day, 6 night passage, I just listened to music and watched movies that I had downloaded.

I slept in my room all 6 nights and one night I saw a flying fish who had landed on my hatch. At first, I thought it was a lizard because one day I saw a lizard on our boat. Chance came into my room to try to get to the flying fish and was thinking about how to eat it. We saw lots of dolphins by our boat. Caper and Chance were thinking about how to join them.

We stopped at  Santanilla in Honduras to take a break and rest for the night. We then sailed some and motored some the next two and a half days because the wind was changing a lot.  We were low on fuel and one of our engines was giving us trouble, which meant we couldn’t go very fast.  Seven days after we checked out of Jamaica we arrived at Placencia Yacht Club in Belize.  It was a fun, eventful passage especially due to Caper and Chance’s antics.

We went on a tour of Belize. We went to see the scarlet macaws and the howler monkeys and the Mayan ruins. We had to wake up at 5:30am because the macaws came out in the morning. We went on a long car ride and hiked up into the hills, all the way to where the macaws were, so that we could see them.

Two macaws flew over our heads way up in the sky. Dad and I barely saw them. Mom didn’t see them at all.

We didn’t see even a glimpse of the monkeys.

We couldn’t eat lunch for a while because the place we were going to eat lunch was closed. We did get to see the Mayan ruins eventually, but we were so hungry. We did eventually eat. The Mayan ruins were pretty cool and had a neat history. Our tour guide and bus driver were pretty nice. The monkeys and macaws just decided not to come out. It wasn’t the best island tour we had been on.

We explored the islands on the east side of Belize. Lark Caye was the first stop and sleep over.

The next day we went to Maho Caye and went to the beach there to hangout and explore the area. After that, we took the dogs to the beach to let them swim and play. Caper got to swim and Chance got to play ball.

What happened next was we left Moho and went to King Lewey. We ate lunch and dinner on King Lewey. I got to swing in the water, jump on a water trampoline, and play huge connect 4.

We then went to Hideaway Caye. We were celebrating Kathy’s birthday. The people at the table across from us sang her happy birthday in Spanish. We met a girl there named Ama who is 9 years old. Ama gave me a tour of the tiny island, then we colored and played games.

We went to Southwater Caye. I hungout at the beach and explored the area. Mom, Dad, Kent and Kathy snorkeled the second largest barrier reef.

It was fun getting to explore these islands around Belize. My favorite Islands are King Lewey and Southwater. King Lewey because it is a pirate themed island and it has a trampoline that I got to jump on.

Southwater because it has a nice beach and water to swim in as well as internet.

We left Aruba the beginning of January and headed straight to Jamaica. We went on a three day passage. It was easy. On the passage I watched movies like Aquamarine, Pitch Perfect, Another Cinderella Story, etc… and watched TV shows like Lost in Oz, Just Add Magic, etc… and listened to music from Glee, Disney, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Selena Gomez, etc…

Aventis at the dock in Jamaica!

After we arrived in Jamaica and got checked-in, we did two different island tours. On the first tour we got to see a blue mountain coffee farm, which is where they harvest and roast coffee beans. Coffee is their main export. When I saw where the coffee was being made, I tried it and liked it. I drink coffee now. I drink it just straight up black coffee with a little bit of sugar.

We then went to the Bob Marley museum in Kingston. Bob Marley had 12 kids, he also had cancer and he was shot by someone. They don’t know who shot him.  

We went to this restaurant called Island Vibez. I decided to be adventurous and order curry shrimp. It ended up being too spicy for me because there was no coconut milk to cut the spice and there was jerk seasoning in it.  

The second tour we went on was to Reach Falls. We went into a water cave and it was pretty cool.

We went to Boston, a village in Jamaica which is where “Jerk” seasoning was invented and we ate lunch at a jerk restaurant. It was delicious! I had jerk shrimp. We also went to this place called Blue Lagoon which was a cool place. It felt like there was a hot spring somewhere in the water because at the bottom it was warm, but it was cold at the top.

It was fun getting to explore the island of Jamaica and the town of Port Antonio where our boat was docked. After a week, we left Port Antonio and sailed to Oracabessa and saw James Bond Beach and explored the area. It was fun exploring Oracabessa.

We left Oracabessa and sailed to Ocho Rios for my birthday. We explored the cruise ship area, went shopping and went to Margaritaville.

Mom and I got our hair braided on my birthday.

We also went river tubing. I was here in Jamaica once in 2015. We came on a cruise ship. I didn’t enjoy river tubing as much in 2015, maybe because I was young at the time, or tired and hungry, or maybe because we had just come from the Blue Hole. Either way, I enjoyed the experience much better this time.

We went to Spicy Shack afterwards. I had shrimp in coconut cream. It was really good. I enjoyed getting to explore Jamaica. 

Makenzie, Ella and Gavin came down to the boat. Gavin only came down for a week.

Makenzie, Ella and Gavin got to see Renaissance Island which we call, Flamingo Island.

There are flamingos that live on the island, but they are not native to Aruba. Some flamingos are pink. They are really good at hunting for food like algae, plankton and shrimp. There are also some white flamingos. One of the reasons I think the flamingos are different colors is that the pink flamingos bully the white flamingos. The white flamingos eat less.

We went on a tour of the Island.

We went to the natural bridge, which was really fun, the lighthouse which was really cool to climb and the natural pool which was amazing.  We went to a cave the Native Americans used to hide in. They were hiding from the Spanish who came to take over the island. The Spanish would grab the slaves and shipped them to Venezuela. We also went to a pond and got a fish pedicure where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I tried it and it tickled when the fish touched my feet.

Our last stop was baby beach, where we got to snorkel, have a drink at the bar and chill. The tour was fun. I liked the stories Big G and Tony told us about each place.

Visited the Aruba Aloe Factory and learned about how all kinds of stuff is made with aloe. It was pretty cool.

The Butterfly Farm was so much fun, we went back a second time so Makenzie, Ella and Dad could see it.

Stay tuned to see where the new year takes us.

While in Bonaire, I made new friends and saw a few that I met in Grenada last year. I had some of my girlfriends over on Aventis to see the new Cinderella on amazon prime with Camilla Cabelo. I have been talking about this for a long time. I was excited to finally be able to do it. The girls I had over are Celeste(Bliss), Eden(Bliss), Grace(Matriarch), Aidan(Matriarch), Aliona(Song of the Sea) and Anesthesia(Song of the Sea), Cadence(Otoka), Talya(Otoka), Layla (Mala) and Eva(Bubble Moon). We had our own group chat that was only girls. One of my friends, Ivy didn’t come because she had the second vaccination and didn’t feel good. One of our boat neighbors told Mom she heard us laugh and giggle. We had snacks before the movie, while everyone was arriving. I had a good time having everyone on the boat and it was great to see everyone. I hope I get to do it again.

We said goodbye to Bonaire and moved the boat to Aruba.

On Saturday October 16th, we celebrated Dad’s Birthday. We decorated the boat with black and gold decorations. Dad turned 50, which is an over the hill age. We had french toast casserole and bacon for Dad’s birthday brunch. Dad opened his presents, a toucan swimsuit from me and message oil from Mom. We then got to watch a video that Kent and Kathy made for his birthday. We then got to watch another video made for Dad’s Birthday by Mom and Makenzie where everyone in our family and friends made a video saying happy birthday. I really liked Joffry’s video when he said “Happy 60th Birthday” and then his wife Diana corrected him telling him it’s his 50th birthday. Dad was on the phone with a lot of people after the video. For Dad’s birthday dinner we went to LG’s Steakhouse at the Renaissance Casino across the street from the marina we are staying.

We had Don and Mel visit on the boat for a few days in Aruba for Dad’s Birthday. We picked them up from the airport and ate at West Deck for lunch. The food was pretty good then we went to the pool. We then went to Zucchini to eat, which was Amazing. The next day we went exploring around the island and ate lunch at Lola’s. The food was pretty delicious.

We then went to the Renaissance Island in the afternoon to hangout at the beach and see/feed the flamingos. The flamingos ate dog food out of my hand.  Their long black beak tickled my hand. Some of the flamingos were white like vanilla ice cream and some flamingos were pink like ice cream with strawberries in it. 

I ran into my new friend Stella who I met at the pool on Sunday and I also made a new friend on the island Melody. What’s cool is that Melody is my age 16. I haven’t had many friends in the Caribbean who were my age before.

We had brunch on the boat the next day before Don and Mel had to leave when Don and Mel had to leave Mom and Dad took them to the airport. I stayed on the boat with the dogs and did school work. It was fun having Don and Mel on the boat and showing them Aruba. It’s too bad they could only stay for two days. At least we’ll be seeing them soon when we come up to North Carolina for Thanksgiving.

Mom and I went to the states while Dad was in the hospital. We flew into Atlanta and cleared customs. The customs  line was crazy and overwhelming.  We stood in line for two hours.

The next day we drove to Boone, North Carolina. We got to see Makenzie and Ella. We stayed at the Towne Place Suites with Ella and her cat Lily. 

I got to see my friend Kelsey and my new friend Sarah. I was excited to see Kelsey and Sarah because I had not seen them in a long time.  We had them over at the hotel for swimming.

Brendan and I went swimming at Elk River Falls. The water was very chilly, but we had a great time swimming and floating around. Brendan even jumped off one of the rocks into the water.

We left Boone and went to Sunset Beach to see Mom’s family and spent a couple of days with them.  It was mind blowing to see everyone, but also exciting. We got to see our second cousins from England who we haven’t seen in 5 years. I played a word game with Lauren to compare English words to British words.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off, then we went to Nebo to see Don and Mel. Don left for work and Mel, Mom and I had a girls day on the boat. It was exciting because I missed our boat, Aventis. Dad and Don kept teasing Mel about wrecking the boat, but she did a good job driving it.

Another day, Don grilled hotdogs on the boat and pulled me around in the tube. It was fun, luckily he went easy on me. Don surprised us when he told us he wanted to knee-board, so Mel pulled him. I am going to ask Dad for a unicorn float like this for Christmas.

We saw Grandad and Nana in Charlotte with Makenzie and Ella. We got lunch from Makenzie, Ella and my favorite restaurant, Cowfish. It was delicious! What was even better was the dessert they had us try called, Butta Pie. We then went shopping. It was a fun day.

I got to spend sometime with Mel by myself while Mom went to Boone for doctors appointments and then to Charlotte to get Dad.  I got to experience being in Tropical Storm Fred. It was weird. We lost power, so we had to go to town and get coffee and tea. Later that same day I had lunch at an Asian Fusion Restaurant and I had Bubble Tea. I haven’t had it in a long time. It was delicious! I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t tried it before. It’s a tea that tastes like soda with tapioca pearls that sit at the bottom to make it taste like your eating bubbles.

The day before Mel and I were at the hair salon getting haircuts and there was a little bit of an earthquake. It was my first time being in an earthquake. Luckily the earthquake was short so it wasn’t really scary. The ground shook a little bit, but nothing fell and broke. We had a movie night and made popcorn and candy bowls. This is where each person fills their bowl with whatever combination of sweet and salty treats that we have in the house.

Dad Arrived Yay! He got to spend some time with Grandad and Nana then he and Mom came to Nebo to see me. I was glad to see him. We joked that he was like Captain Hook.

We went to Virginia to see Grandma. It was hard because she is not what she used to be. We saw Shawn, Miki, Lucas and Theo. It was fun and nice to see them.

We went back to Boone to drop Makenzie and Ella off then we went back to Nebo and saw Don and Mel and went “Brewery Hopping”.

I got to see Kelsey and go swimming with her again.  We swam at the Blowing Rock Pool, which is an outdoor pool near to where Blowing Rock School is.

I also got to see my English teacher, Mrs Carter.  It was nice to see her and spend time with her. She still helps me with my literature assignments. We went to Charlotte one more time to see Grandad and Nana and have dinner with them at this Italian place called, Little Mama’s. It was amazing! It felt different seeing them without Makenzie and Ella, but in a good way. We went to Atlanta and had dinner at Fogo de Chao. It was a unique place because it had a salad bar with plenty of choices both warm and cold. It also had good rolls and dessert. The one thing I wasn’t really happy about was that they came around with meat on a stick to your table and cut it and put it on your plate. It was a memorable last meal in the states. We flew to Aruba and stayed a couple of days there. The doctors wanted to see Dad again. The hotel that we stayed at is called Playa Linda. It had a nice pool and beach. I stayed there while Mom and Dad went to meet with the doctors.

We flew back to Bonaire. That flight was scary because it was a small plane with 20 passengers and it was a shaky flight, but we made it to Bonaire. I was happy to see my dogs and my friends.

We took off from the Virgin Islands and were on our way to Bonaire.

It was great the first night. The next day mom and I felt fine at first, but later on we both started to feel seasick. We think we might have overdosed on Bonine trying to make sure we did not get seasick. The next day we took less Bonine and felt better. We arrived in Bonaire when I woke up the third morning. It was an easy passage overall no big waves or rain. I mostly sleep, listen to music and watch downloaded stuff on my IPad during the passage. I sleep outside by the dining table and Mom and Dad took turns sleeping on the bench seat across from me. We zip all the enclosures up at night, so the dogs can not sneak out and so we do not get wet if it rains. We had a full moon all three nights which was cool because we never had a full moon on any of our passages before. We also saw lots of flying fish, but luckily none landed on the boat.

We made it to Bonaire. We explored the island by car. We went to the flamingo sanctuary and saw pink flamingos.

We also went to the distillery called Cadushy Distillery. They make their drinks out of cactus that they find on the Island. We had gelato three times the first week. I also met up with some friends of mine from Grenada,and some new friends as well. Tanner on the catamaran, Dorothy Rose, Celeste and her sister Eden on the mono-hull, Bliss and Liam, Grace and Aiden on the mono-hull, Matriarch.  I had them over a couple times on the boat. We played games and watched movies. It’s nice to see old friends and make some new friends. Hopefully, I can continue to make some other new friends as well.

We also went snorkeling/diving at night to see Ostracods. They are like underwater fireflies. Technically they are Bio-luminescence. They glow underwater when you make a movement. They move as well. The male ostracods light up to attract a lady ostracod.

We also saw slave huts and slave camps from when the slaves were here on the island, working to collect salt. It was fun being able to explore a new country that’s an island. Somethings surprised me about Bonaire when I got here. I thought they would use Eastern Caribbean money like they did in Grenada.  It turns out they use American money. It also turns out that they primarily speak English not Dutch. But they do have a local language they speak to each other, Papiamento. It was really fun to hangout with friends. Hopefully, I can continue to explore the Island and hangout with old friends and new ones.

 Homemade blueberry soda from Sugar Thief Brewery. My friend Brendan would have loved it!!

Marshmallow Crepe! Yummy!

One afternoon we hung out with Darlyn, Celeste and Eden (Bliss) while Dad, Harry (Bliss) John (Gypsy Blue) and Kent went diving with Martijn (new friend we met who lives in Bonaire) to complete their nitrox certification.  Dad forgot his mask which is funny because he is usually so organized. Everyone of the guys gave him a hard time about it. Us girls drove a truck around the island to see things. We went to the Donkey Sanctuary to feed donkeys. There are 750 donkeys at the sanctuary.

There are park rangers who rescue and take care of the donkeys. It was neat for a while, but then it got annoying and startling when the donkeys kept surrounding us. When we wouldn’t feed them, they got pushy. We only had so much food and we wanted to feed as many as we could.  It was kinda funny when a donkey came in and all of a sudden grabbed my shirt. It was captivating feeding the donkeys. We couldn’t exactly sit down because the donkeys were so close to the truck and tried to get their heads in. They kept us on our toes. We also got to see pregnant donkeys and baby donkeys. In addition, we saw flamingos and turtles. The donkeys were pretty, friendly, so it was actually really enjoyable over all.

Next we went to Sorobon Beach. We were gonna swim, then it turned out we couldn’t really swim because it was more of a wind surfing beach. It was still cool to look around. We checked out Jibe City Beach Bar which was a nice place. We smelled the food that the chefs were cooking and realized we were starving so we headed to Foodies to eat. It was “Phenomenal”(as Mom would say).  Bonaire makes salt from the sea. We got to see the salt fields and how they get the salt on to the ships to send it other places. We also saw the slave huts which are where the people who worked in the salt fields would stay. I don’t know how I would feel working as a slave and having to live in a slave hut; luckily I don’t have to see what that’s like. I feel pretty lucky about that.

We saw the lighthouse, which is what the ships used to guide them home, and hopefully keep them from bumping into land. We ended the day with a sunset dinner at Ocean Oasis. It was a Fantastic day. I hope we get to do it again.

Mom, Kathy and I were sitting at a gelato shop called Gio’s. We were having gelato and looking for our friends that we were gonna hangout with…

All of a sudden Mom gets a call from Darlyn (Bliss). I get excited at first because I thought we were going over to meet them. It turns out it was about my dad. Kent, Harry(Bliss), Martijn and Dad were driving ATVs around the islands. Dad and Harry were riding together. Dad was driving the ATV because they just switched drivers and then they got a flat tire. The ATV rolled! Harry was ok. Dad on the other hand, wasn’t. He wrecked his wrist and had to be taken to the hospital. When Mom, Kathy and I arrived at the the hospital, Mom was the only one allowed to see him. We then got a ride back to the boat from our friend Cat. I stayed on the boat with Kathy and the dogs. Dad and Mom had to fly to Aruba for surgery. I spent the night on Kent and Kathy’s boat, while Martijn and Cat watched the dogs at their house. Kent, Kathy and I went over to swim and walk the dogs.

I also hung out with my friends while Mom and Dad were in Aruba. We had a karaoke night and we went to Eden Beach for some pool time. When everything first happened I was confused and not sure what was going on. Everything was moving at such a fast pace. But it ended up ok because I was well taken care of by Kent and Kathy and had a good time spending time with them on their boat. I did not have a lot of time to think about what had happened because I was very busy seeing the dogs and hanging out with my friends.

We took the boat to Long Bay to be able to pick Makenzie, her roommate Anna, boyfriend Gavin and Gavin’s frat brother Alex. When they arrived we were happy to see them and meet Gavin and Alex. We went to eat at Tap’n Still: it was good. We took them to Caneel Bay and let them have day at the beach bar while me, mom and dad stayed on the boat. We went to Maho Bay the next morning and swam and snorkeled and checked out the beach bar. We went to Coral Bay and did Limeout. I went to Skinny legs but stayed on the boat while everyone else did Limeout. We hung-out swam with Caper and stayed the night. We stayed the night at Hanson Bay.  We went to Secret Harbour and lunch there it was delicious we hung-out at the beach which was nice. We anchored at Ditlyff and stayed the night. We went to Saltpond and hiked body beach and then I stayed on the boat while everyone else hiked Ram’s head. We snorkeled to the beach. We went to Ditlyff and had a beach day with Caper and Chance. We anchored the boat at Long Bay. We went to town to go shopping and also went to Taphus to get something to drink, I had root beer. We then went to Stonehouse to eat: it was good. We then had a bonus day because their flight got messed up and spent the day at Dinghy’s. It was a fun day. We then said goodbye to Anna, Gavin and Alex. Makenzie stayed on the boat. While they were here we played Fibbage which is where you come up with a lie to answer a question and if you by any chance say the truth then they don’t let you put in your answer. You then have to find out what the truth is. It’s a really fun game to play if you have more than one person over so basically a party.  It can be any size party. You have to play it to really understand it.  It’s on Jackbox TV.  It’s a really funny and cool game.We also watched New Girl. It is a show about this woman who is living with three guys and she is a teacher. She is trying to figure out her life. She broke up with her boyfriend. It is a really good and funny show. 

Paddle board ride at Maho

Coral Bay day

Lunch at Skinny Legs. Capt. Shannon is buying.

Makenzie and Ella on boat for the week to send sometime with just me, mom, dad and the dogs.

Ella’s new bean bag chair, Caper photo bombing wishing he could get in the chair.

Chairlift ride to a bar called Tasty, in St Thomas.

Breakfast at juice bar before a fun day.

Hanging at Frenchman’s Bay, dogs on paddle board.

Lenny and Lisa came to visit. We had fun hanging out on the boat.

We went to the Spanish Virgin Islands and checked those Islands out before we left for Bonaire. First we went to Culebrita but because it was too rolly and the weather was bad so we decided to go to Culebra and spend the rest of the day there. The next day we went to the Culebra and explored. Unfortunately, there weren’t very many restaurants and shops opened or many activities to do. We went to the beach to wait until 2 o’clock when the restaurant would open. We went to Flamenco Beach. It was a turtle nesting beach. Fun Fact, there is very little crime in Culebra because it is the second home of the Puerto Rican Mob, so it is a mob run island. They do not want to have any need to have police on that island. There is much more crime over on Vieques. We ate at MamaCita’s. The food I ate was good. I had coconut shrimp and fries. Mom and Dad had something different. They did not like it. We didn’t bring a water bottle. The only drinks that me, Mom and Dad had were at the restaurant. Mom and Dad had beer and I had Diet Coke. The Diet Coke was expired. It was awful!!  It was still a fun day. Then we found an anchorage on the north side of Culebra and spent a week. There was a private beach that we took the dogs to each morning. We also spent one morning with our friends Kent, Kathy, Kathy’s sister Susan and her husband Robert. We met Susan and Robert on Kent and Kathy’s boat when they had us over for dinner. We went back to Culebrita and hiked to the Tidal Pools. We were going to get in but then there was a bunch of sargassum which is basically seaweed that has come from Africa. We were not happy. We hiked up to the lighthouse the next day. The lighthouse was pretty cool. Here are some fun facts about the lighthouse: The construction began in 1882 and ended in 1886. The lantern room housed a four order lens in1901 and by 1908 a three and a half order lens had been installed. At the end of the Spanish-American War, it fell under control of the United States.  It is a t-shaped stone structure with a thirty-seven foot tall tower being centered in the vertical portion of a T. In the oil and the storeroom at the bottom of the T there were pairs of identical living quarters. One to the left and one to the right, that each had three apartments that people stayed in. The rooms measured 10 x 12ft and the kitchen/dining room measured 13 x 15ft.  We had a great time in the Spanish VIs and were glad we got to see them before we headed back to St. Thomas. We had to head back to St. Thomas because we needed to take the dogs to the vet, so that they can get checked out and be cleared to enter Bonaire.

Rainy day at Culebrita

MammaCita’s

Morning beach day

Beach day with WE, Kathy’s sister Susan and brother-in-law Robert. Caper and Chance photo bombing.

Lighthouse on Culebrita

Bonaire here we come.