The Isle of Enchantment

Elizabeth’s high school graduation was the perfect excuse to get together as a family and celebrate with a beach vacation. It had been FOREVER since the whole family got together for summer vacation.  In fact, I can’t even remember the last time that happened…  After this amazing trip to Puerto Rico, we all agreed we need to plan more trips together!

When we first got the idea to take a summer holiday, we knew we wanted to go somewhere warm like the Caribbean.  We thought about a cruise, or other island, but Puerto Rico topped our list because of the convenience – easy to get to from Texas plus Emily and Kendal didn't need to worry about getting a passport for Bailey.

Then we found the Wyndham Villas through HomeAway.  We booked a condo for the week in Rio Mar, which was previously a huge coconut plantation and now functions as a beach-side resort.  Staying in a condo was a great option because we could be together and have the flexibility of cooking meals or eating out.

View from our balcony

Coconut trees over the pool - I kept warning everyone that falling coconuts kill more people every year than sharks but they just laughed at me.  It's true!!

Since David and I are the world-travellers of the group, we were in charge of booking the accommodations and planning the excursions.  I have to admit, I felt a lot of pressure and was crossing my fingers that everything would go smoothly… and thankfully, it did!

We had Tuesday and Friday to hang out on the beach and relax, with Wednesday and Thursday reserved for a day-trip to San Juan and tour of the nearby El Yunque Rainforest.

June is the off-season in Puerto Rico because of the weather.  It can get very hot and humid, and the risk of hurricanes during the summer months is greater.  We expected some rain, being literally across the street from the rainforest, but we got really, really lucky.  It only rained a couple of times, and each time, we happened to be indoors or driving in the car.

Because it’s the low-season, the resort was pretty empty.  We met a few other families, but other than that, we practically had the place to ourselves.  So we…

relaxed by the beach,

played in the pool with Bailey,

walked to the Wyndham to hang out at the Tiki Hut,

(where Elizabeth tried her first rum shot and hated it!)

and boogie boarded in the waves (there were no pics of anyone boogie boarding).

Even my parents enjoyed the boogie boards.  They were having more fun riding the waves than the kids.  David, Elizabeth, and I would get out past the break and just hang out on our boards.  We kept joking around that we were having “board meetings.”  Nerd alert!

On Tuesday evening, I had signed us up for a kayaking trip to Laguna Grande, a bioluminescent bay in nearby Fajardo.  The bioluminescent bay is caused by microscopic plankton that emit a blue light when touched.  Emily and Kendal stayed back to watch Bailey, but the rest of the family came along.

We met up with our group at 8:00 that night (the best time to see the glowing waters) and got our instructions.  Elizabeth, Mom, and I had never kayaked before, so Mom went with Dad and David got paired up with his new best friend, Brigham from San Antonio.

Brigham!

Elizabeth and I decided to brave the adventure together.

Unfortunately we got stuck behind a couple of horrible drivers, and since it was pitch black in the ocean, we followed their kayak lights straight into an anchored boat!  After straightening out and getting back to the group, we did a lot better!  It was still kind of difficult, though, because to get to Laguna Grande, we had to paddle through a narrow mangrove channel.  Traffic was pretty intense on the way there, with other tour groups heading back home.  But on the way out, we were going with the current and there weren’t any other kayakers so it made paddling much easier!

David, meanwhile, got to know our honorary brother, Brigham!  They talked through the entire journey.  David kept us laughing on the car ride home with all of his new fun facts about Brigham.  I couldn't imagine holding a conversation – Elizabeth and I were concentrating way too hard on trying not to run into trees or tip over!

As you can see from this pic, it was only about 3 feet deep in the mangrove channel.  So even if we did tip over, it was no big deal.

We saw a huge iguana in the trees and a giant termite mound.  Thankfully, the guides kept quiet about the boas in the mangroves until after we were finished.  I would’ve been freaking out the entire time if I knew there were giant snakes in the trees next to us!

The best part was, of course, the bioluminescence.  One minute, our paddles were dipping into black water.  The next, the water started to glow blue with each movement our paddles and kayaks made.  As we got closer to the lagoon, the light became more intense.  And once we were in the lagoon, the guides told us to stick our arms inside and swirl the water around.  The lagoon really glowed then, and when our arms came out, they stayed glowing for a couple of seconds. 

The whole family (including Brigham) in the bay.  It's too bad the bioluminescent light doesn't show up in pictures.  You'll just have to go to PR and take a kayak tour to see for yourself!

On our second excursion, we headed to the El Yunque rainforest, the only rainforest in the US, to hike to the waterfalls and zip-line through the trees.

Mom stayed back in the morning with Bailey while the rest of us went zip-lining.  After our safety briefing, we did five zip-lines, and then a 20-minute hike through the muddy rainforest.  We saw lots of icky bugs like millipedes and giant snails.

Our final zip-line landed us up in the trees, on a platform about 50 feet off the ground.  To get to the bottom, we had to rappel down the tree.  

Dad and Emily were pros and did their rappel unassisted.  

I’ve only rappelled once in my life, and it must’ve been about 20 feet off the ground, so I was pretty nervous.  But it was assisted, and turned out to be a lot of fun, even though David teased me that there was a tarantula on the tree and I freaked out about halfway down – stupid liar!  Joke was on him, anyway, as a baby tarantula ran across his foot about 10 minutes later.  Muahaha!

After our adventure swinging through the trees, we met up with Mom and Bailey and did a hike through the rainforest to the La Mina waterfall.

Before heading back to the beach for the afternoon, we stopped at a lookout tower to get a birds-eye view of the rainforest all the way to the coastline.

The most exciting thing that happened in Puerto Rico was Emily and Kendal getting engaged!

The first afternoon on vacation, David took Emily out of the condo to run an errand and Kendal got ready.  He put Bailey into her special onesie and I got the video camera prepped for Emily’s return.  When Emily walked back into the room and saw Bailey, she immediately said yes!

We spent the rest of the week discussing destination wedding ideas and future babies / cousins.  And it was our parent's 34th wedding anniversary later that weekend, so we celebrated their marriage by treating them to a traditional Puerto Rican meal at a nearby beach shack.

The beach shacks look grungy, but everyone told us that they have the best food on the island – and I think they were right!  While in PR, we ate a lot of great food.  We cooked together almost every night, but when we did eat out, we made sure to eat local.  We had tostones (fried plantains) topped with lobster, lots of fish and shrimp, mofongo (mashed yucca) with Creole chicken, red beans and rice, conch fritters, alpcapurrias (fried corn beef),  and everyone’s favorite – flan de queso (a mix between custard and cheesecake).   

Mufongo with Creole chicken

Fried fish stuffed with shrimp and a side of rice and beans 

(I kind of felt like we were back in New Orleans because the food was so similar)

One of the days that we ate out was during our tour of Old San Juan.  We first explored Castillo de San Cristobal, the largest Spanish fort in PR.  After roving through the dark tunnels and braving the fierce winds on the battlements, we took a stroll through the blue cobblestoned streets of Old San Juan.

Atop Castillo de San Cristobal (it was so windy!)

The Devil's Sentry Box - Legend has it that multiple soldiers stationed at this post disappeared never to be seen again.  Reality is they used to sneak off to be with their lovers and were found years later raising families.

When it started to drizzle, we stopped at a local restaurant for lunch.  The owner was really friendly and snapped some photos of our group, while making great meal recommendations.

We ate while it poured, and then went shopping.  I found a Coach store offering ridiculously amazing sale prices and ended up getting a couple of bags, while Dad wanted something more traditional and bought himself a Panama hat.

Dad with his flan de queso and Panama hat

Before the next downpour, we headed over to the Bacardi Distillery.  Before and after our free tour, they gave us each two drink vouchers.  I couldn’t believe that Bacardi did all of that for free – but I’m sure they make all of their money back through the purchase of additional drinks and gift shop goodies.  We got to try all of the different flavors of rum, with the family preferring dragonberry, cherry, and coconut.  Peach mixed with lemonade was also really refreshing, and my personal favorite. 

Bailey loved hanging out at the bar with Uncle David!

Friday was our last day of vacation, so we enjoyed it by hanging out in the sea, cooking lunch together, lounging by the pool reading and napping after the meal, and grabbing pre-dinner drinks at the Tiki Bar.

It was a great family vacation, with some fun excursions mixed into a relaxing week at the beach.  And we celebrated a ton – a graduation, an anniversary, and an engagement!  Congrats to Elizabeth, my parents, and the groom and bride-to-be!  

Goodbye Franklin High

On Friday, June 14, Elizabeth was the last of the Kurzweg girls to graduate from Franklin High School.  She was cheered across the stage by our parents, my mom’s parents from Minnesota, Emily and Bailey, and me.

Since I started my new role at Dell, I haven’t had the chance to travel back to Texas.  16 months is too long to be away from the Lone Star state!  I missed the heat, the food, the pool, and most of all, my family!

We had a really fun long weekend celebrating Elizabeth’s achievements and spending time together.  One of the most amazing parts of the weekend was baby Bailey learning how to crawl!

My grandparents work their magic on babies when it comes to crawling and walking.  They taught me how to walk when I was about a year old and they taught Bailey how to crawl that weekend at 9 months.

Besides getting our fill of Tex-Mex and watching Bailey crawl, we spent a lot of time in the backyard pool.  I got my tan on in preparation for our trip to the Caribbean and we played a ton of pool volleyball.

Bailey and I had a pool party in our matching blue polka dot swimsuits

She LOVED taking splendid boat rides in that turtle!

Graduation was Friday evening followed by Project Graduation at the local amusement park for the seniors.  So on Saturday, we celebrated at PF Chang’s, one of Elizabeth’s favorite restaurants.  Then we came home for some cookie cake dessert and to open presents.

Elizabeth's favorite - cookie cake!

On Sunday, Dad enjoyed his first Father’s Day with all of his daughters and grand-daughter.  He had a nap with Bailey before church and then we had Sunday brunch at a great, local Mexican restaurant, Avila’s, with some family friends.

That evening, he opened his gifts and cards.  He got a new fancy grill for Father’s Day and made us delicious Hawaiian burgers on it.

Monday morning, we flew out to Puerto Rico for our family vacation.  We were meeting up with David and Kendal, who were already there.  Our flight was delayed by a couple of hours, which gave Bailey and Dad another chance to catch up on some sleep.

There they go again!

Our flight from Dallas was also delayed, which was actually a good thing.  We didn’t have to run through the airport, worrying if we and our bags would make it in time.  Instead, we had a leisurely lunch at Salt Lick (yum!) and stocked up on American magazines for me (I’ve missed Southern Living and Real Simple and Food Network) and snacks for the rest of the crew.

Bailey was a great flyer!  She sat still most of the time and hardly cried.  She slept most of the way to Puerto Rico, since it was an evening flight, and got lots of compliments when we landed.  (Elizabeth and I attributed this to having her aunts sitting next to her to keep her and her mama entertained.)

Thank goodness she was so good!  I didn't want to be those people with a screaming baby on a 5-hour flight!

After a full day of travel, we had arrived!  We couldn't wait to wake up the next morning to the sand and surf!

Conquering Ben Nevis

For our second bank holiday in May, we decided to head up to Scotland to hike Ben Nevis.  

Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in the UK at just over 1,300 meters.  I didn’t think that Ben Nevis would be that big of a deal because Mt Franklin in El Paso is almost 2,200 meters and I did that when I was a really unfit freshman in high school.  But it was a big deal!  And I think that the reason for that is mostly due to the weather conditions in Northern Scotland.  The only thing we ever had to worry about while hiking in TX was bringing enough water and sunscreen, but climbing in Scotland requires a lot more preparation!

We invited a bunch of our friends to join us, and the Tarts, Jordan, Laura, and her boyfriend, Alex, were able to come along!  Laura and Alex live in Scotland, so they met us on Saturday afternoon.

We met Jordan, Paul, and Alyson at Heathrow on Friday after work.  Poor Alyson had just returned from a business trip to Istanbul that afternoon, so she spent all day flying and hanging out in airports.  And unfortunately for us, but especially for her, our flight was delayed several hours because of the plane that caught fire and had to make an emergency landing at Heathrow earlier in the day.

We finally landed in Glasgow at 1:00 AM and were so thankful that we hadn’t booked the rental car or our hotel in the highlands until the following day.  We had planned to just spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express next to the Glasgow airport before getting on the road Saturday morning.  That was some good planning on our part!

After breakfast, we were off to the highlands! 

The highlands are so, so beautiful.  It’s hard to capture just how amazing the scenery is in photos, but we tried.  Saturday was a perfect day with clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  We drove past Loch Lomond, the largest Scottish loch, on the way up north and were amazed by how blue the water was and the gorgeous mountains surrounding the lake.

Our hotel was in Glencoe, which is another stunning area of the highlands.

Three Sisters of Glencoe

The misty view of the loch on Sunday morning from our family room that we shared with Laura and Alex. 

Driving back on Monday afternoon, it was raining and it was amazing to see how much the landscape changes with the weather.  Where the land had been dry and green just a couple of days earlier, there were now dozens of roaring waterfalls cascading down the mist-covered mountains.

On Saturday afternoon we drove up the scenic A82 highway (which I mispronounced once and no one let me live down the rest of the trip) to Loch Ness to try and spot Nessie.  Loch Ness is the second-largest lake in Scotland but the largest by volume.  It holds more freshwater than all of the lakes in England and Wales combined.   Unfortunately Nessie didn’t want to come out and say hi, but we did get to tour Urquhart Castle on the shores of the loch. 

We met up with Laura and Alex on the drive back to Glencoe, and had dinner before turning in early to get plenty of rest before the big hike!

The sun starting to set around 10 PM near Ft. William

Alyson and I both write blogs and Jordan is in love with his Go-Pro, which takes amazing videos, so the hike was well-documented.  After our fifth stop in the first 20 minutes, Alex and Laura were probably thinking 'What have we gotten ourselves into?!  This is going to take 13 hours at this pace!' But I'm glad we have the photos and videos because they are beautiful and hilarious!

Great photo-bomb by Paul!

So much energy at the start!

On the way back down, it started to drizzle and it made this path much more slippery and hazardous!

It got a bit chilly near the top but Alex was prepared!

The waterfall where we could fill up our water bottles with fresh, ice-cold, mountain water

By now our legs were starting to ache a little...

... but when I saw literally everyone and their dog (including this cute little guy called Fred) climbing the mountain, I didn't feel as tired and kept on trekking!

We did NOT expect that much snow at the top.  Those towers of rocks are there to keep people from getting too close to the north face.  When it's that foggy and wet, there are accidents.

And there it is - the sheer drop off the north face

David, get away from there!

This is probably my favorite video of the day.  It wasn't until I got to the top of Ben Nevis that I wiped out!  Good thing Jordan was there to face-plant into, and he just happened to have the camera rolling...  And at the end of the video, you'll notice Jordan gets a little confused and calls World Sherry Day, 'World Sharing Day.'  Mark the date - May 26th is now officially World Sharing Day!

This video may trump the summit!  Paul collides with poor Jordan, and they both have to hobble down the rest of the mountain. ;)

After 8 hours, we had conquered Ben Nevis and it was time to celebrate at the pub at the bottom of the mountain, aptly named the Ben Nevis Pub.  We had lots of beers, ciders, and WATER!  David and Jordan couldn’t resist the Scottish beef steaks (Scottish beef is sooo much better than British beef) while the others somehow had lamb.  After all of the cute lambs and cows we saw on the hike, I had to go with the vegetarian haggis.  I didn’t even know that was a thing, but there was no way I was trying real haggis (heart, liver, and lungs encased in a sheep stomach).

Poor little baby lambs

This cow deserves to be eaten after sticking his tongue out at us!  

My veggie haggis was drowning in whisky cream sauce.  Ohmygosh, that cream sauce must’ve had about two sticks of butter and at least a cup of heavy cream in it… good thing I had just burned like 1,200 calories hiking or I would’ve felt really guilty for mopping up my plate with fries!

After dragging our sore bodies out of bed the next day, we said goodbye to Laura and Alex and headed back toward Glasgow for our evening flight.  But before leaving Scotland, we had to stop at a Scotch whisky distillery.

David and the guys had done some research beforehand and found a distillery nestled in the hills near a picturesque waterfall called Glengoyne.  The guys all enjoyed their scotch, while Alyson and I just enjoyed the tour.  I cannot handle scotch – it’s like drinking rubbing alcohol to me.  Every time I go on one of these tours, I think I might change my mind after hearing the descriptions of the flavors – crème brulee and Christmas pudding, or light and fragrant like wildflowers growing in the Scottish isles… Nope, still tastes like rubbing alcohol.

I wanted all of the guys to enjoy the tour and their scotch, so Jordan, our designated driver (again!), passed over the keys to me so I could drive us to the Glasgow Airport after the tour and lunch.

I have to admit, I was terrified for that 40 minute drive.  It’s hard to explain, but driving on the right side of the car, I wanted the same vantage point as driving on the left in America, so I was definitely hugging the left side of the road instead of staying more towards the middle, or right.  Make sense?  Think that sentence was confusing, try driving around a roundabout with four lanes of traffic!  But after hitting only one curb, I got the hang of it.  We had Jordan watching out for cars on the right, while David and Paul were my ‘curb-checkers’ on the left.  And Alyson helped with directions and speed limit signs, while also playing DJ.  I could not have done it without all of my back-seat drivers!  I can now check ‘Driving on the Left Side of the Road’ off of my bucket list! :)

And I can check Loch Ness and Ben Nevis off of my list of ‘things to do before we leave the UK.’  Only about 20 more excursions to go and then we can head back to America!