Day 3 in Puerto Rico - Saturday

 Oh, our beautiful breakfast area.  We tried to take a picture of us with the timer.  However, we went from air conditioned hotel to humid outside without giving the camera time to adjust...we were up and out by 730, knowing this would be a short beach morning.  Beautiful!!!

 This day I was a little more confident and ran on the beach - I figured it was a little over two miles.  We also splurged the extra $5 and added an umbrella to our chairs (perhaps because of the massive sunburns from the day before) for a little shade.  Perfect morning!!!

 Our last few minutes of Ritz Carlton beach-front property...and we totally recommend staying in the cheap hotel and walking the two blocks in - worth saving $300 a night!

 Back to the hotel for a shower and off to pick up the rental car.  We were headed to Utuado in the middle of the island.  Unbeknownst to me, Andy choose to take the scenic route (hmm the 5 hour scenic route on incredibly windy roads during a massive rainstorm) so we could see more things.  We weren't in a hurry, no kids, just the two of us wild and crazy 'kids' exploring...

 2nd on his list was the restaurant El Toro (fabulous reviews but we weren't very hungry and just shared a meal that was okay.  Later discovered they are known for their meat that we didn't order because it was over $50 and we weren't very hungry.  Not our favorite stop...) and a hike down to a waterfall.  Andy had done this hike previously and said it was amazing!!!  (Below is a scene I became very familiar with.  Directions and road signs are pretty much non-existent but google is a life-saver!)

 We drove through the middle of nowhere to get to the this landmark - where you have to be let in by the old man that sits on his porch drinking all day - and you just park outside of his house and trust that your car will still be there when you get back!  We started on our beautiful hike with a little bit of drizzling...that became rain...and then a crazy rainstorm

 After I had slipped down a significant way, we decided to turn back.  The little trickle of water that we had started with had now turned into a foot of rushing water that we slopped through to climb back up.  Andy was disappointed that we didn't get to the bottom, but it was still a really fun experience!  (A few weeks prior and through the time we were there, there were many flash flood warnings and floods throughout the island.  A few days later we saw some search and rescue people on a lake.  Another rescue volunteer said they have to look for people after heavy rains because homes will just slide off the side of mountain where they are built.)  We were soaked...

 We drove and drove and drove and drove to reach our mountain hide-away cottage...I had to self-talk myself to not be sick on the incredibly windy roads.  Andy had a blast, thinking he was a race car driver...I couldn't even read, which is saying a lot!  We rolled down the windows each time the rain stopped and heard the incredible sounds and the cool air - that part was awesome!  We stopped to get some food from the grocery store and drove another 30 minutes through the mountainous jungle to our home sweet home for the next 3 days - did I mention it was dark on these crazy windy roads by the time we arrived???  Yes, I was a mostly happy camper - just glad to have a warm shower and not be driving anymore!!!  What complete opposites from morning to evening!