Bye Bye Puerto Rico

Bye Bye Puerto Rico!!   While we were waiting for the shuttle to take us to the airport, I "snapped" some last minute pictures of the resort.

This sculpture is at the entrance to the resort..do you remember the Tainos Indians I mentioned yesterday?  They were obviously an important part of this area's history, as you can tell by this sculpture...a Taino native holding an egret.

An iguana peeking in to the koi pond!

 

We arrived "home" in  hot and sunny Orlando this afternoon.   As we were leaving the airport, I noticed this sign and the motto, "The City Beautiful."  Hmmm....I wonder why the motto isn't, "The Beautiful City??"  Regardless, it's nice to be back in Orlando!!

Until my next adventure...

Hugs,
Flat Rylie

The Rain Forest

What a day!!!  I visited the El Yunque National Forest today.  WOW!!   This park is not any forest...it's a tropical rain forest, and it's the only one in the United States'  National Forest System. 

The Taino indians called these mountain ranges home.  "Yuke" in their language means white lands and refers to the mountain tops usually covered by clouds.  Can you tell this is where the name of the park came from??

Here are some pictures from "Big Tree Trail"..

You can hear the sound of rushing water about 3-4 minutes before you get to La Mina Falls.  It is beautiful and LOUD!!  It typically rains about 4 times per day here...and can rain up to 240 inches a year.

El Yunque is a small rain forest compared to some found in South America.  There are no monkeys or alligators here, but there are over 50 species of birds, 11 bats, 8 species of lizards and 13 species of tree frogs.  It's also home to thousands of species of insects.  Thankfully, snakes are rare here!!

It was fairly quiet here during the day - other than the sound of water and  the sound of a few coquie (tree frogs.)  The ranger told us at night....it is a VERY DIFFERENT scene.  

"At night, the forest comes alive.  Millions of insects fill the air.  Moths such nectar from flowers.  Bats and owls fly out of their nests to feed.  Millions of coquies (tree frogs) climb tree branches to eat the insects.  The forest is lit by cucubanos (like fireflies.)  The sound of the coquies 'chirp' is louder than the waterfall."

I sure wish I was camping in the rain forest tonight.  Off to pack...we'll be returning to Orlando tomorrow morning.  Goodnight Coquies!!

Hugs,
Flat Rylie

Exploring paradise

I had another incredible day in Puerto Rico...or paradise!!   As I mentioned yesterday, our resort is located at the base of the El Yunque rain forest (which we're going to explore tomorrow.)  This is a view from our porch - you can see the mountains/rain forest in the distance.

After breakfast and a morning run, we headed to the boathouse (picture below) to rent kayaks.  After getting our boats, lifejackets and maps we headed out on the lake.  One of the interesting things about this lake is-  it is considered "freshwater," but it contains saltwater fish, too.  We also saw giant freshwater shrimp, lots of crabs, turtles and at least 25 heron and egrets.

After a long day on the lake, we headed to the beach and the pool.  Let me introduce you to my newest friend...Mr. Iguana!!   He was actually swimming in the pool!!!  The "locals" say it is the only ugly thing you will find Puerto Rico!!

The ocean was beautiful, but the surf was VERY rough!!   So, I stayed out of the water, especially after I saw the red flag beach warning.  I found quite a few treasures walking along the beach though...coral, sponge, starfish, jellyfish and lots of shells.

After a fun and exciting day outside, I couldn't think of a better way to end the day.  A pedicure!!!

Hugs-
Flat Rylie

Welcome to Puerto Rico

Welcome to Puerto Rico!!  We arrived in San Juan earlier today and spent the remainder of the day touring "Old San Juan."  It won't take you long to see why the locals call it "old."  There are some areas that date back to the 1500's.  At that time, Puerto Rico was not part of the United States but was ruled by Spain, instead.

My first stop was at the El Morro Fort (also called Castillo San Felipe del Morro.)  It was first built in 1539 to protect the city of San Juan from enemies coming by water.  The fortress has 6 levels and is MAGNIFICENT!!!  It has even been declared a World Heritage Site by the United Nations.

I hope you find it as interesting as I did!!!   Below is a picture of a "garita" or guard station.  They are located all around the outer walls of the fort.  Can you imagine standing guard inside one of those at night...pure blackness and just the sound of the waves crashing??  Yikes!!

 The "plaza" is inside the fort and is where the troops would gather for daily inspection.  The rooms off to the sides were used for living quarters, ammunition storage and also as prison cells.  There is a  well in the center of the plaza; it can hold 22,000 gallons of rainwater (enough water for the soldiers for a year.)

The three flags that are flown on the fort  are the United States Flag, the Puerto Rican flag and the Cross of Burgundy flag.  The Cross of Burgundy flag is an old Spanish military flag, which was flown at El Morro 1516-1785.   In the picture below you can see the lighthouse which was built outside of the fore.  It still guides ships into the bay today!!

One last picture..we had a picnic out in the grass before exploring the rest of "old San Juan."  I think I am still dizzy...I did about 1000 cartwheels across the lawn!!

My next stop was at "Casa Blanca"....which was home to the Ponce de Leon family.  Ponce de Leon was a Spanish explorer who sailed with Christopher Columbus.  He was also a governor of Puerto Rico.   "Casa Blanca" or  the "White House" was finished in 1521.   Here is a peek  into their house.

After leaving "Casa Blanca", we headed to Parque de las Palomas or ...Pigeon Park!!  If you are scared of birds, this is not the place to go.  BEWARE - there are pigeons everywhere!!  I thought the back wall of the park was interesting - the cutouts provide the perfect safe shelter for the birds.

After exploring most of "old San Juan" by foot, we headed to our resort...which is at the base of the rainforest!!  I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!!

Hugs,

Flat Rylie

Run Cinderella Run

Whoofta!!!  Today was another  fun and exciting day!!!    I volunteered this morning at the Walt Disney World Half Marathon.  The race is 13.1 miles and the course wraps through Disney World and Epcot.   A lot of the runners wear fun costumes and almost all of my favorite Disney characters were out on the course.

The race started VERY EARLY (at 4:30am), so it was still dark when the runners lined up at the starting line.   They played the "Star Spangled Banner" and started the race with fireworks!!  Goofy and Donald were also  there on the main stage to wish everyone good luck.

 What did I do to help?  I handed out water and Gatorade at the very first mile marker.  I told you it was dark outside!!  :  )

After watching over 27,000 runners jog past me this morning, I decided...I AM GOING to run and FINISH this race one day!!  Do you think I can do it?  What year should I do it?  2025?  Who wouldn't want to run through Cinderella's castle??

I'm off to  pack for my next adventure...my host family and I are departing for Puerto Rico tomorrow morning.  Adios!!!

Hugs,
Flat Rylie

The GREATEST show on Earth

Last night, I had the chance to go to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus in downtown Orlando.

Wow!!  The animals were amazing.  The performers were unbelievable.  And, the food (COTTON CANDY) was fabulous!!!!  The current tour is called, "Built to Amaze" and here are a few fun facts about it...

• It will travel more than 30,000 miles over 2 years.
• It uses the world's largest, privately owned trained.  Yes, they travel from city city by train!!!
• The show has more than 100 performers.
• 17 countries will be represented.
• 95 animals will perform

What was my favorite part of the night?  It was a tie between the tigers and the trapeze artists!!!!

The one downfall?  They didn't have any "flat" clown noses!!  

I'm off to bed...tomorrow's adventure starts VERY EARLY!!!

Hugs,
Flat Rylie

Staycation Vacation

We left on a mini-vacation today to...Orlando.  Wait - that is where I'm living.  How can it be a vacation??  My host family likes to call it a "staycation"...stay overnight at a local hotel and then go to Universal  Studios for the day.  And, that is exactly what we did.

We stayed at the Royal Pacific Resort - which has a South Pacific/Hawaiian theme.  Here I am posing at one of the entrances with a "native frog and posing again by the beautiful courtyard!!" 

They even had a  Luau at the hotel that night.  It was my very first luau... and it was fabulous!!   The hula and fire dancing were my favorites!!!

This morning, we headed to Universal Studios for the day!!  The resort had a boat that took us over to the "park," so we could save all of our energy for the rides.  Don't tell anyone but Nick (my not so flat cousin) fell in the water!!  Uh oh!!!  Thankfully, no alligators were in sight!!

Once over to Universal Studios, we had to decide which park to explore first. Hmmmm.   I chose Islands of Adventure...and we were off to the "Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!!"

 In the late afternoon, we ventured to the Universal Studios Florida side of the park and rode  ET, Twister, The Simpsons and Despicable Me.  I have to say...the minions in "Despicable Me" are hilarious....and were definitely the highlight of my day.  

After a quick boat ride back to the resort, we played in the pool, had smoothies and even took part in the "cannonball" contest.  Everyone was very impressed at the size of my "cannonball!!"

I'm exhausted but I'm ready for my next "staycation!!!"  Have a minion day!

Hugs,
Flat Rylie