Isla del Encanto

July 3-8; Puerto Rico

Valerie: I took advantage of the Fourth of July holiday to visit Adam in Puerto Rico. We were able to hike El Yunque, something we had tried to do on my prior visit to the island but failed. This time we woke up early and started the hike before the afternoon storms hit. Because it's the rainy season and El Yunque is a rainforest, it pretty much rains there everyday around the middle of the day (we got soaked on our hike down the mountain). The hike was not too bad and once at the top, the views were well worth the effort.

(View from El Yunque. You can see the ocean in the distance.)

(Us at the top. You really can't see behind us, because of the clouds, but as the clouds cleared away, from here you could see the rest of the rainforest and views of the ocean, as well as Fajardo (the nearest big city). At the top it feels as if you're amidst the clouds.).

Adam: This was my fourth trek to the top of El Yunque. Although we did reach the actual "summit", these views are from a point about 200 feet below. The summit itself is a whole bunch of radio towers and a concrete platform/tower that looks like it might have had a military application at some point. The hike is really great, and once you get to the top, the wind kicks up so it no longer feels so much like you are in the rainforest!

Valerie: I also visited Old San Juan and was able to see where Adam spends his days:

(Adam's home from Mon thru Friday -- The Federal Courthouse in Old San Juan)

Adam: This building is a beautiful old courthouse. On the second floor, there is a really nice balcony where we eat lunch many days. The view from my desk is also spectacular:

(View from Adam's window - notice the Colombian and Brazilian ships)

Valerie: We also did some walking around Old San Juan.

(Valerie on Calle Nozagaray, overlooking the Atlantic)

(It was pretty hot and both of us had already seen El Morro so we didn't actually visit it again. Instead, we made it to the park leading to El Morro. You can see it in the distance.)

(view from the city walls, just beyond Paseo de la Princesa)

Valerie: Adam's apartment is right on the beach. One night we decided to eat at Pamela's a restaurant on the beach just a short walk from Adam's place. The sunset was so pretty we started taking pictures. These are two of the many shots I got before the sun went down:

(Us on the beach in front of Pamela's - a little blurry because of the wind)

(Us on the beach in front of Adam's apartment)

Adam: On Friday night, we went out for dinner with some of my friends, all of whom were clamoring to meet Valerie. As always, we met at the Great Taste chinese restaurant in Condado - one of my favorites in the San Juan area, given their relatively decent chinese food (i.e. no plantains involved).

(from Left: Ivan, Lymarie, Charles, Montse, Adam, Valerie, Doraliz, Lory, Marianne, Kim, Kell)

Adam: It was a really fun weekend, and it was Valerie's last trip to PR this year =(

Up next: Kim and Kell's wedding. Adam scales down a cliff. Valerie goes shopping. The doog looks out the window.