Saturday, February 28, 2015

Saona Island Day 6

Day 6 we decided to venture off the resort to Saona Island.  This was the only trip we decided to take and it was the one recommended by our Apple Vacations Rep.  We had to get up early to catch a ride from our resort to one of the other resorts in our complex.  From there we rode a bus for about 45 minutes with the tour guide giving us a bit of history about Punta Cana.  Very interesting stories, he was our guide for the rest of the day.  When we got to the parking lot for our boat ride there were tons of people trying to sell you things and we got to experience the Dominican bathrooms for the first time this trip.  I've had much worse on my other trips to Mexico.  

You either got a speedboat ride to the island or a party boat.  Yep you guessed it we got the party boat.   


Very busy place as we waited to load the boat.





And party we did right from the moment we took off.  A little dancing and a lot of drinking.








 The water is so much calmer here and bluer.  The day was beautiful right from the start.  



They put the sails up on the party boat



We got to know more people, this guy was talking to us and mentioned that the following weekend he was going ice fishing at the Willow..... that is where my Dad lives, he was staying in a cabin right near him.  This is a small world folks.


More dancing, this party boat was worth the trip all by it's self.


This is getting close to the island, notice the blue waters.


And the closer you got the more turquoise the water was.  This is the place where they filmed The Blue Lagoon.  


We had to get off the party boat further out and get into a smaller boat.  We were almost the last to load the smaller boat and someone said their girlfriend was down in the bathroom on the party boat.  The workers didn't quite understand so I hung onto the party boat and kept telling him we couldn't leave yet.  Finally she came up and we told her it was us that waited for her, her boyfriend didn't really put much effort into it.  She became my best friend, she was a hoot.


Yep more drinks.


You hang out on this island for some lunch and drinks, both were very good.


We put our chairs right in the river up north so we did the same thing here..... after a awhile everyone else followed our lead.  This water was amazingly warm and calm.  


Palm trees, blue skies, white sand and clear waters for miles.


The girl in the chair to the right is the one we saved from the bathroom.  We hung out with them the whole day and had some more fun. 



Then we got tangled up with 4 younger kids that were on their honeymoon.  This girl (I can't remember her name) she was so loaded, she made up laugh and she took a liking to us.  He husband would end up taking care of her drunkin butt for the rest of the trip.  He was amazing and she was hilarious.  

She thought John needed a head wrap to protect him from the sun.  (too late honey)



I love this picture of Kathy, it sums up our whole vacation.  


Two of the best vacation travelers ever!!


Drunkin girl wanted to try my camera..... well drunkin me let her and she was standing in the water.


At least I have pictures of both of us.  They might be a bit goofy


We match :)



Those insulated cups are a must wherever you go.  It's hot and the drinks get warm really quick.  


We found this thing in the water so I had to have my picture taken with it.


We aren't sure what it was but it was very picky and they told us to leave it in the water.


When it was time to go back we got to take the speedboat.  The hardest place to sit is the front.... yep that was me.  We stopped at another location to find starfish.


It was alive and they coach you to only take it out of the water for a quick picture and then put it back.  This is the famous starfish pose. 


Touching a starfish was pretty cool.


It was another party going on in the starfish area.  Drunkin girl was still going strong along with everyone else.  No slowing down for any of us.


I took this from the speedboat in-between heads.  It really does look like this.



We were finally heading back tot he bus area when the sun was going down.  The water was sparkling, not sure how I got this since I was up in the air as that speedboat flew us back.



We got back to the bus and it was the most wonderful day, we had so much fun.  Drunkin girl was out cold by now.  Her new husband held her in his lap giving her his shirt for a blanket as he read his book.  True love for sure, they were such a fun couple to meet.  

They take your photo when you get there, this is why.  Of course you can buy the bottle of wine but since we're not much of a wine drinker I just took a picture of it.  


It was late when we got back but of course we still had time for more drinking and when the bar closed down we grabbed our drinks from the fridge and went to the beach.  

Vacation life is the best!!

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Brynlee and Owen

Brynlee and Owen were new to my camera and both did very well for the first time meeting.  Brynlee  loved my camera and wanted to steal the night....... and she did.



Owen is at the stranger danger point and it took awhile for him to warm up but he did.  He wasn't the smiling 6 month little boy that mom was wishing for but he wasn't screaming so she was happy.





Yep she stole the show with this cute little face.


I love serious faces on girls, some can do it and some cannot.  Brynlee could not do it, she had a sad face with a pouty lip...... until we had a conversation about being afraid of the dark then this happened.  


Owen was perfect at serious.  :)


Monday, February 23, 2015

Day 5 Sunrise

Day 5 we got up early to watch the sunrise over the ocean.  Of course when you don't sleep at night you do your best sleeping about 30 minutes before you have to get up..... yep we both could have said  "forget it we'll see the sunrise a different morning" but I was determined to take some photos and just in case it wasn't a spectacular show I needed more mornings.  

It was a bit dark when we started out.

The tractor and lots of men were out picking up the seaweed.  


I couldn't believe how many people were up watching the sunrise and how many people were sitting on the beach chairs in their swim suits reading books, relaxing... crazy.

The sky started to get light very quickly.




John noticed this big fluffy cloud behind us.


Getting lighter



And just like that you can see it.


And it rises very quickly







And the sky is burning up and leaving reflections in the water and sand




Yep it was pretty fabulous and totally worth getting up for.