Seeing the island!

I woke up today to 80 degrees and a sunshine that just makes you feel alive. After a long winter in Davis the rays of the sun are very very welcome. My host family offered me a fresh cup of Jamaican coffee to start my day off with. WOW! That coffee has got some kick. It was so strong that I had to pour out 3/4 of the cup out and replace it with water before I got it just right. I was thinking about bring some home to remove grease from mountain bike parts or even a paint thinner lol.

After finishing my cup of java I was off. Today the schedule was a Land Rover tour of the entire island. I was dropped off at the check in for the tour soon after I was introduced to my driver for the day Deon (or as I would call him all day Neon Deon). Deon was about 28 years old I would say and a super cool cat. So after a little chat everyone going on the tour loaded into the back of the truck. The truck had no sides on the back so you almost had a 360 degree view from your seat. The Rover held only 8 people so the seating was very comfortable. Deon couldn't help but burn some rubber as we pulled away from the parking lot.

The tour was going to be 7 hours so it covered pretty much the whole 15 miles by 25 mile island. For the first few hours we drove though some different towns to see the sites, but not long afterwards it was time to go off roading. If you have ever driven to Blue Hole on the Cheat River picture that. These roads had the same big curves and drop offs as the famous swimming spot in Preston County. Just a few minutes later we made it to the north coast. WOW! It was beautiful. Coral reefs were visible all along coast just below the water. At on point we even saw a sea turtle come up to the surface for a bit of O2. I must have taken 50 or so pictures of the area. One of my favorites though had to be of my friend Melissa who brought her terrible towel with her just so she could have her picture taken with it on the beach.

After a little walking around it was back to the Land Rover for a drink. Neon Deon had a few choices for us like fruit punch, apple juice, coke or rum punch (aka as we know it in WV as jungle juice) Well I must admit I don't think Deon picked up any bottle except the rum punch. It was a nice treat since the temp was start to rise. OK back in the truck we went. We saw a ton of stuff and made two more rum stops and let me tell you everyone was feeling the rum. At one point I think we were so busy laughing and talking that we just stop looking at the sites. We did stop for lunch and had some chicken and rice with beans (quickly becoming my favorite) and let me tell you, when the rum buzz goes you get tired. Add on top of that my minor sunburn and I was ready for bed. After eating it was once more back to the truck for the return trip and I did mind that at all. By this time it was really getting warm out and sitting in the open back of the truck was nice and cooling from the wind. About an hour later I made it back to my host families house feeling whipped. The family went to the gym to workout so I had the place to myself and I went straight to my room and crashed.

I got up about 6:30 and no one was still home so I had a few free minutes on the Internet and was able to IM a friend to call Gina and have her sign onto MSN so we could chat for a bit.. It was nice to get a sec to talk to her. Just then the phone rang, it was Gary on the other end wanting to know if I wanted to go out with him and a member of his host family. Hell ya I told him.. About an hour later Gary his host brother Rus and his friend Alex pulled up to the house. Alex was kinda like the turn guide, Rus was also from Barbados but has been living in Boston for the last few years. Alex said he wanted to stop by one of the rum shops (bar) where the prime minister and all these other very important people have drinks after work. Right now you are probably thinking just as I was at the time, but we didn't end up at some super high class place. We drove down a back road to a dead end with a basic 4 wall building that was about the size of a UPS truck. Outside the building I think I counted 4 dogs looking like they had to much rum because they were crashed sleeping by the door. We enter the place and Alex introduced us to some super nice folk and of course we had a banks (local beer). I must admit I was very surprised when I saw a Steeler's flag hanging on the wall. After finishing our beer it was time to hit the road again.

The next stop was even more interesting then the first. As we walked into the shop Alex introduced us to the older gentleman working behind the counter. Alex explained that he has been a member of Parliament for over 20 and it is more then likely that he will be deputy prime mister in a few week! I was blown away. The man was working alone behind a counter of a place that was like a tiny mini-mart that had beers also. He was about to become what we would call vice president in the us.. Pretty cool! So we had one more beer and it was back home by 10:30. I have got a early start in the morning. Believe it or not little old me is going before Parliament in the morning at 8am.. Think i tell them to build some mountain biking trails.. Maybe I can get my 20 trail maintenance points in Barbados.. Night!