car troubles......

When we moved here we knew that we would be buying a car, a junker one just to get us from point A to point B. We knew it wouldn't be anything super nice but something that would work for a few months. We ended up getting a nicer car than we thought for $2000. We have been blessed enough to be able to start a small business because of it and will be able to sell it and make our money back!! We have had a few minor problems with it, seeing as it is a 1994 we wouldn't expect anything different. Neither one of us knows anything about cars so its been quite the adventure.
~When it rains or their is moister in the air the belts make a really loud squeaky sound, we learned that this can be fixed this with a spray.
~About a month ago we got a flat tire in one of the worst spots possible and it was pouring down rain!! It took us 10 hours to get someone to help us fix it. Now we do know how to change a flat but we didn't have the right tools nor did any of our friends...we had to get a flatbed to drive 30mins to come and change a tire.

We have had to change the break pads a couple of times. The 1st time we went in and we thought they changed the front 2 break pads and charged us $50 not bad. About a month later we hear the grinding of metal on metal again. {Our breaks don't squeak to let us know to change them, nope just goes straight to grinding!!} We had one of our friends come look at it and after an entire day of trying to fix the break pads and looking at all the tires we couldn't change them ourselves. We didn't have the right tools nor could we find any store that sold them. So we took the car into a different mechanic and learned that the other place only changed 1 front break pad and actually gave us a used one at that!!

Break pads should never look like this!!

The car works great other than those few hiccups which we did expect along the way. Only needs to last us one more month!!

Valentine's Day

• Valentines day was simple and romantic. Bradwell BBQ steaks and made a delicious dinner just for me!! And then we went out with some friends to a full moon party. Saw a few local bands live and met a bunch of awesome people. 

  

  Keep an eye on the dog, she smells meat!!

  
  
  
  
  

  

  Deliciousness!!

  
  

  

  Puerto Rican hand made flowers!!

  
  

  

  Valentines Dinner!!

Playa Jobos

On February 1st we went to Jobos Beach. What a beautiful beach!!

Puerto Rican Driving

We started a little driving company while we are here in Rincon called Beach Bus. Nothing super exciting just a taxi service for a little extra cash. We have met some amazing people and saw more of the area then we expected to.

While running the Beach Bus we have come to learn that driving in Puerto Rico is MUCH different then driving in the states.
~If you don't know where a place is at good luck trying to find it, there aren't any street signs or addresses to help you find it.
~The roads are super narrow, they look like one ways but they are actually two ways with cars parked on either side.
~Traffic laws are only suggestions, just don't drive on the sidewalks and you should be fine.
~Everyone drives drunk and has open containers, the police won't say anything unless you are being a disturbance.
~Road rage is normal here, especially when there are more tourist than normal. Honking your horn, cutting people off, blocking traffic, passing on the shoulder are all perfectly normal.
~All emergency vehicles drive with their lights on, don't pull over till you here sirens.

 It has been an interesting experience leading how to drive in Puerto Rico and it will be difficult to drive normal again once we are back in the states.

Secret Waterfalls

On February 3rd we went to the secret waterfalls in San Sebastian {about a 30 minute drive}. Unless you know exactly where you are going, driving the island of Puerto Rico is not an easy task. After about two hours of driving and asking many people for directions and using GPS we finally found it!!

Lots and lots of sstairs

BEABEAUTIFUL!! 

Thanking about jumping.....

Underwater cave

The water was so clean and crisp. It was a nice change from always being in the ocean.

playa crash boat

This is one of my favorite beaches yet!! Its is absolutely breath taking. Crystal clear water all sand and fun to snorkel at. We walk out on the pier and jump in and see 1000's of fishes. Love our under water camera

There is a wall off the pier that breaks the waves which I think makes the waves even bigger!! 

So of course we had to stand and take a picture of these giant waves crashing onto us :) 

They have some really cool wooden fishing boats on shore.

There is also a guy that has pelicans trained. Not even kidding,!! They come when he calls them, he can make the dance, give high-5's and you can pet them!!

Crash boat beach use to be a military site that would rescue downed air crews from Ramey Air Force Base.

Hatillo Festival de las Mascaras {mask festival}

On December 28th, in the middle of all the holiday celebrations, a little town about an hour from Rincon has a mask festival. This festival commemorates King Herods to kill baby Jesus by ordering the murder of all first born sons. All the men dress up in elaborate costumes and mask, and have floats to match their costume theme. These floats are SUPER noisy There are food stands all along the road and live music every where!! 

We went with our friends Nick and Ashley. Our plan was to go to the festival all day and through most of the night and stay at the local hotel Parador El Buen Café. We left around 10am and when we got to Hatillo it wasn't hard to find the festival with the loud crazy costumes and floats. The festival honestly did not live up to any of our expectations. We were hoping for the festival to be more authentic to the Puerto Rican culture. Their costumes were amazing but the themes were modern day like Sponge Bob and Dora the Explorer which was a little disappointing. We were also expecting a huge parade of all the floats but instead they only went one at a time through the busy streets that weren't blocked off. There was some amazing food stands, those have yet to disappoint us.

It was a super hot day with no shade. We only stayed a few hours once we realized what was actually happening and that it wasn't what we were expecting. We may have gone on the wrong day since its a 3 day festival but we all had fun non the less

The 4 of us were going to share the hotel room until we checked in that quickly changed. There was only 1 bed, a small bed, no room for a rollaway or even to put a suitcase. We stayed for a bit and played in the pool and drove around some more in Hatillo till we all agreed that we should just drive home so we could all get a good nights sleep.

Even though the festival was not completely what we were expecting it was still a different experience then we have had and are greatful to have gone.