The Atwater Family: Day 5-Our last day :(

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Day 5-Our last day :(

Day 5: 4 wheeler tour through the Puerto Rico countryside, gathered fresh mango's, hiked through rain forest Mt. El Yunque, dressed up and checked out the dining at our resort The Gran Melia, and hung out in the music lounge.

We started our day off with a 4 wheeler ride through the beautiful country side. The ride was more like a mud ride. We drove through lots of mud and water. It was super fun and gorgeous scenery!! After riding in the mud for a while we decided to hike to a cave.

One lesson I learned the hard way is, do not hike in the jungle with muddy teva's. My Teva's were so caked with thick slimy mud that I could not hike the trail without my feet slipping around in my shoes. They got so muddy that my velcro was not sticking anymore and my feet were sliding through the front of my sandals. Which made hiking extremely difficult. Then to add on top of that we were hiking through a non-existent hiking trail with millions of mosquitos. After falling a couple of times and nearly 100 mosquito bites I made it to the cave.

The cave was pretty cool it had Indian writings on the walls and we saw an enormous toad who stuck it's tongue out at us.

After our 4 wheeler ride we gathered fresh mango's...they were delicious!

After our ATV tour we headed to El Yunque to explore/hike the rain forest. Our favorite part was hiking to this beautiful waterfall. We stayed at the waterfall and played in the water and slide down the rocks into little pools of water. It was fun...the boys never wanted to leave. They enjoyed it maybe a little to much!

After hiking we went back to our resort to watch the sunset, dinner, and a night out in the night club/lounge.

We were excited to go home and see our kids who we missed...but we were also sad to say goodbye to our paradise. We loved our trip to Puerto Rico and we would love to visit there again. There were so many things that we didn't get a chance to see and do...and so many things we would love to do again.

Thanks Clint and Season for coming with us....we had so much fun, laughter and memories with you two!!

6 comments:

Rylee said...: Wow! That looks like so much fun. I'm so glad you made it there and had a great time. I'm also glad you made it back safely. Hopefully one day I'll make it to beautiful Puerto Rico.; June 6, 2010 at 5:44 PM
Rylee said...: oops that was from Steph; June 6, 2010 at 5:45 PM
Jessica said...: I'm glad you finally got all this up, I've been waiting to hear the details. I'm glad you guys had so much fun. Puerto Rico really is a beautiful place, perhaps my memories would have been fonder if it werent' for that last day and getting robbed. The thing about traveling is that once you start, you want to see as much of the world as you can and it becomes addictive!; June 9, 2010 at 12:38 PM
Alicia Atwater said...: Jess that is so true!! I think I have the travel bug now..I want to see everywhere and every thing!! Maybe I can come visit you guys in Korea.; June 10, 2010 at 4:49 PM
Becky said...: It looks like you had a great trip. You have been wanting to get away for so long. I'm glad you were able to go. You have beautiful pictures. If we ever get together you can tell me more about it.; June 15, 2010 at 3:13 PM
Jessica said...: Alicia, I've already been trying to figure out a way to get you over to Korea with your mom. Maybe for Diamond and Sophia's baptism next summer?; June 24, 2010 at 7:17 PM

Post a Comment

Salsa Recipe

Salsa Recipe--by Alicia Atwater

3-4 (14.5 ounce) cans of stewed/or diced tomatoes.
1/4 onion (I like to use red onion).
1 green bell pepper
1 lime, juiced (or you can use 1Tbsp lime/or lemon juice from concentrate).
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic salt (or one fresh garlic clove minced).
2 Tbsp white vinegar
sliced jalepenos from a jar to taste (I use about 10-15 slices...this will be pretty hot). (I also make sure I buy the hot jalepenos in a jar not the tamed ones).
3 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (or you can use dried cilantro same amount).

Mix all ingredients into blender or food processor. Blend on low to desired smoothness. Best if you refrigerate for a couple of hours before eating.

Eclair Recipe----by Stephanie Stephens

Elair Recipe

Filling
1-5 ounce instant vanilla pudding mix
2 cup. milk
1 sm. container cool whip
4 ounces cream cheese--softened

Mix pudding, milk and cream cheese with an electric mixer at least 2 minutes and until smooth. Fold in cool whip. Refrigerate 2 hours. (For smoothest results--without lumps--mix milk and pudding together, in seperate bowl mix softened cream cheese, then mix the pudding milk mixture with the mixed cream cheese)

Shells:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sifted flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat water, butter and salt in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat to a full rolling boil. Add sifted flour all at once and stir until a dough forms and pulls away from the pan. Remove from heat and transfer dough to a mixing bowl. Allow to cool slightly. Then add eggs 1 at a time mixing until well combined after each addition. Spoon dough into 16 strips on an ungreased cookie sheet (I will grease cookie sheet slightly). Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Satiny Chocolate Glaze (from allrecipes.com)
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 Tbsp. butter
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a double boiler combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla. (I don't have a double boiler so I just microwave all ingredients in a glass container for about 1 and 1/2 minutes).

Assembly: Fill shells by either cutting tops off of shells and filling with a spoon or making a hole in top or side of shell and fill with a pastry bag. Then dip tops of eclairs into warm chocolate glaze. Refrigerate until chocolate is set (about 30 minutes). Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. (also good out of the freezer).