Monday, August 10

Lotsa Hiking!

The day started at the office. I got a load of Kevin's images (I've been borrowing his camera here and there to snag photos during assessments, since I've either had dead batteries or forgotten it in the car a few times). While I caught up in the office, Kevin enjoyed Salomon Beach. He brought back a handful of amazing beach glass. The colors varied from kelly green, ambers, oranges, browns, and in all sizes and shapes. I added the pile to my growing collection. By the time I come home, I should be able to have a small glass bowl full of glass.

For lunch, I decided to whip together something at home. Tuna salad, using some of Trader Joe's Island Soyaki Sauce, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, hellman's mayo light, and probably a dash of something else kept the flavor interesting. Paired with ritz, lunch turned out to be quite tasty. After filling ourselves with about a can of tuna each (totally a good thing to have in the pantry down here) we walked around town and Kevin got a flash drive so I could share some pictures with him before he leaves town.

Do you ever want something really bad without needing it really bad? I feel that way about a lot of things and usually find a way to rationalize why it becomes a need rather than a want. In some respects, that makes me far too much like the main character in those Shopaholic books. I have had a few debacles with my Olympus digital camera. The whole reason I bought the thing was to have the waterproof, dust proof, clumsy proof stuff. Right now, the Olympus seems to have either bad seals or some other dysfunction and it can't get even a drop wet without the LCD failing entirely. For waterproofness, I do have a spare digital with the underwater housing, so if I need something up to 120 feet deep, I have something that will get the job done. Meanwhile, for snorkeling, it sure would be nice to have a more slender and easier to carry digital. So far, I've controlled the urge to go and buy a replacement compact digital camera. I'm sure if I wait long enough, sweet pieces of photographic equipment like the Canon Mark II 5D will become more affordable.

After the jaunt around town, we made plans for filling the afternoon with assessments and hikes. Tomorrow, we'll do L'Esperance and Reef Bay Trail, making a large loop and getting twice the hiking and assessments.

Before departing on our hike, I talked to Stacey, a friend from Virginia Tech, who is in St. Thomas this week! Just a short ferry ride away, she's going to come over to St. John and hang out on Thursday! Awesome!

Assessment time! I love the kind of work that puts me in the field. We visited Peace Hill Ruins, Cinnamon Bay Trail, America Hill Trail, Cinnamon Bay Ruins, and the Cinnamon Bay Ruins Self-Guided loop. I took many photos, saw lots of great views, and consumed a ton of water as I worked up a more than decent sweat trotting through the park. I think America Hill is my favorite ruin so far, mostly because the walls are pink and the view of Maho is amazing. The trail to America Hill is not maintained very well and the ruins are closed right now. They're quite dangerous, as anyone can obviously notice if they are near the ruins themselves. I love being surrounded by fields of untouched vegetation, historical ruins, musical birds, frogs, and insects, watching waves crash on a faraway beach, letting the world fall away as you are absorbed into all that you can observe.

Cinnamon Bay Trail was excellent and rugged. I suppose if I walked the length of the trail from Northshore to Centerline and back once a day, I would be in the most fantastic shape. At some point along the trail, there is a dense population of bay rum trees. Bay rum is quite possibly one of my favorite smells. It was really cool to share the smell by breaking off a leaf and letting Kevin take a big whiff of the musky smell. I wonder if the Bay Rum Tree would even grow in Virginia. I know Birch does horribly when we've tried planting them in our yard.

I called the shop around 5:30pm, per usual, to see if I'm on the boat tomorrow. I'm diving tomorrow! Plans change! I'm a little disappointed to miss the hike down L'Esperance, but spending the morning on the dive boat will be fantastic.

After all the hiking and scrubbing behind our ears, we walked into town along the Lind Point Trail. Morgan's Mango was a great and delicious dinner last time I was there. Kevin and I settled into a table at Morgan's Mango and started the evening with a Bushwhacker for me, a Hurricane Hugo for Kevin. Oh my goodness. The Hurricane Hugo was like having strawberry purree. Amazing! It definitely had some rum and other goodies, but was the best adult smoothie I've ever tasted. For the appetizer, since we were both quite starved after all the hiking and walking, we got the Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Brie Quesadilla. Wow! Brie is one of my favorite cheeses. I also have an affinity for a good quesadilla. Jamaican Jerk Chicken is also an item I love to try, wherever I find it on the menu. The quesadillas were delicious. For the entree, I got Yellowfin Tuna with mashed yuca potatoes and broccoli. Kevin got the Grilled Mahi Mahi with mango and cruzan rum sauce. I don't think there was a bad bite before us the entire night. Round two of drinks: Hurricane Hugo for me and Mango Colada for Kevin. The mango colada was powerful and packed a rum-tasting punch. I was happy to enjoy an entire Hugo to myself! Mmmmm! The Lind Point Trail was our means of transportation to get home. In the dark, with a flashlight, it's not bad. I think I do prefer the Lind Point trail to walking the steep and curvy Northshore Rd. for night travel.

It didn't take me but a few seconds to crash onto the pillow and fall asleep. I woke up later to remember to “get ready for bed,” sometime around midnight.