January 17, 2004
Last night sleep was not the best as I was sleeping at an angle. I could only sleep on one side, because if I slept on the other side I would roll.
The day looked like it was going to be good, so after breakfast Laurie and I walked to check out the beach. We talked to the man that rents kayaks. He told us that the cold weather from the north was going to be moving down and causing swells in the water. It would make it great for surfing, but not kayaking or snorkeling. It wasn't bad yet but by tomorrow it probably would be. We were going to rent kayaks that day but decided to wait because a friend, Chuck, would be joining us.
Laurie and I did rent floats that you could lounge in the water with. So we spent the day at the beach.
In the afternoon I took a cold shower, not because I wanted to, but because that is all you get here. Cinnamon Bay is mostly all campgrounds and they have the typical communal toilets and showers. The showers are open to the sky which can be nice. The cold showers are not. I met a woman in the bathroom named Judy and she was from Massachusetts. She and her husband, David, were here for three weeks. They do a lot of traveling and she was interested in my traveling. We talked for awhile and I gave her the website.
Laurie and I went to the reception area to meet Chuck. He thought he might be in around 5:00. While Laurie and I were waiting I ran into Judy. I met her husband, David and I introduced Laurie. We ended up talking for quite awhile while we were waiting for Chuck. Judy and David are a super nice couple and I enjoyed talking to them.
Chuck came in a little after 6:00. I had never met Chuch face to face. I only know him through email. The first time he had emailed me was while I was hiking the Appalachian Trail. He had seen my journal. He wrote because he was interested in doing the AT at a future date.
I think the next time I heard from him was right before I left for this trip. I asked him if he wanted to be on my email list for updates on my travels and he said yes.
At one time I sent an email out saying that Laurie and I were going to St. John's and if anyone wanted to join us they were welcome to. Chuck replied saying that he would. I asked him to send a picture so I could spot him when he arrived. I spotted him right away when he walked in.
Laurie and I thought it was great that he was joining us. It would be another person to enjoy things with.
We helped him set up his tent. He was in the group site because that was all he could get when he made reservations. There were about six sites there. It was not very private.
Chuck then treated us to dinner at the restaurant at the place here. It is open air deck, but with a roof. The food was good. I had steak and I can't tell you the last time I had steak. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
After dinner we went back to our site and talked. It started to rain so we went to our tents to sleep.
January 18, 2004
The swells were coming in so we decided to hike today. We did the Cinnamon Bay Trail which was steep. This took us to a road. We had a road walk for about a mile. It was tough to walk on the road because it was winding and there wasn't much of a shoulder to walk on. They drive on the other side. The thing is they drive on the other side but the steering wheel is on the left side, the same as our cars, which means that the driver is sitting on the shoulder. I guess that is good so they can see how close they can get to the walkers without hitting them.
After the road walk we reached the Reef Bay Trail which we took. This trail was nice. It was down hill or flat. There were many trees labeled with descriptions. There was a side trail to petroglyphs which were done about 950 AD. They were difficult to see because they have worn down over the years. There was a waterfall with pools. Chuck went into the water. I didn't feel like getting wet.
We then walked out and continued on the Reef Bay trail. There was an abandoned sugar mill, which we walked around.
Once we got to the end, we turned around and walked back. I was on the road part of the walk and someone was nice enough to ask if I wanted a ride. People here are so friendly especially at Cinnamon Bay. Everyone says good morning and they all seem so happy.
I refused the ride because I was waiting for Chuck and Laurie.
We ate dinner at our campsite. We gave Chuck the option of eating with us or going to the restaurant. For some strange reason he opted for Lipton noodles and Ramens. He probably realized what a mistake that was afterward.
It started to rain and I realized that my pack was out. I had to get out of my tent and bring it in. Once settled in I saw something hopping around out of the corner of my eye. It was a frog. I thought it might be the prince just waiting to come out. I decided it best not to let him sleep with me and promptly removed it.
January 19, 2004
We had a great day today. We first hitched a ride to Leincester Bay. From there we walked to Waterleman Bay. We had rented snorkel gear and we heard it was good snorkeling.
It was great. There was an island out a little bit and we swam out there and circled around the island. I was hoping to see sea turtles, but I didn't. There were plenty other fish to feast our eyes on. The coral and plants were also nice.
