home from the DR

so, we returned to the states. safely.
with no diseases. no dominican’s stealing our money. no missed flights. and very few troubles.

all and all it was an awesome trip. it was a tropical paradise. we took too many pictures. ate too much food. and drank too many cocktails. it was wonderful.

but, i don’t think i’d go back. not because it wasn’t awesome. but i feel that i have seen all that i need of the DR.
our resort was beautiful. everything was tile and marble. all of the buildings were made out of different building materials. so it didn’t look like a cookie cutter resort. but at the same time, it was kind of what you’d expect out of a resort. so it had a welcoming feeling.



the hardest thing to get used to was the lack of AC. the only air conditioned rooms: were the ones you slept in. and the small sports bar at the front of the resort. which we spent very little time at. everything else….no AC. so, even if it was covered and gave the perception of a “real” building...it wasn’t. everything was open and airy. but by the end of the week, i hardly noticed it.

one day we toured the city we were staying in, puerto plata. we learned just how beautiful the DR is and just how poor the DR is. it was a good tour. however this tour had NO food. and went on for 6 hours. so this little lady got hungry and cranky. and quickly lost interest in the tour once the need for food took over.

the resort provided many daily activities that we participated in. repeatedly.
water aerobics: which keith did.
life-sized chess: i loved it, but lost. sad.


sea kayaking: i would do this everyday if i could.
wind surfing: hilarious to watch. there were numerous almost crashes.
bocci ball and horse shoes: it was a shady and relaxing way to spend any afternoon.


sand and water volleyball: which were daily family activities. it is where some family members got their drunkest.


and most nights we were our own entertainment. however, our favorite night was karaoke night. so we were happy they had it many nights. and also the last night they had a beach party or ‘fiesta de la playa”. that was a LOT of fun. see below:




it was a great vacation to spend with the entire family. we got to catch up. relax. laugh. have fun. have no worries. and forget about the ‘real world’ for a while. it was heaven.

oh. one more thing. we never found the shuffleboard. much disappointment.