Jen McKen Photography

I think day one can be pretty much described as a travel day. From the time we got up to the time we stepped foot into our resort room it was approximately 12 hours. Now keep in mind, that includes the trip to the airport, waiting thru security, waiting in the terminal, the actual flight, then waiting on the runway…blah blah blah. 

For us, it was exciting. It was Mallory’s first time for flying so everything was new and exciting for her. Hours later we found ourselves in the PR airport at the baggage claim and before we know it we were in our taxi on the way to the resort. Our taxi driver Alberno, was freakin awesome-a crazy driver-but he was awesome. He told us about all the hot spots and some “must do” things while we were visiting.

When we arrived at the resort we immediately were given our room and began to explore. First of all, our view was amazing! It was overlooking San Geronimo Fort with breathtaking views of the ocean and just like in Costa Rica, Mexico and Punta Cana, the water was sooo blue!

Even with all of the travel time, Mallory was full of energy to get down to the beach. So off with the travel clothes, on with the swim suits and we were beach bound. This also was Mallory’s 1st time to the ocean so all she wanted to do -and all she KEPT talking about-was building sandcastles. We checked that off of our list and headed off to explore.

We walked around exploring the town near the resort and found a Subway-yes I know, not authentic PR food, BUT it would do in a rush. While inside waiting for our food (which was an experience in it’s self-good thing we could just point to what we wanted) there was a couple inside the restaurant who were clearly “involved” with each other. I snapped a photo while Greg was waiting at the counter, I love it. They had no idea I was taking it (and I felt sort of like a stalker ninja) but I just love the body language.

Anyways……… on the way back we stopped at a small “hole in the wall” convenient store and inside 12-15 people were just hanging out. I mean, chairs in the aisles of the store, beer in hand, cigarettes in the other and music cranking…this is when I realized we were FAR FAR from home!We grabbed our snacks and back to the beach we went.

So that’s it (in a nutshell). I’m still in Puerto Rico as I write this post but since we can’t go out to the beach due to the hurricane (that will be a whole other post) I thought I’d hop on and share a few photos with Y’allWe are having a GREAT time despite the 75 MPH winds….tee he he! I’m not sure when I’ll be online to post Day Dos. Until then, know that we are safe and having a great time. This vacation was much more than the beach, it was more about spending lots of quality family time….and I promise, that is being accomplishedAlso, until I have enough  time to add more photographs…enjoy!!

Adiós

As my clients already know, I am heading off to Puerto Rico with Greg and Mallory!! As a result I will be out of the office between August 28th and September 7th… During that time I will be unavailable by phone and email. I will, however, respond to all of my emails and phone calls as soon as possible after the 7th!

This will be our first official “out of the country” family vacation where Greg and I will be taking Mallory. Up until now, when we traveled she stayed at Grandma’s. We were unsure how she would do with long waits and long flights but she’s certainly old enough now to experience a bit more of the world. So this time around instead of her watching us pack, she is helping us pack….or I should say, she’s been “packing” the past few days. And I thought I over packed-this girl has an obsession with shoes! I guess it just parallels my obsession with cameras!

  So why Puerto Rico? Well it wasn’t exactly our first choice. Actually we were planning to go to a few other places outside of the county but it boiled down to us not being able to get her passport in time. I lost Mallory’s birth certificate (I know I know-what kind of mother am I) so that, coupled with being a procrastinator, we just couldn’t make it happen.  Since you do not need a passport to travel to the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, we decided that Puerto Rico had both sun and sand AND culture. After doing plenty of research, we are VERY excited to get down there. Yes we will be staying at a  resort (Caribe Hilton) but we will be traveling off the resort so that we can experience the REAL Puerto Rico.….AND I’ll be collecting photographs along the way to share when we get back to the real world.

Whats on our agenda-besides soaking up the Caribbean sun at the beach? Well, we have a game plan but we are going to be flexible. I love talking with the locals and finding out the best places to visit. But from doing  a little bit of research we do have a few placed already in mind:  the El Yunque Rainforest, walking around the historical streets of San Juan and eating at an authentic restaurant, drinking their signature Pina Colada’s, visiting El Morro, possibly visiting the cave park….ohhh building sandcastles just to name a few!If you’ve been to PR and have any suggestions, please leave a comment below, I’d love to hear from you

Mallory is in charge of the “Kid-VideoCam” and she’s taking her own digital camera. So I’m excited to see her images from our trip. Seeing the world thru the eyes of a 5 (almost 6 year old) is going to be unique. If I can get regular internet access I will post a “photo of the day”…..that is of course if I feel like working with technology. I mean it is vacation after all! Now, you’ll have to excuse me while I go work on my Caribbean tan!! Tee he he  :-)