Trip to the Dominican Republic

Day 1: Our trip begins. Our flight left Vegas at 6:30. We got to Miami and had a 4 hour layover. By the time we got to the Dominican it was about 9 and already dark. A bus picked a group of us up and drove us to each of our hotels. We stayed at the NH Real Arena. LOVED IT!!! We would definitely stay there again.

Day 2: Because we got in so late the night before, we didn't really get a chance to see where we were staying and what the beach looked like. I am sad we didn't take more pictures of our room and the hotel. Today we went parasailing. Probably one of the coolest things we did. Because the water was so clear, we could see everything we even saw a few sting rays. Cason wanted to be dipped in the water...me I was o.k. if we didn't. As you can see...we did!!!

Day 3: Today we woke up early and took at 2 hour bus drive through the Dominican Republic. This was neat because where we were was very touristy and you don't really catch what the country is really like as well as the people. Driving through the streets was really an eye opener. We would see kids in their underwear playing in water, it seemed like small huts or one room houses were the typical place to live for most families, lots of farming land, TONS of motorcycles. That is the main transportation. You would see sometimes up to 4 people on the back of a motorcycle. Once we got to our destination we took an 1 1/2 catamaran ride to an island called Saona. The ride was fun...a little long. But we danced and got to meet a lot of people. The island was beautiful. Like everywhere else in the Carribean, the water was clear and very calm. We ate BBQ and spagetti (which is nothing like it here...very bland). Going back we took speed boats and stopped in the middle of the ocean to swim. I would compare it to the "Sand Bar" in Havasu. It is pretty shallow. That area is known for finding star fish. Our group found 2 of them and huge one and a small baby one. We took some pictures, got back on the speed boat and back to our bus for the 2 hour ride back to the hotel. On the way back, the bus ended up breaking down. It was fun because we got to stop at one of the local markets (that's a picture of the bathroom) and looked around. The kids there begged for money and the adults just wanted you to buy anything from there. We finally got back to the hotel, ate at the Asian Dining and chilled by the beach.

Day 4: Today we played at the beach for the day! In the morning Cason and I went out for sailing lessons. He was the one that did it, I just layed out on the boat for the most part. He got the hang of it real quick. It was really neat to just be the two of us out in the middle of the ocean sailing a boat! We did a little photo session before eating at the American Steak house for dinner. The sunsets there are to die for.

Day 5: Today was perfect...we knew that this was our last day before leaving and so we spent the entire day at the beach. In the morning it was raining pretty good. Thunder and lightning storms are incredible there. We would wake up to the walls shaking our room completely lit up in the middle of the night. During the day we played sand volleyball, went snorkling, layed out until our skin couldn't handle it anymore, took naps under the palm canopy, and then went to eat at the Asian Dining. When snorkling we saw a couple of stingrays, what we thought was a blow fish, and tons of other clear fish with blue stripes.

Day 6: The trip home was bitter sweet! We had to be in front of our hotel by 6:00 to catch the bus to the airport. Ending the trip waking up to the sunset was the cherry on top! The airport there is outside and unloading and loading onto the plane from the ground was a new experience for the both of us. When it came to the airport, we were the typical tourist with our camera in hand taking pictures of every moment!!!

The best thing about this trip was not the destination but who I got to be there with. It's so much fun to see how simple things are when you get rid of cell phones, bills to be paid, a house that needs constant cleaning, work, 2 kids that what your undivided attention (although at the end we both were really missing them bad)!!! I'm so grateful that we were able to take this trip and take it back to simplicity...we are coming home feeling both rejuvinated and recomitted to that!!!