We spent a quiet New Year’s Eve on the boat, still a little tired from our trip to Illinois.  I made a steak supper, and we dug out the New Year’s Eve party favors I had buried on the boat.  At midnight, we walked up to the marina restaurant, and enjoyed the music and fireworks.  The next day we woke up late and took the kids to downtown Ponce to visit the Our Lady of Guadalupe Cathedral.  This was a nice change to all the hype and shopping around Christmas.  The church, designated a cathedral in 1924, is built on the site of the original church that was built in the 1600’s.  That church was destroyed by fire and earthquakes and the current cathedral was built in 1931.  To say the church is magnificent is an understatement.  The church is painted blue and white inside, with soaring ceilings and beautiful statues of angels and saints.  A huge pipe organ is housed in the upper back of the church and it is such a soothing experience to sit and listen to the angelic music coming from the organ.  In moments, the entire world disappears.  The kids were in awe too, as they sat entranced, amazed at the gold on the altars and the beautiful stained glass windows.                                        

                                              It was so nice to sit, in the quiet, and just relax, and give thanks for all the blessings we’ve had this year. 

On the way out of the city, we took an unintentional tour of the “barrios”.   The streets in the barrios narrow  down to almost nothing.  We were looking for the Vigia Cross, and due to all the one way streets, we ended up on a sidestreet that at first glance one might think one wouldn’t want to be on.  I had no choice but to keep going as it got narrower and narrower.  This would have been a good time to be in the subcompact rental car, instead of the large Jeep Patriot that I was so glad to get.  As we headed down the very narrow street, with cars parked on one side, my way was blocked by a car parked on my side.  Well what to do now?  I don’t think I can make it through.  It’s too far to back up.  Dan is sure I can squeeze through but I don’t think I have a chance.  He has to get out and direct me, much to the delight of the guys sitting on the street corner.  I give them a smile and laugh with them, while Dan guides me through without so much as a scratch. 

Later I am still threading my way through one way streets.  Ponce is a great city, but it is hard to drive in sometimes due to the one way streets and lack of street signs.  I can’t count the number of times I started to go down a one way street and was stopped by the honking of another driver.  I am almost to the end of a one way street when a car turns onto the road heading toward me. This is a one way road then.  I am going the wrong way.  No problem.  He stops and waits for me to clear out.  At first he looks mad, then I mouth the words “I’m sorry”  while waving my hand in my patented “I’m sorry” wave.  The “I’m sorry” wave is my own.  It is almost like a regular wave, but instead of waving my hand back and forth, I move the whole arm and hand at kind of an angle, while saying “I’m sorry” several times.  It seems to work for me. 

We are approaching the plaza in downtown Ponce, and as I emerge, again,  the wrong way from a one way street, a policeman standing on the corner, sees me.    He yells something to me, (conveniently I have my window up, therefore I cannot hear him), and starts walking toward the car.  I hesitate at first, then do the wave, saying I am sorry, and throwing in a “I know” and continue on my way.  Luckily he doesn’t follow me. 

We finished the day off by taking the kids to the park near the marina to play.  It is called the La Guancha recreational complex, and nearly every night, loud music is the norm.  But there is also a great boardwalk and several really nice playgrounds which get alot of use.  This is one of the many things I love about Puerto Rico, it is really a family place.  It seems they really love their children and spend alot of time with them.  Tristan and Tessa have made several friends on these playgrounds.  As it gets dark, we walk over to the boardwalk and pass through the crowds, some of them sitting in lawn chairs enjoying the music, others watching their kids trying out their new Christmas presents, such as remote control cars and ride-on Hummers and Jeeps.  The whole scene is contagious.  The music is loud, but infectious.  We walk along the water for awhile enjoying the warm evening, watching a few of the couples doing the merengue.  Dan finds a stand selling empanadillas,(meat filled pastries) and we find a relatively quiet corner to eat and enjoy being together in Puerto Rico. We don’t stay long as the long day has tired us all out.  We hop back in the car and make it back to the marina, without hitting any one way streets!

         Well, we are back!!  We left Ponce on December 18 to fly to Illinois to visit our families for Christmas.  It was very easy to pack as we had limited winter clothes, but luckily my sister Carol and her husband Steve, fixed us up with boots, gloves, and coats.  It was cold, but not too cold.  Two days before we arrived, ten inches of snow covered the ground.  The day before we left, we got another snowfall, enough for us each to make a snowman!  The visit went well, with my mom cooking us great meals, including our favorite Chicken and Dumplings!    Tristan and Tessa were so happy to see Grandma and Grandpa!   Grandma and Grandpa couldn’t believe how much they had grown.                           They had alot of catching up to do.  It was so good to see our dog Rasta whom my sister Linda and her husband Jerry are doing a great job of taking care of.  We really miss him, but know he is happy and in good hands.                    

We were also lucky to see our good friends Karen and David and their family from Asheville NC.  They were up to see their  families, and we met halfway.  It was too short a visit, but so needed!!!  They have been our friends for nearly 15 years, and our kids have grown up together in Charlotte, until they moved to Asheville.  Hopefully they will get to come to the Caribbean and visit us.     All too soon it was the 29th and we were headed back to O’Hare to fly back to San Juan.  A couple of little snags though.  We didn’t have a rental car lined up once we got into San Juan, and our flight was coming in so late, the taxi service wasn’t available.  Dan spent the entire night before on the computer trying to get a rental car but they were all sold out.  As we headed to the airport that morning, we weren’t sure what to expect.  We hit the first snag at the tollbooth.  The tollbooths have changed to the main lanes being  the IPASS lane and two or three side lanes for those drivers like me who use change.  Even though I had driven through them on the way from the airport, I forgot on the way back, and found myself in the IPASS lane.  I did remember reading on the rental car agreement a $150.00 fine if you go through IPASS and don’t have an IPASS sticker.  Since I missed the cutoff to the regular tollbooth lanes, I did the only logical thing.  I stopped.  On the expressway.  Directly under the camera which was taking several pictures of my car in violation.  Somehow I thought that if I didn’t actually  pass under the cameras I would be ok, but there was no place to go.  I thought about backing up, but I am sure that had its own set of violations.  So there I was, frozen, with my face plastered against the windshield big as day, looking up at the cameras, mouth hanging open,  while Dan was yelling, “What are you doing?” and the lady behind me was blowing her horn and pointing to a sign on the side of the road. 

“Well I don’t know  what to do!” I cried.

“You can’t stay here!” Dan always offers such good insight.

The lady behind me beeps in agreement.  But my head is saying “$150.00 fine.”

Dan and Tristan find a sign alongside the road stating, Missed Tolls go to Illinois Tollways.com.  This means me.  So reluctantly I head on, keeping a sharp eye out for a policeman.  Without further incidents, we make it to the rental car return.  The guy checking the car in greets us decked out in a snowmobile suit and face mask.  He notices the high heeled sandals I am wearing and says, “You must be going someplace warm!  Your toes are out.” I love that!!  I am going someplace warm!  I’m going home to Puerto Rico!! 

We had an easy check in and our flight, and connecting flight were on time.  However when we got to San Juan about 11:30 pm, one of our bags didn’t make it.  We waited and waited and finally filed a missing bag claim.  Luckily though, we found National car rental had a few SUV’s left and at 1:00 am I was making my leisurely choice between the Jeep Patriot, the Dodge Nitro and a Suzuki something.  The guy was very patient as I flitted between vehicle and vehicle saying, “OOHH Dodge Nitro what’s that like?  OOhh Jeep Patriot, what’s that like?”  I’m sure they really appreciated my 1:00 am perkiness!!  Finally, I chose the Patriot and we were on our way to Ponce.  Almost and hour and a half later, we arrived at Ponce Yacht and Fishing Club, and Alegria.  It was good to be home!!