August in Aruba was a transitional month for us.  First there was a concern that my Dad would have to have surgery, and at his age, 86, any surgery is major.  If he was going to have surgery, I would fly home.  While we were waiting for news on that, my niece and nephew, Ashley and Josh, came to visit for a week.  We had a really great time.  This was their first time on our sailboat and their first time in Aruba.  We had a great time.  The bad news, it was REALLY hot in Aruba.  Not all the time, but from 9:00 in the morning til about 4:00 it was hot.   We finally broke down and put the air conditioner in, but now we felt we were just warehousing ourselves.  The worse news, it was just as hot, if not hotter in Colombia, and we wouldn’t have an air conditioner there.  So we decided, instead of flying back at Christmas and losing good sailing weather, we would fly back now.  By doing this, I could get the kids schoolbooks for next year, we could see our families, and we could spend some time touring the United States.  Our sailboat in Charlotte NC, is for sail and Dan needed to do some work on it, so we decided he would fly to Charlotte, stay with Karon and Alan, work and work on the boat.  The kids and I would fly to Chicago, and Dan would then fly and meet us there a week later.  From there we would plan an excellent adventure across the United States. 

The weather in Chicago was fantastic.  It had been several years since we had been back to the midwest in the summer and we really enjoyed it.  The kids started their homeschooling for the new year, I visited with family, and Dan worked really hard in Charlotte polishing and cleaning our sailboat there.  Hopefully it will sell soon!!!  Our original plan was to leave as soon as Dan joined us in Chicago.  Our tentative plan was to  head out west and tour the Grand Canyon, Colorado area for a few weeks.  We wanted  to rent an RV but the cost was too expensive, so we went with our backup plan which was to rent a SUV for a month and camp.  The plans were just about set in stone, when we received sad news that my great niece had passed away.  She had been living in Montana.  My sister Linda who lives in North Carolina (it was her granddaughter who passed) would be flying to Montana and then stopping in Chicago.  I wanted to see her, so we rearranged our SUV plans to leave on Saturday September 12,  instead of the previous Tuesday after Labor Day.  We were still committed to camping, as the SUV would have been around $189.00 per day.  As luck would have it, by pushing our date back, and staying flexible,  Dan went back to the internet and did more research.  Camping World had some specials for one way RV rentals.  We had tried to get these before, but they would never reply to us.  Dan tried one more time and scored a great deal, $9.95 PER DAY!!!!!  It was a one way with two choices, pick up in San Francisco and drop off in Nashville Tennessee, or pick up in Los Angeles and drop off in Charlotte NC.   $9.95 per day, can you believe it????  It included 100 miles per day and ALL the insurance for a 31 foot RV.  Now obviously we would need more mileage, but this was too good a trip to pass up.  To make our trip that much more of an adventure,  we would take a AMTRAK TRAIN from Chicago to San Francisco, a 53 hour trip, but the most scenic trip you could take, through the Rocky Mountains, the deserts and over the Sierra Nevadas.  This was our kind of trip!!!  So read on for an update on our next great land adventure!!

 

During our drive around Aruba, we visited the caves in Arikok National Park.  We had been there before, but this time when we went with our friends, the park service guys were there to give us a tour.   Valentino, our guide was very friendly and outgoing.  He  did a really great job showing off the cave, making sure we saw the cave drawings,  left by the Caquetio Indians.  At one point he had us all crawling, nearly on our bellies, to a cavern deeper in the cave.  There Valentino pointed out some seldom seen hand prints left by the Indians.  That was really amazing.  The Caquetio Indians came to Aruba over 4000 years ago, making their way from Venezuela, and eking out a small existence of fishing and farming on this “desert” island.  That all ended when the Spanish, led by Alonso de Ojeda arrived on Aruba in 1499.  He was looking for gold, and declared the island useless when he couldn’t find any.  He did find strong able Indians whom he captured and made slaves, sending them off to other Spanish colonies to work.  In what became an all too familiar story, another indigenous tribe was wiped out.  It was very humbling, crouched in that small space, seeing those handprints, thinking about who might have sat in this same spot, rubbing red paint into their hand, then placing it on the wall, leaving a print that thousands of years later, we would find. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Of course, what is a cave without a bat, or several bats!

   We decided to rent a car and take a tour of  the other side of Aruba.  The Natural Pool was a place we hadn’t seen yet, and wanted to go.  When Dan, I and the kids had rented a car back in April, and tried to go to the Natural pool,  we decided against it as it was tough going in a car.  You could take a “Safari” tour there, but that was expensive.  While I was doing laundry one day, another tourist was talking about the Natural Pool, saying we needed to see it.  Her group had walked, instead of driving.  It was a long walk, about 45 minutes, but she said it was worth it.

The Petty/BeDell group was no stranger to hiking….. in the blistering sun….. with no water. (Just check last April entry in the BVI’S).  This time we had water.  But it was still a blistering sun.  Alan parked the van as close as he could and from there we had to walk.  How my laundry friend described the hike was, “You go up a hill, then another hill.  Then you keep going to another hill and then you can see the Natural Pool.  You think you should be there but your not.  You still have another fifteen minutes or so.”  As questionable as her directions sounded, she was surprisingly accurate.

 

  The hike

 

 

  The trail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were no marked signs to the Natural Pool, just a blazing sun beating down oh hard rocky soil, so we started walking up the nearest hill.  The ruts from the tire tracks left by the large 4 wheel drive safari trucks were easy to follow up, but on top of the hill, the road was harder to distinguish.  Here the road became fainter, splitting  off into two different directions, and we had to have a group discussion on which way to go.  We did not want to go the wrong way in the heat, especially since we weren’t exactly sure what we were looking for.   We decided on the road heading more toward the ocean and kept walking, doing our best to avoid the cactus and sharp thorn bushes that would were so sharp, the barbs would puncture rubber soled sandals.   Finally,  in the distance, we spotted a pickup truck coming toward us, so we figured we were on the right track.  About forty minutes later, on top of I think the third hill, we looked down and saw a Jeep parked in front of  some big rocks by the ocean.  We guessed this was the place.  The bad news was that it was still a ways away, while the good news was it was all downhill.  About fifteen minutes later we reached what we thought was the pool, only to find that we still needed to walk down a series of steps, then crawl over some rocks and finally we would be there.

Was it worth it? Yes.  The Natural Pool is a small pool surrounded by high blackish gray rocks, sitting on the ocean edge.  The pool is fed by ocean waves crashing over the top of the rocks, filling the pool.  After the long hike, the water felt incredible.   The pool itself contains some interesting sea life and we had a good time snorkeling seeing small fish.  The kids were excited when they were able to coax a playful brown eel from his hiding place.  The pool was ours for awhile, but about about 20 minutes later, the tour groups came.  We could see why the guidebook says to come early.  In one moment we had the pool to ourselves, the next twenty new people were trying to snorkel.  At one point we found ourselves pinned up against one side as a particular tour group decided to dive off the side wall.  Lucky for us, the tours only stayed there about ten minutes.  I can’t imagine paying all that money for a ten minute dip in the pool!  After that group cleared out, we had a short break until the next group came.  The kids used this time to climb up the sides and jump off the rocks into the pool.  By the time the third tour group came, we were ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outside the actual pool area, on a small sandy beach area,  was where visitors left clothes, towels, things that couldn’t be brought into the Pool itself.  Other tourists came and they left their towels and water there too.  As we were drying off, we were all thankfully drinking water.  Alan took a big swig from his water bottle and said,  “This water tastes like cherry.”

Dan and I looked at the bottle thinking maybe he had flavored water, but no, it was plain water.  Alec took a drink. “It does taste like cherry.”

By this time, Karon had gone through her stuff, passing out towels to her family when she found another water bottle.  She looked at Alan. “Isn’t this your water bottle?”

Suddenly we all realized Alan and Alec had drank from someone else’s water bottle!  And I’m fairly sure the cherry taste came from that persons lip gloss or chapstick.  YUCK!  Dan and I were rolling with laughter while Karon was yelling “I can’t believe you drank that!”

Alan replied, “It looked just like ours!”  And it did.  And it was near their stuff.   Alan put the lid back on the offensive water bottle putting it back on the ground.  We finish drying off, and put our shoes on for the long hike back.

As we started to leave, Collin, who had not been around earlier, drank  from a familiar looking water bottle and  said, “This water tastes funny.”  In a flash Karon slapped the water bottle from his hands.  “That’s not our water!”  Poor Collin stood there dazed for a moment, while the rest of us couldn’t stop laughing.  I really felt sorry for the poor girl who would be returning from the pool later, thirsty for  a drink and find her water bottle gone!