Issaquah Undressed

Issaquah vs Caribbean

Today, I would have to say the Caribbean!  Morning temperatures here in Issaquah were 19 degrees with snow on the way tommorrow?!  Aruba, an average of 82 degrees pretty much year round. YES!

We just got back from there. Why, Oh Why couldn’t I have been in the Caribbean during this cold snap? What a difference a week makes.

This is not usual for Issaquah, It rarely snows, rarely is this cold and seems to be setting new records for a long cold period.

Our son and his wife love cruises. They invited us along one this one and we thought about it for a  nano second and jumped at the chance. This was our first cruise. Puerto Rico was the launching place and the stops were Aruba, Curacao, St Martin and St Thomas. Swweeeeet. We had two days in Puerto Rico before the ship left.

Favorite things about Puerto Rico: Doing absolutely nothing.

The view from our hotel (at night).

 Day trip to Fort San Christobal -

The Castillo de San Cristóbal is a Spanish fort in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built by the Spaniards to protect against land based attacks on the city of San Juan. It is part of San Juan National Historic Site.

Castillo de San Cristóbal is the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the New World. When it was finished in 1783 it covered about 27 acres of land, basically wrapping the city of San Juan. Entry to the city was sealed by San Cristóbal’s double gates. After close to one hundred years of relative peace in the area, part of the fortification (about a third) was demolished in 1897 to help ease the flow of traffic in and out of the walled city.

Fort San Cristobal

Ocean view from Fort San Cristobal

View of San Juan from the Fort

Stairs and Tunnels and Dungeons, not for the faint hearted

Three Flags

A Stash of Cannon Balls

 Old San Juan

Buildings in Old San Juan, No Glass, Just Shutters, Bright Colors and Charm

The Adventure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean….soon to be off to Oranjestad, Aruba. Ouite a crowd waiting in line to board. Seems like there could be a better system. Once on board, I was amazed and in awe.  We were at sea the next day, I guess, I could hardly tell.  There was much to keep one ocupied on this floating city.  Fun and Food! And they aren’t kidding about the FOOD.

The Adventure of the Seas, Royal Caribbean

 Santa visits Aruba early, he didn’t leave anything with me!  Perhaps he will visit in Issaquah, unless I have been naughty, not nice.  Hmmmmmmmmmm!  Oh, well a lump of coal might help me keep warm.

Santa and his pack on the island of Aruba. He does get around, doesn’t he?

 We laid on the beach, walked on the beach, watched people on the beach, paid $20 bucks for an umbrella,  if you wanted a chair it was another $8. Aruba is a flat, dry island, consistant weather and is out of the way of hurricanes, unlike other Caribbean Ilse.

Next Stop Willemstad, Curacao.  I have to admit I had never heard of the place…….to be continued.