Carib 032502 Spent yesterday in the air. Left home in a sleety rain and arrived at the park n jet at the same time S & D did. Got into line at the airline counter just in time to avoid the busloads of Missionaries who arrived in droves. We walked right up to the counter and two minutes later the line was 40 yds long! Made our way through security. None of us looked suspicious enough to be more than rudimentarily searched (not even Scott!)

Flight to Chicago uneventful until the last bit when the captain informed us that the plane had been put in a holding pattern and we were going to be circling for awhile. We had only 1:19 to catch our next leg (Chicago to San Juan) so we chewed our fingernails for awhile. Finally landed about 25 minutes late and scurried and luckily short distance to our next gate. Bill was also late arriving, but he got there with enough time for us to buy some lunch since the gate agent in SLC had said that no food would be served.

Flight was full which is never any fun for a long distance trip, but atleast we were all on the plane together. Of course only 30 minutes after we'd finished lunch, dinner was served! Watched a bad movie, dozed a bit, read, played cards and finally arrived 5.5 hours later in San Juan. The sunsets through the western windows had been spectacular with fabulous cloud formations highlighted by the red sun, but it was dark in San Juan. Much bigger town than I imagined.

Felt so good to stretch our legs! We still had an hour until our final flight to St Lucia. So we wandered through the terminal reading the maps and wondering about the taste of tourists who would buy the shell sculptures and tacky straw hats.

This flight was delayed as well by about 30 minutes, but we boarded a bus which somehow knew which plane in the rows of little propeller planes was ours and we climbed aboard. Noisy flight & buzzy, but reassuring to look down occasionally and see the tiny cluster of light which indicated that there truly was land down there somewhere.

Immigration and customs were slow (already on island time.) We could see the man Tim sent to meet us waiting patiently outside holding a card with Scott's name on it, everytime the door opened to let someone else out. Eventually we were through. I think they just assume that whole families of people are no threat and instead of hassle us one by one, the tired official just loaded our luggage all onto one cart, gave a perfunctory glance aqt our passports, and sent us on our way.

We boarded a small van (reminiscent of Ecuador) and headed out for Avrion. The road seemed particularly curvy and ciruitous because he was driving on the wrong side of the road! Would take me a long time to get used to that. Bumping down a pothole-ridden dirt road to see a familiar figure patiently waiting for us through a gated fence. Dear Tim, always with a smile and a laugh. we collected our gear and made which I suspect will be the first of many clamberings onto Avrion. Nick's boat was moored next door and we look forward to seeing him tomorrow.

Got the tour and decided on our bunks and came back upstairs with beers and rum-and-cokes to sit topside in the cool evening breeze. That lovely soft tropical air. Moon is almost full and clouds played hide and seek as we reacquainted ourselves. To bed around 2:30am with a planned rising around 6:00am to get stores and run errands.

[smk]