Aruba
I’m going to sneak in and post some photos from our Aruba trip before Steven and I begin our very busy day of unpacking, washing clothes, preparing for Thursday’s Thanksgiving feast, shopping, and finally… picking up Data from the Kitty Resort!
A couple of things first though:
1. Thanks to Christina, who blogged while I was gone! I second kapgar in thinking she should start her own blog. Thanksgiving break is the perfect time to get it all set up! I really enjoyed reading all of her posts and am happy I asked her to write here. Thanks again sister!
2. It was really weird for me to take an “actual vacation.” Sure, I have been away, traveling for a week before, but usually my days are jam packed with sightseeing and I don’t get a break. In Aruba, we were L-A-Z-Y. We slept in, meandered over to the beach, ate late lunches and big dinners, sometimes didn’t even wear a watch… it felt strange at first, but now I can say I really enjoyed it! I need to take more relaxing vacations like this, instead of my usual chock full travel schedule.
And I won’t even get started on how weird it was not to blog while I was there!
And now onto the photos, in a VERY LONG extended entry…
Our hotel
The Beach
Scuba Diving
One of the things we did, but I don’t have any pictures of, is scuba diving. We took a scuba diving course in a pool, then they let us dive into the sea. We dove to a ship wreck that was 25 feet under the water. I was really scared in the pool – I thought I was going to lose my mouth piece and drown – but I ended up really enjoying it when we were in the actual sea!
Island Tour
Steven and I went on a Land Rover Caravan tour of the east side of the island. When we signed up for it, the agent told us to “bring our driver’s license” because we would have the opportunity to drive if we want to. Steven and I were both thinking that each Land Rover would a tour guide in it and that they would ask us if we wanted to drive.
Well, it turned out that there were 6 Land Rovers, and only one tour guide, so a tourist was always driving each of the other 5 Land Rovers. And only 15% (maybe less?) of the tour was on paved roads! At first we were just driving on dirt roads and through huge mud puddles, but then it got really serious – we were driving on rocks at steep inclines!
Steven ended up driving most of it because the other people in our Land Rover were too nervous to drive. One girl actually started hyperventilating at the end of the trip. Ha ha ha. I guess off-roading is not for everyone. All of the passengers told Steven they were happy he drove and thought he did a good job!
The first site we stopped at – the Alto Vista Chapel. It is a pilgrimage church out in the middle of nowhere.
This is another site we were driving to – the Natural Bridge.
This is the other side of the Natural Bridge – part of it has fallen!
Another “natural bridge,” though not as large.
Our tour guide was quite the comedian. He kept making jokes about his mother-in-law, and telling us that later on in the trip he would show us the solution to keeping your mother-in-law away. The solution is this – to build a fence made of cacti in front of your house!
Sunset Sailboat
We took a sunset sailboat tour on the west side of the island (which is much calmer than the east side). We really enjoyed watching the crew put the sails up and seeing the sun set over the Caribbean Sea.
Steven’s “Vogue” model shot.
Jeep Tour
We had so much fun doing the Land Rover tour that we rented a Jeep to do a bit of exploring on our own.
What do you think of our hats?
We stopped to explore some caves.
These black specs are bats in the cave! You can see one flying near the right side of the photo.
The sand dunes –
In this photo you can see the hilly roads we had to drive on!
Now I know why there were so many signs saying “Do not drive in the sand”!
The Animals in Aruba
If you made it this far – congratulations! I feel like I left out a lot about the trip, so let me know if you have any questions!
Themocracy
Awesome pics!! Looks like you both had a fabulous time. Welcome home!!
vacations like that are awesome!! that’s how jamaica was for us!!!
Aruba looks SO amazing!!! it looks like you two had a great time!!! welcome back!!! 🙂
Those photos are spectacular looking. However, I must say my fave is the new banner photo you’re using. That is incredible! And a nice cropping, too.
Looks like a wonderful trip! We want to go to Aruba now!!! Welcome back. 🙂
Kim great pics I really liked them all. Though did u get any pictures of your hotel room? I would have love to see them :).. Also it’s great to have you back .
Lisa – Thank you!
Courtneyincontrol – Thanks! Now Steven and I will have to check out Jamaica ! 😉
kapgar – thank you! 🙂 One of the sunset photos Steven took reminds me of your banner 🙂
E & D – I think you two would definitely like it there!
Courtney Ilax – We don’t have any photos of inside the hotel room, but they show they pretty well on their website – http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-photos/auabr-renaissance-aruba-resort-and-casino/ – click on “photo tour” in the upper left corner!
Oh my what a beautiful trip!!! I have never been anywhere tropical 😉 Got to love the sleeping in and not wearing a watch bit, isn’t that what vacations are all about 🙂
omg! I’m putting Aruba on my trip wish list! Those pictures were amazing, you guys got a lot of nice shots! Are you sure you guys got to relax?! Looked like an amazing time. Glad to have you back, tho!
Wow, beautiful pictures!
i am so glad you had a wonderful time but am also glad you are home and back with us!
Beautiful pics, Kim! I love the hats one – too cute! Looks like you guys had a *perfect* honeymoon.