We woke up early to get breakfast at Tuscanini's. I got the steak and eggs because steak and eggs sounded awesome for breakfast.

After breakfast we swam, played on the beach, and sailed a hobie cat out into the bay. Then we had to come back to the room to pack. Around this time I found out that steak and eggs in St Lucia were not that good. I got a bit sick, hung out in the bathroom for a bit, annhilated the toilet, etc. Never order medium-rare steak anywhere but the US. So yeah, we packed, then caught a shuttle out to the Pier at the Sandals Halcyon and had a great West Indian dinner - scallops, curried shark, and some chocolate banana stuff, mmm.

After dinner we came home, went to bed early, then woke up at 3am to checkout …

Today ruled again - actually all the days have ruled so far. So anyway, we slept in pretty late, then decided to hike to the top of the mountains at the end of our resort's peninsula. It was really nice, pretty tough hike, but really nice. We went up to the fort on one peak and then across to the taller peak.

After hiking we bought things: bounty rum, a couple cuban cigars, some huge necklace, etc. Then we swam @ the main pool for the rest of the afternoon until Kari needed a nap and I needed my computer. ;)

Later we ate at London Pub and just hung out at the bar down on the beach until we got tired.

Today ruled. We went on another excursion called the Jeep Safari Tour. We took this open top 16 person jeep through Castries, a banana plantation, some mountains, to a rainforest, and to a secluded beach. We stopped in the mountains at this little stand to try some fresh fruit, I drank out of a coconut, we had star fruit, fresh pineapple, etc. We also bought some banana ketchup to bring home, heh.

So after that we drove down into the rainforest, hiked some insane trails to this awesome cascading waterfall, and then hiked some more. Normally they cross the rivers by jumping rocks, but since there was so much rain the day before, the rocks were below the water. We had to walk through waist high, fast flowing rivers - it ruled. …

Today we slept in a bit, then woke up and found it raining - which it pretty much did off and on all day. Actually, the weather is really weird here. It rains pretty much everyday, but only for a little bit. Like it'll be sunny all day then it'll suddenly pour. for like 15 minutes. Today though, it rained off and on all day.

So after we woke up we tried to find food - which sucked. It was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. So we ran around everywhere. Long story short, certain restaurants that normally open early were relocated due to weather, which took forever to do, they told us to go to other places that "opened early" but actually wern't opening early. We walked back and forth on the resort 4+ times. And if …

Today ruled. We went on this Land and Sea excursion. They drove us all around the island and then we rode this huge catamaran around the shore back to a bay near our resort. There is too much to say about it... So here it is in list form - there will be plenty of pics soon.

Basically, we drove through...
· Anse La Raye (a fisherman village)
· Soufriere
· Marigot Bay, where we got to try banana ketchup and some locally made spiced rum (I bought a bottle for yall to try)

and saw ...
· Some pirate ships that were used in the Pirates of the Caribbean movie
· Hess Oils, which had some insane crude oil containers
· Some huge banana plantations
· The Pitons (those 2 huge mountains that the local beer is named after, and where …

So day 2 nothing really happened, we just wanted to relax after all the traveling and the last couple weeks of insanity. We laid around all day on the beach or in pools. The main pool here has this swim up bar, it rules, haha. I walked to the end of the beach where some natives were, I got offered pot by 3 different people and blow once, haha. Maybe I'll buy a ton, bring it home, and be a millionaire....

Kari and I kayaked out in the ocean for a bit, napped on this wicker hammock by the beach, etc.

Before dinner we went to this little bar by the beach for a drink before dinner. We started sipping the locally made rum, Bounty, it's good stuff - I think I'll bring a bottle home... While sitting out there, it just started …

After 3 layovers flying from Des Moines to Chicago to San Juan to St. Lucia, we've arrived. The airport here was pretty crazy. There are actually 2 airports in St Lucia - 1 is big and international, the other only services the islands - this is the one we flew into. The "terminal" is actually just an outdoor hallway covered with a roof. The gate numbers are painted on little signs above the doorways, and our luggage was hauled from the plane with an allis-chalmers tractor. It ruled. It was also nice because our airport was only like 15 minutes from the resort. The drive here was fun, we took a little RH drive van and saw random cows and horses walking around in the narrow streets, etc.

So after 12+ hours of travel we arrived at …