Monday, March 25, 2013

Luck is Usually the Residue of Design, But Sometimes It's Just Luck

I love the Branch Rickey saying that "luck is the residue of design."  But, in this case, luck is just luck.  That's why we got to spend the day in Puerto Rico before heading to Virgin Gorda in the BVI. 

Back last year when I booked the villa in the BVI, I thought I was grabbing the Tuesday-Sunday of spring break, because there is always a high school softball spring break tournament (killjoys!).  I tried to fix it when I figured out my mistake, but could not.  So I went ahead and added a free day in San Juan, Puerto Rico using Marriott points.  Carol and I love San Juan and Puerto Rico, and Maddy/Torie are fast becoming big fans (alas, Julia is at UVA). 

Luckily, the softball tourney games were cancelled for today because of the traditional late March snow hitting NOVA.

Our friends, the Stapletons, also added San Juan to their journey down -- except for TJ, who hung an extra with son Jack, who has baseball.

So, after we got to the Marriott hotel and casino, the seven of us had lunch by the beach.   Very nice contrast to the cold March we've  had back home.  The food was okay, but the setting was relaxing. 

After lunch, we changed into our swimsuits and hit the beach.  The beach was redflagged -- no swimming, dangerous currents.  After Maddy, Torie, and Toni got whistled out of the water (no lifeguard, but some employees check the beach), we crossed over the hotel property line and went into the ocean where there were plenty of people (mostly bodyboarding) in the water. 

I've been in the ocean a gazillion times, and, while the waves were huge at times, there was no danger at all.  I'm not sure why these conditions deserved a red flag next door.  The water felt great.  When it was time to go in, I rode a wave in that flipped me upside down AND backwards.  The water up my nose actually felt great, because it wasn't 38 degrees and raining.

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