ST. THOMAS

I am all packed and ready to go. I have left all of my liquids and gels that I bought on my first day here (except for the OFF and the bug killer spray) along with a Prairie Dance Club CD and a tip, in my room for the housekeeper. I don't know if she will want all of it but it's there if she does.

I have lots of time before I have to catch the 2:30 ferry to St. Thomas and I want to walk the beach one last time. I cross the road between the building with my room in it to the restaurant and through the outdoor patio area down the stone steps to the beach. On the right I walk down as far as I can until I get to all rocks - this is just a few feet away from the backside of The Bomba Shack. Then I turn around and walk all the way to the other end where there are more rocks.

When I was swimming a couple of days ago, a fellow walked from this end of the beach to where I was right in front of Sebastians and called out to me "Are you Sandra?" "Yes I am." I called back, mystified as to how he knew my name. I got out of the water and he introduced himself as the fellow who ran the Facebook page BVI Network and whose picture I had commented on just an hour or so ago. It was one he had taken of the waves coming in on the sand and I had asked where it was taken and he had replied that it was here, on Apple Bay. So then I replied to that saying I was on Apple Bay at Sebastian's right this moment. So as he had walked by, on his way to work, he saw me and recognized me. We chatted for a while about his work and how long he'd lived on Tortola - 18 years. He makes his living as a web designer and lives at the end of the beach that I have now walked to.

I have noticed, while at this particular beach, how the waves come in in sets. There will be a few small ones and then they will get bigger until about the fourth or fifth one is really big and then it goes back to the smaller ones again. I guess this is what my daughter is talking about when, as a surfer, she talks about sets of waves. It's something I had never noticed before. So I wait for the largest one to hit so I can get a picture of it hitting the big rock that is on the sand here.

The fellow was telling me that, at this time of year, the surf brings in the beach - that is, it dumps so much sand on the rocks that they are completely covered, even this big one, and it goes partway up the retaining wall in front of the houses. That's amazing to me. I had no idea that a beach could come and go like that. He said that, all it takes is a northern wind and the beach will be gone in two days.

At 11:30 I check out and pay my restaurant tab and then get in my car and drive away from Sebastian's for the last time, over the killer hill for the last time.

I drive to Soper's Hole to have lunch at Pussers and take a table right on the water. I order the Shepherd's Pie. When it comes, it's smothered in melted cheese, which I haven't ever done with Shepherd's Pie - or seen done before this, and the meat and gravy is way too salty. So I just pick at it and leave most of it.

I can see that the people who own that gorgeous sailboat that I saw the last time I was down here have arrived from Great Britain and are getting her ready to take her out.

After lunch I pop into one of the gift stores here to buy a couple of presents for people back home and then head out to return the car to Jerry's. After a short wait there for another customer who also needs a ride into Road Town, we all climb into a nice SUV and a very pleasant woman drives me to the ferry.

When I get to the ticket booth for the Road Town Fast Ferry to get a customs form - I already have my return ticket as I purchased a round-trip, the agent tells me that the 2:30 ferry has been canceled. Before I can panic she says that a different ferry service will take me instead, 15 minutes later at 2:45. Phew. So I go to the next window, Speedy's Ferry Service, and sign in for that ferry.

When I get on board, the air is still and stuffy. We get underway and there isn't a lot of air movement where I have chosen to sit but I notice that the big loading doors on either side, just behind me, are open. So I stand in the doorway and not only is the breeze fabulous but so is the view. With the wind whipping my hair about, it reminds me of my boating days. I stand in the doorway on one side, and then later the other, for the entire hour and a half trip.

Bye bye, Tortola!

Loving this!

Oh yes! I'd like to live right there, please.

I didn't realize we'd be stopping in Soper's Hole for more passengers - I had lunch there just a couple of hours ago.

The Jolly Roger, a famed restaurant that is known for its Jerk Prime Rib, a meal I would have loved to try but the teeth just aren't up to it yet.

And just on the other side of the Jolly Roger's parking lot, the family plot. You see that a lot on these islands, people bury their families in the front yard.

An island we passed on the way to St. Thomas. If anyone recognizes it and knows what island it is, please leave a comment letting me know as I have no idea but would like to know.

We finally arrive on St. Thomas and a 15 passenger van/taxi takes four of us at once. We're all headed in the same general direction. Two are dropped off at a business. The fellow left with me wants to go to the airport and when we pull off the main road at the turn off for the airport I figure I am going to be the last one dropped off. To my surprise, my hotel - The Best Western Carib Resort - is right at the entrance to the airport and so I am the next one dropped off. I knew it was close to the airport but I had no idea it was this close.

I get checked in and before I go to my room I sit down at the business center computer to print out my boarding passes for tomorrow. That done, I go find my room which is on the first floor and off of an interior hallway, which I really like. The Best Western I stayed at in Yuma had the doors off of an outdoor walkway and I never feel as safe in that situation. There's a lot of crime on St. Thomas so this is great.

All of the rooms at this hotel have been recently renovated and when I get inside my room, I am really impressed by how nice it is. Especially the bathroom which has a lovely stone tiled shower with a huge rain shower head.

As soon as my stuff is in my room, I head back outside and down to the pool and restaurant area. Apparently the restaurant is Mexican and quite good.

There are several ancient Cannons on the property; these are on the stairs leading down to the pool and beach area.

The Mexican restaurant to the left of the stairs.

And the pool to the right.

And further to the right, the beach area.

I test the waters of the pool and it's a lovely temperature and I am tempted to go back to my room and change into a bathing suit. Instead I head to the restaurant and order a Taco Salad and a virgin Margarita for dinner. It's delicious.

After dinner I head back to my room to repack my bags. My 'purse', which is actually a beach bag, is far too heavy and so I need to get more of the contents into my pretty-full wheeled carry-on bag. I manage to lighten the load considerably and still get the suitcase zipped up but I decide to use the beach bag I bought for the groceries in Tortola (and have been using for taking my stuff to the beach every day) as my purse and to leave the woven grass bag behind - which I love and was a gift from a friend but it has started to fall apart on this trip - just barely started falling apart so it's still got a lot of use in it, but it's not holding what I need it to very well. In the morning I drop the 2 bug sprays into it along with my toothpaste and some moisturizing cream and hope that the maid or someone can make use of it all. Meanwhile, I take a shower under that decadent shower head and then make it an early night as I have to be up at the crack of dawn to catch my 9:15 flight.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME

Wednesday morning I went back to Mexico to have the crowns placed. I was really nervous as my gums were still quite sore and the thoughts of having them poked and prodded didn't appeal. Turns out, the needles for freezing my mouth up weren't so bad but the rest was, in some ways, worse than the first appointment. But now it's all over and they're all in place and I have a smile I no longer have to hide or be ashamed of. It's a dream come true!

Dr. Arce asked if he could take a picture of the two of us together and I said yes. He wanted me to smile with my new teeth but I was so frozen I couldn't do it. Also, I didn't wear any makeup to the appointment because, what with his hands all over my face plus the water spraying me etc, I thought I'd wait until later in the day. Then he asked if he could put before and after pictures that he took of my teeth up on his FaceBook page. I said he could. Then I asked if I could 'friend' him and he said he'd like that. It took me a while to find him on there but once I did I saw the photo of me and I look HIDEOUS. So I put one up on his FB page that I took of me with a proper smile. It's the same one I have as my FB profile pic at the moment.

Dr. Roberto Arce - isn't he handsome?

The teeth have to settle in a bit yet. It will take a week or so for the gums to settle in around them. Until then, eating is difficult. First of all, the teeth are part one of two steps that need to be done and so, until I come back and get the lower teeth all done, they aren't going to fit together well with my lower teeth. Secondly, whenever I bite down on something with even a little resistance, the new teeth feel like they push up into the gums a bit, and feel 'tighter'. I asked Dr. Arce about this and he said I need to just eat soft food and soup for a week or so and it should be better after that, but I will always have to be careful.

I was all done and out of Mexico by 12:30 and at the airport by 1:30 which meant I had a lot of time to wait for my flight out of Yuma to LAX, but that was okay by me. I prefer that to madly rushing, worrying that I might miss the flight. I tried to read but ended up falling asleep for a bit - I still had Xanax in my system from the morning and it really makes me tired.

I took another two of them once I was on the flight to Washington DC, which left at 10:20pm. It was a four and a half hour flight but I slept like a log through most of it (and I paid for an upgrade to get a window seat with 5" more leg room and was it EVER worth it). When I woke up and heard that we were starting our descent, I honestly felt like it had been about 30 minutes since we had taken off.

The weather was miserable in DC, raining sideways. I was glad to get on the plane to St. Thomas and hear from the pilot that it was 83 degrees there; everyone else seemed happy as well because a huge cheer went up from most of the passengers.

Landing in St. Thomas was fabulous - so humid and hot. And it smelled just like I remember the Caribbean smelling. Those of us taking a ferry to Tortola were told to wait together in one area and then we were all directed to pile into a 15 passenger van driven by a jovial Caribbean woman. When I asked how much we owed her, she asked how many suitcases I had. I guess they charge by the case. I only had one so I paid $10.

The ferry was in when we got there but they weren't boarding yet. Rather, they were piling loads of cargo on it. People who had gone shopping on St.Thomas for the day I guess. From the looks of it, quite a bit was for bars and restaurants. There were some large personal items as well and then , of course, lots of luggage. Once all the cargo was loaded, then we were allowed on. The boat was very big inside, not unlike a SeaBus. The water was pretty rough in spots so we really bounced along the waves; which I happen to love.

It was about a 50 minute run to Tortola and as we pulled into the harbour I could see Pussers, where Shonah, Amy and I had drinks and conch fritters two years ago. I could see the little blue huts where locals sell island wares to the tourists. And once I was through customs and walked down the street to my hotel, the same road side stand selling freshly squeezed juice was there. I was so overwhelmed with being back, I got kinda teary. I am so so excited to be here.

One thing though, I seem to have the most incredible timing when it comes to planning holidays - first it was the dentist conflicting with Easter. Now it's tomorrow, when I need to go into the stores to get stuff to take to Anegada with me that I couldn't pack (such as shampoo, conditioner, sunscreen, bug spray, hair spray, etc.) it seems most everyone will be closed in celebration of Will and Kate's wedding.

How do I manage that? I mean, I don't even try.

I just got back from having some chicken roti at Pussers, washed down with a Painkiller. It was delicious. I sat there looking about, hardly able to believe that I am back. New smile; in the BVI's....

Happy Birthday to ME!