We struck out for Aruba by driving across the border to Seattle and picking up a flight to JFK in New York, then on to Aruba. Peter and Pam were just a bit anxious to get going, so we got to the Seattle airport by 430, for our 11 pm flight! The flights were both long, but the second one was one of the worst flights I’ve experienced. Why some parents feel they can let their children scream and yell and misbehave so badly is beyond me.

We arrived in Aruba to find they’d just had a brief rain shower! Not a great omen! The people here are supposed to be the friendliest in the Caribbean, but they aren’t! The ladies in the car rental were rude and obnoxious. I’d suggest you don’t rent from Alamo, unless you like attitude, no smiling, and slow service.

We drove from the airport to our timeshare with no incidents – we didn’t get lost once! The architecture here is interesting, with a wide range of tastes. We’ll get some photos up of some of the strange and unusual in a few days, as we explore more by foot. It’s a larger timeshare than the one we had on the Caymans. The complex has two swimming pools, and two hot tubs, so it’s spread out over about twice as much area as the Cayman timeshare.

The timeshare itself is roomy and spacious. It has a slightly musty smell, which is a little off-putting. But this is a common problem here in Aruba, and the Caribbean in general. We’ve brought our Timmy Ho’s coffee with us, as we usually do! I’m sitting by the pool, using my wireless laptop to connect to the web and upload this update. I have to admit tho, there are TONS of mosquitoes here – we’re going to have to get some OFF right away, or Pam will be swollen and red in no time!

We had a Balashi (Aruba’s locally brewed beer) or 5 in Coco Locos, the pool bar. Peter made friends with staff, quite quickly, as you can see from the pic! It restored our faith in the island’s motto – One Happy Island. Very friendly ladies for sure!

I wanted a quick dip in the ocean, but the ocean was not clear and I couldn’t see a thing! Note the pic of  my hand – kinda blurry huh!? Not what you expect in the Caribbean, so hopefully it was because of the rain shower stirring it up. The beach was very nice of course, with the fine white sand the Caribbean is famous for…

We had dinner at the Sawasdee Thai restaurant. It was not good. The food was average at best, and a far cry from “Thai” food. It was basically Chinese food with spices, and poorly spiced at that. That’s a shame, because my favourite Thai restaurant in Vancouver is of course, the Sawasdee, and my fave on the Caymans was called the Sawasdee too!

I’m not sure what we’ll get up to today (Sunday) since Pam and Peter are still in bed, but I’m sure we’ll get some beach time, and I’d like to wander around Oranjestad and get a feel for the place and a couple pics of the architecture so you can get a sense of where we are.