Hello from the Caribbean!

Here is the view from the balcony of our villa room at the Westin on St. John, USVI.

As I am typing this, I am sitting in the shade and enjoying the breeze off Great Cruz Bay here on the island of St. John! (I am still in awe of laptops, wireless networks, USB cables and other modern marvels!). My family and I are lucky to have a second vacation this year, and since all the girls want to do is swim, we thought we'd try the caribbean. So far, we have done lots of swimming, both in the pools here and all around the island. Here are a few of the many shots we've taken. We also used a disposable underwater camera, but it's not digital, so I'll have to wait to post those shots. Meanwhile...

here are a few of the local island inhabitants: these little lizards...

and some of these giant iguanas! This one crawled out from under my lounge chair at the pool the other day. Those are my husband's size 11 sandals, to give you an idea of how big he is! These guys are all over the place - in the trees, on the lawns, and near the beach and pool!

This is a view of Coral Bay, close to where we took an eco-tour, kayaking and snorkeling.

This is a sample of what the driving is like - on the left, over narrow windy hilly roads, in this case in a little rain shower.

Here is the local herd of wild goats we saw wandering around near Coral Bay yesterday. We first saw them sitting in the shade at the local bus stop, then here they were at the gas station!

Here are a few shots of some local color on the island...

I'll leave you with a shot my husband took of the sunset off of Cruz Bay last night. This is really an amazing place, full of colorful contrasts. I'm soaking up the sun and the inspiration and have already started a few new collages with the little art kit I brought along. See you back home!