As the last day of MY vacation, I had quite a bit to do. Jean and I still wanted to have some fun, but of course I had some packing to do--especially the bikes.
We got up early and had an early breakfast. Jean and I packed everyone (ourselves and her parents) into the rental car--along with our bikes, and headed out to the eastern side of the island. The plan was that we would drop the parents off at Trellis Bay--as there were nice beaches and some shops out there, and Jean and I would head out on the bikes from there to do a little more exploring on that side of the island.
We tried to find some more trails and dirt roads, but initially ended up being thwarted by some gates and "Private" signs. No problem, we're not there to trespass.
There was a good looking loop out on East End, so we made our way off Beef Island and then started climbing. Jean didn't exactly enjoy the ride--it was just under 800-degrees out, there was no shade, and the nearly snow-white pavement reflected the sun's heat right back on us. I, however, loved it. We essentially climbed up, up, up, and then went down, down, down. Of course, there were the multiple stops for photos, but I enjoyed the ride. Unfortunately, the downhill was really, really steep. My trusty brakes (Avid mechanical discs) failed me, and I had my levers to the bar and wasn't slowing down. I wore the heel off of my cycling shoe bringing the bike to a reasonable speed. BMX skills were helpful. Jean didn't want to chance the same fate, so she walked some of the downhill sections. Bummer, work, but no fun on the flipside. Again, a short ride, but good stuff.
We got back to Trellis Bay, found the parents, took a cooling dip in the ocean, had some lunch, and started making our way back to the villa.
We made a quick stop out to the ferry station to get some details on what time the ferry would be leaving for St. Thomas in the morning. I got some very vague answers. There was apparently a 7am ferry, but that would probably be canceled. Maybe there would be a 10am ferry. I was told to call at 8am. Hmmmmm.... things run on "island time."
Jean and I also took some time checking out some of the aquatic life in the rocks and tidal pools. We got some cool pics. I'll post a couple here, but more will be posted later.
Back to the villa, it was time to break the bikes down and box 'em up. This process unfortunately can take an hour per bike. It's a good thing I had some beer in the fridge that I had to get rid of before I left too.
With the bikes boxed up and the rest of my smelly, stinky clothes packed, the day was done and my vacation was nearly over.
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