Day 6 cycling Ponce to Parguera

It’s my birthday!

A sweet birthday greeting and card  awaited me when I woke up this morning. We enjoyed a relaxed start to our morning with a nice coffee Tim bought from a local coffee shop. We used the RIDE GPS app to guide our way. 

Quiet morning hours in Ponce. 

We did not make it to see Cruces del Vigia up close, but we could see the 100 foot tall cross atop Vigia Hill. 

A bakery stop for a sweet treat was a fun stop. 

Fun photo opportunity…love that 10 second timer feature! 

We road by lots of power plant complexes. 

We arrived in Yauco and discovered it is “town of coffee”, so we decided we needed to have another cup of coffee with our early lunch.  But where…? 

11:11 shot -looking for a coffee place in and getting a bit turned around.😆

Found Carajillo Coffee House.   We enjoyed the coffee, eggs scramble, the atmosphere and most of all the conversations shared with the patrons there. It was also cool learning that the coffee beans are locally grown and “sun roasted” making it a medium roast. It was very nice. 

Once one the road again we started really noticing how we were no longer going through the lush, tropical region and were now in the a much drier area.  The visual difference showed as we were descending the second of the two climbs we had today. 

We arrived in the town of our destination… now to plug in our hotel in our Google Maps .

Upon checking in we were provided with a drink ticket for the poolside bar. … so obviously that was our next move. 

This guy was coming in with a wheelbarrow filled with burlap sacks..  Tim guessed fertilizer…. but he showed us the contents of the sacks… live lobsters! 

Touring the tourist town of Paraguera. We’re sure it gets hopping, but not on this Tuesday. 

Puerto Rico route 303 (near here) is recognized as the extraterrestrial route. This stretch of road is known for its UFO sighting and local folklore. 

My birthday dinner back at our mini resort.  The waiter recommended an Old Fashion made with Don Q 7 Year reserve rum.  Good choice! 

Chocolate birthday cake was delivered with a candle and song!  Very special 🥰🥳😆❤️

Day 5 cycling from Salinas to Ponce, Puerto Rico

Just like the previous days, we’ve been fortunate to wake up to sunny skies with beautiful clouds. The humidity was quite noticeable, but fortunately so was the tail wind. 

It was a little more effort getting packed up today because our room was on the second floor and we had to carry the bikes up the stairs. That required us to fully unload the panniers to make it more manageable. The opposite is also true going down the stairs. 

 

Soon after we were on the road we made an almost immediate detour  to a pastry shop that also serve breakfast. It was a very  popular and busy spot with the locals. 

We passed by lots of banana plantations. These have plastic bags on the banana bunches.  My AI research tells me:   Bananas are covered with plastic bags to protect the developing fruit from insects, birds, and animals while also protecting them from sunburn, wind damage and cold. This practice creates a warm microclimate that accelerates growth, reduces harvesting time, and ensures a cleaner, more cosmetically perfect product for market. 

All along our route, we’ve been seeing tsunami evacuation signs … each is better than the last. 

Yesterday we saw a lot of solar power stations that went on for miles. Today we saw lots of  wind turbines humming along.    “Puerto Rico is rapidly transitioning to renewable energy, focusing on solar panels and wind turbines to achieve 100 renewable energy by 2050.”

11:11 shot of  the day… when we were taking an electrolyte break in the shade.

We got to our very fancy looking hotel in Ponce before 1:00. We were thrilled to be able to check in early and even better, we had the opportunity to pack up a bag of laundry to be done for us while we toured around! Yay! 

First stop was Kings Ice Cream right next to our hotel!

Second stop was finding a bicycle shop to repair the broken spoke on Tim’s rear wheel. 

Now we have time to tour. 

Ponce was founded in 1692 and is Puerto Rico’s second largest city and a major cultural hub. 

   

Ponce Cathedral

Inside Ponce Museum of Art checking out the papier- mache of Louis Armstrong and all the papier-mâché masks on the wall

Parque de Bombas - historic firehouse

Plaza las Delicias 

It was nice that we also had time to lounge a little in the small poolside courtyard.

Hooray… how very fortunate we were to not only find an open bike shop on a Monday, it was close by and they were able to squeeze in the repair the same day!  Thanks to  Luis and Anthony for their quick help. 

A short walk from our hotel was a wonderful restaurant with ideal outdoor patio dining. We can highly recommend Rincon Argentino.  The sangrias were great and the huge platter of 6 different varieties of meat for two in addition to the veggies and mashed potatoes was so, so tasty. We must have been really hungry because we finished it all! 

Upon our return to the hotel, our laundered clothes were waiting for us. A great end to a great day. 

Day 4 cycling from Emajagua to Salinas, Puerto Rico

We were happy to enjoy a  hot breakfast included with our stay prior to getting on the road on this beautiful warm Sunday morning.  Breakfast was in the same dining room where we had dinner the night before, but we were much more energetic today. 

We chose to take the coastal roads instead of the inland hilly choice. The cars on the road were thoughtful. We thought many were probably going to church or to a baseball game. We saw lots of cars at  both locations in each city we rode through. Most every town has at least one newer looking, well maintained baseball field. 

Outside this stadium, infront of the statue, are 5 feral dogs. All the homeless dogs we’ve encountered are very mild mannered and definitely non aggressive. It’s the fortunate ones that have a home to protect that make us nervous. 

As the day progressed we saw, or more accurately, we heard many cars with the extra deluxe, massive sound system cranked all the way up. The bass is so loud we could feel the vibrations prior to seeing them.  Puerto Ricans really take pride in their cars and sound systems. 

We have been seeing a large cross draped with the purple cloth in many of the towns in preparation for Lent and Easter. 

This photo shows the new power poles. 

“The longest blackout in American history was the nearly yearlong blackout Puerto Rico suffered after Hurricane María in 2017. This was a result of Puerto Rico’s poorly maintained power grid, the severity of the storm, and massively inadequate and inhumane response by the U.S. government to the hurricane. The situation was so dire that many citizens taught themselves basic electrical skills and began risking their lives climbing electrical poles in order to begin reconnecting loose or damaged power lines and restoring power, sometimes to entire towns.” Rolling Stone

11:11 Shot of the day. 

After we checked in and cleaned up we had look around and late lunch… that included a pina colada! 

Went to the highly recommended seafood restaurant El Dorado for dinner. The loud lively energy of the locals and the great food and cheerful service made this place special. What made it even more memorable was the feel of a very happy and jovial community. When a drink was spilled everyone would clap in unison and loudly hum a familiar tune and this one guy, we think maybe it was the owner, grabbed a stack of cocktail napkins and toss it like confetti at the “trouble causing” table. It got such a reaction that this repeated itself 4 more times in different area of the bar. 

Our rental for the evening had a coffee maker but no coffee and no store or coffee shop near by.  Tim was desperate for his morning fix, so he asked our waiter if he could resolve this problem. Our server gathered up some ground coffee and gave it to Tim- now that is much appreciated, over-the-top service!