John - 04/05

Traveling when injured is always an experience best avoided and I was not looking forward to this trip due to a torn ligament in my right ankle. Having said that, it went very well overall.

Flew AirJA as usual and had concerns because of all the stories I had been hearing about delays and canceled flights. No need to worry this time as we left JFK on time,though on an North American Airlines plane instead of a AirJA plane. On-time into Mobay.We ended up parking so far from the terminal that it would have been a shorter walk to go directly to my TimAir plane than back to the terminal. I was tempted but figured the powers that be might get upset if I did so. ;)

I was VERY happy not to find the chaos in immigration that was there last Nov. All booths were staffed and a few minutes later off to find the bag. That area was better organized as well( is this Jamaica?)and cleared customs in short order. Off to the other side with TimAir. 10 min wait for some other passengers then an easy flight to Negril. 45 mins from wheels down in Mobay to walking in the lobby. It doesn't get any sweeter than that. :D

I had booked ROH single share,but with the bum ankle,decided to go for a private room. Hedo was maybe half full so they had no problem finding me a ground floor room that was centrally located. 2164 worked out to be a great spot.

This is where the rest of the week turns into a pleasant happy blur of laying around talking to folks and just resting. Just what the doctor ordered. Ran into Joe and Pat and Dennis who I knew from last years trips and that was fun. Met Jules & Scott as well as Ted & Cat from the AprilYahoo group. Good fun people all around. Ran into the devine Anita and her husband Joe on Thurs. Wish there had been more time to talk. She is something else! Also met Keri from the boards.What a sweetie.Another one I would liked to have talked with a bit more. O well maybe another time. And let us not forget the Parrot aka Marcus who was the social butterfly of the week. Into every game,racking up Hedobucks like there was no tomorrow. The fish were a big hit at the hot tub.

I spent a fair amount of time on the prude side soaking in the pool by the beach bar or laying out in one of the shacks(?) Doctors orders you know. LOL Plenty of nice folks on the prude side though not as busy as nude side of course. I did not meet any butterflies like a certain trucker friend of ours but I did run into a sweet Tennessee Rose who stole my heart and a few other body parts for a couple of days. :)

Since the place was about half full,the PJ party was lightly attended but fun. I had a good time handing out glowstick necklaces at random and sooo wanted to dance but could not. Did a pass on toga night and did not see a lot of particpation. Went to the repeaters party in the disco. There was a small crowd and tied with a couple for the 5 free nights at 16 trips each!!! I was still buzzed about that the next day. That takes care of most of the Nov trip. YEAH!!!

John - April, 2005