Winter Wet, Wild and Wicked 2005
(All pictures used with written permission)
This is the story of my BESTEST of the best trips to Hedo!
I hate the travel details, but when it includes fun and good folks, it has to be included. I have to fly from Phoenix to Los Angeles, and when I arrived, Richard and Jackey were at the front of the Air Jamaica line, along with Joe and Denice a few folks behind them. Nine WWWers were on the same flight. We checked in, thanks to Joe and Denice for taking one of my bags as their check-in that I had intended to take as carry on. It weighed more than 30 lbs, so it couldnt go as carry on. They said I had to check it in, pay additional fees, and, since the plane was going to be full, they couldnt guarantee it would arrive on the same flight or even when it would arrive. The woman at the counter asked me, Is this something that you need to take? Like Id be taking stuff I didnt need.
We made it through security and had agreed to meet Mike and Shellee and Dave and Marilyn near the gate. We found the bar/restaurant and here comes the late arrivals. We had time to kill, so out comes the duffle bag (yes, a HUGE duffle bag) full of ping pong balls that Richard and Jackey brought, and we all got to work with the sharpies and started putting ideas for things to do when one got one of the ping pong balls.kiss a bald man, massage a back, give a foot rub, suck Jims dick (long story from years ago).the possibilities were endless.
After a couple of hours, I noticed that Dave hadnt said much. I wasnt sure he even could talk. I asked him why he talked so much, and he deadpan replied, I learn more from listening than from speaking. Astute man; I could probably learn something from him. We are the first arrivals of the day into Montego Bay, and no other planes landed around the same time. We cleared immigration, customs and were soon on the bus, Hedo bound.
We got about half way to Hedo before I asked Dave, so what have you learned so far, Dave? He replied without missing a beat, Who to avoid. I burst out in laughter and KNEW he was talking about yours truly. Throughout the week, whenever I saw Dave, he had this shit-eating grin on his face. He tried so hard not to let me see how much fun he was having. I know we will see him and Marilyn back next year. I think they both were about 10 years younger when they returned home. Welcome to Hedo, Dave and Marilyn.
We all arrived at Hedo around 9:15am, and of course, no rooms were ready, but thats always coolwe were at Hedo, who cares?? We got something to eat, and went back to the front desk. I think all 9 of us had our room assignments before 10am that day. I had booked ROH, and ended up in the next to the last room upstairs by what use to be referred to as the Basketball court rooms, now I guess youd call them the rooms facing the Spa. Long, long walk from the nude beach, but who cares, I was at Hedo.
From this point on, everything becomes a blur (why does everyone say that?). I will attempt to give a general overall synopsis of my 10 days at Hedo, rather than a day-by-day accounting.
I love having two Friday nights therethe Grand Gala Buffet is by far the best night in the dining room. The lobsters are plentiful, the cook to order pasta stations supreme, and the deserts are to die for. The circus show is also on Friday night, and Ill never tire of that show. How do those guys hang by their toes like that?
I try to book the restaurants the rest of the evenings and seldom eat in the dining room. They were allowing us to book the restaurants this trip a day in advance, but now they want last names AND room numbers of everyone who will be going. Yikes, I dont even KNOW half of my friends last names and I often forget my own room number. By the end of the week, I did know some names and room numbers, and Delete, at the tour desk is always the best, and so it all worked out well in the end.
One of the best parts of this trip was all the diving I did. I dove every day I could (never dive on flight days, but that still gave me 8 full days of diving) and a couple of times, twice a day. Thank you, Gary, for being my dive buddy early in the week. I know you did more diving than you probably ever wanted to dive in a week. You were the best, and always there to reach out and grab my hand if I started to freak out. I love to dive, and am normally ok, but there are times when Im down under, and I just need to have eye contact and know someone is there to calm me down. Gary, you are always the best at thatyou can read me like a book in that department, Thank You. I adore you and Georgette so much, and cant wait to see you both again SOON!!!
Wayne, what is up with you?? I think this is about 4 years in a row that you promise to dive with me, and we never get it done. Is it all the champagne at 7am that does you in?? Each day does bring a different experience in diving at Hedo. One day, we are out and as we surface, the water is really choppy, and there are swells over our head. Everyone is at the surface, and as we rise to the top of a swell, we can all see the Hedo boat entirely too far away. The current is carrying us away from the boat, not a good thing. I swear it felt like we bobbed and struggled for about 30 minutes. The dive masters kept trying to get the boat captains attention all to no avail. Im sure it was only about 15 minutes later, but finally he sees us, and heads in our direction. Now we are all tired from bouncing around after a 40 minute dive, and we have to get back on the boat.oh geesh!! The next day, there were only 4 of us (the rest from the day before were smarter than us) and we surface to water, which was like glass. It was smoother than the pool water was. Go figure. Thanks to all my dive companions for the week, Randy (check out that camera set up Randy has), Alison, Scott, Jim, Rayne, Lindsay, Kay, Jeff (even though I think we only got in one dive, didnt we?), and John (those last couple of dives were the BOMB!!). Here is a picture of Alison and I down under:
I
did get Roderic, the new dive instructor to take me out one day, and help me.
He said I was diving with too much weight (whats new, I always do that) and
on the ocean floor the darling is taking off my weight belt, removing weights
and sticking them in my boots. I thought my head was going to spin
around and Im sure the look on my face to the other diver was priceless.
All was really cool until the dang weights fall out of one of my boots.
Thank God there wasnt another diver under me. Needless to say, a 5 lb weight
making a beeline for the bottom sent me on an equal beeline for the surface.
Roderic did give me some pointers that Id forgotten, helped me slow down my
breathing and even though that dive ended early for me, my dives that followed
were a lot smoother. BIG UP to all the Hedo dive guys. You are all
the best!!!!! We saw all kinds of different things this trip, lobsters,
crabs, puffer fish, rays, and almost every dive did include a turtle. Never
realized how darn fast those turtles can swim. Here is a picture (again,
thanks to Randys great camera set up) of one of them:
Another best part of this trip was the project with the Christmas gifts, the Christmas stockings and the Magical Mystery Bash all three to benefit the schools of Negril and the Hedo employee scholarship fund. This group is so giving and I never cease to be amazed by the generosity of this group. Denny collects the Christmas gifts at the Welcome Party and the stage is always over-filled. Here is a picture after about half the gifts had been packed up and removed:
Is
this group generous or what?? We had to move the Christmas stocking
stuffing party to Gary and Georgettes room this year, due to the location of
my room. No one would have ever found it, and as always, Gary and
Georgette stepped up to the plate (did I ever mention how you are both my
heros?). They offered to use their room, as it was much easier for
everyone to find. Im not so sure they will be willing to do it again
next year, a Hedo room gets filled to the brim with the generosity of this
group. I think we made a total of 300 stockings this year, and had TONS
of left over stocking stuffers. The kids at the Santoy Basic School were
thrilled and Im sure all the Hedo employees kids were happy when they
received their stockings and gifts. 
On
Wednesday, Georgette, Deb (of Brian and Deb), Scott, Robyn, Denny and myself
all piled into a van, along with Rochelle from Super Clubs and a Color Negril
photographer and made our way out to the Santoy Basic School. 
The
teacher, Ms. Novia Parkinson is always so proud of her classroom and her kids.
She is grateful and she always shows everyone around the school. Their
school consists of one room, plus a tiny kitchen, a bathroom, a sick room, and
the Principals office (Ms. Parkinson doubles as the teacher AND the
Principal). The kids have gotten use to us now and while the younger
ones (3 year olds) are still somewhat afraid, the older ones (5-6 year olds)
are happy to see us, and were more than willing to have Scott take their
pictures. He sat there with them, and took pictures of them on his
digital camera and was able to show each of them their own picture
immediately. 
I
looked over at him one time, and you could barely see him in the sea of
children dressed in their blue uniforms. We passed out the stockings to
each of the children, but the wrapped Christmas gifts were held for their
Christmas party, which was to be held the following week. Ms. Parkinson
tells me each year that our gifts are most likely the only Christmas
gifts these kids will receive. It breaks my heart on one hand, but on
the other I feel so much joy at being able to participate in this activity.
The Magical Mystery Bash is in its second year, and I hope for many more to come. Its the invention of Steve and Nancy (the Partymons) and Jim and Nissa. They secure a band to play for the evening down on the nude beach,
with dancing on the beach,
a silent auction with lots of donated items, and this year they even added a fashion show of various slutwear items that were for sale compliments of Laina and a few other ladies (John wearing Lainas genie outfit was the biggest smash of the night). The most important part was everyone had a great time, and they raised around $7,000, half going to help the local schools, and the other half for the Hedo employee scholarship fund. The Winter Wet, Wild and Wicked group is the only group to ever do such a thing according to Delano. Thank you Steve, Nancy, Jim, Nissa and everyone else who donated items, who purchased items, and to everyone else who made this event happen. This has become one of my most favorite nights at Hedonism II.
Ive saved the best part of my trip for last. Now Im stumbling to do it justice. Every year before my arrival at Hedo, I try to envision what the trip will look like, who Ill meet and hang out with this year, what kind of laughs Ill have, and what kind of mischief Ill get into. I do this without trying to go with a lot of expectations. I would have truly sold myself short this year, had I gone with some expectations of how the week would turn out. It was better than it ever could have been in my mind.
Most of my friends know that Ive been traveling solo for the past several years, and I truly love the experience of Hedonism II as a single gal. My couple friends are always good to include me in their activities, invite me to dinners, let me play in their hot tubs (OK, that just happened this year with the new private hot tubs), let me hang out with them on the cat cruises, walk me back to my room at night so I dont have to go alone, etc. Ive never been one to hook up with anyone in particular other than for a dinner or something like that.
This year was quite different, and I feel fortunate to have been able to spend most all week in the company of a wonderful, funny, kind and caring man. I had met John last year, and when he was given the name that ended up sticking, STFU John, it fit him to a T. I laughed harder and more often this year than I can remember laughing in any one week of my entire life. This man goes to bed laughing and wakes up laughing. I remember thinking about half-way through the week that I was going to have to have my cheeks surgically removed from under my eyes from all the laughing.
The best part of experiencing Hedo with someone who hasnt been as many times as I have is that so many things are new and fresh. So many things that Id grown tired of doing (after a dozen prior trips) were all new and fresh and I decided to try them all again (such as showing up at the Welcome Party on time, rather than when it was over. Dancing on the beach at the MMB, rather than sitting on my ass all night). One night (naughty school girl night), we ate at the Reggae Caf and went out to the beach before the PJ party started. That night was incredible. The moon was bright and was setting. It made the water light up with a wonderful orange glow, straight to where we were sitting. Consumed with the moment, we missed the PJ party. Oh well, there is always next year!!
The next night, we went on the nighttime catamaran trip, which again, Id skipped the past couple of years. The stars were beautiful, the company supreme, and the moon had that wonderful glow again. With John there, of course, the night had to be goofy. I am the only one on the entire boat that is drinking water. The glass of water is sitting next to me, but promptly gets kicked over. Someone gets me another, and it gets kicked over again. Pretty soon someone else walks by and kicks the third glass over. This goes on a few more times, until I finally kick the water over for the last time. I decided I wasnt so thirsty, our blanket was soaked, and so much for staying warm under the blanket, I was left to body heat to keep me warm (not such a bad thing after all). I also stayed on resort for toga night this year;
Something I havent done in probably my last 5 or 6 trips to Hedo. The
restaurants are open for toga night, and we had a blast in Pastafaris with
John and Renee, Mike and Tammy, Chris and Tim, and John and myself.
Renee brought in Magic Pleasure Feathers, and our minds raced with how we
could pleasure each other at the end of the evening. Renee was gracious
enough to bring enough to share with everyone in Pastafaris. We
found more than enough ways to pleasure each other with the said feathers
later that night. Thank you Renee, for adding some spice to that night
of true pleasure.
The other night that I participated in, which Id never done before was Pirate night. What fun was that seeing everyones outfits. I still dont understand the gist of Pirate night, but the outfits were fun, and the night created a LOT of laughs for sure. Here are a few pictures that keep me
laughing:
One day it rained, and instead of going back to the room, we found solace in the grotto. Id never enjoyed a rain shower quite so much. The water slide is always fun, but even more fun this year, as I was dragged there at least twice a day. I bagged out a couple of times on the night slides, but was always there cheering on the participants (dont you guys ever get cold?). My throat hurt from all the screaming that Tammi and I did on the way down, seeing who could make the loudest screams.
My last morning there, as we were walking from breakfast, I made the comment that Id never been in the new pools up top. Later that day, after I was all packed and heading to take a final shower and get dressed for the bus, sure enough, we were walking by those pools again, and off come the clothes, the towels get dropped and the next thing I know, we are in the pools. One of the ECs even walked by and told us we had to be dressed to be in there.
Oh
well: 
It was another first that Id never done. John, dont ever listen to what they tell you, please dont ever STFU. You make me laugh and you honestly contributed to the best vacation of my life. You allowed me to experience something that Id done a dozen times and make it all feel like it was the first time. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and I will be forever grateful to you. You truly are my HedoHero!!
Here are a couple of more quick shout-outs to folks that absolutely make my trips what they are:
Fran: Youll always be my rock and my idol. Thanks for keeping me connected. Just seeing your smile keeps me centered and living in the moment. We share something most will never understand, and for that, Im grateful.
Chris: You are the best roommate Ive ever had. Thanks for all the laughs, the support and most importantly, for your love and friendship. I know well do it again.
Mike and Tammi: I just knew you guys were naturals from the very beginning, thanks for being such good friends, and thanks for trusting me that youd have a good time. Thanks for trusting that you both are a part of this group from now on.
Steve and Nancy: Youll always have the party under control, thanks for being such good friends, and thanks for sharing your hot tub (next year, well make it happen for real S).
John and Renee: You both have such level heads combined with your hilarity and love for life. Truly the classiest people I know. I wanna be like you guys when I grow up. Thanks for being in my life.
Steve and Sabrina: Thanks for loaning us Steve for 2 full days and thanks for the sybian repairs. A man and his duct tape, its a good thing.
Nikki: You are becoming one of my best friends, thanks for being you, and thanks for all the laughs.
Jef and Laura and Lane and April: You bring new meaning to the word Snobs. I just love snobs like you. I hope we truly have you converted to Hedo II from now on, or at least in December.
HedoBob and Heidi: The go to guy for all of your Hedo needs. He always has a friend who has a friend knows a guy who can get you anything. Thank God he left the goat wherever he came from this year.
My YaYa Sistas: You are the best, where would I be without your love, your support, your feedback and your honesty?
To everyone else: thanks for the memories, and hope to see you before next December. If not, then for sure Ill see you all December 2006 (November 30, 2006 to be exact, my deposit is already in) for Winter Wet Wild and Wicked 2006.