Getting lost

 It's becoming very easy to get lost in Jamaica these days, because of the rapid development taking place everywhere.

So I guess on my annual visits I just have to get accustomed to it.🥴. 

Last year we got lost trying to find the roast yam and saltfish vendors at Melrose Hill. For they had been moved from their regular place in Williamsfield to the new highway bypassing Mandeville. And because as per usual,  no information signs had been posted anywhere about how to get to their new location, we just decided to forget the yam treat and head home to the north coast. That's when we almost ended up in the bowels Clarendon for again, there were no directional signs anywhere about how or where to connect with the Edward Seaga highway 😡.

Getting lost this year had nothing to do with signs however, but rather because of the rapid development taking place everywhere along the Northcoast highway, from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios.

This is making many areas unrecognizable! 

I had visited my friend's home in St. Anns Bay many times, but could we find the entrance today! This had been easy to find as one simply drove down a lonely, unpaved road to the beach.

But it's not lonely or unpaved anymore, for a massive housing development of some 1000 units on 100 hundred acres of land is now taking place right where the entrance had been, and more, there is now a massive private security gate.

After driving around in circles for a while, in frustration, called our friend Chris who had to drive to where we were and lead us to the new paradise. 

But it was worth the frustration as once we got there, we had a wonderful afternoon hanging out with old friends.

L-r back: David, Grace, Bernie, Joan, Chris

 Front: Shirley, Denise.

Most of us had been members of the once vibrant Fun and Thrills Adventure Club which saw us regularly hiking and riding around the island and normally ending up by a nice river where we would swim and eat delicious meals cooked right there on the river bank.

Those were the good old days.

 Today, it was really great hanging out with the old crew once we found our way.

Great memories.

Hmm. Wonder where we will get lost next year?  For with the rapid development taking place everywhere, it's bound to happen.

(NB. Some pics taken by Denise and David.)

Crooked streets😁

Beautiful flowers beside the walkway on Lombard Street.

The only street more crooked than Lombard Street is Wall Street!

View of San Francisco Bay from Lombard Street

Motorists inch their way gingerly around the corners on Lombard Street.

The crack above was made by the tour bus driver as we passed the bottom of Lombard Street on our way to Muir Woods.

Yea. He got a few chuckles 😁

This tree was planted in 909AD and fell in 1930!

These trees put us humans into perspective!

Muir Woods National Monument is part of California’s Golden Gate National Recreation Area, north of San Francisco. It’s known for its towering old-growth redwood trees. They are humongous and tend to grow in clusters, called family circles.

Some of the redwoods are nearly 1,000 years old and reach heights of more than 250 feet.

The only animals we saw there though were deers and a few chipmunks although the information we got said coyotes and wolves also roam

These trees are really humongous.

To get there we drove on a road similar to ours in Jamaica from Newcastle to Buff, Bay, Portland. 

Naturally cyclists were taking the opportunity to barrel off the hills and round the corners, just as we often did on our similar road.☺ Sure brought back great memories.

For the return trip to San Francisco we had the option of staying on the bus or taking the ferry from nearby Sausalito.

This is where the super rich like director George Lucas and Carlos Santana live. 

It is said that Lucas's farm has its  own fire department for his over 2000 acre farm!

Saulsilito Main Street.

Houses on the nearby islands go for $30 million up.

Alcatraz in the background 

Saulsilito monument 

A house boat in the back is built to look like the Taj Mahal. 

A weird looking houseboat

Houseboats abound.

As a water lover, the choice was clear.😊.

The Bay is beautiful from the sea.

My schoolmate Sonja and I went touring today.

Sections of the Golden Gate bridge are visible despite the thick fog.

San Francisco is beautiful coming in on the ferry.

Another wonderful day on planet earth.

Give thanks.

No butterflies😊

I haven’t been riding much in Florida as I find the terrain so flat and boring. 

So my bicycle has been gathering dust in the storeroom.

I however jumped to it when my Guatemalan friend Rosa called to find out if I wanted to go to Butterfly World in nearby Coconut Creek, to ride. 

Having never been there before too, was a major incentive as I love to learn about new places.

Rosa is fully equipped for riding as she has a sturdy bike carrier, a good pump, (my tyres are always soft😫) and a large electric bike, so she picked me up.

 (The electric bike weighs a whopping 65 lbs! However she has a ramp to load it on to the carrier.)

We didn’t go into Butterfly World though as the entrance fee is $35!

To look at butterflies ?😡

Anyway there is much more to the park than butterflies and you don’t have to pay to be in the great outdoors if you are not riding horses, playing baseball or riding the railroad .

It’s a really nice family oriented outfit with horses, (including horseback riding) kids’ railroad, sports’ fields, cows, goats and chickens.

 

On seeing the small stock, and having just returned from the most wonderful safari in Botswana, (https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2023/03/heaven-on-earth.html ) I jokingly enquired from Rosa if we were at a Florida safari. 

That made her day😂. 

It was a great outdoor adventure while getting fresh air and good healthy exercise, and of course, the horsing around, camaraderie etc.

To cap it off, she had some delicious barbecue ribs and ice cold beer at her place so tired but happy, we knocked it off before I was dropped off.

A healthy happy way to spend a Saturday wouldn’t you say?

GREAT MEMORIES