Tim & Denise Tiner Travels: 2018 October Family Cruise - Day 09

Well today is October 13th, 2018. 37 years ago I made the best decision of my life...to marry the prettiest, funniest, deepest faith girl in the Salt Lake Temple. That decision has not only blessed my life but the lives of the 5 children, 5 spouses and eight grand children that we now have. We have and continue to have a wonderful life together. And I am not a fool to think that I had much to do with it. She has created such a great home for all of us. She has led us with her example in choosing right, being faithful to things that are right and important. She has taught us all how to love, through thick and thin so to say. I look forward to many years together with her here in mortality and then my faith tells me that we will continue our marriage beyond the veil of the grave. Something to live our lives in such a way that such a blessing is materialized. I love you tons Denise!

We all met for breakfast in the dining hall except Mike and Cassidy. They had purchased excursions off the cruise ship to go zip lining at a new facility that had been built after the big hurricane that destroyed St Maarten. Breakfast was good. But for me, the food is growing old. I try to cut back. But I could do a much better job of it. Anyway, after breakfast, we headed to our rooms to gather our gear. It was a pretty lazy morning. I think we got off the boat (all of us except Mike and Cassidy) at about 10:30 AM. We walked out to the little town of shops that most cruise ports have in case you don't want to go into town. We took some pictures at the Welcome to St Maarten sign then headed out to find a taxi that would take us to Maho Beach (Airport Beach). This is the beach that sits at the beginning\end of the runway and you were supposed to be able to almost touch the tires as the plane lands. They had taxi stands and for $16 per person (round trip), they would take us to and from Airport Beach. The ride was about 20 minutes in length on a small, single wide road that took us over the mountains and into another port area...and area actually more developed than where the cruise ships come in. As we went over the mountain, we could see the zip lines that Cassidy and Mike were taking. They looked amazing...amazingly steep!

We arrived at Airport Beach and went out and found a spot right on the end of the runway. Some of us immediately we not in for a swim. The beach was quite nice and the waves felt good. Over the course of an hour and half, or so, we saw numerous planes land. Most were prop planes. But we did have one 737 come in and land. That was pretty darn cool. It felt like they were going to land right on the beach!

As were enjoying the beach, the clouds began to come in. Out to the south we could see a big storm approaching. Little did we know, this was going to be a monsoon type storm. When it started to rain, it soon became what Noah probably saw in his times...a flat out down pour! And it rained and rained and rained. Eventually, we said, we need to get a taxi back. So getting soaked, we fought the elements to the taxi stand. They loaded all 7 of us (and Atticus) into a mini van that already had 5 people in it! Pretty crowded. We sat there for about 10 minutes hoping the rains would slow down. But they really did not. But I'm glad we left. Because our 20 minute ride back turned out to be 1 hour and 15 minutes roughly. Emergency vehicles closed lanes. A mud slide closed a lane....and so on. And we were told that, on average, each house has 4 cars on this island. So many cars! But we made it back ok...but pretty soggy. We wondered how Mike and Cassidy did. They did great! They had fun. They thought it might be a little over priced...but still it was all taken care of. They were done before the heavy rains hit.

After our adventures, we went up and trapped some lunch and talked about our day. Eventually, some went back to their cabins. Denise went to get a manicure as we were given a $50 off coupon for my birthday. Ashley, Brent and I went to a 90's trivia game spot. Mike and Cassidy eventually joined us. Both Ashley and Cassidy knew a lot of the songs. And both of them would start to dance a little. But Ashley caught the gals eye who was leading the event and encouraged her to come up and dance when the full songs were played. It was fun to watch. At one point, she was dancing with a pair of 8 year old girls.

Dinner came and went. Food starting to feel the same. I'm glad that is coming to an end. After dinner, we thought we'd go to the PG-13 version of the comedy club. But at the last minute, we all decided to go up and play cards. So we played Skum and 5 Crowns for an hour or two before we all retired to pack and get ready for the trip home. It has been a GREAT trip. Love my wife. Love my family.

PIctures....

Welcome to St Maarten picture....