Puerto Rico 2022 - Day 1: We head west

Due to going to bed after 3 AM, we slept in until 10 AM or so.

There was no food available at the Village Inn (the restaurant appeared to be in the process of post-hurricane reconstruction, still), so we checked out around 11 and went in search of something to eat.

Just down the road, we found a panedería and inhaled some pastries and coffee.

Check-in time at the Airbnb wasn't until 3 PM, so we decided to take our time making it across the island. 

The Village Inn isn't that far from the start of the Pork Highway, as it turns out, and we needed something for lunch, so...

... we drove down highway 184 until we found a lechonera (literally "suckling pig") that wasn't too crowded.

Between the five of us, we ordered some of almost everything on the menu, to share. It was around 2 PM by the time we finished lunch and got back on the road.

The end of the Pork Highway is kind of in the middle of nowhere, in the hills of a rainforest, so the ride from there back to a real highway was a bit rough. Once we reached a real road again, it was about 2 hours across the southern coast of the island.

Along the way, the climate changed from tropical, to dry, back to tropical, a few times. 

Some of us caught a nap or two along the way, to make up for the previous late night.

By the time we made it around the bottom of the island and up the west coast, it was after 4 PM.

Getting into the condo was a bit of an adventure, but it was expected; we had to go a mile or so down the road to fetch a remote from a lockbox. The remote opens the gate to the parking lot, and then we had a code to open the door to the condo. There was supposed to be a key to the pedestrian gate into the parking lot, too, but it wasn't there. 🤷‍♂️ 

The condo we rented is on the 3rd and 4th floors, overlooking Córcega Beach. It has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and four separate outdoor/patio areas.

Once we were settled in, we went for a walk on the beach... maybe 1/2 mile in each direction or so.

Christie took some very well-composed, artistic photos.

We returned to the condo just before sunset, and enjoyed the view from the balcony off the living room.

After the sunset, we drove into town to visit the grocery store, and then stopped at a food truck park for dinner, around 8 PM.

We all need to catch up on sleep from last night, so we're going to sleep in tomorrow, and then plan to spend the day at the beach.