Ladies Trip to Sao Miguel

I forgot to blog about my 1st ever trip without my kiddos.  Hard but fun... well needed... =)

Chanra, Terri, Bridget, and I had planned on taking a quick 3 day trip to Naples in February.  Quick meaning... leaving on a Wednesday afternoon, having all day Thursday, and flying back Friday morning... but with the weather going crazy in Virginia... that plane kept getting delayed so we decided to hit another island and go to Sao Miguel.

Sao Miguel is another island of the Azores... we are at Terceira.  We took a 4 day trip out there and a blast!!  We got on a small plane (hated it) and took a 25 minute flight across the ocean.  I missed my kids every second of the time and thought about them with everything that i did... but i managed to survive it and have a great time.  Here on Terceira, we don't have fast food... so the first thing we did when we got there Thursday evening was hit up McDonalds of course and pigged out!! 

The next day, we decided to go to the mall, which we don't have here on Terceira either... we don't have much of anything at all on this little island... we spent 5 hours in the mall and hit up every store... that mall isn't anything compared to stateside malls, lol.  On our way to the mall (walking) we got lost and found this awesome park!!  It was so beautiful and saw one of the LARGEST trees i've ever seen.  Saw some beautiful bright colored buildings and great architectural work.

This island so beautiful.  So much history and beauty and stories.  On Saturday, we had called a taxi driver, Pedro, who did island tours and he had taken us to a lot of places... even though it rained the entire time, we still got to see a whole lot and it was still beautiful!!  We had an awesome time.. going to Furnas where they have the Hot Springs.  If you've watched the epsiode of Anthony Bourdain when he came out to the Azores... we pretty much re-traced his steps... it was awesome.  We even went to a tea factory where i had gotten some green tea. We had a great time... Pedro was a great tour guide and we were his first customers... and dealt well with all of our jokes and giggling and even got comfortable enough to join in... he definitely became part our crew that day, lol... he was telling jokes of his own. 

On Sunday, we called Pedro again, and he took us out to a couple more places.  Saw some lakes... beautiful views of mountains and volcanos.  Then he took us around to run some errands before it was time for us to get back on a small plane and back to our little island of Terceira.  The family wanted McDonalds too so i came home with almost $60 worth of McD's... OMG!!  LOL... and $50 worth of gummy candy from a candy stand in the mall... hahahaha... i'm telling you this island is deprived and there is nothing here so when you get a chance for something that isn't here... you take FULL advantage, lol.

Finally, it was time for us to head out and get ready to get back on that plane.  We got to the airport and weighed in our suit cases because we are only allowed 45 pounds in total of all suitcases!!  Luckily, we all made it through!!  Security told me i should eat all that McD's, lol... told him it was for the fam.., but i should also have mentioned it was my prego craving and i can't have it where i live... lol.  The ride home was quick but scary.  The winds were crazy... and this place is known for that... the last 10 minutes of that flight, i was clenched on to Terri, holding on to the seat in front of me, and praying... turbulence was the i've ever experienced... 10 straight minutes... of shaking, plane going side to side, and dropping... feet all of sudden not touching the floor... OMG... it was SO SCARY!!! But TG... we made it safe.

Nothing better then coming around that corner to see my boys and get those big hugs and seeing my baby smile when he saw his Mommy!!  I was glad to be home with my boys. TaShaun and Ja'Mari loved their happy meals of course... Michael and his 6 double cheeseburgers, and for the first time, Ma'Kai ate McDonalds... he got a bit of everything... chicken nuggets, fries, cheeseburger, and an apple pie.  He even got a piece of those many gummy candies i got, lol.  He enjoyed it and was trying to steal his brothers nuggets and fries too....

It was an awesome trip... one that will always be remembered.  All the laughs and adventures!!  I am glad i went... and it prepared me for another one, lol.  I have plenty of pictures but the ones posted are the only ones i have on my laptop... the rest is in my hard drive but one day i'll put it up and you can see it on FB, lol...