Category 5 - Wilma

After spending a hectic day, cleaning up, packing, reorganizing and saying goodbye to our house guest Mark, Jon and I left bright and early Tuesday morning for our final wedding destination, Jamaica. We flew into Kingston while the outer bands of Wilma continued its pummeling of the entire island. So bad is the storm that Kingston closed schools today.

We were scheduled to stay at the Starlight Chalet - a yoga retreat in the Blue Mountains but alas, landslides prevented any chance of that happening. Starlight was gracious enough to put us up at the Mayfair Hotel in Kingston. Let me put it this way. The quality of the hotel was nothing compared to the hospitality of the staff. What I'm saying is - this was not a great hotel but it kept us warm and safe for the night. But the woman at the front desk was so helpful, I wrote her a warm thank you note and gave her the bottle of wine given to us by the Starlight Chalet - which they gave to us with apologies. We spent the night warm and dry in our clean but sparse room listening to the worst rainstorm I've ever heard in my life.

One weird thing about yesterday and last night were the barking dogs. Apparently the dogs that live in houses near the Mayfair Hotel have a complicated system of communicating. One dog barking started several different and musically barked conversations throughout the wet night.

Jon spent the morning changing our arrangements. Instead of flying out on Friday to Montego Bay for our second destination Riu ClubHotel Negril, we flew out today. What a difference a couple of hundred dollars a night makes. This place is an unbelievable sprawling playground of indulgences. I'll try to get some pictures up in the next day or so - but computer time is precious at $18US/hr.

So - if you were concerned because of the news you've read or heard, know this. Jon and I are not only safe and sound but we are also in a luxurious resort with all-inclusive services.

We are spoiling ourselves rotten and don't we deserve it?

Yes. I think so too because from what we see - it's not going to stop raining the entire time we are in Jamaica.