Chapter 18 - Tons of Laughs with Old Friends and New Friends – Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

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Hi again,
 
On November 26, we left for a 23-day trip to the Dominican Republic.

This chapter will blog our first stop; 5 nights in Punta Cana at the Ocean El Faro Premium H10 all-inclusive resort with Ron and Mike, grade-school friends of Corp’s, along with their wives Jennifer and Becky, and new friends Brett and Kristi.  

Left to right - Brett, Kristi, Becky, Mike, me, Corp, Ron, Jennifer

We discovered a great private airport transportation option in Punta Cana called Jayride.  Jayride partners with over 3,000 transfer providers around the world.  Online booking in advance of our trip was super easy.  Shuttle Central actually provided the private car and it only cost us $19 to get from the airport to resort.  It was really nice to exit the airport and easily find them with a sign with our last name in the sea of transportation providers.  No dealing with the mass confusion that comes with finding a taxi.

Reminder to self.  We had to complete an online immigration e-ticket upon arrival and departure from the Dominican Republic.  No more paper immigration forms.

Our group of old and new friends was such a blast!  We shared so many stories and laughed so hard our cheeks hurt at times.

The hibachi restaurant was our favorite restaurant!  We were stuffed when we left after eating sushi, miso soup, chicken and beef friend rice, salmon, shrimp, and calamari.


We had a show and dinner all in one.

Becky was an awesome DJ for a day!  Every time I hear the song Big Energy by Latto, I will remember Becky in the pool dancing with our JBL speaker back and forth above her head.



Can you believe a bag of cheese puffs cost $14 in the resort store?  Lighter was $7.  Sunscreen was $38.  Aloe vera gel was $25.  Only in an all-inclusive resort can they get by with these hugely inflated prices.    


The pool bar was super fun!

One day, Jennifer, Becky, and I declared it was "Ladies Day" and we enjoyed a lot of afternoon "Ron Punch's" and “Lady shots”.  Not sure what was in the Lady shots, but they were pretty tasty.  Corp thought the girls were pretty funny.  Super fun afternoon in the pool!  Ladies Day should be an annual tradition.  

Some of the outside chairs were so uncomfortable.  Corp remedied that.  He took a wet floor sign and used it as a chair cushion.  Better than nothing.  

Here we are with Ron and Jennifer.


The resort has a really unique lighthouse at the end of the resort on the beach.

Pics from the top of the lighthouse.



Corp messing with Ron while he was sleeping on the beach.

One night, we discovered a beach party with fire dancers.


We were so lucky to have a rainbow while we were taking couples beach photos the last night we were there.



Didn't realize we had a double rainbow in the background of our pic until I was reviewing pics.

On December 1, we left the resort and celebrated our 1-year anniversary of living away from home. 

The past year has had a ton of lessons learned and lots of ups and downs navigating this new lifestyle, but it has definitely been worth it making new memories with my most favorite adventure partner! 

Thanks so much to Ron and Jennifer for inviting us!  We had a blast and hope to travel again with you all soon!

Stay tuned for Chapter 19 - our travels to Santo Domingo, Puerto Plata, Sosua, and Cabarete, Dominican Republic.

Corp (Crabby) and Tammy (Chipper)





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