Epilogue

It is now mid November. I am sitting in my home in Kansas closing out this story of my trip to the Virgin Islands. Outside the temperature is hanging in the thirties, raining, and by looking out the window I am overcome with lethargy. One month ago I was on the beach in the Caribbean just coming off of one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Writing this blog has helped maintain my inner warmth, so it is with great sadness that this story has come to a close.

I suppose I should tell you how the last few days were spent. Frank, Hef, and I spent the one night at the Westin on St John. Knowing that we could not afford to stay there any longer we packed our bags and headed into Cruz Bay, St John where Frank and I mailed our kayaks back to the states. We learned that you can actually mail a canvas bag full of boat parts with little resistance. We also learned that after lugging an 80 pound bag in and out of cabs and ferry boats for a week, that money becomes no object. We walked into the post office with complete and overwhelming apathy. When the slightly annoyed man behind the counter weighed our bags, we could not have cared less what the dollar amount came to be. I placed my credit card on the counter and felt the weight of the world lift from my shoulders as he placed the $70 postage stamp on the bag.

With no more kayaks to lug around, we walked over to Woody’s for one last blackened mahi sandwich and a couple of beers. We then headed down to the ferry, bought our five dollar tickets, and cruised into Red Hook, St Thomas. From there we took a cab to Bolongo Bay where Frank’s wife Erin would be meeting up with him to celebrate their anniversary. Hef and I considered asking if we could crash with them, but did not want to face the certain rejection so we opted to get our own room.

After Erin’s arrival Frank came up with the idea that we could rent a boat and head back over to salvage some of Hef’s things. So on our last full day in the islands together, we headed in to Red Hook and rented a boat. Frank was the captain and motored us out across the ocean. Erin sat alone in the back taking in the scenery while Hef and I moved around the boat viewing the waters with different eyes. To this day I am still amazed at how different I view the ocean. I remember looking down as we cruised right over the waves thinking that prior to that trip, the sea would have seemed relatively calm.  But with the education of experience I noticed the true texture of the water; every swell and drop. The three of us had received an overwhelming respect for the power of the ocean and it was palpable in the unspoken words as we cruised towards St John.

Before Operation: Salvage Hef’s Crap we decided to stop at Water Lemon Cay in Leinster Bay, St John to snorkel a bit. We saw dozens of starfish, abundant sea life, and even a reef shark. It was what we needed. That stop made the Virgin Islands a vacation destination again.

We then motored over to the north side of Great Thatch where Hef and I swam ashore and salvaged some of his things. It was sad to leave his kayak there on that island, but we really had no choice. It is possibly still there to this day. E-mail me and I’ll get you the GPS coordinates.

We spent the remainder of the day over on Jost Van Dyke where we stopped in at the Soggy Dollar Bar in White Bay and then a brief stop at Foxy’s in Great Harbour. The weather was warm. The water was clear. The drinks were cold and savory. The perfect ending to the adventure. As Frank drove us back west towards Red Hook that evening I could feel the imminent end of the trip. The sun was setting on the day and on my visit.

The Virgin Islands are my happy place. I will visit often until I can call them my home.

I want to thank you for reading along and taking this journey with us. The stories here are all from MY perspective. Hef and Frank could write their own books about the journey from their view and it may be completely different than my story and probably even more compelling.  We are all fortunate enough to have friends in life. I am happy to brag that I have many great friends that I care about deeply. But there are few that could/would have gone on a trip like that and made it the adventure that it became. We quite literally rolled with the ebb and flow and manged to laugh at every turn. There were times we were ready to kill each other, but at the end of the day we were in each other’s corner. Fellas, we toasted with Cruzan bottles on the beach of Brewers Bay, Tortola to kick it off and celebrated the end with rum drinks at The Quiet Mon at Cruz Bay, St John. Thanks for having my back as we challenged ourselves and the unknown and for taking the brotherhood that we live to the next level. Even though we questioned our sanity over and over again over the past year…    we f#cking did it!!!

Here’s to livin’ the dream!