Roanoke

James had to spend the day in Roanoke for work, so the boys and I tagged along.  Roanoke is not exactly a booming tourist mecca, but there was plenty to keep us entertained for a few hours.  

After we dropped off James, we unfortunately started our adventures with an epic Rudy meltdown.  Top five, for sure.  Maybe the best one ever.  I even had Brady videotape some of it, to show Rudy later.  It was a doozy, and I'm just thankful that no one nearby called CPS.

Once Rudy was calmed down, we went to the Mill Mountain Zoo.  It's quite small, and really more geared to the toddler set, but the weather was nice and the animals were active so we enjoyed watching the turtles, snakes, red panda, and small cats.  

Next was a nearby playground for a picnic lunch.  Brady made friends with this critter:

Then, up to the star.  The kids haven't been in Roanoke at night, so I'm not sure they really appreciated this stop.  The views of the valley were great though!

We have annual passes to a nearby science center, which gets us complimentary access to science museums across the country.  We definitely get our money out of this purchase every year, and we love that it allows us to visit museums that maybe we wouldn't otherwise pay for.  

Playing mindball, where I'm pretty sure Rudy was solidly beaten.

Rudy has a sideline hobby of "rock collecting," which generally consists of him picking up and saving random pieces of gravel or quartz.  He does love learning about it though, and can often be found studying his rocks and minerals encyclopedia.  He loved this exhibit:

One of our very favorite thing about a great science center is the lab.  This one was particularly good, with plastic shoe boxes that contained different experiments.  By far, the favorite was the magic disappearing water trick, where crystals (like those found in baby diapers) absorb all the water.  

We had just enough time for Brady to buy everyone snowballs (like snowcones, but more finely crushed ice) before heading home.  

Adventure Park

The boys went to this ropes course with my parents, and James and I finally got our chance to go as well.  This was my first ropes course experience, and it was pretty intense!  We only got up to the blue diamond, since that's all Brady is old enough for...I'm a little nervous to go again when he's old/tall enough for the blacks and double blacks!

Brady (camouflaged in the green) is just above Rudy to the right; he's actually on a different course than Rudy.

Pretty high in the trees!

Jamaica, Day 3 Part 2 - Blue Hole

Our next stop was Blue Hole.  I'd read about this hidden treasure online and was so excited for an off-the-beaten path adventure. 

We stopped in a busy little town for "patties" for lunch.  These are ground beef wrapped in something sort of like a tortilla.  A few of us got chicken sandwiches instead, but I think someone tried the patty.  It was definitely a local place, with school kids there for lunch.  Also on the drive, we passed lots of local scenes.

Local yam seller.  These are a staple of the Jamaican diet.

Bar/restaurant

Of course, since we were working our way off the beaten path, we had to drive through the backwoods.  The kids loved seeing the banana tree!

Getting to Blue Hole is not easy, and I definitely wouldn't want to do it without a local guide.  This is the turn off from the "main" road; not exactly a well-marked route to a tourist attraction!

And then this deserted kiosk greets you on the way:

You follow that road a ways:

You pass under this large, rusted pipe:

And check in at the "main office:"

Another reason we were glad to have Ken with us was to help with the locals.  Ken negotiated a reduced rate for the kids with the first guy to greet us.  When I went to pay, the boss man wanted more money and was not happy with our lower rate.  Once we worked out payment, we met up with our friendly tour guides.  We loved listening to these two kids, who sprinkled the Jamaican "yah-mon" into everything they said!

 We were off to the first stop at Blue Hole!  Note that this is what it's supposed to look like:  

This is what we saw:

WOW - I knew the color of the water was different, but I didn't even realize how much MORE water there was that day until just now, when I'm posting these pictures!

First up was a cliff jump; it felt way higher, but I think this was probably about a 7' cliff!  I went first!  I love the shot of Rudy working up the courage before taking the plunge.  We each took a few turns here.  James or I stayed in the water when the kids jumped.  They're good swimmers but that water was moving, and I had visions of them not making it back into the eddy and being swept out to sea. 

First view:

Brady on the edge:

Here we gooooo!

Making our way back out:

Next was the rope swing, which hung out over the middle of the falls.  You can't really see the rope, but it's about where the large palm leaf is stuck in the water, just in front of and to the left of the Canadian flag. 

Our guide, showing off his mad skills:

I think I went first again.  I guess it's no surprise; James is much more cautious and reasonable!  For what it's worth, I have a hard time with rope swings.  Once I'm swinging out, I'm fine.  Beforehand, though, I get paranoid about my lack of upper body strength, and whether I'll be able to hold on long enough and then let go at the right time. 

After a few 'cliff jumps' and a turn each on the rope swing, we headed up the path to the next pool. 

 There is a large pool with another, higher cliff and then a path that takes you behind the tall cascade.  When we got there, we made our way across the raging river to a bamboo bench.  There was another family there, with the dad and teenaged son planning to do the higher cliff jump.  While they were making their way to the top,we watched huge logs and other flotsam sail by in the water.  Once they jumped, it was a serious struggle for them to make it back to the bench without floating downriver.  I wanted to have the courage to do the jump, but reason and sense prevailed and I passed. 

Before we headed back, we watched our fearless guide climb this tree and free fall into the water.  Nuts. 

We don't have any pictures of trying to make it back across the river.  Ken didn't come up with us, and there was no way I was going to lose one hand to holding a camera.  It was a total team effort, with both guides plus the boss man who came up to help and the two guys selling refreshments, the 2 adults and older kids from the other family, and James and I working all together to get everyone safely back to the bank.  We had a moment of panic when the guide who had Brady on his back lost his footing.  I didn't feel panicked, but only I think because my adrenaline and crisis-coolheadedness kicked in.

Thumbs up!

Once we were back to the starting point, the kids asked if they could do the cliff jump and rope swing again.  By now, the water level was so high and fast that they got a quick denial from the guides!  Once we were in the car and headed home, we learned from Ken that the boss man had been trying to call our guide (who, of course, left his phone on the bank) to tell him that the water level was rising quickly and that he needed to get everyone out of the river. 

The pictures below are a before and after:  on the left, you can see the palm leaf sticking up near the rope swing.  Notice the large boulder and the water cascading over the falls.   On the right, the boulder is completely covered by the water raging downstream.

Again - we survived!  James and I had a lot of non-verbal communication going on during this adventure.  We both sensed that it was more dangerous than usual, and more risky than the guides were letting on.  We felt like we were missing part of the experience by not doing all that visitors could do on a normal day, but I'm glad we listened to our instincts and didn't push ourselves more than we were comfortable. Even now, three months later typing this up, my stomach is a little knotty thinking about it.  I don't think this was like the "perceived" danger that you get at most attractions in the US; this was a completely unregulated natural area with untrained, albeit experienced, local guides.  That being said, I'm glad we went and did what we could.  If we ever make it back to Jamaica and it hasn't been raining incessantly for days, Blue Hole will definitely be on my list for a return trip. 

Blue Hole was our last stop for the day.  We changed into dry clothes and started the long-ish drive back to the resort.   We knew we would be getting back late in the evening, so this was one of the few nights that we ate at the dinner buffet.  We took a short stroll around the resort before calling it a night!