There is nowhere else in this world that I have visited where I have felt more relaxed and refreshed than on the beautiful island 🌴 of Aruba. The weather is hot 85-95 all year round but with tropical breezes that cool the air and keep the bugs 🐜 at bay.

 Divi Aruba Phoenix High Rise on Palm Beach

Sunscreen is essential and should be liberally applied all over several times a day especially if you go swimming 🏊 . The ocean 🌊 is warm and feels like a comfortable jacuzzi. After sunning on the beach 🏖  the water 💦 actually feels cool until you become accustomed to the 75-80 degree temperature. It’s truly refreshing.

A Palapa (An umbrella made out of palm fronds)

The natives are friendly, accommodating and helpful. They are welcoming to us each year we visit and treat us as family. They greet us at the airport with “Welcome home.” It does feel like home away from home after coming here for so many years.

Here are some beautiful views from our eighth floor balcony in the tower.

We have made some lovely friends from all over USA 🇺🇸 who we see each year at the same time. We go out to dinner together or just hang out on the beach or in the water catching up.

It’s a perfect time to catch up on my reading, writing, and relaxing, or doing absolutely nothing. The best part of this is that I don’t feel guilty being lazy because after only one day I feel wonderful! Slowly we lose our pale complexions and take on a golden healthy glow. We become more like natives every day we are here and feel alive and free of worries and cares.

I have to admit I work until 11 pm each night blogging, reading and answering emails and visiting other blogs. Sigh! I can’t help myself. All day long though I read books from my TBR list, relax and swim (really soak).

Island food is delicious with a variety of all kinds of fish 🐠  caught fresh the day they are cooked. If you don’t like fish 🐠 there are other choices – steak, chops, and pasta 🍝 dishes.

I want to share the beauty of this little island 🌴  with you. The sunsets 🌅 are spectacular as well as the beaches.

Here are some amazing cloud formations – one with an angel below in the middle of the photo. Can you see it? You have may to make the photo larger. I saw all kinds of things in the clouds. John thinks I am crazy but he had to admit that one was an elephant and another was a poodle! We were in the water when I noticed these formations and didn’t have a camera with us to capture them.

These below were taken at sunset. Did you see the angel?

Of course, nothing is perfect even this lovely island. There are always little things that creep up to annoy you. But I try to take it all with a grain of salt and look out at the gorgeous shades of navy blue to turquoise water. Then I sigh and relax once again. Ahhh!

The most stress that I feel is when I travel – fly from one place to another, connecting flights, lost luggage, stuff like that. When we arrived at the hotel in Aruba there was a little glitch about our luggage – no one could find it!? We arrived before our room was ready, but being resilient and prepared travelers, we had packed bathing suits, coverups and flip flops to spend time on the beach while we waited.

Well, we waited and waited but no one contacted us by the little gadget that is supposed to light up. We finally went to the office and asked for our room. Well that is when the luggage issue began. All turned out well after yelling and pacing around in our room and my husband going to the front desk to hunt for our luggage.

I have become quite a tyrant when things don’t work out. I surprised myself as I yelled at the bellboy. Poor kid. He couldn’t look me in the eye. I apologized to him afterward. We shook hands and wished each other a lovely day.

Oh, the luggage was found tucked away behind some chairs. Phew! I envisioned having to return home and losing out on three weeks’ vacation because I only had one outfit that I wore down and one bathing suit and coverup! Heaven forbid!

After I settled down we unpacked and began our fabulous vacation. Unfortunately in our second day here it rained so I did not get any sunset views. The first night I missed the sunset since I was showering and getting ready to go out to dinner. Sorry about that.

Here are views from our third day here. Our first week we are in the tower on the eighth floor, the second week on the ninth floor and the third week on the top floor – fourteenth. It will be a little difficult for me to look down from that high with my feet of heights. I will post again next week and the week after and share the views from all floors.

A weekly party get together of all the timeshare owners takes place every Monday. We used to go but it is getting too crowded and rowdy and not as enjoyable as it used to be.

Here are the partygoers celebrating.

Selfie on our 8th floor balcony (2017)

We take selfies on our balconies every year. This one took several shots before we both were satisfied that we didn’t look old, ridiculous and goofy! Selfies do make one look out of sync and bloated. That is my excuse and I’m sticking to it, so there! Ha!

One week is just not enough to stay here. Two weeks is wonderful but three weeks is heavenly! I may not want to go back home! Sigh! Ahh!

Well, that’s all for now. I will post more photos next week of restaurants and food we ate in case you are interested in stopping by again.

I hope you will one day get a chance to visit lovely Aruba! A perfect place to read, read and read! Happy reading!

HAPPY 🎃 👻 HALLOWEEN!

Remember: READING GIVES YOU WINGS TO FLY! SOAR THROUGH THE REST OF 2017 AND INTO 2018 WITH JEMSBOOKS!

Thank you for stopping by and for your kind support.

Blessings & Hugs!

Janice