Back to the United States!

As we said our good byes to Keith this morning, we realized that the week had passed too quickly and wished we could stay another.

We have seen many beautiful places during our trip and met some wonderful, friendly folks in the Dominican Republic. Although we try to always be aware of our surroundings, at no time were we concerned about our safety as we wandered through the town and along the beaches. These are a most delightful bunch of folks! We were welcomed warmly everywhere we went and came away with a new perspective of this country.

As a close neighbor to the Dominican Republic, we were pleased to learn about their nearly 100% participation in the political process. We should have that kind of turnout at home on election day! The new friends we met had nothing but praise for their new country of residence and the people around them. As the government and utilities struggle to keep up with the growing tourist trade, there were times of power outages for several hours at a time. All seemed to take this in stride. We wish them continued success and all the BEST in their future ventures!

Flight 808 from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic arrived safely at Miami in time to have me at my motorhome at 10:30 am. At 10:30 pm I turned off my ignition safely in the driveway in Sumter, South Carolina.

It's not until you venture outside the boundaries of the United States that one realizes the many things in the US that we take for granted. (Air conditioning is one! Cindy needled Keith several times about the fact that there are no air conditioned businesses locally. She still has her Wyoming blood in her, I guess!) We now appreciate our stable utility infrastructures and our highway laws......I can't imagine what would happen in ANY city here if the traffic patterns followed those in Puerto Plata! Cindy also appreciates that she can go to any store and get Diet Pepsi....it was a challenge to locate Pepsi in cans, but between Benny & Keith, she found it!

Our sincere thanks to Keith and his beautiful family for providing us with this unique opportunity! This Garden of Eden will certainly be a topic of our conversations for a long time to come, as we continue our tours and share our experiences with others along the way.

Be sure to visit the website of Villas Olas Tropicales, make your plans to visit this wonderful country, and be sure to tell Keith that Cruising America says HI!

Return to the beginning of our visit to Villas Olas Tropicales and the Dominican Republic!