The week started with a bang as we rented a car and headed out supply shopping. Our first few stops (three different auto shops) were engine related so not much fun….just buying oil and filters and such. We did manage to find a Chick-Fil-A on the island and we did pretty well ordering in Spanish until we hit a block and then the cashier spoke perfect English for us. One of the major perks in Puerto Rico! Fortified with Chick-Fil-A, we headed into Walmart. Our shopping list covered a notebook page front and back but as you know, once you get into Walmart, the list expands exponentially! By the time we made it to checkout, our cart looked like one of those game shows where they give people a cart to fill with as many items as they can in 15 minutes and then they win the items for free. We had the cart filling part down pat…unfortunately, the free part never manifested itself! After closing my eyes and swiping the credit card, we headed to our next stop which was Home Depot. In life, you don’t realize what your favorite smells are until you are away from your normal haunts for awhile. Walking into Home Depot, I realized that the universal smell of Home Depot is one of my favorite smells on earth. Trust me! If you are ever away from Home Depot for a long period of time, walking through that door is like coming home. Next on the list was my search for some beauty products which turned into an impossible task for the day (at least 4 different stores!). I did discover an amazing Puerto Rican store called Salvo Farmacia that reminded me of Dollar General. It didn’t carry any of the products I wanted but it was fun to explore. Finally, the grocery store. The grocery store was huge so again, we had to walk every aisle to be sure we did not miss anything! By day’s end, we had walked at least 10 miles and were exhausted so we headed back to the boat to rest for the next day’s shopping events.
On Tuesday, we drove to Fajardo area to hit the boat stores. This trip was a definite homecoming because Fajardo was where we took our sailing lessons back in 2017. We found most of our boat items that we needed and decided a few others could wait until we reached Colombia where the prices might be better. Since we are so thrifty (thrifty, I say….cheap, Bill says), we stopped by a bicycle shop to pick up some used tires. The tires are somehow going to keep our dock lines from wearing so fast. Bill just gave me a five minute explanation that I still don’t understand so I’ll explain it to you once he gets it all rigged. All I recall from his explanation is that this solution will save us about $200.00 so I’m all in! Bill made several friends at the tire store who enjoyed licking the salt off his legs (see picture below for the frolics…ha ha). Tuesday’s shopping was much less strenuous than Mondays and we even had time for a dip in the pool when we returned. The rest of the week has been boat project after boat project as we prepare Galt for the trip to Bonaire. Changing oil and filters, cleaning out cabinets, organizing, talking to dealers in the States, lining up crew for the voyage with Bill and multiple other odds and ends. Our main item we need for the trip is a handheld GPS that supports weather reports and emergency contacts. I spent an entire morning on the phone with West Marine trying to order the Garmin Inreach Mini which would work perfectly. When we were at West Marine the day before, there were three different options so I investigated which would be best and the Mini won the vote. The first store I called was Fajardo: Clerk: “We don’t have any in stock but the San Juan store does.” Me: “Great! Can you have them send it to your location and we’ll come pick it up?” Clerk: “No, we can’t send items between locations. You have to go there and get it.” Okay….so I hang up and call the San Juan store. Clerk: “Yes, we have a Garmin Mini.” Me: “Great! Let me pay for it and we’ll pick it up on Monday.” Clerk: “You have to be a West Marine gold member to pay over the phone.” Me: “Okay, sign me up to be a gold member.” Clerk: “You need to do that online.” Sigh. I hang up, go online, pay $25.00 (they had no problem taking THAT payment!) and then call back to the store. Me: “I am a gold member now. I need to pay for the mini.” Clerk: “Okay, hold for the cashier.” Hold 15 minutes. Disconnected. Call back. Hold 15 more minutes. Disconnected. Call back and finally get cashier. Cashier: “Garmin Mini2, that will be $520.00 with tax.” Me: “Not the Mini2, just the Mini. It’s $299.00 on your website.” Cashier: “Hold on a minute.” Clerk: “Uh, we don’t have the Mini 1. Just the 2.” Me: “Then you can just sell me the Mini 1 that is on display. That will be fine.” Clerk: “We don’t own the displays. We can’t sell them.” Every time I deal with these things outside the US, I appreciate more and more the thought process of Americans versus the rest of the world. So, we have no GPS system yet and the hunt continues. No such thing as two day Amazon delivery here and Amazon can’t guarantee that the item will arrive prior to our departure window so we are pursuing other avenues that will hopefully fall into place this coming week. Other than the hunt for the GPS and the never-ending search for a 12V battery that is compatible with our existing batteries, our next week will just be more projects and preparation. Oh, I forgot the highlight of our week…we broke down the electric toilet and cleaned every part and reassembled. That task sums up the joys from the week! Until next week, go to Home Depot and enjoy the smell as well as the customer service folks that can think outside of a box!
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AuthorSally Miller Archives
May 2024
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