Puerto Rico Detours

Goodbye, Adios, C U L8r, ALASKA!

16 Hours and Counting… Puerto Rico, Here I Come!

As stated previously, Alaska has been my home since I was a little kid. There was plenty to explore and still is. I won’t be back for sometime, but I will be back. I leave a big chunk of my heart and soul here. I made it through the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964, -35F winters and the glorious summers Alaska is famous for. I’ve shot fireworks in Barrow (as lead pyro-technician) on New Years and ran the 4th of July Jaycees “Freedom Days Festival” in 1985, in Anchorage. Fond memories, for sure.

The Scurvy Dog’s Puerto Rican Blog will pick-up, right where I left off, with my return to Puerto Rico… going back to hit the places I missed and adding a ton more. [Read more…] about Goodbye, Adios, C U L8r, ALASKA!

Detours End.. Back on the Road!

Or.. how I survived buying a used car in PR

I did finally score a used ride off Clasificados Online, but not without a lot of hassle. Seriously, if you only have a week or two to look around, then bite the bullet and pay the high price of renting a car. I had figured I might need one for up to 2 months but I’ve lost almost 2 weeks messing around.

The Scurvy Dog and His Rodeo in Puerto Rico

After looking at many, many ads, the 1st one I went to check out was for a truly trashed Toyota Landcruiser.. well, it looked good in the photo! It was missing a tail-light lens and would not start upon arrival… I don’t know if he ever got it to go. He kept repeating in broken english- “You don’t want to buy this car”. The second vehicle was a very nice looking Landrover from a used car dealer. Its transmission failed on the freeway, within 10 miles of leaving the lot. The dealer sent a “Grua” (a flatbed type tow truck) to take it back to his lot. I tried to work with him on it, but after 4 days of waiting I called Visa and cancelled the contract. Its a real good thing it was bought on a card, otherwise I would have had no recourse. I ended up with a used Isuzu Rodeo I scored from a private party. Its in real clean shape and runs well. We will see how it holds up.

The ‘Lemon Law’ here only covers brand new vehicles and that only works with the original car makers warranty. Any ride with more than 100 miles on it is exempt. Which explains why there are so many new cars here.

Side Note- I could not get cash with my Wells Fargo ATM card using the local ATH machines (Puerto Rican-ATMs) which are everywhere. I was able to get cash from the Banco Popular’s ATMs (with a 1% fee), which are located at all branches and in most malls. They are the largest bank on the island with branches on the main land too.

The Great Coamo Detour

Side tracked and kicked back…

I’ve been scoping out Clasificados Online looking for a cheap, dependable ride to run around the island in. Plan ‘B’ was to simply rent a car, but I wanted to see how buying a vehicle worked here.

Purely by coincidence, I scored a ride from a couple of guys staying at the Coqui Inn, out to Santa Isabel on the South side of the island. They were “rock & roll roadies” from the mainland on vacation, doing a short road trip to Ponce. Quite a pair of characters.. one had grown up as a kid in Caguas, PR, before moving to the mainland. [Read more…] about The Great Coamo Detour

I’m Leav’n on a Jet Plane, don’t know when I’ll..

Let the adventure begin (3 days and counting)..

Que Pasa Tourist Guide and Three Maps of Puerto Rico This will be my last post from Alaska.. the next one will be from San Juan.. late on Wednesday, the 26th (if things go according to plan).

I’ll spend 19 hours in transit, cross 4 time zones and switch planes twice, to get there. Did I mention how much coach class sux?

I find it slightly humorous and a little annoying that the Que Pasa visitors guide did not show up until last week. I had requested it from the Puerto Rico Travel Companies Web site, a couple months ago. Back when I could have used it to plan my trip. Its dated June to August 2009 which means most of it will not be current by the time I get there. It is loaded with valuable info and gorgeous photos. Que Pasa’s content, for the most part, is aimed at an upscale crowd with lots of money. I’ve been involved with all aspects of producing travel guides like this. It is ‘top notch’, but of little value if it cannot be put in the hands of those who need them in a timely way. My 2 cents.

The maps were scored at book stores in Anchorage so I was able to check them out in advance. Each is very different from the other.

One last note- I got a very good review by a Web site on Puerto Rico in this last week before I leave. A big thanx to “Paradise Lost”. A ‘thought-provoking’ site that exemplifies the pride the locals have for Puerto Rico. I truly respect what they are trying to do. I have added them to my “Links” panel in the right-hand column. Thanx again, Roberto, the Scurvy Dog.. Arrg!!

YouTube Intro Video.. Arrg!

Greetings! It seems only proper that I should introduce myself to give you some context about this humble blog. I can’t really meet everyone who visits, but at least you should know who you are visiting, who put this stuff online. Welcome to the Scurvy Dog’s blog about my adventures in Puerto Rico. I come in peace, mostly but have low tolerance for abusive rogues or predators.

What a learning curve….

My first (ever) edited video and the only one I’ll do with me in front of the camera. Shot with the Vado HD video camera. This sequence was staged next to an old dilapidated shed near my place in Willow, Alaska. HD Videos make such huge files. This minute and a half was originally over 560 MBs. I did manage to compress it to 65 MBs before uploading to YouTube. It still took 30 minutes to up-load over my DSL. Enjoy, Roberto

Because of the huge amount of time lost to post processing HD video, I will only be posting a few while I’m IN Puerto Rico. Once I get back, I’ll prepare and post up more. Most of my posts ‘from the road’ will include still images, underwater images and a few special time-lapse videos. I will also prepare a multi-media composite video of my trip to Puerto Rico, on my return to Alaska. The video was edited with FinalCut Express v4, on a MacBook Pro.