The End is Here

This is the last post from our 2 years in St Maarten (of course we're already in the States as I write this). Our last couple weeks on the island flew by. It was full of bittersweet moments. We made sure to get some more beach time in while it was still our "backyard." We had a nightly Carousel outing. Dinners with friends. Moonlight kayaking. Hiking. We tried to make the most out of our last days, especially spending time with friends since we had done a good job of enjoying the island over the last 2 years. We even managed to get checked out of our apartment and get our entire deposit back (minus the mandatory(unnecessary) cleaning fee), now if you knew our landlord company, you'd know this is nearly unheard of! We also had the pleasure of ending our time on the island with Tropical Storm Isaac. Thankfully the storm turned so we were able to fly out on time.

It has been an awesome 2 years. We have so many wonderful memories and friendships from St Maarten. We want to thank everyone who has made this experience so special. Thank you to all our AUC friends, Soc at Island92, Chris and Sally at Octopus Diving, Susy and Juan Pablo at TriSport, and everyone else we've met along the way. We love you all and miss you already. See you in 2015 for graduation!!

Last picture of St Maarten

After 2 years of looking at these, we finally got one to celebrate Owen passing all his exams!

Hiking with Cows

Market in Marigot

We decided to try shark

Actually pretty good

Shark dinner with Cayleigh, Jason, and their friend Jack

Sean, Alie, and Ella (before taking them to the airport)

Night kayaking (with Chris, Thao, Cayleigh, & Jason)

Last good beach day  (2 days before leaving, due to Isaac)

Before

After

Before

After

Our shells on the window sill

Always loved watching the wall of rain come over the mountains (thanks Isaac)

The outer bands of Isaac, even that can destroy the beaches and make for nasty weather

Goodbye St Maarten

Last Dive Trip

Well the last couple of weeks on St Maarten flew by. Luckily I did get a chance to go diving one last time with Octopus Diving! Unfortunately we were not able to get a cool, deep dive in before we left as the owners left for vacation just before us leaving. But I did get to go on one last dive trip a couple days before flying back (unfortunately Owen wasn't able to go), and I actually got to go to a new site! Diving new sites gets hard to do the more you dive :) It was really rough seas, as Isaac was coming our way just a few days later. We dove at Japanese Gardens and Tug Boat off Titamarre. Even though seas were rough, the dives were still pretty good. Here are a couple pictures (more here) from the dives, I tried to get some pictures while also just enjoying being under the water one more time, though hopefully will only be a short absence from diving.

Huge Stingray!