The cast:
- Leonard and Penny Hofstadter
- Darren and Samantha Stephens
- Barney and Betty Rubble
- Ross and Rachel Geller
The Setup:
Although COVID-19 was still in the air, our heroes were sick again of Michigan and its cold weather. They didn’t even wait until the usual time of year.
Since cruises were still out of the question, they decided to fly to Aruba for nine days. It was going to be the same four couples as last time. That is, until they all got tested for COVID-19 and Samantha flunked the test. Darren and Samantha stayed home and the other three couples went to Aruba.
They rented a 5 bedroom house where each bedroom had its own bathroom/shower.
Saturday, 2/13
Flew down, rented cars, moved in, ate pizza.
They stayed in the north west part of the island, just north of the airport at Oranjestad. Leonard and Penny picked a room where no-one would be comparing them to jackrabbits.
Sunday, 2/14
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
When they reserved the car rentals, they’d planned on having 4 couples to drive around. Based on that, they got 2 SUVs. Since Ross was able to rent a minivan for a reasonable price, Penny turned in the SUV that she’d gotten.
They spent the afternoon at Arashi beach which is at the north-west tip of the island in sight of the California Lighthouse.
They had Valentine’s dinner at Pincho’s Bar and Grill. This was a beach-side restaurant where the tables were on a dock over the water.
There was live music there but Penny and Leonard couldn’t dance because a) it was illegal and b) it was a pretty skinny dock and they didn’t want to fall in.
Some of the gang were worried that they might fall in anyway. They were advised that if anyone found themselves in the water and had difficulty keeping their head above water, that they should stand up.
Monday, 2/15
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
They went to Baby beach on the southeast tip of the island.
Later, they had dinner at Smokey Joe’s Island Grill in downtown Aruba.
Tuesday, 2/16
They rented three UTVs to go exploring off-road. They first went to the lighthouse at the north-west tip of the island atop a hill. The lighthouse was a bust since it wasn’t open to visitors. There was a Mediterranean-looking restaurant next to it called Faro Blanco (White Lighthouse) with a magnificent view of the sea. they made reservations for dinner at sunset on Friday.
Then they went off-road along the north-east coast for a while.
They stopped at something called a “natural pool”. This was filled by the ocean water and folks got to it by climbing down a homemade ladder and walking across some huge, slippery rocks.
When they got there, the gang were unanimous in not climbing down the homemade ladder, staggering across the slippery rocks and diving into the questionable pool. “No ducking way! Totally ducking stupid!”
Then Ross went down the ladder, just to “take a look.”
Then he looked around, stripped down to his swimsuit and jumped into the pool.
Barney soon followed.
Ditto the girls but they gingerly slid into the pool instead of jumping from a height.
Even Leonard went down the ladder, possibly muttering “Duck you guys” as he went. As he climbed down the homemade ladder, he reflected on a quote from Douglas Adams’ “Life, the Universe, and Everything: ” ‘Extremely rickety’ was one phrase that came to mind and ‘May I please get off?’ was another.”
They soon got back to driving across the island. The terrain varied from “pretty rocky” to “really, really rocky”. There was some excitement when going down one of the near vertical cliffs. There was also some controversy about it.
Leonard remembers going down the cliff, almost missing a turn, cleverly correcting and heroically saving the day. Others remember Leonard hitting the gas when he should have hit the brakes, almost getting Penny and himself killed.
Anyway, Penny thinks that Leonard saved her life, Leonard suspects that he may have almost killed her.
They got to a place with signs that said “no vehicles. this means you” or something like that. They stopped their UTVs and discussed what to do next. A young couple also stopped and said that there was another natural pool just a short walk over a hill or two.
They had a leisurely walk over a hill, across a stretch of soft white sand, followed by a stretch of red sand that was more like broken glass, followed by a rocky hill, followed by a lovely beach with soft white sand, followed by more “broken glass” red sand.
Leonard was taking his time, falling further and further behind. As he crossed the second patch of broken glass, he saw that the next patch was another rocky hill. He was thinking something like “Duck me with a brush.” This was when the others were coming back with the news that the natural pool wasn’t open at the entrance that they were approaching and that they were going back to the UTVs.
For dinner, for a change of pace, Barney cooked brats + burgers.
Wednesday, 2/17
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
Girls went gambling, guys went golfing. Penny didn’t gamble but looked around and compared the Marriott casino to Vegas. Leonard didn’t golf but sometimes walked, sometimes rode with the others. As the day got warmer, Leonard did more riding than walking.
Dinner was at Flying Fishbone. The tables and chairs were on the sand on the beach, possibly a bit too close together.
Thursday, 2/18
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
They went to Eagle beach.
Dinner was at the Oak Restaurant & Bar, about 50′ from where they were staying.
Friday, 2/19
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
They went to Arashi beach again.
They had dinner at Faro Blanco in time for sunset.
Saturday, 2/20
It was too windy for paddle boarding or snorkeling.
They got tested for COVID-19 again. Apparently, there were very long lines for the tests so they scheduled someone to go to the house to test them there.
Penny and Leonard went for a walk around the neighborhood. The neighborhood wasn’t really designed for keeping pedestrians alive.
Dinner was at another on-beach restaurant called Passions on the Beach. This was a great improvement over the other on-beach restaurant. The tables were spaced apart far enough so that no one felt cramped and they could get to the shore for a picture in front of the setting sun.
Sunday, 2/21
It was too windy for paddle boarding.
At breakfast, Rachel mentioned that she somehow missed shaving one hair on her leg so often that it was very long. It was suggested that she wrap it around her finger, like floss, and yank it out.
UPDATE: That afternoon, the hair, “Blackie”, disappeared.
Penny mentioned that Leonard started going grey at 23.
Betty: What about other hair?
Leonard: My pubes started going grey in my forties.
Betty: I meant your eyebrows.
Leonard: Oh.
They went to Baby beach and did some snorkeling.
That evening, Rachel harassed the COVID-19 testing folks until they returned the results to the team.
This was followed up with fighting the VeriFLY app to convince it that our crew were allowed to go back to the States.
Barney made shish kabobs with pork, chicken, and beef.
Monday, 2/22
Flew back
Other stuff
Throughout the trip, the Rubbles kept making $100 bets about the weather, geography, etc. Betty (usually) kept losing. There was much fun speculating about the unspeakable acts that Betty would have to do to pay off the debt. It was all the more surprising when she won the bet about the weather.
They spent a few nights playing Mexican Train dominoes. It was a surprisingly fun game.
Note: Spouses shouldn’t sit next to each other if any of them are competitive.
Remember that extremely rickety ladder by the first natural pool? Toward the end of the trip, they heard that it had fallen apart. There was some speculation about whether someone was on the ladder at the time or if anyone was trapped by the pool.
Stephen Squire 