They headed to Natal for the first US game against Ghana. The US won which was great. They were on the beach there and mainly hung out watching soccer and spent some time on the beach.
Then they headed to Manaus. This is a city in the Amazon several hours from other locations. They started out that the tour they had booked was not booked for them so they did a tour from the hotel. On boat ride their boat ended up catching fire which ended up being a mess. The game was crazy hot. While it ended up being a good game (even though US tied with late goal from Portugal), they were ready to get out of Manaus. To the point that if something didn't go right we now say that you have been Manaused.
After 2nd game they headed to Recife to meet Tracy and I.
Here is when my trip started
6/20-21 Day 1
Kids and I slept in til almost
7:45am. We had to get Kasey to camp by 9am. I made cheese eggs
because I had promised Kasey I would. I told Landon we could go get a
donut after we dropped Kasey off at camp. We dropped Kasey off, saw
Kristina and Carter to say hi. Landon and I got donuts at place near
the house and took them home to eat so we could let Patch out. Landon
watched some of Fantastic 4 then we took Patch for a walk. I had to
shower and get ready and finish packing. We left with Patch, crate,
Landon and Patch's stuff for the week and headed to Grandma's. Patch
tried to eat one of the birds in the back yard when we got there. Then
we headed to get Landon to Maxum's house. Boys were going to Twilight
Camp and then Landon stayed the night with Maxum since they got back
late. Then headed home to close up the house and get ready to leave.
Packed Grammy and Gramps car, went to pick up Kasey from her last day
at Enchanted Tea Party camp then we headed for the airport. Grammy
and I got to meet Miles Austin (he was very nice) - just got in from
Cleveland and was waiting on his wife. I was there early and decided
to repack so that I could carry on my luggage instead of check. Got
through customs. Grabbed a Chai Tea Latte and some water and headed to
the admirals club. Tracy and I met there. We had champagne and the
game was on, people were asking where we were going which is always fun.
Almost the last people on the plane were 2 people in
first. They wanted me to switch to window seat (not my favorite) so
they could sit together. I agreed. Man sitting next to me was going
to World Cup with his two older children. They were staying in Recife
and going to a few games there. Flying to Miami was almost 3 hours. I
got dinner and a warm cookie :) when we got to Miami Tracy and I
headed to the admirals club for a glass of wine. i called and talked
to Landon for a minute at Twilight camp. He had found a grasshopper
friend and named him Copper. He was having fun. Courtney Neighbor
sent me a picture which was nice. After a drink and some research we
walked to our gate. I was in business and once again asked to switch
seats so a couple could sit together. At least I was still on aisle.
Guy next to me was with his parents - they seemed to not know how he
got into business which seemed odd. 7 hour flight, left about 10:30pm
Dallas time, had a late dinner of manchego chicken and of course ice
cream sundae. I watched about 2/3 of American Hustle. They went to
sleep. Slept on and off til they started waking people for breakfast.
Got off the plane, through customs quickly then went to get our ride.
we had a private car with driver who took us to hotel. almost 45
minutes. We both fell asleep in the car after not sleeping much on the
plane. We got to hotel and had to wait a bit to get our room. Room
was not great and not air conditioned. the window only had shutters
and no glass. The hotel grounds were very nice and the beach was across
the street. we took quick showers and headed to the beach. We had
beach chairs and an umbrella with some good shade. Very relaxing. It
was still morning because we arrived in airport like 8am or so. We
ordered a few caipirinhas and had lunch out there. Took little naps
read etc. People coming up all the time on the beach trying to sell
stuff. Boy came up painted scenes on a tile with paint and his finger.
We bought one each and they were pretty amazing.
Started getting cooler so we walked up and sat in
area they were showing games - Germany/Ghana tie game was on. After
game we went upstairs to change and go to Village for dinner. $5 taxi
ride. We walked around and found a cool place playing music to have
dinner. They didn't speak English or have English menu but we tried it
anyway. Food and wine were really good and they turned on next game
while we were there. We had to use google translate to order water and
wine. After dinner we walked around more, several local stores and some
restaurants. Then we headed back to hotel. We sat by the pool in
great weather with 1/2 bottle of wine. they had entertainment and
dancers who came over to talk to us and ask questions - We couldn't
understand each other because they didn't speak English and I don't
speak Portuguese. we then went to call kids and sleep in hot room.
6/22 Day 2
After going to
bed about 11:15pm we woke up about 9:20am - figured we needed to get up
for breakfast that went til 10. Neither of us get to sleep that late
:) good breakfast. We Facetimed with the boys and chatted over text
with the kids. We complained about the air, booked a Dune buggy tour
and then showered. We had time so we went to patio by the beach.
Ordered caipirinhas. Tracy was reading and I was writing blog as we
listened to the ocean. Very relaxing
So about 1 we went to our Dune Buggy tour. We
started out going by few beach hotels which looked really nice. The
driver took us to a beach area where there were tables and chairs set up
right on the beach by the water. Area called Muro Alto Cupe. We sat
down ordered a few beers and some shrimp for lunch. It was really
good. We didn't really feel like getting in the water but the people
watching was very entertaining. People there from all over.
We left there and drove back the other direction
past our hotel. To get to the next area they had to let us through a
manned gate. It was like we were driving on someones property. We
drove right by a little house which several people were in. We ended
up a little area on the water where they were giving little boat rides.
Area was called Portal De Manacaipe. It was 20R each for boat ride so
we said OK. We got on little boat with benches for 6. 2 Croatian
gentleman with their sons were on the boat as well. They live in
Argentina and spoke Portuguese and English. The area was pretty.
Almost as soon as we left the shore it started raining. The driver
who was pushing the boat with a big wooden pole, pulled us over to get
under little shelter. Rain came down pretty good but only lasted a few
minutes. The area we were in was a mix of salt and fresh water. We
could see the ocean from where we were but were in water ways surrounded
by land with different trees and bushes. We saw several crabs on the
land which was cool. It was peaceful and beautiful. Near the end we
stopped by side and the boat drivers caught 2 sea horses and a baby
crab. we all got pictures with the sea horses and I got to hold the
baby crab. I could tell that when he got older his claw ends would be
sharp. Then we headed back. We went through the village some on the
way back to the hotel and then along the beach in Porto de Galinhas. It
was really pretty and overall a great day.
We got
back and decided to go for a swim before heading to village to watch the
game. So relaxing just being in calm pool and chatting. Felt great.
After swimming we got ready and went down to complain for 3rd time
about our AC not working. They agreed to change our room. So we got
packed quickly and moved rooms. We turned the air on left to head to
the village to watch US Portugal game. We got to a Pizza place just in
time to get a table up front for the two of us. Several other Americans
were there. We got a big group picture that one of the guys was
supposed to text me, but I never got. They had TV projected on wall so
it was nice. We got some beer and ordered an appetizer (which took us
over an hour to get). The atmosphere was great. Portugal scored
first and was only score in first half. At half ESPN sent me an update
on my phone that US has never won a game when they are down in the first
half. Great stat thanks ESPN. In 2nd half (64 minute) Jermaine Jones
(who was having a great game) scored and amazing goal. It looked like
the ball bent around players then back in to score. Place where we
were went nuts. Chanting USA, USA. High Fives everywhere. Then 81
minutes Clint Dempsey used his body to score to put the US in the lead.
The crowd went wild. Awesome! Hugs, high 5s, chanting USA. This was
amazing until 5 seconds before the end of 5 minute injury time Portugal
scored to tie it. After all the emotion and huge game being a draw
made it feel like a loss. As we left I told the guys next to us we
were going to walk off the loss (even thought technically it wasn't a
loss). We had a guy from Mexico who lives in LA who was in Brazil on
his own sitting with us. He was very nice and his name was Juan.
Tracy and I left and decided to get some chocolate crepes - Yum!
Amazing people watching. Lots of people from US and Mexico walking
around the streets. One US guy was wearing gold shiny pants. One
Mexican guy was wearing full mariachi uniform and hat. He had to keep
putting his beer down to take pictures with people.
We
headed back to the hotel. Very excited our room was cool and we had
multiple power outlets. We went to the poolside for a drink to end the
night.
6/23 Day 3
Alarm had to
wake us up at 9:30am - Breakfast ended at 10. Went for breakfast, took
a shower, put bathing suits on and headed outside. Meanwhile the rest
of our crew is sitting in a plane in Manaus waiting for landing
clearance in Recife. I think they are ready to get here and Tracy and I
are ready to see the guys after almost 2 weeks
Tracy
and I relaxed, got some lunch, and decided to have massages. 1 hour
full body massage hearing the ocean and having wind cool with calming
Enya music. It was just right. Then we showered and got ready for the
guys to get there.
As the guys were arriving there
were 3 big buses and a small one coming to our hotel. Of course their
bus was last. Tracy and I got in check in line before they got there
because it was getting long. They got there, filled out forms, checked
in, moved my luggage to new room with Greg and got settled in room.
Then we headed to the village for dinner. We found a great place to eat
Gotta De Rua. Great food, good atmosphere. Then we headed down the
street to the water and found a place to have a few beers right on the
water. We could hear music, see boats and do some people watching. On
the way back to Taxi's we got a few fun pictures. Then we called it a
night.
6/24 Day 4
We slept in til 9:30 just in time to get up for breakfast. We got bathing suits on and headed to the beach.
We
started walking on the beach down toward the village. Of course it
started to rain 1/2 way there so we tried to take cover under over hang
for a few minutes but it didn't last long. We headed back to the
hotel. When we left all the chairs and umbrellas at the hotel were
being used, but with the rain when we got back it was pretty empty. We
decided to have a seat and have a few drinks. Rough life - sitting on
the beach, listening to the waves, having drinks brought to us. Doug
wasn't feeling well so he went to his room.
We decided to head to town for lunch and to watch games. We found in village that most places showing games were packed because the game had already started. We finally found a place to eat but didn't have the game showing. We split a bunch of appetizers including rice and beans, shrimp & fish clusters. Yum. After lunch we decided to walk down the beach. Juan found a guy that got us chairs, few tables and served us beer. Again back to rough life chilling on the beach with good friends.
We decided to head to town for lunch and to watch games. We found in village that most places showing games were packed because the game had already started. We finally found a place to eat but didn't have the game showing. We split a bunch of appetizers including rice and beans, shrimp & fish clusters. Yum. After lunch we decided to walk down the beach. Juan found a guy that got us chairs, few tables and served us beer. Again back to rough life chilling on the beach with good friends.
We
decided to catch the later game. We found restaurant Villa Brasil
that Tracy had dinner at the other night and got out of the rain to have
a drink and watch. It was raining so hard the satellite TV feed went
out for a while. We unfortunately had some really bad wine. We decided
to move on.
We searched for a while for somewhere to
eat dinner and finally agreed on restaurant for dinner. It was buffet
and churrascaria. The food was ok, and Greg decided he wasn't eating.
He was on a 2 meal a day kick.
We headed back to hotel
and decided to have a few drinks. They were playing live music which
was great. some of the staff and others were dancing along. Dave,
Tracy and I all got in the pool for a bit before we called it a night.
6/24 Day 5
This
was the day to go to the ponds at low tide. So we woke up early, had
breakfast and headed to town before 8am - that was early for us on this
trip. Of course it was raining. Greg, Marissa, Tracy and I got in a cab and realized we had all the money with us.
The other boys made it and we headed to the water. They had little
boats for 6 people - 20R per person to go out to reef, feed fish, use
masks and get in the water. Since low tide you are basically walking on
coral reef. Saw several sea urchins - even got to hold one. Saw few
crabs and several fish. We got fish food for the ponds so they all
come up to you. you could see beyond the coral reef where the waves
were breaking. As we fed the fish Greg and Dave were trying to touch
and catch the fish. It was pretty cool. We got back on the boat and
the driver pulled us to another area. Marissa, Juan, Greg, Dave and I
got in the water with masks. We were feeding fish right in front of
us. We had masks to see under water even though you couldn't see very
far. Greg was Trying to catch a fish in his shirt. Dave and I would
put food near his chest and he would try to catch fish that came up. He
caught one that got away before we could get a picture. Then he caught
another one that Tracy got a picture of. The boat driver was shaking
his head at us :)
After our boat ride we went to beach to our friend from the day before. We had umbrellas, chairs, drinks and beach.
Of course on the beach everyone is selling all kinds of stuff - food,
drinks, jewelry, clothes, kits, etc. The guys there hung a USA flag for
us (or so they said). They knew exactly with tide when to serve us
lunch - we had great shrimp and Juan/Marissa had fish. then they moved
us back as the tide came in.
We came back to change and freshen up. Tracy, Dave, Marissa, Greg and I went to same place for dinner since it was so good (Gotta De Rua). I wasn't feeling great but was still good.
6/25 Day 6 Game Day
So
3am I got woken up by heavy rain coming down. It started sometime in
the night and kept raining. We got up early, grabbed breakfast which
was crazy then got ready for the game. As it was pouring rain outside I
opted to leave my hat in the room :( and bring rain gear. We were
supposed to be in lobby at 8am to catch the bus to the stadium. Stadium
was about 22 miles from the hotel and in normal traffic could take
about an hour to get there. Buses started arriving after 8am. Our
group had 4 buses. 2 got there before 9am and left. Ours got there but
didn't leave til about 9:30am. We were supposed to have someone on
the bus to tell the driver where to drop us off and where to go. She
wasn't there yet and we kept hearing traffic was really bad (on
Twitter). The bus driver only spoke Portuguese so our friend Juan had
to translate with him. We left with out the guide. The driver had been
told to take coastal road which helped for a while then we ran into few
spots that were flooded (up to peoples waists). Cars couldn't get
through. Of course traffic was really bad. It took us 3 hours to get
to the stadium.
It was still pouring rain and game was
about to start. We didn't want to run but were walking fast. Greg and
I had to walk around to the other side of the stadium. We were soaked
when we got to our seats, but we were up high so our seats were
covered. Some in our group had better tickets closer to field, but they were in the rain the whole game. The US lost to Germany 1 to 0,
but luckily Portugal beat Ghana so the US & Germany went on to the
next round. On our way out I exchanged my USA scarf with an older
German gentleman that was very nice. After the game rain had slowed some. We had 1 1/2 to 2 hours before our bus got there. We hung out, took some pictures, and had a few beers.
We
finally got on our bus about 2 hours after the game was over. There
was major traffic and even with driver going on the side of the road
some, it took us 4 hours to get to the hotel (just 22 miles). After
that day we went straight to the hotel restaurant for the buffet for dinner. We had on more drink by the pool and headed to bed.
6/26 Day 7 Heading home
We
got late check out at 5pm since we were leaving on bus for airport at
6pm. We all slept in headed to breakfast about 9:30am. We decided to
go pack and go to the beach some. Greg and I were first ones on the
beach. We got umbrella, chairs and ordered a few caipirinhas. Dave,
Tracy and Doug (he was finally starting to feel better) came down. The
boys started playing football then... it started raining. We went
under cover.
Marissa came down ready to go to village
shopping. I went to change and Greg, Doug, Marissa and I headed to the
village. We did some shopping, and headed back to restaurant we'd had
lunch at before. Doug hadn't been out with us for few days because he
wasn't feeling well and had sinus infection. We got Gambus, fried
shrimp, pastels, rice and black beans, and some beer. While at lunch it rained a little more. we did more shopping and headed back about 3 to shower and finish packing.
Ready
to head downstairs for one more caipirinha and check out. As I walked
down stairs with my luggage the top handle broke. Well the side
handle on this luggage was already gone and it was packed to check. As
we ordered drinks we started unpacking the suitcase to see if it was fixable. It was. I went to check out and Dave was helping
ask for a screw driver. It was getting close to time for the bus to
leave and people were getting on the bus. My clothes are all over the
table by the pool waiting on the screw driver. Greg was about to try
and fix it with a spoon when the screwdriver showed up. Greg fixed the
suitcase we repacked and headed to the bus.
The bus took about an hour to the airport - with a few times the driver went off road to get out of traffic.
We
were quite early so we checked in, did a little shopping, and headed
upstairs to grab a bite to eat. Greg got some cheese rolls and I got a
ham and cheese pastry. They were both really good. We decided to head
through security to try and facetime with the kids - we all missed each
other. We got to talk with them a bit but still didn't have great
connection.
Juan, Marissa, Doug, Greg and I got chair massages. They were ok but did some deep tissue which Greg and I think just hurts.
Then it was time to get on the plane and go home. We were in business so that helped with long travel.
When
we got to Miami, some of the group took showers. We just headed to the
lounge. Got a snack, morning drink, did facetime with kids, Greg
watched season finally of Game of Thrones, and I read my book. Then we
headed to our final leg.
We got to Dallas and headed
to luggage area. Juan and Marissa's daughter was there, Doug's brother
and nephew were there, my parents were outside with kids. Greg and I
walked out there and kids ran up to us. That's always been one of my
favorite things from long trip is seeing those faces and getting a big
hug when we get home. They helped us get luggage and headed home.
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