Dominican Republic

I haven’t stopped thinking about the DR since the day we left. We had such a blast and it was such a wonderful way for Mel to finish out her time there.

Day 1: My family does not travel internationally very often so this was bound to get interesting. We stepped off the flight and were greeted by a Dominican band! We proceeded through customs, where Dallin was pulled into a back room. We are still unsure of why Dallin needed to be screened separately because of the whole language barrier thing, but he made it out alive!

We were welcomed at our airbnb by Noemi, the house manager. She spoke no english and we weren’t going to pick up Mel until the next day so our only way to communicate with her was by using our cell phones. She took us to the grocery store to get some food where I had a major meltdown because HANGRY!! We finally made it back to the house, made some dinner and went to bed! Traveling is tiring.

Day 2: We went to pick up Mel in Santiago. Driving in the DR was always an adventure. My Dad handled the pressure very well. He even proclaimed himself the Designated Adventure Drive AKA DAD. You can see a video from picking up Mel and the rest of our trip {here}.

Day 3: Melanie took us to Monte Cristi, her very first area. We visited a few of her members and then she took us on a boat tour!

Day 4: We drove to Puerto Plata and hung out on the beach, had an amazing lunch and relaxed!

Day 5: Mel took us to church in Navarette, her 2nd area. We met with the members there. It was so cool to see how loved Melanie was! Everyone was so excited to see her. Dominicans are so affectionate. I loved it! We took some family pics after church 🙂

\

Day 7: Jarabacoa and La Vega! We drove to the Jimenoa Waterfalls in the morning, the drive was such an adventure. Such pretty views from the top of the mountains down into the valleys! The mountains started to make me pretty homesick for Utah.

The hike to the waterfall was so green and beautiful! Once we got down there my dad made friends with a group of teens from Utah! So we bonded with our fellow Utahn’s and then headed out to go visit some of Melanie’s friends.

After we left Jarabacoa, we visited with one of Melanie’s members in La Vega. She and Melanie made us some amazing Domincan food. So good!! Once the sun set we headed to the town square to see the lights. While we were there we were approached by the Police and given body guards! haha!! Which kind of freaked us out so Mel asked if we had any reason to be nervous. They said they just wanted us to have great time (see pics below of our body guards)!

Day 8: On our final day we drove through the canyons to the beach! It was a long, but beautiful/totally worth it drive. The water was amazing! So warm and definitely not what us New Yorkers are used to. The beach we went to is renowned for it’s wind surfing! It was a beautiful day.

This trip was definitely unforgettable! If you haven’t watched our video from the trip you can see it {here}.