Bikinis, Bikinis, Everywhere

I'm permanently changing my dress code. Starting today, I'm wearing nothing but bikinis.

If I can't wear a bikini to the event, I ain't going.

My job will just have to get used to it. :D

Just kidding!

Though I do feel like a snack here in Aruba.

Which is ironic given the fact that the all-you-can-eat buffets are truly all you can eat, so physics would contend that you could work your belly up into a rather substantial roly-poly-ness, if left to your own devices.

But an easy way to deal with that is to wear a bathing suit that literally holds it all in with strings:

Problem solved!

I'm trying to remember the company I bought this suit from; when I remember, I'll mention it here. I've never had a bathing suit that made me feel this scrumptious!

Though I did love the bathing suit I wore to Myrtle Beach a couple years ago, but that got dyed with color powder at a beach party and is no longer it's perfect neon green. Ho hum.

But this bikini here in Aruba? Yeah, it's amazing.

Kinda skimpy, but it actually stays put while swimming...

...and while driving ATVs!

We took an excursion through Aruba's rather desert terrain (which was surprising to learn about), and I wore it underneath my clothes.

We were going to visit a rock pool during our drive, so you gotta stay ready to jump in!

As they say, if you stay ready, you ain't got to get ready. Words to live by!

With me behind the wheel (and M holding on for dear life, lol), we jetted off.

Cruising through Oranjestad's streets and towards the interior parks full of desert vegetation.

Popping into a cave (where our guide pretended that a bat was attacking me, ever the jokester, lol)

And overlooking a beautiful bluff of ocean

I love all kinds of ocean, so I really relished in how different this beach scene was from ours at the resort.

The serenity, the majesty, the gritty rockiness, the arid land juxtaposed with the frothy sea... I loved it all.

Once we arrived at the rock pool, we hopped in, rivers of dust sliding off of us from the adrenaline-packed drive.

Everyone congratulated me on my driving (I can be a bit of a daredevil), and relaxed and chatted until I saw a large eel resting on the rocks nearby.

That hastened our departure, because neither of us wanted to know what was alive underneath the water in that rock pool.

Upon returning to our hotel, we relaxed a bit, had dinner, and took a bit more of the ocean...

...before going to the casino.

Now this was actually my first time at a casino, and we went because we'd sat through one of those timeshare presentations.

Though we declined the final offer, our gift for listening was $200 to spend at the nearby casino.

M was keen to do this because he likes blackjack... but when we arrived, we found that our $200 card could only to be used on the slots.

They get you somehow, lol!

But it actually turned out perfect.

I'm somewhat of a slots savant, I guess. ;)

We puttered around these noisy ass slot machines for about a half hour, not really understanding what all the noise and nonsense was about, when the last machine we tried began plying us with money.

First we won $40, then $78, then $46, then $150...

By the time our $200 card was done, we'd won $451!

It was very nice to leave with that little chunk of change!

We celebrated with drinks and snuggles...

... and began plotting to use the money for our next trip!

All in all, Aruba was so good to us.

We'll definitely be back! ♥