How did you sleep? "I didn't, not much." How did you sleep? "Terrible. It was too hot." I was relieved to know that we all had a miserable night, not because misery loves company, but because then I wouldn't be the lightweight or the party-pooper who says he can't bear another night. We all had the same need for remedying the situation.

We all were tired, uncomfortable, and unhappy. Liz was sick from all the DEET. It was the low point of the vacation, or maybe the end of the lowest point. We felt we had to get out of Maho Camp.

I ate some English muffins and jam in the tent. Later we went up to the Pavilion for breakfast. I split scrambled eggs and French toast with Beth, and we all had coffee and slapped mosquitos, as usual.

After breakfast, I went for a quick dip. This time the mosquitoes - or some flying bug - followed me out into the water. I dunked my head under to get away.

We talked to staff at Registration. One said no, there weren't enough fans to give us a second one.

They said we could move to Concordia, there was a tent cottage available there, and there wouldn't be any penalty to our reservation deposit. We just didn't know if it would be any better - still in a tent with no air conditioning.

Liz and Beth tried calling hotels to try to find immediate availability. Sometimes they couldn't get through on their cell phones, or lost the connection. Or got answering recordings. Or were told "no availability."

I made trips up to Registration to use the land phone or ask for hotel suggestions.

We felt we weren't getting anywhere, had no options, and it was frustrating. I raised the suggestion that we could try to get through another night here, maybe it would get better, we'd adapt. But maybe not. We were worried.

Then Liz brought news that she'd talked with the Westin St. John Resort and negotiated the rate down from $469 to $269 a night. It was still expensive, but we all agreed to jump on it. It was the only way out that we saw. It was a big relief to know we had a remedy, and it was certain to be comfortable.

We packed up and moved our bags out the door of the tent. I checked out. We were charged for the one night we stayed and $10 per night for the other nights - not bad, I thought.

We moved our bags up to the shelves outside Registration. Then we had time until Frett's taxi made the next run. I had to cool off again and went for another quick dip.

The taxi made the regular run to Cruz Bay, then drove us further on, to the Westin.

"How are you doing today?" the doorman (although there was no door -- it was an open-air lobby) at the curb asked. "You can leave your bags right here."

I thought, they don't want us traipsing into the refined lobby with all our baggage, like vagrants. Our bags sat on the curb a long time. When we arrived at the Westin, Liz checked in at the desk. She was told our room was still being prepared, so we waited.

We waited for at least an hour, maybe two. Liz checked at the desk from time to time. Meanwhile, we looked at the three-dimensional relief map - about as big as a pool table - of the island, used the free Internet connection (checking my e-mail felt like no longer being on vacation), and looked at the book exchange books.

There were three iguanas, motionless, on the lawn that sloped down toward the pool. Beth first thought they were statues.

Finally our room was ready. A staff person assisted with our baggage and drove us to Building 22 in a cart. Then around the back, up a half flight of stairs to the lowest level in the rear, and down the balcony to the last room, 2229. Rear, lowest, and last. But our room was still complete luxury.

Two queen beds, mini-frig, coffeemaker, full bathroom, closet with safe, desk, big screen TV (the one negative, as far as I was concerned), drawer space, table space, and central air.

The beds still weren't completely made, but the linens were clean, so we didn't mind. No mosquitoes. We unpacked and washed up.

We went to the café between the pool and the beach for dinner.

After a leisurely dinner, we went in the pool. Crowds of people were in the pool and in the lounge chairs ringing the pool. Still, there was plenty of room to swim or wade. (Liz said it was the largest pool in the Virgin Islands.) Beth escaped behind the waterfall in the center of the pool. The water was too warm, I thought, not refreshing.

We turned in our pool towels and went back to our room for a peaceful night's sleep with central air conditioning.

Although I was just as glad as anyone to move to an air-conditioned room, it was sad to turn my back on Maho, like falling out with an old friend. I didn't take a single picture at Maho Camp. That was like not speaking to a loved one. I still love the place. We just had no prior experience with the summer heat and humidity and mosquitoes.

Moving to the Westin threw our planned itinerary to the wind. In Tortola, except for not making it to Brewer's Bay the last day, we had stuck to the itinerary. For St. John, I had planned all our excursions from Maho, either hiking from Maho or taking Hamilton's taxi from Maho.

Now at the Westin, we were farther away from all of the beaches on our St. John itinerary. Still, Beth and I would manage to get to half of them during the week. But each day in St. John would be improvised.