Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Monday in Mexico


The view outside our room

So, after our 11 hours of sleep Sunday night/Monday morning, we woke up feeling much better. Plane rides and all day travel really takes it out of you! So, we headed down to the buffet (knowing where it was at this time) for some breakfast, and then off to find our travel agency to set up activities for the next day. We decided on going to Xel-ha (pronounced Shell-ha) for half a day, and then to the Tulum ruins for the rest of the day. Looking back, all of us would have been just as happy to stay at Xel-ha all day! Oh well.

After we decided what we wanted to do on Tuesday, I headed back to our hotel room for a nap. I left our patio door slightly open and it was so cool to go to sleep listening to the sounds of the native birds, and to hear the wind blowing through the palm trees. Brandon came in a little while later and said that he and his dad were going to head down to the beach to do a little wading or swimming. I decided to go with them, so we slathered ourselves up with 50 SPF suncreen and headed down to the beach! Since we were going to the beach (with, you know, water . . .) we decided not to take the camera. So, no pictures.

But, we wandered down to the beach (probably 1/4 of a mile from our room), and while Wayne wandered the beach, Brandon & I jumped in to do some wave jumping. It was so much fun. When you first got in the water, it took your breath away for 1/2 a second, but once you were in, it was AWESOME! The water was so blue, and warm, and the waves (for the most part) were perfect for jumping and body surfing in. The one bad thing: rocks! We had to watch where we were going, because there was a lot of coral out there. I stepped on some unknowingly and ended up getting a pretty long scratch on my ankle. It wasn't too deep, and thanks to the salt water, it really didn't bleed that much, either.

Anyway, we swam for about 45 minutes or so, then got out to find Wayne waiting for us with a nice cold drink. An alcohol-less version of the Pina Colada, called a pinada (imagine the n has the little squiggle over the top, like in senor. Pronounced Pinyahdu.) They were good, and we each had at least one every day we were there. After our drinks, Wayne joined us in swimming in the Caribbean Sea - doesn't that sound awesome - and then got out to walk with LaRean when she came down. We were outside for probably two hours total, and I got burned BAD!!! And, remember, I had 50 spf suncreen on. It didn't seem to help.

So, we went back to our room to shower and get ready for dinner. I had Brandon put some lotion on me (I didn't think to bring any aloe vera gel - duh!) and oh, man, did that hurt! Ouch! Anyway, we went down to dinner, and then headed out to the lobby for some drinks (pinadas) and entertainment. During dinner, we could hear a saxaphone playing with a band, so we wandered out to listen. But, when we got there, an authentic mariachi band was playing instead of the sax. But, it was still fun to listen to and to hear the singers.

Sipping a pinada

Going in for the kill . . .


SMOOCH!!!

After they played, the other band came back, so we listened to the sax player play songs like "Red, red wine" and "My Heart will go on" and "Can't help falling in Love." A lot of people got up to dance, including one guy that was just hilarious to watch. He jumped and bounced, and flaunted and flopped, and waved his arms . . . We got a good laugh out of him!

Help!! He's trying to choke me!

Oh, wait. He's just giving me a hug!


One of the many fountains around the resort

By this point, we were tired (it was only 8:30), so we headed back to our rooms. Now, one thing you have to know about my father-in-law: he LOVES Mt. Dew. So much so, that he smuggled some down in his checked suitcase, because they don't have it in Mexico. So, Brandon was kidding him about getting it down here, and having to have his dew, when they decided to have some fun. Now, Brandon, loves Diet Coke. But, when he can't have Diet Coke, he has Mt. Dew. So, he asked his dad for one, and kiddingly said that he could probably just throw up it to our balcony instead of walking up the stairs to give it to him. This is the result:


Checking out the distance between our balconies

Climbing up - Dew in hand

Ready, aim. . .

FIRE!!!

My wonderful in-laws who made this trip possible! Thank you!

3 comments:

Jen said...

Where in Mexico did you go? My sister and brother-in-law were supposed to go to Tulum on their honeymoon (sounds like you're in that area?), but that huge hurricane hit Cancun and the Eastern Coast of Mexico, so they couldn't go. They made up for it by going the next May to Playa del Carmen, and they LOVED it! :)

Sounds like you had a fun trip!! Love the stories and photos--you're making me look bad, since I'm still posting from my trip a month ago! :)

Valeri Crockett said...

Wow, that was only Monday. . .how fun! I remember posting from my Europe trip and it took me forever. I put it off for so long that I didn't have good captions because I forgot the names of everything. . . so keep going:)

Nathan and Shanna said...

WOW! I can't wait for the day that I get to travel to another country with just my "honey"! I'm so glad that you got to! What wonderful memories. Can't wait to hear about the rest!