We finally made it to Mexico together!
Sometime during the summer I complained to Mike, who is a close friend of ours (we consider him family), that I hadn't had a chance to go to Mexico yet with Shay.......in the past Mike had organized numerous trips to Mexico with friends. Shay had gone 3 times before with "Mike's groups" and I felt a desire to see all the wonderful sights Shay had seen as well. Mike quickly responded, "We should go" Much to our delight, Mike quickly organized a group and secured a wonderful beach front property for us all. We bought our tickets and waited anxiously for October to show up.
Our trip started EARLY on October 11. We traveled to the airport and got through security. Once we got through security, we met up with Mike, Jen, and LeAnn. We were all on the same plane which made the trip nicer.
Our first leg was to Texas. Jen's sister lives in Texas and graciously picked us up from the airport and took us to a famous Tex-Mex restaurant.
It was really fun getting to know her and seeing a bit of Houston.
We then returned to the airport and jumped onto another plane to Cancun, Mexico. To be honest, I was shocked how quickly the trip took.
We landed in Mexico at about 6:00 PM. We waited around at the airport for about another hour until Garr and Mandy's plane arrived. We then all traveled to the car rental location to pick up our two rental cars.
Once we were able to secure our two cars, we went to a McDonalds in Cancun (some in our party were starving) . It was a two story building with the upper floor looking over the beautiful water.
During this time I was noticing how HUMID it was. I felt this thick blanket of hot air on my skin.
We then returned to the airport to pick up Sonya and Libby. Once we finally had all of our party together we headed to a grocery store to pick up groceries and other odds and ends to stock our home.
It was fun to see how alive the city was late at night. This was the only time we really were in Cancun our whole vacation.
By the time we made it to our wonderful home, we were ALL exhausted and couldn't find our beds fast enough.
The next morning I woke up and looked around. IT WAS BREATHTAKING!
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The vegetation around the home was beautiful....even though it was mid October!
I quickly took photos to take back to my classroom so that my students can also see the wonder of it all.
I was able to really take a look at what our home looked like. It was SO nice!
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The above is a view out of one of the bedrooms upstairs.
Below is a view of the pool and backyard from the second story balcony.
Below you can really see how close we were to the beach. I truly enjoyed every morning here!!!
Since this was Shay's fourth time to Cancun, his desire to wake up really early in the morning to take a swim wasn't as strong as mine (couldn't blame him....we would stay up super late each night). So almost every morning I would go out for a quick swim with the girls in our group and try to catch the sunrise (up to this point I had never seen the sun rise on the ocean before. I quickly learned one can't really "watch the sun rise on the ocean" unless it is cloudy out.....at least where I was. Each time I tried I found that as soon as the sun would come up on the water, the reflection of the light would be so bright that my eyes would burn!
Shay and I were blessed in having our own "private" section of the house. Here you can see our very own little kitchen/dining room area:
The chairs were carved wood with bright yellow suns painted on them.
The view from this room was directly out to the beach:
This is an outside view of the home we rented.
I couldn't get over how hot it was....and how crazy my hair would react to the weather!
What also was very fascinating to me was the palm trees everywhere. While walking by the side of the driveway I noticed this:
I quickly went to pick it up. It didn't budge. I tried to pull harder but the thing wouldn't budge. I started to look at the ground around it and saw this:
I noticed that the roots had grown down into the ground through one end, and the branch grew out of the top. I know this is common knowledge...it was just spectacular to see (especially since I teach the lifecycle of things as a teacher). 
On Friday Shay and I decided to take a walk together before everyone got up and was ready to take off. Shay walked me down to the center of Akumal, Mexico.
It was so nice having Shay know where things were and to be able to show me around! Shay is such an amazing man!
Akumal is known for its sea turtles. Akumal means "The Place of Turtles."
The little sign above marks where a sea turtle's nest is located. Sea turtles lay their eggs in the same place each year.
The second to last day we were in Mexico, I was able to snorkel and swim with the sea turtles in the ocean right behind me. Shay had already done so and wasn't feeling too well that day so he skipped out.
I couldn't help but continuously think to myself....is this really real? The views, the sand, the water, everything was indescribably beautiful.....
Once again, I noticed the humidity and decided to put my feet into the water to cool off. Much to my surprise the water was warm....about 75 degrees warm. I told Shay that this was so weird to me, since I grew up in California and was used to the cold Pacific Ocean.
.....The man in the picture is as well :-)
Once again, I noticed the humidity and decided to put my feet into the water to cool off. Much to my surprise the water was warm....about 75 degrees warm. I told Shay that this was so weird to me, since I grew up in California and was used to the cold Pacific Ocean.
When we got back to the house, we all decided to go swimming in the ocean.....less than 50 yards from our house. THE WATER WAS AMAZING!!!
I still can't get over how clear and warm the water was, and that we were the only ones on the beach 99% of the time!
I still can't get over how clear and warm the water was, and that we were the only ones on the beach 99% of the time!
Just a few steps from the beach was this wonderful lounging area. The area had a wonderful hammock, lounging chairs, and tables distributed under beautiful trees and plants!
Later we swam in the pool and played games.
After a wonderful day on the beach and games, we headed into town to find a place to eat. We took a LONG side track before actually finding a place to eat.....but when we finally did, we LOVED that it was an outdoor restaurant right on Akumal Beach.
We spent the day enjoying our own little beach. It was perfect!
Later we swam in the pool and played games.
Fun times:
After a wonderful day on the beach and games, we headed into town to find a place to eat. We took a LONG side track before actually finding a place to eat.....but when we finally did, we LOVED that it was an outdoor restaurant right on Akumal Beach.
Shay and I are so glad to have been able to spend time with these great friends. At the far head of the table is our friend Garr, to his right is Mike, Mandy, Sonya, and Libby. To Garr's left is Shay, me, Jen, and LeAnn. We knew Jen and Mike prior. Other friends were supposed to be there, but things came up that impeded them in coming. We were just tickled to enlarge our friendship circle when we met Mandy, LeAnn, Libby, Garr, and Sonya. They are truly amazing people! It was a blast having the opportunity to meet and spend time with each one of them!
On the way home we stopped at a little shop. Since it was Oct., the whole store was filled with Dia de los Muertos items. 
They even had a skeleton in a golf rental cart outside the store....as you can see above.
When we got back to our home, our wonderful house maid set up a bed for Mike so that he didn't have to sleep on an uncomfortable hide-a-bed. Too bad it was smack dab in the middle of the family room. :-) 
Loving life!
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Here we are, the weather couldn't have been better!
The whole gang:
This is the reaction we had when we were taught how the human sacrifices were performed:
We loved learning about the history of the Mayan people who once lived here!
Saw an iguana just hanging out on one of the ruins:
After our tour ended, we quickly went to the beach. Unfortunately, the tide had come in and we were informed we couldn't go down. Shay was really saddened. He wanted me to have the opportunity to swim here. He said it was a favorite of his. I told him the view was good enough and that we would have to come back some day. :-)
Here you can see the girls looking out at the ocean:
It was breathtaking! 
The boys:
On our way out the girls wanted to take a picture on the ruin steps:
After leaving the ruins in Tulum, we went into town to a restaurant called Charlie's.
Here is my great looking man:
When ordering food I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat, so I had the waiter bring me his favorite. He placed the plate in front of me and told me it was a chile relleno stuffed with some sort of special Mexican cheese (I forgot the name--dang it). Sonya had him also bring his favorite plate to her as well. We both were speechless after taking a bite.....seriously, it was beyond good. I had to take a picture of it:
(Only two other times in my life have I had something that incredibly yummy---
Once in Belgium at a Portugues restaurant and another in a Paris bakery.)
This is us in front of a wall full of masks at Charlie's:
After dinner we went home and enjoyed our amazing view.
Later that night I started to crave ice cream (if you haven't ever been to Central or South America you aren't aware of the AMAZING ice cream they have down there). I asked if Shay would take me. It ended up being Shay, Mandy, and I who went looking for ice cream. We drove for about 15 minutes north. We wanted to really see what Mexico looked like and have a "Mexican experience." We ended up at an OXXO (like a 7-11). We talked with the people inside and ended up having the best time ever. We drove around the area and saw the locals then returned home. This was the start of many "OXXO runs" on our vacations.
Later that night I started to crave ice cream (if you haven't ever been to Central or South America you aren't aware of the AMAZING ice cream they have down there). I asked if Shay would take me. It ended up being Shay, Mandy, and I who went looking for ice cream. We drove for about 15 minutes north. We wanted to really see what Mexico looked like and have a "Mexican experience." We ended up at an OXXO (like a 7-11). We talked with the people inside and ended up having the best time ever. We drove around the area and saw the locals then returned home. This was the start of many "OXXO runs" on our vacations.
The next morning we tried really hard to see the sun come up on the ocean. I slept in a bit too long and the sun was already coming up. Like I said before, I have never seen the sun rise on the ocean before and was excited to see it happen. I learned again that only if it is overcast with clouds in the sky can you really see and enjoy the sun coming up over the ocean. If it isn't overcast the light just reflects off the ocean---and it is so bright that it literally can burn your eyes! Luckily for about 2 minutes there were some clouds to let us capture a few pictures, but then it was over and the ocean turned to bright white.
Sunday morning we got up and went to church. It was a wonderful experience to meet the people of Mexico and rub shoulders with them. They are amazing, loving, happy people! After church we headed to Chitzen itza, Mexico. On the way there we ended up in a little city. They were having some sort of festival. We watched as a procession of people came out of the church and marched in a parade. 
Enjoying the festivities!
After our side excursion, we took off again toward our destination, Chichen itza!
We got there later than we had planned and had less than a couple of hours to try and see it all. 
The ruins were amazing!
We all were so fascinated by the wonderful ruins.
Our group moving on to learn more:
Shay's favorite....the wall of skulls:
A place where human sacrifices were performed....disgusting!
The buildings were so amazing to look at!
After Chitzen-itza, we headed back home. It was a long trip. We then had a wonderful dinner. The groups wanted something besides Mexican food, but Shay and I could never get enough so I made my first carne asada tacos with homemade salsa. Shay said it was fabulous. Garr asked if he could eat some of our tacos and then asked if he could have more....he said they were amazing as well. :-)
We decided to have a fancy dinner in the dining room which was a really nice touch.
The next morning,
the girls decided to get up and watch the sun rise on the ocean again. This time there were clouds in the way to help temper the light's reflection on the ocean. It was beautiful. Shay didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn to see it, so I went up with the girls on my own. When I saw it coming up, and realized how beautiful it would be, I decided to get Shay. I ran downstairs to the third (not second) story and ran into the bedroom yelling for Shay to get up. He didn't move. I then reached out and grabbed what I thought was Shay's foot. To my horror and surprise up pops Garr grunting, "WHAT?" I screamed so loud. I was so embarrassed! I told him I was sorry, that I hadn't realized I wasn't on the 2nd floor and quickly ran out. I retrieved Shay and told him what happened. It became a joke the whole week long. Let's just say it made for many laughs!
These are pictures taken off the roof of the house we were staying in. It was so fun to go up there and take in the beauty of it all!
Shay and I then took some time to enjoy the beach for ourselves.
How can you not want to stay here forever!
There is just something magical about having your own private beach to yourself!
After a wonderful time sitting on the beach together, we headed to Hidden Worlds. This is the picture of the "truck" that was used in Hidden Worlds. It was fun to drive on.
Pictures of different things that can be seen at Hidden Worlds:
The surroundings are absolutely breathtaking!
Our tour started with us taking a long trip into the jungle.
Once we got there, we were put into harnesses for the zip line.
Shay flying down:
My wrap became a nuisance when it was time to go down...so the only solution I could think of was tying it around my neck. It made for funky pictures that is for sure!
Once we landed we all posed for a picture before going to repel into a cave:
Shay made it:
Heading down:
Can't help but love the "scarf."
Mike:
Libby:
Sonya:
Mandy:
After we all were able to repel, we got ready to go down the "roller coaster."
Garr:
Unfortunately, Mike leaned back too far when riding this ride and hit his heel on the support cable and cut his foot open. When he got to the landing, Jen saw the blood, passed out, hit her head against a rock, and knocked herself out. Luckily for us we had two nurses on our trip and the company was so well prepared. With quick action and a lot of help we were able to revive Jen and get Mike's foot bandaged. In the process LeAnn actually stepped through a board and almost broke her leg. We all started to laugh, not because we thought it funny that she hurt herself, but because we kept getting hurt and the employees were beside themselves with us Americans getting hurt one right after another. They immediately took us to an emergency room to care for Jen and Mike.
The doctor was amazing! He did a wonderful job in sewing Mike up and telling him to stay out of the water (too bad Mike didn't listen.....less that 3 hours later he had a bag on his foot and was in the ocean?).
While in the emergency room, there was a huge rain storm that came through. It flooded the streets. We had the best weather ever. It only rained when we were not at the beach and when we were inside.
After Jen was pronounced ok to move and Mike was stitched up, we decided we had better get some food into our tummies. As we were getting into our cars, I asked the local taxi drivers where they go to eat good tacos. They pointed out a restaurant on the other side of the street called El Tacoqueto.
Here are "the boys." Mike has been such a great friend of Shay's for years. We consider him family!
The place was crowded with locals (A good sign of a great place to eat). We had some of the most amazing tacos, beans, and rice ever! The fruit smoothies were so yummy!
The boys:
We then headed home and got into the ocean. It was wonderful, as always.
After swimming, we got into the pool (every time we went into the ocean at night we would then jump into the house pool). The pool was amazing and perfect to get into after the ocean.
Tuesday we were able to return to Hidden Worlds and finish our original plans. They offered us the opportunity to do all the activities we had done before, but we all felt we had better steer clear of the "roller coaster."
We started the day by having a wonderful "bicycle" ride through the jungle. This was the coolest activity ever. You had to be spaced out in order for the "bicycles" to work appropriately, so you felt like you were the only one out in the jungle. The cables took you to the top of the trees, through the middle of the forest, through a few caves, and to the bottom of the forest. It was so relaxing and peaceful. There were times when you descended quickly that added to the experience. It was about an hour activity and so fun!
Here is Shay entering one of the caves:
Coming out of the cave:
Entering the cave:
Going through the cave:
Pictures of LeAnn, Mandy, and Jen:
After the "bicycle" ride we headed for the cave:
It was so much fun!
The gang before we dived in:
Here is pictures of some of us jumping in:
Shay eased his way down, whereas I jumped right in....
The whole gang:
The water felt so amazing!
That night we went back to Akumal Beach and snorkeled with the sea turtles. That was so fun to do! We also were able to watch the government sea turtle conservation group let sea turtle babies go into the ocean:
They let Shay and I touch a baby turtle (with gloves on of course) a few days prior. They even let me hold one (normally they wouldn't let "civilians hold the baby turtles, but since it was really early in the morning and no one else around, they did). They were light, velvet gray looking, and moving. They constantly were moving trying to get to the sea. They told us that they are trying to help the sea turtle population by going around and digging up the nests and then trying to find any turtles that might not have been able to dig themselves out. They then hold them in a bucket all day and let them out in the evening, when there is less of a chance of birds and other predators getting them. It was a great way to end a fun day!
Before heading home, we decided to return to the restaurant on the beach in the central of Akumal to have some dinner.
This is what was on the outside of the restaurant:
There is always something interesting to see in Mexico that is for sure.
Wednesday we quickly got up and tried to get out of the house as quickly as possible. Mandy and LeAnn were leaving that afternoon and we wanted to get some shopping in. We drove up to Playa del Carmen. We walked around and bartered with the locals. It got super hot as the day wore on.
So after helping Mandy and LeAnn get a cab (they were flying out that day), we decided to go take a dip in the ocean.
I was so shocked when I set foot on the beach in Playa Del Carmen. The sand did not have one shell in it. It felt like a thick whipped cream texture. Shay had said throughout the week that he loved this beach, and could spend his entire time here....I now knew what he meant.
We picked the perfect time to go to Cancun. There was hardly anyone on the beach. The water felt like silk.
Look at that beautiful sand!
We couldn't stop staring at its beauty!
We then decided to go somewhere else to eat. Mike's foot was starting to give him trouble so we decided to find the closest place.
We ended up at this little shack of a place. I noticed the guy next to us ordered some kind of fish....and the whole fish is what he got:
Later that night we ended up on the beach together. We pulled the lounge chairs close to the ocean and enjoyed listening to the water crash at our feet as we talked! There is a bit of heaven on earth....and we experienced it!
The following are last minute pictures. As we were getting ready to head to the airport, I couldn't help but run around the house one last time and take pictures of where we stayed. It was such a perfect place! Can't wait to go back.
The view from the dining room. Our "wing" of that house was directly to the left of here:
Closer picture of the pool and backyard.
The view from our sliding glass door:
We then headed to the airport.
Shay and I on the airplane on our way back to the States!
Random pictures:
One night, when we got back to the house, we found a crab scurrying across the road right by our driveway.
At Playa Del Carmen we saw in the distance a group performing an act on a poll several stories up. It was crazy watching them dance and move around on such a small space:
