2016 - Playa Del Carment - Day 6

Travel home day.....

Today is Sunday and I'm in the air traveling from Houston to Salt Lake City.  The trip home, even though it is standby, has gone well.   We woke up around 7 AM, showered, adjusted our suitcase packing and then went off to breakfast to meet our group at 8:30 AM.  It was fun to eat together and just discuss how good it was to be together down in Mexico.  After eating and giving everyone hugs, Denise and I were off to retrieve our bags and head to the lobby to check out.  We had planned to leave around 9:45 to catch a taxi to take us to the bus terminal where we would buy bus tickets to get us to the airport in Cancun.  We were targeting the 10:30 AM bus.  I tried to buy tickets last night online.  But I seem to have problems using VISA online when traveling international.  The cost per person is 162 pesos (~$9) when buying at the bus terminal.  But online, I could have bought them for 96 pesos (~$6).  Oh well.  To take a shuttle, it would have cost us $60 for both of us.  By taking a taxi and a bus, it cost us ~$25 for both.  Nice savings.  My kids laugh at me when I do stuff like this.  :-). But it is fun to try to do what the locals would do.  I asked the Taxi driver when the people go to church here in Mexico.  He said in the afternoon.  I had previously asked him about his family and asked what his children were doing while he was working right then.  He said...sleeping.  It was almost 10 AM.  I then asked the church question.  It has been fun speaking Spanish again.  I know I sound horrible...but who cares.

We were able to get on the 10:10 bus to the airport.  The trip made two stops...one in another location in Playa Del Carmen and another at Puerto Morales.   Both stops were extremely quick.  But there is a bus running about every 20 minutes.  It was a nice big bus and even had Ironman (in Spanish) playing on TV's.  It was fun.  We arrived at the airport not knowing which terminal to get off at.  Terminal 1 was obviously not the one.  But everyone got off at Terminal 2.  We wondered...so we got off too.  However, I began to ask and the guy unloading our bags thought that terminal 3 was the one we needed.  So we threw our bags back on and jumped back on the bus.  That was a good choice as terminal 3 was the correct stop.

Our flight to Houston left at 2:50 PM.  It was on time and not full.  We easily got on.  There were no surprises getting through the security checks there.  We arrived around 4 PM  at Houston and headed through customs.  Awhile ago, Denise and I spent a few dollars extra to get Global Entry authorization.  Boy does that make a big difference getting through customs.  We flew through!  Our next flight was not until 6 PM so we found some food (BBQ) and Denise and I shared a plate.  I'm still sweating.  I don't know why BBQ does that to me.

The SLC flight was on time.  But they were asking for people to come off the flight.  So it did not look good.  The United App showed two seats open...so we felt like we had hope.  They were asking people to possibly come off due to weight restrictions.  But slowly they added all the revenue paying customers back on.  At that point I went to the gate agent and asked if any standby's would get on.  He said 'no' due to weight restrictions.  So they closed the door and I thought it was over.  I even asked him to roll us over to the 9 PM flight.  But, I stood there watching the plane not go.  And they were not closing the plane's door.  Then over the microphone, I heard the pilot say they still had two seats.  The gate agent looked up for us and I said...yes...we are still here!  Let's go!  And off we went scrambling down the jetway.  I'm glad they did not weigh us as we had eaten a ton of food this past week!  I'm surprised the plane got off the ground!   You honestly never know, when flying standby, if you are going to get a seat or not.  More than not...you usually do.  Anyway...this is good.  Denise's parents won't have to stay up late to get us.  But one of us will go back to the airport at 11:30 PM to get Ashley and Brent.  And then...our trip will be officially over.  Travis, Mackenzie, Dustin and Kerri are all coming home on Tuesday.

One last note...while sitting at the airport, Travis texted and said that they had made it to Cancun where they are staying a few nights.  They hooked a ride with Michael, his uncle.  Michael made it a fun trip by being pulled over by the policia Mexicana.  He had to negotiate his ticket down to $40.  He said he was not speeding and that tons of cars were flying by him.  I do believe the Mexican authorities there target rental cars and non-Mexican looking people.  It's a shame that they do that.  I'm sure it will be a good memory for Travis and Mackenzie!

A few random pictures will be posted here once I"m home...

We did a TON of this while down there!  (Selfie Photos)

While on the airport, I learned how to create pictures from my GoPro video that was taken.  This is a shot of Travis and Mackenzie.  I thought I was back in Israel with that cloth on Travis' head!

This is how my wife travels.... :-)

It was a beautiful sky and ocean.  I hate to leave it....

2016 - Playa Del Carmen -Day 5

Another beautiful day spent down here in the Mexican Riviera.  The weather has been really nice for all the events we had planned.  This morning started out with some high level clouds.  But they soon left as the breezes kicked up.  By mid-day, the breezes were quite strong.  But the died down during the evening hours.

Day 5 had a fairly full agenda.  We had reserved a rental car in the lobby.   I asked Brent if he would drive and take Ashley, Travis and Mackenzie with him.  Denise's brother already had a car and we would go with them.  The itinerary was to go to Akumal to swim with Sea Turtles.  Following Akumal, we were to drive further south to the archeological park of Tulum.  Once we visited there, the goal was to be back to our resort by 2 and recline around and enjoy the resorts accommodations.

After getting the rental car, we were off to Akumal by 10 AM.  It was about a 40 minute drive to Akumal and easy to find.  You pay 5 to 70 pesos to park and then you walk a small bit into a public beach.  There was lots of little shops and smaller resorts along this beach.  But they had an area buoyed off out into the ocean where the Sea Turtles came to feed.  I kind of wanted to go outside that area to see what else there was to see.  But we chose not to.  After getting our snorkeling gear on, we all started off swimming looking for turtles.  And we were not let down.  There were quite a few of lhese critters feeding on the grass on the sea floor.  The water was probably only 10 feet deep and the visibility was clearer the farther out you swam.  The roped off section allowed you to swim about. 200 yards off shore.  Anyway, in one of the more shallower areas, a turtle was feeding.  Brent not knowing that accidentally hit the turtle with his feet as he was vertical in the water.  It startled the turtle and off it went quickly.  But I continue to tease Brent and ask him 'Why would you kick a turtle?'.  Anyway, Brent's food consumption caught up with him today and el bano was his friend all day.  I think many were not feeling well today.  Anyway, we say some good schools of fish, quite a few rays on the bottom hanging out and a goodly number of turtles of various sizes.  It was a great snorkel stop and it was free to do.

After Akumal, we got back in our cars and headed south to Tulum.  Again, this was easy to find.  Tulum is an archaelogical park that sits right on the sea.  It is quite pretty to see from the ocean and they offer guided tours in a boat to get that view.  But honestly, the sea was so rough there today.  It would not have made sense.  They believe the ruins date back to the 1500's.  They look older than that to me.  Upon entering the park, there was a guy with a BYU hat on selling guided tours.  He was actually primed to give us a Mormon version of the tour ( for a price of course).  I thanked him and declined the tour.  We walked around the park for about 45 minutes or so taking lots of pictures and such.  But again, Brent's stomach and Denise's knees drove us out a bit quicker than we would have normally stayed.  But we saw the greater portion of it. 

After the Tulum visit, we headed back to the resort, which took about an hour .  You hear lots of things about Mexican police stopping rental cars.  I think we saw one police car the entire day.  We were back on the resort by 2;30 PM feeding ourselves and lounging by the pool.  Later on, Dustin and Kerri and all their friends found us and we all headed down to a volleyball court set amongst the palm trees on the beach.  After watching a group play a 3 set match, they finally gave up the court and our group played volleyball.  They had a lot of fun competing against each other.  Good times...good memories.  I headed back to my room a bit early as I needed to make our reservation for flights back to the US and figure out how to get to the Cancun Airport, which is an hour's drive away.  Rather than use a shuttle, we're going to grab a cab and go to Playa Del Carment bus terminal and grab a bus there.  It is about $9 per person versus $30 per person on the shuttle.  And it will be a new adventure.  We'll leave at about 10 AM from the resort hoping to get on the 10:30 AM bus.  Our flight is at 2:50 PM so that should get us there in plenty of time.

In the evening, we packe, showered and met up with Ashley, Brent, Travis and Mackenzie for dinner in the buffet.  We had not eaten in the evening buffet yet so we chose to do that.  Dustin and others went to the Japanese restaurant.  They said it was really good too.  The main buffet here has crazy good stuff on it.  They had a shirmp dish that was really, really good.  I've eaten my weight in shrimp.  And just look at me...that is a lot!!!

Well, our trip is coming to a close once again.  It has been wonderful with the highlight being that Dustin and Kerri's vow exchange was a great success.  It came out yesterday to everyone that Dustin and Kerri were legally married the weekend we went with them to Lava Hot Springs.  We went to the court house in Ogden where a judge held a small, very nice, ceremony.  Denise and I were real good about not telling anyone per their request.  But it came out yesterday somehow.  Dustin was surprised that no one knew.  So they are indeed a legally married couple.  Anyway, I think Kerri is so pleased on how here special day down here turned out....and that was the most important aspect of the trip.  But all the side adventures, seeing and being with Michael and Josh and having some of our children with with us has made this be quite the memory, one that we will not forget for a long time.

Wish us all luck on our trip home!

Snorkeling with turtles at Akumal....

A few shots while at Tulum......

There were a goodly number of these critters out sunning themselves at Tulum...

A life saver for Denise as the walk to and from our car from the Tulum entrance was far.  But fortunately, for $1, you could ride their 'train'...a make shift tractor pulling a trailer.

An intense volleyball game on the beach.....

Some nice fruit artwork at the buffet....

Our resort palace.....

The blogger intensely at work in his hotel room....

2016 - Playa Del Carmen - Day 4 Wedding Day

Wedding Day!  We finally have made to the day that brought us all down to Mexico.  We woke up excited for the day.  And, I think it turned out even better than Dustin and Kerri had planned.  The day was perfect with beautiful blue skies and a bit breezy.

The day started by me waking up early and finishing my blog from last night.  Following that, I looked into some work email.  By then, Denise was starting to resurrect and I could hear Dustin and some of his friends out in the hallway.  So we put on some acceptable clothes and headed off to the breakfast buffet.  The food here is quite good and tons of it.  So we ate pretty well.  Following our breakfast, we changed into our swim suits and head to the beach for a mid-morning swim in the ocean.  Following that, Travis, Michael, Josh, Brent and I played some volleyball.  A few minutes into it, a fellow from Montreal, Canada asked if he could join us and even the teams.  We said...'Sure'.  He balanced the teams and we played for about an hour or less.  It was fun.  The sun is intense here.  So it was tough for me to get to the ball and stay in the shade!  I was a true disadvantage to my team.  It was quite fun to play.  Following that, we headed back to the ocean for another dip in the sea and then headed back to our rooms to get ready for the wedding.  But before doing that, Denise and I stopped by one of the restaurants by the pool for some cool drinks and some finger foods.  We were not going to do lunch today...and heaven forbid that we would miss a meal!  

The wedding began at 2 PM.  The resort cleared a path through the middle of all the chairs and people out to the edge of the sea.  There were a few white chairs set up there and an arch with flowers where Dustin and Kerri would stand.  Dustin's friend Eric was citing the vows for them and was a bit nervous. They had music.  So when the music started, the wedding party descended from the pool area down to the beach.  Dustin was already standing there waiting.  Finally, Kerri appeared in her beautiful dress. She was escorted by a friend of her father's and Tammy that has been a friend even since the passing of her father.  It was pretty special.  Eric then cited the vows.  They kissed and the picture taking began.  It was a gorgeous setting.  After pictures were taken, we retired into the nice entry hall of the resort and went upstairs for some hors d'eurves and drinks (non-alcoholic, of course, for the Tiner's).  Following a nice visit, we all retired to our rooms to rest, to change and go to the pool or beach.  We had a few hours to kill.  Denise and I went to our room and  researched how we will get to the airport on Sunday.  I like to save Sheckles (pesos in this case) anyway I can.  And to use the city bus to the airport versus the hotel shuttle could save me $40.  So I'm probably going to take the chance and use that method to get there.  We'll see.  I also spent time looking at dives off of Cozumel.  There really are some nice places over there by the island.  I will be back to dive there too.

At 6:30 PM, we all met at the Steak House restaurant for a nice dinner to celebrate their wedding.  A few of us, seeing Lobster and Filet Mignon as two distinct dishes, ordered two plates.  One with Lobster...the other with Filet Mignon.  So good.  There we all toasted the new married couple and watched them cut the cake after dinner.  It was fun.  After dinner, we all walked down to the beach in a darkness of night all.  And under the light of many phone flashlights, Kerri and Dustin took their first dance.  It was really neat...a neat setting.  And basically, that was it.  It was done.  A group of the younger crowd planned to go to the Discoteque and dance the night away.  My eyelids will be closed then!  Anyway, Travis/Mackenzie, Ashley/Brent, Denise and I got together to play cards.  Actually, I'm writing this blog and they are playing.

One last thing, we decided to rent a car for tomorrow to drive to Akumal (to swim with sea turtles) and Tulum.  It should be a fun day. Brent wants us to hurry back so we don't miss a meal!  :-)

Some pictures of the day....

Ashley and Brent after working out.....

Denise beginning her workout....!!!

Some beach volleyball.....

Yes...you finally have hair under those armpits Michael!  Josh can barely look....

Two cute girls.....Mackenzie and Denise.

The wedding preparation.  Ashley did Kerri's (and few other women's) hair.  Way to go Ash!

The 'Preacher Man' and the groom.....

Best Man (Travis) and Maid of Honor (Deej)....

Kerri being escorted....

The vows being said....

Groom and Best Man....

The bride and groomsmen...

The Tiner's (less their better halves)....

The new couple and Travis\Mackenzie....

The new couple and Brent\Ashley.....

The new couple...Dustin and Kerri Tiner.  Welcome to the family Kerri!

A great day....

This is how Denise and I are going to go to our next Wedding Ceremony.  We will look good!

Brent...after polishing off a steak and lobster...headed to the buffet to top it all off!  Impressive!

Another great day in the books!

2016 - Playa Del Carmen - Day 3

The sacred day (other than Dustin and Kerri's wedding) arrived today....scuba diving in the beautiful ocean down here in the Mexican Riviera.  I was not let down!  I obviously could not sleep and when I did, it was cold again.  So asleep by 11 PM, awake by 4:30 AM.  At least my body was rested...just sleep deprived.  I was nervous and excited.  So at 6:30 AM, I got up and showered...just to wake myself up.  I repacked some things and then headed down the road to a hotel hoping a cab would be there.  There was one.  So off we went to the Diversty Dive Shop.  I arrived at the time told us and a young fellow was just opening the shop up.  We talked a minute and then I went back out to the street to watch for the kids (Brent, Ashley, Travis and MacKenzie).  They arrived 5 minutes later.  We spent the next 30 minutes getting wet suits fitted and organizing the gear on to a bike with a huge basket on it.  While doing that, our Dive Master and another young lady arrived.  The Dive Master was from Germany and the young lady (Megan) was from England.  She is certifying to be a Dive Master and she became my buddy for our dives.  Once we were ready, we headed down the street walking about 3 blocks where we came to a beach where their boat was waiting.  It had all our tanks and weights on it.  We just had to get the gear loaded...which the Mexican helpers did.  It was a cool morning...a bit overcast.  We moored out about a quarter to half mile, put our gear on with the helpers helping us and then a nice back roll into the beautiful warm sea.  The water felt so good!  One of my bucket list items was about to be completed.  We checked our weights to see if we were weighted well and then down we went.  Slowly of course.  It turned out that I was not weighted enough and struggled at times with my buoyancy.  They finally got me to about 20 lbs of weight...and all seemed good.  At one point, the Dive Master found a weight belt with all its wieights on the sea floor....so he used some of the weight to put on me!

We did two dives...one dive took us south as that was the way the current took us.  But it was not planned to be that way. The Dive Master thought the current was going north.  As a result, we did not see much of the reef system.  But it was a first good practice dive for me...I think all of us.  After the first dive, we were on the surface for about an hour visiting and talking.  And then we went down a 2nd time....this time a bit north from where we started the first time.  This time there was plenty of reef and marine life.  My buoyancy this time was perfect and I really did well keeping my neutral buoyancy.  Have a I said how much fun it was?!?!  :-). 

After diving, we walked back to the Dive Shop (albeit I think they replaced my shoes with someone else's!  I swear they feel so different.).  We hailed two taxi's...one for the kids and one for me.  I arrived back at Casa Almendra where Denise was all packed up and ready to move to the Riu Palace Mexico for the wedding festivities.  

The Riu Palace Mexico is beautiful...our room is so much better here at the resort.  It even has blankets for our beds which made a big difference on sleeping last night (yes...I'm writing this in the morning as we were up way past our bed time last night).  We finally slept warm...albeit in two beds since they just take two double beds and put them together.  And the sheets are so tightly tucked into the mattress....well I felt like I was in a straight jacket all night!  But I was warm!

It was so good to finally meet up with Kerri and Dustin.  This is their big event and things are going so well.  They found out the costs were going to be significantly less due to some things they had planned to do differently.  So that was good news to them.  Upon arriving our room was not quite ready, so we headed down to a Mexican restaurant for a quick lunch.  Really yummy it was...and Denise and I were in hog heaven having fasted at our BNB.  Ashley & Travis's BNB had a big spread laid out for them...Ashley knowing that I was getting nothing....brought me a breakfast sandwich to the dive shop.  I knew there was a reason Heavenly Father sent her to us!  So thoughtful...love you Ashley.  Anyway, back at our BNB, Denise woke up to a small scrambled egg, dry toast and a bit of juice.  She was still fasting unfortunately.  :-(   Oh...back to lunch.  I wish I had taken pictures of Brent....the man has died and arrived in heaven.  So much food, anything to drink...what else could this man want!  We ate like little piggy's then went back and got our keys to our rooms.  

Our room is very nice...quite big.  We are ground floor with a terrace off to a garden court yard.  Anyway...no one wants to hear about the room.  So off we went to find Dustin.  He was waiting at the pool with two smoothies in hand for his mom and dad.  What a good son.  I did not tip him though!  So good.  The sun had finally come out as I said when diving late morning and was still out.  It finally felt warm...like we thought it would.  We just laid around the pool talking to Dustin's friends and Kerri's family.  Trevor Moore is here.  Eric Ransdale...a Coast Guard friend.  And Riley Curtis...another long time friend from Utah.  Great to see these guys.

Dinner was held at the Italian restaurant.  They reserved almost the whole thing...27 guests.  The food was great and visiting was fun.  While we were there, Mike and Josh (Denise's brother and nephew) arrived.  It was great to see them.  They are going to be here into next week and have a few days of diving that they are going to do.  I should stay with them!!!  Anyway, after dinner, it started to sprinkle rain a bit.  But that did not stop us to go sit outside and visit.  Brent and others found the buffet...which contained cracked lobster tails I might add...and had a 2nd course in the buffet.  I think Travis and MacKenzie did also.  

To conclude, we all went to the 'show'...which was a 'game show' that required people from the audience.  Well...the audience that was selected mostly from Dustin and Kerri's party.  Dustin, Travis, Eric along with Kerri and her friend were participants.  It was a silly thing and I felt like I was watching some of the Spanish channels back home....the not so good ones!

Well...another very fun day in the books.  Now we focus on Dustin's wedding.  I'm so excited that their special day that they have been looking forward to is finally here.

Some scuba pics....a good one of me saying that I'm having a blast!  Thank you, Travis, for being a good son and being the underwater photographer.  You did AWESOME.  We all cannot wait to see all the footage!

The photographer and his wife (Mackenzie and Travis).....they don't need air apparently since they don't use their regulators!

Some big fish I found...Ashley and Brent!

The whole gang...we had so much fun together.  Missed Denise though!

Brent and Ashley in the foyer of the Riu Palace Mexico....we've arrived to Paradise.

Room decorations....

Pics of our room.  As I said it was large and nice....

Denise...like all of us...bellied up to the bar for unlimited, NON-ALCOHOLIC, drinks!

Pool side lounging...

Italian food in Mexico....Cassidy is actually in Rome, Italy and enjoying the real thing.  We miss both Karlie and Cassidy (and their husbands).  We wish they could be here!

Dustin, Trevor and Riley.....great friends.

Ashley, Michael, Denise and yours truly....

Even too much sugar can get you 'drunk'....look at these crazy ladies!

They happy couple...so glad to be here with family.  Makes the trip so much fun!