Vacation Time!

Our flight out of Cancun was delayed about 45 minutes, as our plane was flying in from Salt Lake City.  Seems they had to take the time to de-ice before they could leave SLC.  Whew.  None of that in Cancun nor Indiana. Flight back was bumpy, but not horrible.  Movie selection was lame since I had watched Dark Knight on the way in.  Plus, due to the delay, all in-flight Direct TV was free to everyone - except that we had already paid for it on our upgrade.  Did we get a refund?  Yeah, don't ask. Landed in Indy about 7:00 pm to rain and 50F.  Guess that's better than snow and 30F.  No issues with Immigration nor Customs. Stopped in at the Mulberry Pizza King to get "take out" for our dinner.  Pulled in the homestead at roughly 8:30. Spent Sunday catching up.  House was in pretty good shape.  Guess we don't have to kick Nick out yet. Nothing planned for a return trip yet, but my guess is that Cancun has not seen the last of us yet.  Well, unless the May

Well, since Someone couldn't sleep, She thought it would be a wonderful idea to hit the Tradewinds restaurant for a buffet breakfast at 7:00 am. Yeah! Finished packing and hit the sun deck for our last few hours of sun. Checked out and will look for a taxi to get us to the airport at 11. We have enjoyed our week and are having difficulties grasping that Christmas is only 10 days away. Doesn't seem right with 80 degrees, the beach and sun. Not sure we'll have snow to help us get back into the mood, but it's back to our routine come Monday. Sandy finished two books and didn't get sun poisoning until Friday. I missed the over on books and the under on the sun rash. I started one book but caught two movies. It was difficult to read on this iPad in the sun. If I'm not sleeping on the plane, I might get through my book. Odds are in favor of sleep. We don't have much for tv down here, but we did get a few reports of the mass shooting in CT. Sad and uncalled

Since it's wintertime at home, we have gotten accustom to a certain amount of hair growth. I can get away with not shaving every day and it's not too noticeable. Not so much for tropical climes. Warmer weather enhances circulation to the skin and scalp - which in turn promotes cell growth. Thus, your hair and nails grow 10-15% faster in warmer weather. Conversely, during colder weather, the blood is used to warm internal organs and hair growth subsequently slows. I have noted this throughout the week. I could barely go a day without needing a shave. Also had to trim my nails down here. Not complaining, mind you. Just pointing it out for your edification. And now that you're aware, you can take note on your next trip to the tropics. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancún, Mexico

Probably our best "sun" day this week. Got up and hit the pool. Ate lunch then hit the sun deck. Took showers and then ate dinner at the Capt's Cove. Back to the room to start packing. Up early tomorrow to get our final sun for the week. We fly out at 2:00 pm and arrive about 6 in Indy. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancún, Mexico

Today was our first day "alone" on the island. Slept til 9:30 and hit the sun deck by 10. Ordered pizza to the room for lunch and then back to the sun deck. Mostly cloudy and 75 turned to mostly sunny and 85 this afternoon. We had to return to the room for more sunscreen, but I will have to wear a t-shirt for the remainder of the trip - my shoulders are pink. We hit the showers by 4 and headed out to shop. We're all but done, maybe one more item or two here at the hotel to purchase. We attempted to have dinner at Margaritaville, but it was reserved for a private party. They invited us back tomorrow and gave us a coupon for a free margarita. Too bad we'll be at Capt's Cove tomorrow. Sandy did not appreciate my attempts at social engineering our way into the party. Had Geordie or RePhil been here, I'm positive we'd be partying at Margaritaville right now! Ate dinner at the Caribbean Tradewinds again. Tonight was fajita night and they were excellent.

This web camera is pointed directly at our room. We are on the top (8th) floor of building A, closest to the ocean. So in the picture below, building A is the smaller one. Top floor all the way to the right is us. Entry is on his side, and our deck faces the ocean. Currently, Sandy is sunning horizontally and I am in a chair typing this on the sun deck, two sections from our room, directly over the pool bar and to the left. That's an airplane flying in from the right, advertising for a live band at Margaritaville tonight. Go here: http://www.royalresorts.com/webcams.asp Select the Royal Caribbean to get a more recent shot. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancún, Mexico

We did indeed take a cab to the Crab House for dinner last night and ate inside instead of on the lagoon due to inclement weather. Well, as inclement as you can get here. Had a wonderful meal, except Sandy's steak was cooked more toward my rare side versus her done side. On the ride back to the hotel, Kathy was helping our cabbie drive - maybe too many Cap't and Cokes? I threatened to leave them all in the taxi. We played cards until the boys finally won again 3:2. Although it was very close. We all got good cards at one time or another and we all got really lousy cards too. Kathy wanted the record to show that her mother made them go negative and eventually cost the girls an overall championship. So, let the record show. However, there may be a differing opinion or two. The kids packed and we crashed about 11 pm local. And the storms blew in. Without a doubt the most intense thunderstorm we've been privy to in Cancun. The wind blew our deck chairs around, creati

Got up this morning to cloud cover. Sprinkled a bit, but nothing could keep us from the pool deck. Saw some lightening and heard thunder but it was around us, not on us. Still 84 degrees. Laid by the pool until lunch. Walked next door to eat. Alex and I rented boogie boards and fins. We hit the ocean. The storms made the waves pretty significant for here. It wore us out quickly and stole one of my fins. It has been returned to Mother Ocean. Returned to the room and called Nick. He and Eric were splitting wood in 35 degree temps. He said the wind is horribly cold, so they closed the barn doors. Nick hunted with Dave earlier this week and they saw nothing. We spent the afternoon playing cards. And yes, the boys won last night 2:1. We are knotted at one each this afternoon. We are rotating through showers and preparing to hit The Crab House for dinner. Yep, just another lousy day in paradise. Kathy and Alex are checking into their flight on-line. They fly out tomorrow at 2.

Posted Alex's video on YouTube. Made this one public so it can be found by searching. The instructor was very complimentary of his skills. Alex finally made it at least 10' above water, but I did not capture that bit. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvldSs8qJu4&sns=em - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Calle Cucumatz, Cancún, Mexico

Here's a better link that I emailed out to some folks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTk4aDr2EI8&sns=em Copy and paste that one into your web browser. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancún, Mexico

I uploaded a 50 second video of Kathy on the fly board to YouTube. It's not available on my iPad but this link should take you there. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=jTk4aDr2EI8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DjTk4aDr2EI8%26feature%3Dyoutube_gdata_player Copy and paste that into your web browser. I did not make it public, which in hindsight I should have so you could search on it. Leave a comment if that link does not work and I can email the link to you, I think - if I have your email address. Remember that your arms are strapped to water jets. No adjusting your helmet, wiping your face, or pulling your shorts back up (Alex). - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancún, Mexico

We got up this morning to no power. I called the front desk and asked if the Mayans had missed it by 11 days. Nope. Something outside of the resort had shut us all down. We were out for about an hour. We hit the pool and then off to Fly Board. Lunch was at Paco's Tacos next door at the Islander. Kathy ate the Gringa - Shelby's favorite - pork tacos with pineapple. Alex and I hit the ocean and then we spent the remainder of the day soaking up rays on the sun deck. There was at least one swim up time-out at the pool bar. We ate the Cajun buffet here at the Trade Winds restaurant at the Caribbean for dinner. No clouds and a slight breeze kept it cool today. But it's still 80 degrees F. Nice. Back at the room fixin' to play cards and watch MNF. Any bets as to who will win? It'll be the boys cause we'll cheat if we have to. Tried to send MMS texts to Nick, hazing him about Cambalache's but they would not go through. Too sad. You all need to ask Alex wh

A new activity available here in Cancun is called Fly Boarding. But, for Sandy, it might as well be called Water Boarding. Here's a YouTube video of what we didn't look like. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Cd6C1vIyQ3w Alex went first, then Kathy, and then Craig. We headed out on a jet ski. The output of the jet ski was piped to the boots on your feet. You also have wands strapped to your hands for balance and steering. The two hardest parts were remembering to keep your arms down and getting out of the water. You're swimming for Pete's sake - no, keep your arms at your side, pointed down. Knees need to be locked straight. You move by tilting your feet. Balancing in the water is pretty simple. Once you get about 6' out of the water it gets a bit more tricky. Also, since you are attached to the jet ski, you must remember where it is at all times. You don't wanna go crashing into the jet ski. Alex spent 45 minutes flying and according to our trainer Angel,

Slept for 11 hours and got up at 8 this morning. Hit the pool - our usual spot, directly across from the pool bar. Swam up for drinks as soon as they opened. Kathy ordered a pineapple head. Not a cloud in the sky and 80 degrees. Walked next door for lunch. Cheeseburgers in paradise. Hit the beach to swim a bit and the clouds started to come in. Stayed by the pool til 4. Took showers and grabbed a bus to Cambalache steak house for dinner. It has started to sprinkle a bit. Okay, now that we've been on a bus, we don't have to do that again. Took a taxi back to the hotel and are sitting down to watch Green Bay getting beat by Detroit in the snow. Alex took a picture of the sun going down between the hotel buildings. Forgot to post the link to the hotel camera so you can see live pictures if you want. Go here http://www.royalresorts.com/webcams.asp and click on the Royal Caribbean. We should be there from about 8 til 3 Indiana time - we're and hour behind here. Big plans i

We pulled it off - getting Kathy and Alex here to join us without Sandy knowing. Surprise! We've planned it for two months and I almost blew it yesterday. Sandy was writing a list of jobs for Nick to perform while we're here. I said, he won't be here because he's house sitting for Kathy. Oops. One white lie later and several texts to get everyone on the same page, and we got it covered. Flight was very easy. We were the second in line at Immigration. Got from our airplane seats to the hotel in 45 mins. Awesome! Could not check in until Noon, and it was 9:15. So we went next door and ate breakfast. We sat by the pool and napped. Had to move to get out of the sun. I was watching a movie on this iPad and Sandy was dozing when Kathy threw pool water on her. Kathy said it made her mother's entire week having her daughter here! Me? I'm not so sure. We all walked next door for lunch after checking in. We hit the sun deck for some warm sunshine. Alex

Didn't go to sleep last night, so still wearing Friday's clothes. And yes, my pocket knife was STILL in my pocket as I tried to pass security. Again! I made an additional walk back out to the truck to stow it while Sandy waited at the gate. All is good now and we're starting the pre-boarding activities. Drove down in major fog. Cleared up about Zionsville. 48 and raining here in Indy. Should be on the beach in about 5 hours. That is, if we don't crash first. More from Mexico later. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: N Access Dr,Indianapolis,United States

Mama is already packed.  I have yet to start.  Flight takes off at 0615 on Saturday (tomorrow).  One full week of fun, sun, and alcohol.  Should be a relaxing time. Nick is staying home to feed the pets and water the Christmas tree.  Of course he has G&G Seager to watch over his activities. Returning in one week and then the rounds of Christmas parties begin. Will try and update this blog daily from the pool deck.  Add photos as we go. Feel free to comment.  I do read them aloud so everyone can enjoy. Next post, Cancun, Mexico, Royal Caribbean Resorts!

Finally got Blog Press and WiFi working again. Got through Indy Customs and Immigration with no hassles. Got our cars out of hock. Drove to Lebanon for Arby's dinner. Ate at home while watching IU men play basketball and winning. Sent texts and called everyone. Loading pictures and unpacking. Glad to be home but sad the trip is over. Craig - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Mulberry, Indiana.

So the story I wrote on the plane would not upload. Lost it all. Trying again. Oh, and lost the pictures too. Damn WiFi. We packed and left the hotel at 10:15. Got less than one hour of sun as it was overcast and spitting rain. Here are the last two hold outs. We got into a Suburban taxi with a driver who spoke English like a native. We asked about the increased police presence. He said the Cancun Chief of Police is a retired Army General and Quintana Roo has a very good governor. So taxi driver claims it's both good and bad to have more police. Good because the it keeps the criminals away. Bad because he can't speed. Seems the CoP would rather send the criminals to Hell than to jail where they can bribe their way out. So, he orders them killed while trying to "escape." Seems to work. No problems in Cancun at all. Lots and lots of police patrols. We get a bell hop at the airport to help with our luggage. We walk into a very crowded airport. But Frontier's line is

For some reason the iPad won't update yet. Lost two blogs already. We're home. More later. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Mulberry, Indiana

Well, not that returning to 80 degree weather is going to be horrible - especially since when we left it was 25F - but today is our last day in Cancun for this trip. In about 10 hours we'll we home. Yesterday was spent soaking up rays. Alex and I hit the ocean one more time. We bailed about 5:30 to hit the Capt's Cove for our final dinner here. It was a beautiful sunset over the bay and one of our best meals. Got excellent photos. Returned to the room for more Rage. At dinner we made a pact to hose Alex - and we were very successful. He barely hit double digits when the game ended with Nick in the lead. In the second game, it was down to the last hand and anyone could win but Shelby. Sandy took the game (barely) and was happy about that, 'cause in her words she rarely gets to win. Sandy and I went to check out after cards. The line was about 15 people deep, but probably better than what this morning holds. We're free and clear to leave. During our walk to the front desk

Walked down to the Crab House after our ceremony last night for dinner. Sandy and Shelby had chicken and the rest of us all had Alaskan king crab legs. Took some great sunset photos on the camera. After dinner walked back to hotel. Guessing it's about one mile each way. Played cards and video games in the room. Switched up partners here and there, but at the end of the night, Nick was calling Shelby a jinx because I'm pretty sure whoever had Shelby as a partner lost. I got up this morning at 6:45 and went to the pool to reserve seats. Shelby rolled out Nick by 9. Kathy and Alex did not make it out until after 10. Shelby got in trouble for "air kicking" at Nick this morning. That was a new one on me. Lunch next door then back for our last bastion of sun for the trip. Our flight out tomorrow is about 1 local or 3 Indiana time. Should roll into the homestead around 8 Sat night. Till then, we're enjoying the surf. Waves are about as small as they've been all week.

In a surprise move that's sensitive, thoughtful, romantic, and so unlike Craig, this afternoon on the beach, Craig scheduled a 25-year vow renewal with Sandy. Kathy told a fib and said we were getting family photos in order to get Sandy ready. Seems that Sandy wanted to finish her second book before going to dinner. We met the minster at the bottom of the stairs before he and I went to the tiki torch / rose area on the beach. Kathy and Nick walked in together. Alex and Shelby followed, just like a real ceremony. So we had two attendants each. And, as you can see, Sandy had a bouquet of flowers. Brother and sister were pushing each other in the sand on the way to the "altar." Typical. The Ceremony was nice and non-denominational. Spoke of love and working together and sharing. Minister said we included our kids so that they could witness our example. We said our vows again which were very similar to what we said 25 years ago. And I even got to kiss the bride. We grabbed th

Last night was competition night. We ate at the Italian buffet here at the hotel. And while it had a greater selection / variety of food, we all agreed that Cajun night was better. Sandy wrote the dissenting opinion. We returned to the room to play Rage, Bid Euchre, and Pictionary Man. The teams were male v female. The girls won the first round of euchre quite handily, by about 45 points in a game of 52. Then we found out why the new card game is called Rage when Sandy, in an almost stunningly brilliant move gave Shelby 17 points in one hand, at a time when Shelby was already leading. Understand two things: 7 is a pretty good score in one hand of Rage, so 17 is unheard of; and no Seager likes to lose. Of course we all ganged up on Shelby while Sandy quietly took the lead. It came down to the very last card. If Nick chose what color card Sandy was holding, then Shelby won. If Nick did not pick the one color out of six Sandy held, then Sandy won. Nick chose wisely and let his girlfriend

Stayed by the pool til lunch. Right before eating though, we all hit the ocean for a photo op. Kathy says this photo shows we like them more. See, no snow like what Trent has. And yes, everyone got in the water. Here are the girls with their toes in the water, ass in the sand. Forecast says we will be having full sun and 84 degrees for our last two days. Showers next, then eating Italian here at the hotel. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cucumatz,Cancún,Mexico

Called it early yesterday. Went in for showers around 2:30. Headed N to Caracol Mall to buy souvenirs. Shelby had her first bus ride in Mexico. Stopped at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville for dinner. We all got large balloon hats that our waiter joined together. We had a huge house over our table. Other patrons were video taping us. We got pictures but they're on the camera and I can't post them. We had Cajun shrimp for an appetizer. All our fingernails are orange this morning from the shrimp. Well, all but Shelby's as she does not do seafood. Returned to the room and applied aloe to our burnt skin. Watched the NIT basketball games and crashed by 8 local, which is 10 back in Indiana. Got an email from Pa who said it was too difficult to leave comments here. Basically it said glad we're having a good time and that it was 70 degrees at home. Our dogs (who actually follow the white truck now - all belonging to Grandpa) spent the day in his air conditioned shop. Poor babi

Monday night is generally reserved for the Mexican Show at the Royal Mayan. However, our hotel hosted New Orleans / Cajun Night last night so we opted for that instead. The guys all thought it was better, but the gals suggested that the other buffet had a larger selection. Returned to the room for more competition. Before dinner, Shelby won a game of Rage and Craig lost. After dinner, we played Pictionary Man and the boys won. Then the couples played bid euchre for the Championship of the free world. Kathy and Alex won because Nick got hosed twice on shooters. Called it quits at about 10. We sat just right of where Dave Porrill thought he saw us on the webcam yesterday. This morning, Sandy reserved chairs all the way to the right end of the pool bar because that's all that was available at 7:15 am Sandy and I each sent beach photos to our co-workers this morning, just to rub it in Alex, Kathy, and Nick have not made it out by 8:30 this morning. We were waiting on a rainy day to go

Sandy and Shelby hit the pool at 8 o'clock this morning to reserve our chairs. Good call. We ate a breakfast of leftovers. Nick had lamb and suckling pig and Mt. Dew. Shelby had quesadillas and Mt Dew. Sandy had chicken. Craig had suckling pig and Dos Equis. We hit the pool and swim up bar. If you're watching the webcam, we are at the edge of the pool directly back from the camera at the edge of the pool. We made it until 11 am and then returned to the room for pizza. Thank goodness for the breeze or it would be unbearably hot. I took a movie at the pool, but I cannot get YouTube to work, so it is not attached. We played a card game called Rage last night after dinner. Craig won the first game and Alex lost. Sandy won the second game and Shelby lost. The kids said letting us win was their anniversary gift, but really they won since they are in Cancun on our dime. Playing cards while waiting on our pizza. Couples vs couples. The plan is to get Shelby on stage tonight dancing at

Spent the day in the ocean and pool side. Bought three boogie boards, but only Alex and Craig were brave enough to try them out. Nick would have but he was sleeping. Shelby did join us in the ocean after lunch. Nick promptly dunked her. Sat over at the Royal Mayan after lunch as the Caribbean was too full. Thank goodness the wind was blowing or we would have been way hot. It took several dunks in the pool just to keep cool. No one is burnt yet, but it's still early. Took showers and then headed to Cambalache (Argentinian steak house) for dinner. We all brought food back to the room for breakfast tomorrow, as the portions were just HUGE. Here's the gang on the balcony before dinner. This is on our room, not Alex's and Kathy's room. You can see the effects of the wind, including the waves behind us. Our balcony is on the third floor, facing the ocean. Shelby called her mom. And then Sandy called and spoke with her parents. We caught most of the men's NCAA brackets on

Crashed last night at 7 pm local. Got 12 - 13 hours of much needed rest. Hit the sun deck around 9 local as most spots are "reserved" (towels on seats) but not many people around. Looks like we're gonna have to get out earlier if we want our pick of spots to soak up rays. Shelby ate her left-over ribs from Capt's Cove for breakfast and washed them down with Mt. Dew. She said this was a first for her, but were not bad. That is, she was not complaining. No major plans for the day. Mostly sunny but a strong breeze. Going to buy some boogie boards for the surf. Lots o fun ahead. I had to get a pass code for the WiFi, so that's why I did not post last night. I'm live now and even have access in our room. Got an email from Dave Porrill. If you see a weird name in the comment section of this blog, that'll probably be Dave. It's good to be us right now! Craig - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Cancun, Quintana Roo, Mexico

Right at 3 hours sleep. Nick chose to just stay up all night. Met Kathy and Alex at the airport at 0600. Too much air traffic in Cancun, so we were delayed on the ground for about 30 minutes. Pretty painless flight in. Lots of people here in Cancun for Spring Break. Took longer in Immigration and to get luggage, but Customs and a taxi were a breeze. Overall about the same as usual amount of time to get to the hotel. Checked in and headed straight to the Royal Mayan for cheeseburgers in paradise. Then swapped into our suits. The girls hit the sun deck while the boys hit the ocean. The beach is red flagged with life guards. Nice point break. Post ocean swim, we hit the pool bar and saluted the webcam. Now, look for the group of six beyond the bar on the sun deck. Here we are on the sun deck. Photo taken looking NE. Cuba's out there somewhere to our backs. Cancun is one hour behind Indy. Don't reckon there'll be much trouble going to sleep tonight regardless. Took showers a

So Apple released a new iOS to accompany the release of their iPad 3. Checking to make sure that the blog still works and I still remember the password. All good things to check before we pack tomorrow and fly out Sat. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Indiana, Mulberry,United States