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!