Vacation Time!

Like most of the week, we hit the pool at 0900 and there until lunch.  Lunch was here at the hotel and then to the sun deck until about 4.  Showers and then out for dinner. The front desk was chaotic.  Many, many people checking in today.  And then, there were no taxis available.  What?  Well, it turns out that today is the Cancun marathon which shuts down the south-bound lanes.  All traffic must go North and only North.  So we finally talked an airport shuttle into taking us to our restaurant - because he had to go that way anyways.  And that took us over 20 minutes to travel less than 2 miles.  It matters not as we had yet another excellent meal at Puerto Mudero. We ordered the King Crab Leg appetizer, which came with caviar (salmon eggs) and Sandy actually ate them!  It's true.  I can hardly believe it myself, but I witnessed it! Sandy eating caviar at dinner! After dinner we walked N to the mall to finish up our shopping list.  Then we walked 2 miles back to our hote

Welcome to December!  We celebrated the first of the last month of 2017 in Cancun! And for those of you playing the "home game" it is T-minus 4 days until Sandy turns the Big 5-0! We hit to pool deck about 9 and stayed until Noon, when we walked next door and ate Philly cheese steak sandwiches for lunch.  Then we hit the sun deck until 3:30 when the clouds and a small bout of rain came in. We read on the balcony, took showers, and then met the kids at The Captain's Cove restaurant across the street.  This is their last night here. They followed us back to our hotel and had Key Lime pie for dessert.  Well, everyone but Alex.  He ate a brownie ala mode.  Then they came up to our room and stole some vanilla.  It seems we bought too much to haul back in our luggage, so they are going to take some back for us to hand out to others. We have one more full day here and then a very early flight out on Sunday. The beach today.  NICE!

Sandy got up early this morning.  Not of her own accord, either.  Seems my phone went off with text messages seven (7) times.  You Tony, RePhil, and Dave are guilty.  Guess I will have my phone on Silent Mode tonight. So, my spouse was by the pool bar by 0915.  I rolled out and made it down an hour later.  We stayed there until it was lunch time.  We ate here at the hotel.  And then went to the sun deck.  There were multiple trips to the pool to cool off and maybe get a drink or two. Sandy rolled at 3:30 to go paint art.  I packed everything up by 4 because the rain was coming.  And man did it come.  No worries.  The sun was behind clouds and the hotel was blocking it by then anyway.  We took showers and then went to Puerto Modero steak house for dinner.  The kids had reservations for Hacienda Sisal at their hotel, so we did not see them today.  We do, however, have reservations for The Captain's Cove for tomorrow night for all of us.  That will be there last day here as thei

Got up this morning to rain.  Awww.  I know.  You all can't stand that for us. Originally we were to meet our concierge by the pool bar at 0900.  We called and changed that to be a meeting in our room.  Then the kids arrived.  And the skies cleared up.  Coincidence?  Not if you ask Kathy. We sat by the pool and drank adult happy drinks until lunch.  We walked next door to Paco's Tacos and ate, you guessed it, tacos.  Back to the pool, but not for long.  We moved to the sun deck to get the breeze and stay cooler. Alex and I went down to swim in the ocean.  It is quite rough today.  The waves are at least 4' if not more high and breaking close to shore.  Alex rode one in a bit too far and got tossed like a rag doll.  We had fun & Alex ended up with 2" of sand in his pockets (and other areas that he says will take 2 months to get it all out). The kids went back to the Royal Sands to have Asian night at the buffet restaurant.  Sandy and I took showers (sadly, i

The mall, La Isla, had a Christmas display set up and Kathy had to have her picture taken.  Alex would NOT get in the photo. While some of you may think it a travesty, I suspect there are a few of you who think it on the hilarious side.  But thanks to Day Care, miss Hadley gave a cold to Will, who shared it with Grandma, who gave it to me.  For the past two days, I could not speak.  Kathy says I sound like Big Foot.  Sandy says it's awesome because when I start to snore, I cough and wake up.  She has had some peaceful sleep the past two days.  The voice has started to come back a bit, but now the cold has relocated to my sinuses.  Fun. Kathy at Christmas display at La Isla mall.

What are we going to do today, Brain? Same thing we do every day, Pinky! We got up and hit the same chairs at the same time.  We stayed until 10:30 as we are checking out and switching hotels today.  The kids are staying at the Sands while we go south to the Caribbean.  We checked in and our room was ready.  We ate lunch and laid by the pool.  It is warmer today, but the ocean is throwing waves today - we did not get in the ocean today. We met the kids at Lorenzillo's for dinner.  We had awesome food, as always.  For appetizers, we had Oysters Rockefeller and a shrimp & scallop filled crepe (think Giant Chinese dumpling).  Alex and I had the steak & lobster.  The lobster bisque and French onion soup made appearances - excellent.  Sandy had a steak.  Kathy & Lorra has seafood dishes.  Yes, Lorenzillo's is expensive, but it's worth it.  I lost count of the rum & cokes we drank, but I can tell you that Kathy was leading the pack! We then took a taxi to L

We got up and hit the pool deck by 9 - where we stayed until lunch.  We walked next door for lunch and then back to the pool deck where we stayed until the sun went behind the hotel at 4. Alex and I swam out about 200 yards to a sandy reef.  The water there is only about 5' deep, but it is over your head getting there.  Tough work against the tide.  This we did twice! He and I also played a couple of games of corn hole.  I won the first game 21-0.  I won the second game 21-18, but I went backwards to 14 three times.  I think I scored over 50 points that game. We did not drink anything since we were on an all-inclusive package.  Right. We ate at the hotel for dinner (after showers of course).  The local restaurant (La Veranda) was having an international night - which consisted of lots of meat on the grill.  Excellent dinner. We went back to the room and played cards.  After all was said and done, the boys won 4 games and the girls won 3.  Although Sandy did deal me a &quo

We got up at 0800 this morning because as part of our vacation package (which is awesome BTW: 3 nights, 4 days, all-inclusive food & drink for 4 people = $400!  Winning), we had to sit through the new Vacation Club presentation - for 3 hours.  So Sandy lost some sun today, but we still got a great deal.  She kept saying, "I hope the kids appreciate this." We ate lunch at the pool restaurant next door and then laid on the beach until sunset.  We took showers and then walked to the KuKulKan mall, where we browsed.  We walked across the street and ate at La Distilleria.  We had tequila cheese appetizers and then three of us ate flambe steaks.  Wonderful food. We walked back through the mall and bought supplies (Mt. Dew and Rum) for the room.  We played cards again.  We let the girls win ONE game, but the guys are still champions of the free world! Sunset while eating on the deck at La Distilleria Kathy & Alex in mall Craig & Sandy in mall. Kath

We got up this morning at 0900, after 13 hours of sleep.  Needed that.  We sat on our private patio and soaked up the sun for two hours.  We skipped lunch as we knew the kids were coming in and would probably be hungry. Kathy, Alex, and Laura arrived at 2 pm.  We checked them in and walked to the sports bar for drinks and appetizers.  We then hit the beach for a few hours. We played corn-hole.  Me and Laura against Kathy & Alex.  We won 21 - 19.  Sandy was taking a shower during that time. We headed off to The Captain's Cove for dinner and had an excellent meal while the sun set. We came back to the hotel and played a round of cards (Alex and I won!) before calling it a night. The weather has been gorgeous.  High of 80 with zero clouds.  The ocean is dead calm.  No waves at all.  The locals said it was a bit cool, but we are loving it. Repeat for the next 6 days... The sun setting at the Captain's Cove, Saturday, Nov 25, 2017

My Facebook "memory" post from one year ago came up this morning and it made me laugh.  It was identical to now. We flew into Cancun via Dallas-Ft. Worth.  Left the house at 4:30 am.  Arrived in hotel a little after 4 pm.  Ate dinner at The Veranda restaurant right next to pool and one floor below room. Went to bed by 8 pm and slept for 13 hours! It's due to be 80 all week long. Our view while we ate dinner.

Did the usual today.  Got up and landed on the sun deck.  Lunch here at the hotel.  Back to the sun deck.  Great weather all week.  No rain at all. We did get a marketing deal for random "VIP" customers.  They want us to sit through the new Vacation Club program that has replaced Time Shares.  So, if we do, we can stay at the Royal Sands, all-inclusive, for 5 days and 4 nights for $100 per person for 4 people.  That's like a $1,500 deal.  So we spend 90 mins (total 3 hours) and get $1500 in return and spend only $400.  We win.  Took that deal.  Can be used any time in the next 18 months and we can add days before or after.  So, next trip down, we should be able to tell you all about the Vacation Club. Selfie on the sun deck.  Check out the lush! Dinner was Puerto Madero again.  Excellent meal again.  Awesome sunset. Sun going down over the lagoon. Taken from Puerto Madero's deck. Another shot of the same.  Winning!

We got reservations for our final two dinners - we figure lots of folks will be going out for their last night - and then going out for their first night as the weeks change over today, Saturday. Anyway, hit Casa Rolandi again.  Sandy chose the Gnocci and I had duck.  We also got soup - Sandy had lobster bisque and I had the minestrone.  Again, awesome meals. We got back to the hotel with enough time to take sunset photos off the balcony. St. Patrick's Day Lunch with green chips - nice touch! That's my iced tea and Sandy's beer. Sun going down over the lagoon @ Casa Rolandi Sun setting over the lagoon - from the 12th floor of our hotel. The hotel pool and the beach.

So today is the day where everyone is a little bit Irish.  Thank goodness I brought along my Green Speedo, so I don't get pinched! Today also happens to be my older sister Joan's birthday.  On this date in 1960, my elder sister was borned.  I mean, I'm not 50 yet, and she's like really old, so it musta been 1960.  Regardless, HBD Sis!

We hit the sun deck today - most of the day.  We ate lunch next door and then back to the sun deck. We were going to try this new restaurant, so we left early and headed N.  We stopped by the Royal Sands to check out their all-inclusive deals and then we walked up the street to the restaurant. It looked like a self-service food truck along the street.  There was no one there to greet us and only three men eating at the counter.  Maybe Guy Fieri would have pulled in and eaten there, but not us - not for seafood anyways. We walked back down to La Distilleria and had yet another wonderful meal.  Flambe steaks that you could cut with your fork.  We are certainly rockin' the food on this trip. We took a few more photos to let everyone know what you are missing down here. I did stop in the tequila hut (part of the La Distilleria restaurant - and yes, they actually make Hornitos tequila in the restaurant).  And yes, I did buy some tequilas for me, and some to share. We came ba

We have figured out what day it is by looking at our pill containers.  It's Thursday morning.  Still not sure about the time though. The only reason we needed to know a time was so that we could coordinate a FaceTime with our grandson.  Seems that Boppum had done tuckered the little guy out yesterday - he slept for almost 4 hours after his visit.  But that made him happy when he saw Geemaw and Papaw on a little iPhone. For all practical purposes, we could be on the Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid tv show.  Never seen it?  Two people go into the wild without anything and must survive.  We are almost like that, except we have waiters bringing us drinks by the pool and most excellent meals.  But other than that, the show could be about us. Don't be concerned for us.  We're fine.  We want for very little.  And when we do, some servant is there to take care of whatever need we have. Oh yeah.  Here's a funny one for y'all back in the cold and snow.

We've lost track of the days.  Not that it matters.  Sandy said today is Date Night.  I said the entire week has been Date Night. We've had some good meals.  Lorenzillo's last night.  Puerto Madero tonight. PM is an Argentinian steak house.  And I must say, one fabulous meal!  The garlic shrimp appetizer is wonderful.  We will visit it again on this trip. The weather has been great.  Mostly sun.  Some clouds.  Little to no rain at all.  Got some breezes that help to keep us cool. All is well.  No issues.  We shall keep in touch....sometime.

On somewhat of a 'normal' schedule now.  Go up and went to the pool.  It was warm. Back to the room and changed clothes so that we could eat lunch inside the restaurant. Lathered back up with sunscreen and then to the sun deck.  I wandered down to the ocean a bit. Back to the room to shower. Tried a new restaurant for dinner, Casa Rolandi.  It claims to be Italian, but this is Northern Italy and Sicily "Italian."  I had veal cheeks roasted in a brick oven.  Sandy had mushroom ravioli in a creamy Alba Truffle sauce.  Both meals were excellent and there was enough variety there we shall return to try other dishes. We walked the KuKulKan mall, just for kicks.  This is the more expensive one that is closest to our hotel.  We ended up with two small gifts. Back to the room.  Not much on TV so we read books before calling it a night at ten. We shall be repeating this day - it's Groundhog Day - for the rest of the week. This is looking W, across the lagoo

To be honest, I am having trouble telling what day it is.  Thankfully, my medication box has the day of the week on it - although I did challenge it - Sandy says it is correct. For sure we have no clue what TIME it is.  Today marks the annual time change that the smart Mexican people do not believe in.  Hey, ask ole Snellenbarger - the sun don't care what time it is. So, down here we did not move our clocks at all, but at home, y'all did.  So we just waited until the Pool Aerobics started, and then we knew it was 11 o'clock am.  We are now one hour behind Indiana, 'cause you all Sprang Forward. We slept in until whatever time, lathered up with sun block and hit the palm trees by the kiddie pool to stay mostly out of the sun and read a little bit - and maybe nap some too.  We walked next door to eat lunch and then back to the room for more sun block.  We hit the pool below us, again in the shade and took naps - well at least I did. We came back up to the room earl

Our flight left Indy at 0530, which means we left Mulberry at 0230.  There was not much sleep.  No worries though, that made the flights go quicker, as I slept all the way through both flights - even though we were in First Class.  Yep, I gave up the amenities of FC to sleep.  Nice roomy seats though. We touched down at the Cancun airport at 10:30 and were at the hotel eating lunch by 11:30.  Our room was available at 12:30, so we changed into our bathing suits and hit the sun deck. Thinking that we were only going to be out a couple of hours, we did use sunscreen, but only 15 SPF and were not quite as thorough as we should have been.  My poor legs, who have not even seen the sun since December, are fried - to the ouchy point.  My eyes are a little puffy, but that could also be caused by a lack of sleep.                             We took showers and then a bus up to the mall.  We ate dinner on the patio of La Distileria.  Good food, as always. We returned to our room and