Vacation Time!

Today was our last official day here on the island for this trip.  It started off as mostly overcast and even put some rain down.  We went to the lounge chairs and back to our room twice to get out of the rain.  In the end - I put on sunscreen first thing this morning.  My bride?  Well she has some red spots for sure. Lunch, as usual was at the Char-Hut.  For dinner we went down to Captain's Cove.  Adam and I had the 16 oz lobster tails.  Awesome.  The girls ended up with brownies for dessert.   Overall a great week.  We fly out at Noon tomorrow and hope to arrive home in Mulberry by 8. Our next trip is in late January.  Oh, and Hey - Sandy turns 53 in the morning!  Happy Birthday, Babe! Dinner tonight at the Captain's Cove This is my attempt at a beautiful sunset photo. Sandy's pictures turned out much better than mine.

Could have and probably should have put this out earlier in the week.  On the webcams - we do go to Phase 2.  We sit in the middle of the pool until lunch - when the noisy and whiny kids come out to play - don't we sound like old fuddy-duddies? We take lunch at the Char-Hut which doubles as the swim-up bar.  And then we go lay out on the sun deck.  This allows access to both the pool and the beach, so that when we get hot, we can cool off.  Of course, the waiters also know where to find us! Ignoring the rain this morning, red arrow is before lunch. Hut in the middle is where we take lunch. Green arrow is after lunch.

Got up at 8.  It was overcast and rained most of the day.  We shopped.  Kathy & Alex took an early flight home.  More details on that later.  They are home now. We ate lunch at Johnny Rockets at La Isla.  We had the prime rib dinner here at the hotel.  We played cards - Euchre - men v women.  It was 3:1.   Sandy was going down to buy some art.  She asked me to give her some cash - as they only took cash.  Now, don't go thinking that this woman needs me to give her cash.  She does not.  It just so happened that I had my wallet on me from shopping and her purse was in the safe.  Under no circumstances did she need me to provide her authorization or the cash.  Just so you know. But, since it was really windy today, as she went to put on her mask, the wind took the cash and blew $40 over the building.  Boom.  Gone.  We laughed and hoped that some kid found the cash just so it would make his/her day.  Anyway, I've done dumber things, wasting more than $40.   Just to be certain t

Ok, I'll be honest with you.  I know it's Wednesday only because my pill container had pills in it for Wednesday when I got up today.  Now, if I have forgotten to take any pills during the week, then I am lost.  But then again, I only need to know the day of the week so that we can catch our flight back home.  I can also tell that the redundancy is catching up to folks.  When the week started we had nearly 30 people checking out our days in the sun.  Now?  Now we are down to 11.  The repetition has gotten to you as well. That's fine.  I shall keep it short.  Today was most like Monday.  Up and out by 8.  In our pool chairs by 9.  Ate at the Char-Hut.  Drank lots of adult beverages.  Mostly cloudy, but no rain.  The ocean was churning.  Not large waves, but very powerful ones that started way out and came all the way to shore with gusto.  Oh yeah, and it's super windy.  Back to the hotel at 4 to shower. From the sun deck, looking S.  Small, but powerful waves. From the s

Well, welcome to December!  No finer place to bring in a new month, especially the typically cold ones, than in a warmer clime.  Although it was a bit chillier today - and by chilly I mean 77 instead of 80 & mostly cloudly instead of mostly sunny.  I know - cry me a river... We rolled at 0800.  Mama went down and bought pastries for breakfast.  We slathered up with sunscreen and were at the pool by 0900.  Lunch was once again at the Char-Hut next door.  Then we loaded up and went to the sun deck until 4:30 - which is when the sun goes down behind the hotel.  So up to the rooms for showers and to prepare for dinner out. This is getting pretty redundant, right?  This is our Groundhog Day movie while we are on vacation in Cancun.  It's going to stay about the same. Tonight for dinner we walked across the street to La Distilleria, one of our local favorites but not part of the all-inclusive price.  Matters not.  We had a great meal.  Mama ordered her favorite drink, the Banana Maya

Just goes to show that you cannot trust the ole weatherman.  The call was for 80% chance of rain all day.  I think we got sprinkled on about 2 pm.  Mostly sunny. So, we go to bed early again last night.  Why?  Because we are still catching up from all the travel.  The alcohol probably has little to do with it.  And by early, I mean like 9:30-ish pm.  Well after half-time of the SNF game. I rolled out at 9am.  Most of the clan was already slathered and heading out the door.  I followed suit and was in my chair by the pool at 9:30 am.  We stayed there until lunch.  We came to the room, got dry clothes, and then ate lunch next door at the Char-Hut. Back to the room for putting on our second swimsuit (you know, the one that is dry) - and that folks, is why you take two swimsuits with you on vacation.  You're always putting on a dry one that way.  The boys, we head for the ocean.  It's very mild today, like 3' waves (from surface of water to max height). The weather turned out g

Some of the group was up about 7:30 this morning.  I slept until 8:30 which was still only about 12 hours.  That was enough for my back.  The damn bed is a rock.  And everyone else has the same report - beds are hard. We headed for the main section at the end of the long pool in Phase 1 today.  Alex, Lorra, and Adam went to the Char-Hut for breakfast.  I snoozed some more in the chair.  I did get in the ocean this morning prior to napping. We ate lunch in the Char-Hut as the rain came down.  It had been threatening all morning, but finally hit about Noon.  It was done the same time we were done eating.  We walked back to the room to reapply sunscreen.  Then we hit the sun deck over on Phase 2.  Spent the entire afternoon there. Adam, Alex, and I hit the ocean.  The waves were fantastic today - at least 12' if not 15' tall - from the ocean floor to peak, or about 6' over our heads - maybe those are called 6' waves?.  Great for body-surfing back into shore.  A great time

Saturday, 28 NOV was a travel day.  We stayed up all night, because we left for the airport at 0300.  Upon arrival, we were given the chance to upgrade to First Class for $85 total, for the two of us.  This was a no brainer.  The luggage cost was $60, but it was free if you were flying 1st Class.  Our options were (1) pay $60 and fly coach or (2) pay $85 and fly first class.  The difference is $25!  Upgrade, here we come.  Kathy and Alex enjoyed First Class as well. We flew to Charlotte and had 1 hour to wait before catching the next flight to Cancun.  I slept the entire time - both flights.  Didn't make use of the free drinks in 1st class even.  Just snoozed.  Face masks were required - everywhere. We landed in Cancun about Noon.  We walked through Immigration with zero issues - Sandy had completed our forms on-line before leaving.  Piece of cake.  By the time we hit the restrooms our luggage had arrived.  We walked out the "Nothing to Declare" line and grabbed a cab to

And just like that, our week in Cancun has come to a close.  We did leave an hour early for the airport just to be safe.  I would consider the airport "busy" but not overly so for a Saturday during Spring Break.  We saw lots of masks, rubber gloves, and hand sanitizer. Our flight was on-time for departure and early into Indy.  No issues. We ordered dinner from the Pizza King on the way home and have already unpacked, started laundry (and by we, I mean my wife here), and are sorting through the mail. We had a great week of weather.  84 for the high and 77 for the low.  Nice breeze all week to keep us from over-heating.  And just a few spots of peeling skin (mainly my bald forehead - which is large enough to be called a Five-head). As things stand right now, we are following the rest of the nation and sequestering ourselves here at the Ranch.  Sandy hopes to finally get some sleep as she now has the option of hitting the couch if I snore too loudly. Happy to be home. 

So we went out to dinner at Casa Rolandi - an Italian joint right across the street on the lagoon side of the road.  Sandy was hoping to enjoy her ox tail ravioli, but alas, that has been taken off the menu.  She had the cheese stuffed ravioli in a veal & truffle sauce.  I had the stuffed crab black ravioli.  And we each had a soup to start the meal.  Not very crowded in there at all.  Hmmm. On the way over and on the way back, we talked with two different couples who were both leaving tomorrow to go back to the US.  Neither of them had concerns about getting back home.  One couple from LA and the other from Oklahoma.  We're feeling like we have more than a good chance to make it home yet tomorrow. As dinner was completed, we sat and watched the sun go down.  Yep, we had a pretty darn good week!  We return in November with Kathy & Alex for another week.  Looking forward to that already. The sun starting its decent into the lagoon as we arrived for dinner. B

Well, it has been six full days since I have worn socks.  Underwear sure, but not socks or shoes.  It's been all shorts, swimsuits, my flippy-floppies, and usually an orange PF t-shirt.  Then, we get back from lunch today and what is happening?  The US & Mexico have decided to close the border for all but essential travel and trade.  Awesome (my perspective).  Meltdown (my wife's perspective).  I mean, there are millions of other places that are worse to be stuck in than Cancun, MX.   And I am here with my bride.  Winning! We checked the internet for news and logged into Delta to confirm that we will be on the flight tomorrow morning.  Fortunately, Delta let us check in, which means that the flight must still be a Go, right?  Only one way to find out - show up at the airport and try to catch a plane home. The only problem with staying for an extended period is medicine.  I only brought enough of my pills to get me through a 7-day stay.  This could be bad trying to get

Well more of the same, with just a few subtle changes.  If you've read the previous posts, then you know exactly what we did today.  Sandy did finish a book, so that's one apiece so far. The change?  The staff has always been pleasant and cleanliness has been superb.  Today, however, things went up a notch or two.  We can smell the anti-bacterial cleaning solutions.  And the buffet has changed.  Things are now individually plated.  No more touching the spoons / serving yourself.  The resort has gotten busy with ensuring everyone's health / safety relative to this corona-virus.  We would estimate that the crowds are down a bit, but not much for Spring Break time.  They are definitely a younger crowd than December.  But still, plenty of people around. We did see an outfit today that would be considered obscene by everyone else who saw it - not judging - just saying that if you saw it (which cannot be unseen).  First off, "swimsuit" on man was of the bikini / s

Sandy is sending best wishes to Nick & Shelby as she enjoys her Banana Monkey on the sun deck! We awoke this morning to no power - as predicted.  Know what?  It's still paradise, power or not.  We headed to the sun deck about 10, we figure.  Stayed there until Noon.  Back to the room to eat snacks for lunch.  Then back to the sun deck.  Stayed there until 4. We heard the radio at the pool bar and then saw mixed drinks start flowing at 2:49 so power was back on.  That did not affect the drinking.  I continued with Cap't Morgan and Coke while Sandy had Sprites.  We (both - pay attention) hit the ocean.  Sandy only to her knees, but still In The Ocean.  Then to the pool where we may have had some more adult beverages. Back to the room for showers.  We have a 5:30 reservation for Hacienda Sisal tonight.  It's still part of the all-inclusive, you just have to reserve your spot. I had the lamb and Sandy ate fajitas.  Then we took a cab to La Isla to do some

Well, yet another productive day at being unproductive.  Slept in a bit today.  Rolled out at 10 and then hit the pool until 12:15.  Lunch.  Back to the sun deck.  I was in and out of the pool, ocean, and pool again.  Sandy did the pool once.  The wind kept it cool once you were wet.  Oh the drama of being in paradise. Lunch was next door.  We ordered off the menu to try something different.  Sandy's steak sandwich was so tough that she couldn't even bite through it.  My Philly cheesesteak was awesome. We got a message from the resort today.  It seems that some needed utility maintenance is going to shut down all power to the resort from 8 am - 3 pm tomorrow.  Guess we just turned Wednesday into a shopping day.  We have orders from a little guy back home about what we are to be bringing back.  That along with vanilla.  Belay that.  Asked at front desk - the power outage impacts the entire island of Cancun.  No power anywhere!  Bought us some snacks for lunch - guess we

We got up this morning at 0800 - a tad bit earlier than yesterday.  We hit the kiddie pool until Sandy said that she was hungry.  So we swapped our suits for some dry clothes and had lunch at the Char Hut here next to the pool.  We reslathered the sunscreen and then hit the sun deck. I swam in the ocean because it's here.  And, also according to my wife, had naps 3 & 4.  Whatever - who's keeping count anyways? Back to our room at 4 to take showers and change into our evening clothes - shorts and shirts and flops.  <-- That's as dressed up as we get on this vacation folks. We walked over to La Distileria restaurant for dinner tonight.  Of course we had the flaming tequila cheese and we washed it down with Banana Maya beverages.  Then I had the beef tacos with corn shells and cactus while Sandy had the stuffed chicken.  Whatever sauce they used on that chicken - it was smoking hot.  I'm talking like a 7.5 or an 8 on my heat scale - full-on nose run at first b

We crashed about 7:30 pm last night and did not roll out until 9 this morning.  Well, that does not count the five times we were up to use the restroom - at least for me. We hit the chairs around the kiddie pool at 10 and stayed until lunch.  Lunch was at the Char Hut here near the pool.  Then after slathering with sunscreen again, we hit the sun deck.  We went into the pool a couple of times and I even went into the ocean to cool down once.  Thank goodness for the breeze or it would have been really hot here today.  84 and mostly sunny.  Tough to take. I did find the resort cameras online if anyone would like to check out our weather.  I am wearing my orange PF shirts.  So if you see orange, it's probably me.  Go here: https://www.royalresorts.com/weather-and-webcams-in-cancun-and-riviera-maya/ Then select the Royal Sands Phase 2.  There are several cameras, but here is our section: The orange arrows (top & bottom) are the sun deck and kiddie pool, respectively. T

Our children have been out of college / high school for some 10 odd years now.  But here we are, still living the dream of Spring Break in Cancun!  Did I mention, without the kids??? The view from our balcony Oh, and, we got word that after we departed from Indy, Mulberry received some 3 - 4" (about 8 cm, Dave P.) of SNOW at home.  Yep, we got picture confirmation.  One photo was a bit blurry, but there may have been a 'middle finger' in all that snow!  The thought! So we figure 2020 will be the year of the coronavirus, and in 9 months there will be a whole bunch of coronial babies running around because there ain't much else to do!  Which means to say that this trip almost didn't happen.  Not because Cancun is shut down, nor the airport.  Work called and needed my expertise.  Fortunately, they found a replacement to handle it while I'm out.  Should not have been too difficult I imagine. So we rolled S from Mulberry at 0500 this morning, Saturday, 1