Amen.

Not all who wander are lost... Wanderlust

Game Day!

GO Buckeyes!! 

Ahh, Thanksgiving Success!

Started the morning with the Macy's Day Parade, thanks to the hotel getting NY's NBC :)

Then had Mexican for lunch with Nicholas to celebrate. Continued with a long phone call with the Brother and getting in one good political debate with him. Something feels right in the world :)

I observed how people communicated before the internet by joining the family via Skype. 

Finished off with a Skype date with the family at the Thanksgiving table while they had dessert! So much to be thankful for and today was no exception. Being away didn't have to feel far- in fact, it felt like I was right there with them!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Ruins

So, when we tried to make it to town to rent the car, again, after we had called and confirmed that they would hold one for us, no one was at the office when we arrived. It was locked up with a sign that someone who return at 10:15... AM? PM? Who knows, but it was already 11:45am.

Luckily, we had met a great cab driver and asked how much he would charge if he took us on our itinerary the next day. He quoted a fair price and we told him we would be in touch. While walking along the beautiful white sand, we decided it made sense to go with him. He was affiliated with the hotel, was really friendly and had suggested a way to do our full itinerary, plus more in less time than we had planned. We called him and told him to pick us up at 6am to start our adventure the next day!

Sunday morning, rolled around too quickly, but we were really excited to go to Chitchen-Itza, Tulum, a cenote and more. We both slept on the way to the first ruins- which were 2.5 hours away. When we arrived, in record time, we were one of the first ones there. Brilliant! We got our tickets, a coffee and decided to use a guide to get the most of our experience there. We learned soo much about the Mayans. They were simply a brilliant civilization. They were the first ones to create the zero, their calendars are still exact and their architectural feats are still stumping scientists and archeologists to this day. We also learned there is nothing to fear about the world ending. We are just going through the night phase of the earth and we are about to have a reset. Hence why all the earthquakes, hurricanes, etc. And, why people are focusing more on harvesting solar energy and finding ways to recycle and reuse.

After the informative guided tour at the completely empty Chichen Itza, we headed to the popular, local cenote. I originally wanted to avoid Ik-Kil cenote because of the crowds, but because Jaime planned our day so well, we arrived and there was just one other couple there. They soon left and we had the whole place to ourselves!! We stayed and enjoyed the beauty for a while then headed to our next destination: Coba. We did a brief drive-through of a colonial town, but continued on.

Coba was really interesting, as well. This time, we decided against a guide and walked the front half then caught a pedi-cab for the rest of the walk through the jungle paths. It was perfect to zip us through the sites, get a bit of a guided tour and get us out of there as quick as possible. We still had one more site we wanted to see and we would be cutting it close!

Jaime was surprised that we returned so quickly to the car. He asked if we climbed to the top of the structure, which we did- although raced up and down it was more truthful. So many people were nervously climbing or huffing up and sitting to rest on the way to the top of the pyramid while Nicholas and I powered through non-stop to the top. Took a couple of pics and practically ran down. My thighs are still killing me a few days after the fact, but we didn't want to miss the chance to climb it as this is the last year before they close it to tourists.

We were off to Tulum! Our final destination :) This is the site of the ruins right on the Caribbean- turquoise dream against spectacular ruins! We again powered through this one, as well. At this point, we were getting tired. I should say, I was getting tired and hey, ruins are ruins. Nicholas, of course, would have spent days at each one. He loves the history and is awestruck by these things. I am too, but to a much lesser degree.

After we got some great shots, we got back to the car and got home in record time. After a day in the beautiful weather, sun and lots of exercise, I was hardly surprised that I crashed for over 3 hours that late afternoon/early evening :) Talk about a great day!

Playacar, the first day or so

Nicholas running with volleyball

Nicholas and I spent a long weekend away in one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever been. Not that we have been to that many beaches, but we have seen quite a few and this was by far and away the most breathtaking.

The first time we caught site of the beach and its varying shades of turquoise, I thought for sure it was some sort of green screen! Holy wow! We had wandered into Playa del Carmen for a quick peek at the town and hurried straight to the beach to awe at the natural beauty and sheer crystal awesomeness of it all. We walked in the noon heat all the way back to our hotel just so we never had to leave the view of the water. Worth every wrinkle I earned, for sure!

Lets backtrack just a tad... we got in very late Friday night and the car that we had rented, had gone to another lucky family sometime before we arrived. We were one of 18 people who arrived with a reservation and no car. As you can imagine, people who were in from Argentina, Venezuela, and beyond, were not pleased nor amused that Thrifty left them high and dry. The two guys told us that the company had told them to turn off the lights and lock the doors so they would not have to deal with the two and a half dozen people who were going to arrive tired and angry. Nicholas and I had already made an agreement that nothing was going to ruin our time away so when the two poor guys left working the desk said they would drive us all to our respective hotels (ours close to an hour away), we decided we would take the offer and see about a car the next day. We had the sweetest Mexican man drive us from Cancun to Playacar. Before we left, he asked if it would be OK if he looked for the other couple that walked away angrily to find another car to rent. He told us that all the companies had overbooked and there were no cars at all left at the airport and the cost to Playa del Carmen would be very expensive. Of course we agreed and searched the airport parking lot and curbside for the couple, but could not find them. Again, just a genuinely nice older man. Soon we were off and on our way to the beach town. He was so kind, lighthearted and friendly. Obviously, he could have been annoyed at having to drive people late at night an hour one way and then come back and collect more people who showed up, but he was anything but. He was genuinely sorry about our troubles and said to talk to his colleague first thing in the morning and gave us contact info. First night, ended just right!

Saturday, we spent part of the day out of the resort and the rest at the beach. Nicholas played volleyball for a couple of hours while I swam in the stunning waters. The colors went from an almost transparent blue, to a soft turquoise to a deep deep blue. So gorgeous!

Mexican Holiday

This past weekend was a holiday in Mexico. Nicholas had the full weekend off, including Monday! To take advantage of that, we booked a trip to the Yucatan peninsula. We stayed in Playacar and journeyed to some of the famous Mayan ruins and to a cenote, a deep natural pit/sinkhole that is a natural, cool pool. Cenotes were used, at times, by the ancient Maya for sacrificial offerings.

We had never been to this part of Mexico, so it was new for both of us to explore!