On Saturday February 23rd we went on our trip to Mexico. We drove to the airport with Heather and Dan. It was cold and snowy. We were glad to leave the bad weather behind.
Kev and I were happy to be on a plane again. It had been years since we had gone on a vacation together without the kids.
It was dark and late when we arrived in Mexico. We got the car, ate, and then went to bed. This was the view we woke up to the next morning. You could see the palm trees and ocean just right outside our window.
The ocean was just about twenty feet from the place where we were staying.
We stayed in a private beach house in Akumal. A Mexican family manages the place for the owner. They live in a building off to the side of the main house. They were very nice. They did the dishes, put out clean towels and basically cleaned up after us. They would even rake the sand and clean up the seaweed and rocks off the beach.
A big thanks to Lisa and Cody for inviting us on this trip! The house was really nice and we enjoyed experiencing the Mexican culture. Lisa was feeling good for most of the trip. We were happy she was doing so well and feeling up to all the activities. It is big difference from last year at this time. She is medically "stable" from her cancer. The good news is she is almost done with her chemotherapy.
We had a delicious breakfast that first morning. We had fresh squeezed orange juice and every fruit you can imagine. We had mango, bananas, papayas, and pineapple. We enjoyed a lot of fresh fruit and juice on this trip!
We spent most of the day relaxing on the beach. It was nice just reading a book and trying to get a tan. We also went out snorkeling. There is an awesome reef directly out from where I was sitting.
We saw all kinds of cool fish. Kev and I purchased snorkeling gear before this trip. We were really glad we did. They worked great and we used them a lot.
There were iguanas everywhere in Akumal. We nicknamed this one the house pet. He was hanging out on the snorkeling gear when we spotted him. He would move his head up and down like he was dancing. We never tired of watching him and taking his picture.
There was a full moon one of the nights we were there. It was beautiful seeing the moonlight reflecting on the ocean. We enjoyed taking a walk together up the beach.
Cody's cousin Jayson and his wife Anne also stayed with us. They are from Idaho. They are really nice and it was fun getting to know them better.
The next day we went to Playa del Carmen. We walked along the main street looking at all the shops. We bought some presents for our kids. We found the greatest Nacho luchador mask and cape for Parker. "Nacho Libre" is his favorite movie right now.
We bought tickets to take the ferry over to Cozumel. It was a good thing that we all took some Dramamine because the waves were really rocking the boat that day. Here is a picture of Kev and his sisters when we arrived in Cozumel. It was cool to see the huge Mexican flag waving in the background. Spencer was a little jealous that everyone was going on this trip without him.
We saw these bikes with the cart attached everywhere. They reminded us of the cart that they drive in the movie Nacho. We had to take a pic to show the kids.
We went to lunch at Senor Frogs. It was a fun place. They bring out your drinks in these tall glasses. I had a Pina Colada that was delicious.
They also made these crazy balloon hats for everyone. They were surprised when we told them none of us would be drinking.
We then took a boat out to some reefs to snorkel. We snorkeled in three different spots.
We saw lots of cool fish. One of the guides had fish food with him. I am not sure what it was but he got the big fish to swim right by us. The underwater photographer took this great picture of us.
Kev took this picture of me with our underwater camera. We just bought a cheap one but still got some fun pics of us snorkeling.
Kev enjoyed diving down in the water so he could get a closer look at the coral and fish.
The coolest fish we saw was a Parrot fish. It was orange and had the mouth of a parrot. It was almost two feet long.
The next day we went with Jayson and Anne to Tulum. It was a first for all of us. We had a great tour guide named David. His mother is named Alma and his family has been giving these tours for years.
We are so glad we decided to take a tour. We even read some verses from The book of Mormon. We learned all about the religious symbolism in the ruins. This was one of my favorite ruins. It was a temple created for Mary the Mother of the Son of God. I thought is was cool to see the faces engraved on the sides. If you looked at it from another angle you could see just the profile of the face.
The beaches in Tulum were beautiful. The water was crystal blue and the sand was so white. It was cool looking down from the ruins and seeing the beach below. You can see one of the ruins behind us in the picture.
We went to lunch at a taco shop in Tulum. It had more authentic Mexican food. Kev decided to try the Ceviche. It had raw shrimp and calamari. We both thought it was good. You eat it with chips and crackers. It was interesting seeing the tentacles on the Calamari. I tried a shrimp tostada and a fried chicken taco. They had a bar where you could put your own sauce and salsa on. The green salsa made with Habenero peppers was really spicy. I tried a little and my mouth had an after burn for while.
We then drove to the ruins in Coba. It was really far out there. I enjoyed looking at all the shops and houses as we drove along. There were kids coming home from school at the time we were driving along. We rode bikes to see all the sites. I hadn't ridden a bike in seven years.
The cool thing about Coba is we could walk and climb on all the ruins. Kev and Dan were posing on top of this one. It even started to rain as we were riding along. The rain didn't last long and it was actually a nice way to cool off.
We hiked up the ruin called Nohoch Mul. The stone steps were steep going up. I have a fear of heights. The going up was okay but I had to hold onto the rope and scoot on my bum going back down.
It was pretty looking around at the ruins from the top.
The next morning the guys went deep sea fishing just outside of Akumal.
Jayson "chummed" the waters and it seemed to help! He caught two big fish.
He caught a Barracuda and a Amberjack. We fried up the Barracuda for lunch. I enjoyed it and it wasn't too fishy tasting.
In the afternoon we went to the Gran Cenote. There were so many to choose from. This one wasn't too far away and the price was better than others. Everyone enjoyed swimming around in the cave.
It was cool seeing the stalagmites and stalactites under the water. It was fun exploring and swimming through tight areas.
We also saw some small turtles hanging out among the lily pads.
We took a picture with just the girls.
Kev and I took out the kayak in the bay. It was peaceful just floating along in the waves with the sun shining down on us.
I found some cool looking coral on the beach. There are all kinds of sizes, shapes, and colors. We also found some cool shells as we were snorkeling.
We drove to north Akumal for dinner. We saw this Coati when we got out of the car. He was a friendly little guy and was wandering around one of the shops. He had a nose that looked like an anteater and a tail like a raccoon.
We went to dinner that night at La Buena Vida.
It was right on the beach. There was sand under our feet and a beautiful view of the ocean. They also had these tree houses where you could climb up and eat inside. They would send the drinks up in a bucket. There also were giant bean bag chairs and hammocks you could hang out in.
I was very happy when I saw that they had lobster on the menu. It is one of my favorites and I don't get to eat it very often. It was delicious and I enjoyed every bite. We also had some really good Strawberry Daiquiris.
The next morning Kev and I went scuba diving. It was an intro course since neither of us are scuba certified. We watched a video and they taught us all about the equipment. We practiced breathing with our regulators in the shallow water of Akumal Bay. We learned how to breath underwater, clear the regulator, empty our mask, and retrieve the regulator hose. Once we had done that they loaded us up in a boat and took us to Las Redes reef.
Our favorite part was seeing the giant sea turtles up close. We saw about four of them. We were only a foot away. It was fun being able to swim along with them.
The coral reefs had bright, beautiful colors. We saw all kinds of fish. We even saw a Moray Eel poking it's head out from some coral.
We went about 45 feet down in the ocean.
Here is a picture of a Barracuda following us. You can see me swimming in the background on the right.
The next morning we went to breakfast with Heather and Dan. We ate at Lol Ha in Akumal. We enjoyed the ocean view while we ate. Then we went back to the house to do some more snorkeling. It was a great day for snorkeling. We saw a sting ray. It just shook itself right out of the sand in front of us. It was huge. We swam along after it for awhile. We also saw three squid. They were clear with long tentacles. They were iridescent and would change colors. They would flash green, blue, and yellow. It was great seeing them up close.
We were sad when it was time for us to leave for the airport. We were having such a good time that we didn't want it to end. But we were also excited to see our kids again. This was the longest time we had been away from them. It did help that we were able to talk with them on Skype every night we were there. We had a glass of mango and peach juice before leaving for the airport. We would love to come back to Akumal again someday.
