Bienvenidos al Paraíso

Mexico was absolutely incredible. It was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been. As I said in my previous post, I would not change one single thing about that trip. From the hotel to the excursions to my travel partner, everything was perfect. I have never been so happy and relaxed in my life.

The flight there was rough; I’m not going to lie. We took an 11:30 flight to Houston, and had a 5 hour layover and then flew from Houston in to Cabo, landing around 12pm local time. Neither roommate nor I slept on the flight from Seattle to Houston. I couldn’t get comfortable in my seat, I was over tired, over excited, and flying isn’t the easiest experience for me in the best of circumstances. We finally landed in Houston and went and found a diner to have breakfast. I can’t tell you the time, I’m thinking it was around 5am local time, so 3am our time? Regardless, after a rough flight we had some surprisingly good airport food before going to our gate to wait for our flight.

Once we were at our gate roommate promptly feel asleep. I can’t sleep in public, and I didn’t really think both of us asleep in the airport was the best idea ever, so I read a book. Thank goodness for my Nook. Best Christmas present ever. I read 5 books on vacation, something that would have been difficult and expensive with paperbacks. Thanks to the Seattle Public library for having such a good digital selection! Once on the plane, roommate again promptly fell asleep. I again did not.

Once we landed in Mexico we found our shuttle and made it to our hotel with very little incident. We rode on the shuttle with a couple that has been married for 3 years longer than my mother has been alive. I aspire to be them someday. We checked into our hotel and were upgraded from a studio, to a large one-bedroom. The place we stayed is a timeshare, but we were able to stay there through a deal on Living Social Escapes. Our hotel room was as big as our apartment. It had 2 full size bathrooms. The patio was bigger than some studios I’ve seen in Seattle. It faced out at the pool with amazing floor to ceiling doors we could open to hear the ocean and let in the tropical air. We never used the full kitchen, but the washer and dryer came in handy for wet towels and swim suits.

We arrived at the hotel mid-day and spent the day at the pool. We went into Cabo that night with a group of people we met the first day at the resort. It was crazy fun. We danced at this bar called CaboWabo all night and I probably had about 10 Pacifico’s. Okay not 10. But a lot.

We left the club at who knows what time and went and found street taco’s for roommate. When we got back to the hotel we went sat in a secret hot tub we found away from the main pool area. It was a most excellent way to start off vacation.

The next day we got up and went to breakfast, and booked our excursions for the days we would be there. The First day (Friday) we decided to go horseback riding on the beach at Sunset.

 

So we spent the day by the pool drinking Supermans (new favorite drink: Half strawberry daiquiri, half mango daiquiri, with Blue Curacao on top) and then were picked up around 3pm to go to the pacific side of the peninsula and ride horses.

 

 

It was stunningly beautiful. The horses were as docile as expected so I just let the reigns hang and took a thousand pictures of the giant cactuses and then the giant waves breaking on the sand. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

I don't think life gets more beautiful than this

Biggest Cactus Ever

Saturday we got up and got breakfast then took a cab into the Marina to go out on a Catamaran and go snorkeling. This was my ABSOLUTE favorite thing that we did. Well, the boat part, not the snorkeling part. Roommate really wanted to go snorkeling, but I told her that I am afraid of fish. Well not afraid. Disgusted to the point of fear? Regardless, I do not like fish. I try to pretend they do not exist for the most part. I had one ill-fated attempted at owning a goldfish. It turned into a zombie. But that’s another story.

 

So back to the catamaran. We were able to ride on the front, on the netting and watch the water run under the boat, while we went out to where we were going to be snorkeling. It was about an hour ride and so much fun. The boats only safety recommendation was to have 4 or less drinks before snorkeling. I guess I don’t really need to say it was an open bar, because it was Mexico, so that’s probably understood. Once we got to the bay where we were supposed to snorkel, we jumped off the boat which was also one of my favorite things we did. I love jumping off high places, I love free fall, I love the water. Win’s, all the way around. As expected I put on my snorkel, saw one fish, and freaked out. In my defense, it was a giant black scary fish. And the water was murky, so you didn’t see the fish until they were less than 2 feet away.

The funny part of this experience was Roommate. Snorkeling was roommate’s idea. Roommate made fun of me when I saw a fish and yelped while she was still putting on her gear. Then roommate tried to snorkel, saw a fish and was practically in my lap. She did the water equivalent of jumping into my arms. It was hilarious. Luckily I had on flippers so I could hold her and me up.

After that we just splashed around in the water with our fins on and took pictures with our waterproof camera. The bartender from the boat brought cervezas out to us on a paddle board. No complaints. After about an hour and half of snorkeling the boat headed back into the marina. On the way back there were much bigger waves so we got spashed while sitting up on the netting. The water was warm, the air was hot, and watching roommate get tossed in the air and drenched from a dead sleep was pretty hilarious.

I think I could happily spend my life on a catamaran. It was the happiest and most relaxed I have ever been in my life. I think I should get a job as a bartender on a catamaran. If I knew that was an actual job, I can’t say I would have actually gone to college.

Sunday we spent all day laying by the pool and then went to the Spa in the evening and got 90 minute massages and enjoyed all of the spa amenities. Monday was spent by the pool all morning then flying back to the states. I had my first “run across the airport at full speed so you don’t miss your flight” experience. We had a 1 hour and 45 minute lay over. Customs took 1 hour and 30 minutes. We then had to sprint from the international terminal to our gate. But we made our plane, with about 5 minutes to spare. When we turned our phones on there was the most adoreable picture of Mr. B welcoming us home.

That's his "Please Give me the CHEESE" face

I’m so glad that he was able to go to Oregon and have a fun time with my parent’s, but I had no idea how much I would miss that dog. I miss him every day. The house is quiet and empty. And it’s not just that I miss having a dog around. I miss Bentley. I miss his funny expressions and his silly old man noises. It made me realize exactly how hard it is going to be when Alison and I don’t live together anymore. To some extent I’ll be losing two best friends, and two roommates all at once. Luckily I don’t see that happening for a very very long time.

Tonight I’m heading down to Oregon to see my family, and Mr. B. and to celebrate my very favorite holiday. Then Friday Roommate and our third amigo are both coming down to have a ladies weekend. Then on Monday, I start the Advocare 24 Day Challenge again. I’m not sure if it will be easier or harder. Easier maybe since I know how well it works (last time I dropped 11.5lbs) and I know exactly what I’m getting myself into. But harder as well, since I know exactly what I’m getting myself into!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

P.S. – In Mexico we met a handsome stud named Jacob. Here’s a picture of us with him.