AZDonna

Let’s see … where did I leave off?

My Cancun visit with Wendy and Dennis was awesome. What a great place to have a reunion and catch up with one another’s lives. Their son and his family, Chad, Jill and Kaylee, were there. Kaylee won everyone’s hearts with her darling smile and twinkling eyes. At 16 months, she is full of personality, and friendly with everyone. I got several good pictures of her; be sure to check them out.

Jill and I took an excursion to Tulum, about 25 miles from the resort, on Monday. It was built by the Mayan Mexicans 1000 years ago. It is now a federal park, protected and maintained by the government, but many organizations offer tours. We took one sponsored by our travel company (FunJet), and the guide was 80% Mayan. He added a lot of personal insight and commentary to his talk. Unfortunately, the day was so hot, I nearly had a heat stroke and had to sit in the shade for the last part of the tour. Lots of people were suffering as I was, and several took a dip in the ocean. I didn’t think I could make it down the cliff and back up, so didn’t take advantage of that.

Every evening, the resort offered entertainment performed by the “Star Friends“. We took in three shows: a movie review, a Broadway review, and a famous couples competition. Prior to the start of each show, they had a kids program and an audience participation event. Some of them were really funny, and some were a bit raunchy or just plain silly. But all were lots of fun and the Bahama Mama’s helped make them more so. ;o)

There are activities throughout the day at the resort, including water aerobics, scuba diving, para sailing, kayak and wave runner rental, dance lessons, games, roaming Mariachi bands, and the list goes on. Shopping is available (of course!) at the resort, across the street from the resort, a 5 minute taxi ride into town, outside Tulum, in the airport, etc. I looked over goods at all of the aforementioned places and left several of my pesos with the good people of Mexico. Of course, I am assured I got the best specials, just for me, discounted today only, almost nothing! That was the running commentary of every vendor we walked by. When you ask “how much?” they ask “how much you want to pay?” If only it were that easy!

I’ve never been to another resort like this, but everyone who has, says the Iberostar is at the top of the list. I certainly have no desire to try any other one in the Cancun area. In fact, I would like to go back (with the Allyns) in 2007. Since I have my big sabbatical trips this fall, I’m sure I will be out of funds for any such vacation next year. But I’ll go back someday … count on it!

I flew home on Thursday evening, and Alice had arrived in town just a few hours before I did. She spent the night with me, and we talked non-stop all evening and went out for breakfast on Friday morning. She dropped me at the airport at 11:15 and I caught a flight to Oklahoma, arriving in time for Megan‘s 6th birthday party. I’ll tell you all about that next time. Be sure to tune in.

GO Suns!!

Hola! Soy a devolver de Mexico! Y soy a devolver de Oklahoma, tambien.

Yes, I am home from my travels. My, what a wonderful time I had. Cancun was beautiful and relaxing, just as I had hoped. I’ve posted pictures on my gallery. The resort is right on the beach. We had a few cloudy days, and rain one afternoon. Cancun in May is hot and humid … just perfect for spending the days in the water. The ocean was cooler than the pool, but both were wonderful. The beach has the softest sand I have ever walked in.

The resort is really two hotels, the Iberostar Tucan and the Iberostar Quetzal. They sit perpendicular to the beach and are separated by a beautiful jungle filled with animals and foilage. My room was on the second floor in building 23 on the Quetzal side, and my terrace faced the jungle. The monkeys played outside my room every afternoon. Most days as I walked to the buffet, I had to walk around the peacocks on the path. The one time I went to breakfast without my camera, I saw a peacock spreading his tail feathers for a peahen and following her down the hill. She seemed much less impressed than I was!

The food! The food! The food! There’s one word to describe it … MMMMMMMM! The buffet, which is open for three meals a day, is a walk in open-air dining room, with literally hundreds of dishes. Everything from fruit, soups, salads, vegetables, meats, desserts; really every imaginable dish of every imaginable cuisine. We ate in on-site “ala carte” restaurants three times, and I never had better ravioli or steak, and the tacos included avocado, lime and pineapple. I tried to take some desserts back to my room one night, but that is against the rules. I’m sure many people would try to take advantage by secreting unregistered guests in their rooms; plus dropped food on the jungle paths could be a real problem. So I had to satiate myself in the eating areas, but I can barely remember a moment when I wasn’t stuffed.

You all know I’m not much of a drinker, but those Bahama Mamas are the cat’s meow! Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving! (And I wasn’t tipsy, either. I didn’t drink THAT much!) But some of the group did some worshiping at the porcelain shrine. Glad that wasn’t me. 🙂

I’m still trying to catch up on my rest. It was hard to go back to work after such a wonderful vacation. I have lots more to tell, and I will over the next few days. I went to Oklahoma for four days after my Cancun trip, and there are pictures of the Holsingers posted also. Ken has a top notch camera, and most of the pictures were taken by him. I’ll get mine up soon.

Meanwhile, GO Suns. Adios!