CANCUN!!!!

I have been telling my husband for the last 5 years that we were going to go on a cruise for our 20th anniversary.  So this year I started researching to find out where we wanted to go.  I found that most of the cruises take you to these exotic places but only give you a few hours to enjoy them and then force you back onto the ship and take you away.  My dream was to walk along the beach barefoot in the sand in the moonlight.  That is kind of hard to do if you have to be back on the ship before the moon comes out.  Then I found these all inclusive packages that you can book where instead of going on a ship, they fly you to an exotic location where you get to stay for a week.  All the food, entertainment, taxes, and tips are all included.  So after you book it, you don't have to pay for anything else unless you do extra excursions.  I really liked the no tipping idea.  I found the hotel I wanted to go to and then got cold feet.  I had the whole thing planned and ready to go on my computer.  All I needed to do was push the book it button, but I just couldn't do it.  I had a really hard time justifying spending that much money.  Then Richard got sick.  He was fine one morning and that evening he was in the hospital.  When he got out I decided I didn't care how much it cost.  We had waited 20 years to do this and if we waited until we could afford it, Richard might not be around for it.  I finally booked it.  And this is what we got to do.

The plane ride was one of the most thrilling parts of the vacation.  It has been over 20 years since my last commercial airplane ride.  It never ceases to amaze me the power and miracle of flight.  It was so fun.  The clouds looked like little cotton balls that you could pick up and put in your pocket.  I loved having a window seat.

This is what we found when we arrived at our Hotel.  The grounds were so beautiful.  They hotel had paths all over that led through these beautiful jungle areas.  We were there for a week and I still got lost every day.

Our Hotel offered lots of activities and all you can eat food all day long.  But we booked a few outside excursions on some of the days.  Our first one was to go see the Mayan Ruins.
These are the Tulum Ruins.  They are located right on the edge of a cliff.  Right behind this temple is the Caribbean ocean.  So beautiful!!!!!!!

See!!!! I told you.  Absolutely beautiful!!!!!

It still takes my breath away to look at these pictures.  The color of the water was so pretty.  Every day I would ask myself if I was really here at these beautiful areas or if I was still looking at a picture.  They only thing that disappointed me was that it was always windy at the beach.  So that romantic stroll on the beach under the moon wasn't quite what I expected.  Despite the wind, it was still breathtaking.

Next we went to the Coba Mayan Ruins.  These are the only ruins that they let you still climb.  That is why we chose to go here instead of Chizen Itza.  We really wanted to climb the ruins.  This is the tallest ruin.  It doesn't look that tall in the picture but it is pretty tall.

And here we are on the top.

This is were they preformed sacrifices in order to have great fertility.  It was a great honor to be chosen to be the one sacrificed.

Our next excursion was to a place called Boca Del Puma.  It was not fancy or built up like all the other commercialized areas that you can go to.  It was a places owned by a guy who is trying to preserve it as a natural environment.  We missed our transport there and ended up having to take two buses and a taxi in order to find the place, but were so glad we finally got there.  The owners felt so bad they had missed us that they gave us a private tour.  It was awesome.  First we bicycled into the jungle.

Then we rode a series of 7 zip lines through the trees.

 Then we got to swim in a river inside a cave.  The water was at least 40 feet deep and you could see all the way to the bottom.  It was so clear.

Our last excursion was to swim with the sea turtles but since I could not justify spending $300 on the underwater camera that Richard wanted to buy, we don't have any pictures of it.  We also don't have pictures of swimming with hundreds of fish under the pier at our hotel, riding the Catamarans at our hotel and also scuba diving in the swimming pool.  They were a lot of fun also.  Yes!  Richard is still mad at me about not letting him get the camera.  Sorry Hunny!!!  He was also the one taking most of the pictures in Cancun so most of them are of me.

These are some of the fun things we got to do around the Hotel.  (The ones we could take pictures of.)  The beach was 2 1/2 miles long so this is only a portion of it.  But it was beautiful.  When we first got in we walked about 5 feet out into the water and looked down and there were big fish swimming around our feet.

My favorite thing was the hammocks.  They had tons of them and they were very relaxing.

 One of the waiters found out it was our 20th anniversary and made these special napkins for me.  We actually left him an extra tip.  He earned it.  (Tips had already been included in the package.)

 Richard and I both thought this tree was beautiful.  I still can't get over how beautiful this hotel was.  They had so many workers working all night and day to keep it clean.

 This is one of the buffets by the beach.  None of the buildings were enclosed.  (Except our rooms)  The eating areas had these beads and netting hung around to help keep the birds out.  It didn't help.  The birds still found a way in.  But it was so fun to eat right on the beach.  Very pretty views.

 The hotel also had statues all around the place.  This is one of my favorite pictures.  I love my husband!!!!

 Our Hotel had 5 different hotels all along the 2 1/2 mile stretch of beach.  We were allowed to go and do anything at all 5 hotels.  They had swimming pools all along that stretch also.  So this is only a small portion of the swimming pool.  They were very fun.

On the last day before we went home we got to go into the city of Playa Del Carmen.  They have a street there called 5th avenue that does not allow motorized traffic.  This is the best place to go shopping.  The street vendors will negotiate prices so low here.  It is also very hard to get away from some of them.  You just have to get use to saying no and running away because everyone is trying to sell you something.  Here is an authentic Mayan I got to take my picture with.

This is one of the ways people got around.  This bike is made to carry luggage around but some had a bench in the front and you could hire them to give you a ride.  The Mexican Limo!!!  Lots of people used these, but I felt guilty making them have to peddle me around so we didn't do it.  It was too hot. Those guys were sweating like crazy.

 One of our excursions had us meet in front of Senior Frogs restaurant.  I guess it is a very popular place.

 We just couldn't resist getting a picture of Richard in an authentic Mexican Sombrero!!!

Then we had to come home.  This picture looks like I am happy about that.  That is totally false.  I was just happy that we made our connection flight.  The airport immigration, customs, and security almost made us miss our connecting flight.

 This was the site out the window as we were leaving Cancun.  The sand under the turquoise water made it look like blue sand dunes.

 And this crazy line of clouds we passed over on our way across the Caribbean ocean must have been the line between the Mexican boarder and the US.

And my last Photo is of the iguanas that we saw.  They were everywhere.  At first is was so fun to see an iguana but after a while it was just another iguana.
I didn't want to post all our pictures here so if you want to see more you will have to go to Richard's facebook page.  I am pretty sure he put them all on there.

So now that our bank account has been emptied, the trip is over and all we have to show for it is a couple of photos, and a bit of a tan, would I do it over again?

Oh YEAH!!!!!!!  Best time of my life.  

The only problem is that now I know what I am missing and want to go back every day.   But if it ever stops raining here, I will go out one night and sit with Richard on the porch swing and look at the stars and dream of our 8 days of paradise in Cancun.