Viva la Mexico!

Hola! We're back from what's been the greatest vacation ever! We had so much fun, I don't even know where to begin!!! I think I'm going to break it down by day, so, here it goes....... on Saturday we flew out at 8 am (unfortunately that meant waking up at 4:30). And, of course, I didn't go to bed the night before until 1am! It was a really short night and really long day! The flight down there was only something like 4 hours and I found it really weird how we were herded from the plane into the airport. I felt like I was in some sort of cattle round-upl. As soon as the plane landed, a Mexican guy got on and spoke to everyone telling them to get on a tram they were bringing out to the tarmac and to make sure we had all our identification stuff on us and our FMT card on us to enter the country. So, they herd all of us onto the tram and drove us to the airport where they go and unlock the doors and let everyone in and then lock us in.....different. ( I've never traveled out of the country before, so perhaps this is how it is everywhere.) So we passed through customs and then after the baggage claim you make a trek out to the parking area that's swarmed with guys in matching outfits offering to "help" you which I read about previous to my trip. Really they're guys who will lie and say they want to help you find where you need to go and then try to sell you a time share! So, we bi-passed those guys and head straight out to the parking lot, where we found our shuttle. They took us into Playa del Carmen from Cancun which was about an hour drive south. As soon as we walked outside, I could feel the moisture on my skin. It's one of those places where as soon as you shower, you wonder why you bothered because you're sweaty. I swear that even though this isn't sounding so great, it really was! I love the heat; growing up in sunny CA, this girl would take heat over cold any day! (And did I mention what a little humidity will do for your skin???It's great!)

We stayed at the Riu Yucatan and it was so fun! It's huge. The front is Mexican style construction. The floors are all tile (the lobby, the halls, the rooms, everything). They greeted us with a welcome drink (virgin, of course) and a rose. One of the first things you notice is that wildlife is running round the grounds all the time. We finally found out the name of this little animal that looks like a cat sized rodent, but I can't remember it now! These little guys were everywhere! We also saw spider monkeys in the trees one afternoon! When we checked in, the bellhop took our bags to our room where they had a cute little towel display nicely spread. They fold towels every day into different animals and lay them on your bed as a decoration. By the time we got settled in it was around 4 or so. We just kind of wandered around that day to get our bearings. Then it was close to dinner and we made our way to "La Hacienda" buffet. We booked a vacation that was all-inclusive. This is code for "you will gain 10 pounds in a week." The buffets are always open. Then there are three restaurants (Mexican, Asian, and Steak House) that you can make reservations for on the morning of, for no extra charge. So that evening we had dinner and walked around on the beach. There was an incredible patio area that overlooked the ocean that we tended to end up on in the evenings. It was so relaxing. We laughed as we laid on the lounge chairs thinking about the fact that we were treading through snow that morning, but were now enjoying weather in the high 70's with the perfect breeze! It was a great start to a fun vacation!

Pics to come and 6 more days to cover!