Riviera Maya Mexico 2025

24 November 2025 - For our family vacation this year, Iris (13) requested a place with teal water where she could snorkel. We decided to go the all-inclusive route and picked one halfway between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Mexico: the Iberostar Paraiso del Mar. This morning (a Monday), we all woke around 4 am and were on the road to CWA by 4:30 am. Hardly any wait going through security so early. Our 7 am flight from CWA to MSP was uneventful. We found our connecting flight gate and waited for our 10 am flight to Cancun. I listed to a podcast about owls while we waited. On our flight to Cancun, Nick and Felix (16) sat on one side of the plane, while Iris and I were on the other. No one sat with us, so we could spread out. Iris and I watched Wicked, and rested the remainder of the 4-hour flight. Once we landed, we quickly made our way through customs (no long waits!), used the bathroom (long wait!), and found our shuttle pick-up. It was gloriously warm and sunny. Our hotel was about a ½ hour from the airport. We checked in to the resort and got settled in our first-floor connecting rooms before we went to the beach. It was around 5:30 pm when we all took a dip in the ocean. The kids really enjoyed the waves while Nick and I enjoyed some tropical cocktails. There was a lovely sky. When they had their fill (and I had enough bashing my feet and shins on underwater rocks), we went back to the rooms to get cleaned up and headed to the sister resort (Paraiso Beach) next door for dinner. We ate at the Mexican restaurant and tried many different offerings. After dinner, we headed back to the room. Iris and I stopped at the gift shop on the way. I ended up getting her flip-flops and goggles for Felix (for $47 total. Ouch). We relaxed in the room watching Monday Night Football in Spanish. 

¡Hola!

25 November - We headed to breakfast around 8:30 am. Our first-floor rooms have basically jungle on the other side of the balcony. (A peacock walked past last night.) 

Coati by our balcony

Our unit is the 2nd closest to the beach, so it's a long walk back to the lobby area, but past a lot of interesting flora and fauna. There are coati(mundi), pigs, and iguanas that we've seen so far. The breakfast buffet was nice and large. We headed to the beach and found some chairs that hadn't been claimed. The sky's mostly cloudy and it's windy as I sit here listening to the waves and throbbing pop music nearby. It's 10:20 am now, and Nick just brought me a margarita. :D Iris and I joined other gusts in a game of beach volleyball before we got tired. We joined Nick and Felix at the swim-up bar in the nearest pool area. We had a couple beverages while the kids swam and we people-watched. At 11:45 am, we headed back to the room to shower and change. When everyone was ready, we went to the buffet for lunch. In addition to the usual offerings, they made an enormous seafood paella, which was a sight. Felix stayed in the room after lunch, while the rest of us went back to the beach. It's mostly sunny and slightly less windy now. 

I headed back to the room to chill after I started to get a headache. Iris texted me to bring some things back to the beach, so I walked back there. Then I grabbed Felix to go to the shop, because we were low on sunscreen. $47(!) later, we have a new bottle. Nick and Iris were back in the rooms when we returned. We all chilled for a while watching '80s music videos until it was time to get ready for dinner. We had reservations for the Japanese restaurant at 6 pm. Iris was very excited for hibachi. We were treated to a nice performance by our chef ("no more tequila for him/her/me!") and a delicious dinner. I talked a bit with the Canadian woman there with her grandson. Stuffed, we headed back to the room around 7:30 pm. We got prepared for our excursion and relaxed before bed.

26 November - Despite Felix's concerns that we wouldn't be ready in time, we were up, fed, and waiting in the lobby for our excursion by 7:25 am. Carlos from Aventuras Mayas picked us up around 7:35 am. We were the first group and he picked up two more groups in the Iberostar complex. He drove us to the tour group headquarters, where we got off to switch to a different guide. Our new guide, Luis Garcia, was late getting there due to the same heavy traffic entering Playa del Carmen that we also endured. We waited in the hammock chairs and used the bathroom. Once we were set, it was a 20-30 minute drive south to Yal-Kú lagoon. (Nick and Felix were annoyed by the number of speed bumps off the highway.) We got a quick run-down of the area, the lagoon, and what we might see. We got lockers, fins, masks, and life jackets, then made our way down the path to the lagoon. The water was chilly, but there were some fish *right there* by the stairs. (When Felix got in the water, he started screaming, "Dory! Dory! Dory!" which was both unexpected from him and also hilarious.) We started by going to the left from the pier, toward the fresh water. There were lots of fish, especially sergeant majors, blue tangs, and flounder. We swam for about 40 minutes, going from the fresh water through the brackish intermixing area into the saltwater. I got some nice pictures underwater. 

Once we finished, we turned in our gear and headed back to the bus. It was another 30-minute ride to our destination with its remaining activities. Our first stop was the cenote and cave. Iris was cold and tired already, and resisted the idea of getting colder in the underground water, but she went in anyway. We had to rinse off in cold shower to get the salt off us, get new goggles and life jackets before we headed down the stairs into the cenote. The air was much cooler down there. Luis pointed out the bats and small catfish near the cave entrance. 

We took some pictures, then we were led into an area with countless stalactites. It was beautiful! 

(I thought so. Nick was busy dealing with some claustrophobia.) We swam around for a bit before heading back up. We got changed and ate lunch, which was chicken, black beans, rice, tortilla chips, and salad stuff. Once everyone was done, we got our climbing gear (complete with hair net) and waited. We got pictures taken and a safety briefing before we were allowed to climb the rickety, wooden, 4-story tower to do our zip lining route (choice of 3, 5 or 7 rides). I should mention that our tour group included a mom/grandma/aunt (?) with a girl about Iris's age and one a bit younger, and a family with mom, dad, 7-year-old and 5-year-old sons, and grandma. We went first - Iris, Felix (who was nervous as it was his first time zip lining), Nick and then me. 

Some people, thankfully, chose to only do 3 rides. Nick, Iris and I did the complete circuit of 7. Felix was content to do 5. Tower 3 was a loooooong wait. That's were people decided to go back to the beginning or continue on, but Tower 7 was getting people one at a time from two towers. That created a bottleneck that took about an hour to get through. There was a couple in front of us; the wife did not like any of it and only moved up the tower when there was a landing open. I didn't blame her; I wasn't a fan of the wind up there, but I tried to focus on everything but my fears. And it worked! The rest of the rides went pretty quickly because there were only a few people on any tower. I turned myself upside down on one ride just because I could. Iris, Nick and I took the opportunity to ride like Superman, face-down. 

That was cool; the worst of it was climbing two towers with the heavy extra gear. Felix waited for us so we could all continue on together. The three of us also did the last ride in hammocks, which was nice. 

Iris had one more thing she wanted to do - the 3-story bungee jump. She was brave about that. We all headed our shortly after that. It was just a matter of dropping people off after that. (The other dad on our bus was complaining about so much. At least the '70s/'80s/'90s music on the radio was good.) We left ~3:50 pm and got to our resort at 5:25 pm. Back at the hotel, we took the tram to our room to save time. We quickly got ready for dinner. Iris really wanted to go to the French restaurant. We made it a little before opening, and got a table right away. Nick and I splurged on a $60 bottle of Mexican sparkling wine. We each got an appetizer, entree and dessert. I got asparagus Provençal, Niçoise salmon loin, and a big berry macaron. Nick let everyone try some of his Burgundy escargot appetizer. Iris loved her beef tenderloin. Lovely dinner. 

We walked back to the room after (though I ran back to the theater for more drinks and met a ginger kitty on the path), and played several hands of sheepshead together before bed.

27 November - We slept in a bit, all worn out from yesterday's adventures. We went to breakfast around 9:30 am. (I was up by 8 and spent a long time writing about yesterday.) A guy in a turkey costume was going around to the Americans' tables because Thanksgiving. We headed to the beach and all swam for a while, then Iris and I joined in on volleyball. We played a couple games before having enough, and went back in the water. 

Stormy skies inland... 

We spent some time at the pool bar before heading to lunch. It started raining while we ate, but passed after a little bit. Nick and I headed to the lobby to find any other Packers fans. The game was on a lobby bar TV, but no big gathering. Nevertheless, we made ourselves comfortable and chatted with newly arrived Canadians Andre and his three brothers. (Chatting despite the pounding noise as workers repaired the dome roofs over the lobby.) Tom from Marshfield joined us for a bit before he invited us into the club room where his crew was gathered. I drank way more than I thought... After the game, we went back to the beach for a bit. I was not feeling well by this tie, so Nick to the kids to get dinner and I rested. 

28 November - I drank lots of water overnight, so I didn't feel too bad in the morning. We went to breakfast around 8:30 am, then Iris and I walked to the complex's shopping center. 

The stuff there was basically the same as sold in our lobby, but Iris found some bracelets she liked, and I got a fridge magnet. We joined Nick and Felix at the beach - they were in the water. Iris and I didn't feel like swimming yet, so we played in three games of volleyball instead. That was fun. :D We got our swimsuits on after that (the clouds cleared and it warmed up). The waves were pretty big today. One smashed into me and knocked me underwater. I nearly lost my sunglasses like Felix. We stayed on the beach until noon, when we headed back to the room to shower and change for lunch. We took a siesta after eating. (My arm muscles ache and make it difficult to write [as evidenced by my shaky handwriting in the travel journal].) It was nice to have some down time. We got ourselves ready for dinner and headed to the other lobby to relax and play cards before dinner. That was nice as it wasn't so busy or loud there. We went to the Mediterranean restaurant for dinner. That was pretty tasty overall, though it took a while to get our main courses. No biggie. We spent some of the wait discussing potential scenarios as we were flying home tomorrow into a winter storm. Basically prepping the kids to deal and go with the flow. We went back to the room, and I did some packing. Nick put on more '80s MTV, and we got yet another Madonna song. [We heard Madonna daily on this trip.]

Felix's hat matched the decor

29-30 November - Today could have gone better, but it also could have gone much, much worse. We got up at 7:30 am, got ready and went to breakfast. The kids (all of us, really) made sure to get at least one more "malla praline" pastry before we left. We went back to the room to pack and relax. At 10:30 am, we took the tram to the lobby to check out and wait for our airport shuttle. That was pretty quick, and we were on our way around 11 am. The interior of our shuttle was already festively decorated for Christmas. We made it through security reasonably quickly, though Iris had her metal hair pick confiscated (oops). The airport was already very busy, and our flight wasn't until 3 pm, so we had three hours to kill. Iris wasn't feeling well, so we let the kids sit while Nick and I went to see if we could get on an earlier flight with the winter storm back home. Not only was that a NO, but our flight was also delayed one hour. We decided to get some food and spent an hour and $200 at the Guy Fieri restaurant there (it was fine, but expensive, because why wouldn't it be?). We spent the remaining time chilling, though Iris and I did look at souvenirs and got proper coffee at Starbucks. We were "lucky" to be chosen for pre-flight interviews. I was happy to get on the plane, frankly. Iris didn't bring her earbuds for her phone and was cranky not being able to listen to the show she was watching. I gave her mine to use, even thought I wanted to use them myself. (A bit of drama between us...) I watched Encanto and finished my podcast I stared at the Cancun airport when she was done using my earbuds. As we approached the MSP airport around 7:30 pm CST, I was notified our flight to CWA (scheduled for 7:55 pm) was also delayed, so we'd actually be able to make the connection. Getting in late, it was fast going through customs and security again. We found our next gate and got some food for the kids (but no drinks for us because they stopped serving alcohol at 9 pm, 7 minutes after we got to the bar). We waited and played some sheepshead as our estimated boarding time kept pushing back. 

We had to change gates and finally boarded at 10:45 pm. And then we sat on the plan until midnight while getting deiced and waiting our turn to take off. Not a bad flight, despite the wind and snow. The final descent was unsettling, but we safely made it to the gate. Cold and blowing snow greeted us. We had to clear the 3-4" of snow off my car before we could get going. Nearly empty highways, and Nick drove ~55 mph the whole way. We pulled in at 1:50 am to two surprised and happy kitties.

Trip cost: $9,323.52

Playa Del Carmen Mexico 2011

18 March 2011 - Once again, thanks to Grandma Maxine's amazing generosity, we find ourselves preparing for another trip to Mexico. We are returning to Playa del Carmen. This time, many of my family members (Dave, Rob, and Brian and their respective families) will be absent, and Dennis's daughter Amy and Michelle, along with their families, will be along. Today was work, then I left early to run to the bank, pick up {20-month-old} Felix, and take care of last-minute stuff before we were met at our house by Cassie, her friend Leslie, Mom and Dad. Nick took care of a ton of stuff around the house before we left for Milwaukee. we got there shortly before dinner. The six and a half of us (yes, this is Felix's first big trip!) ate at the hotel restaurant. Dry, overbaked cod - ugh. At least Felix was happy with the cherry tomatoes. I put him to bed at 7:30 after running him up and down the corridors. I went to bed shortly after, but I couldn't sleep much. Even Nick coming to bed after chatting with the folks didn't help.

19 March - 3:20 am came all too early. Felix definitely wasn't keen about being woken. We got to the airport, checked in, security, blah, blah, blah. We had a lot of time to kill, so I fed Felix and let him run around. He and I were the last two to board the plane shortly after 6 am. Felix did very well on the takeoff, but he was antsy and wanted to move once we were airborne. The toys and books I brought didn't hold much interest. Eventually, he went by Mom and fell asleep. I didn't get any myself. It supposedly took about 3 hours to fly down, which was better than expected. Once we deplaned, we had to go through immigration, where we learned a valuable lesson - traveling with children in Mexico can expedite you getting into the country. We got through both immigration and customs a lot faster. Once through, we had to wait for everybody else, then find our bus. After being awake and seated for so long, a two-hour bus ride wasn't exactly welcome, but at least we were here. We got to our hotel at 12:30 local time. Our room wasn't ready, so we went to lunch. After the lovely, much-needed buffet, we found our room was ready and checked in. Despite the early morning and short nap on the plane, Felix wasn't interested in an afternoon nap. We all got our swimsuits on and headed for the beach. Felix liked digging in the sand and we let him get a little wet in the ocean. We were joined by Mom, Dad, Cassie and Leslie (hereby known as the Others (as opposed to Everyone Else)). Felix played with a Scottish 2-year-old named Becky, while I chatted with her parents Scott and Carrie. Nick and the Others had plans to watch the Badgers basketball tournament game at a sports bar in Playa, while I stayed with Felix. We took him back to the room to shower and change while I got him a poor dinner of applesauce and hot dog. I got him to sleep around 6:30 (7:30 back home), then leaving him with a voice-activated walkie-talkie, I joined Everyone Else for dinner. I went back to the room after getting a picture of the full moon the closest its been in 18 (?) years. Looked bigger, anyway. I wrote these entries, hoping to catch some of the Badger game. No luck yet.

Last one on the plane

Sleeping on the plane

Felix's first time in the ocean

20 March - Nick informed me the Badgers when he got back. Yay! We were up early - around 6, but the restaurant didn't open until 7, so we relaxed in the room for a while. After breakfast (where Felix got his fill of fruit and yogurt), we went down to the beach. I managed to find two open huts together. I followed Felix around on the beach for a while, then we were joined by the Others and Cheryl and Stephen. We went into the ocean, where Stephen "caught" a fish, then I took Felix into the pool to get him used to floating in the foam swim helper. He was tired after that, so we put him down for a nap at 10:45. I stayed with him and read while Nick went back to the beach. Felix woke at 1, when the restaurant opened for lunch, and we met up with the Others. Felix enjoyed watching the birds and waterfalls while we waited. He's already learned so many new words on this trip - wave, waterfall, agouti, palm, frond and donkey (Cassie's present). We went back to the beach after lunch, through this time Felix and I didn't swim. We played in the sand with the new toys Mom bought. Stephen came back after chasing down his raft saying, "fifteen minutes of work for five minutes of fun." The best part was grandma laughing first. After we had our share of fun on the beach, we met up in our room with the Others. Felix ate dinner (leftovers from lunch) then we put him to bed at 6:30. We left him with the walkie-talkie and headed to dinner. Not much in the buffet appealed to me or didn't taste right. Oh well. The walkie-talkie battery died, so I went back to the room after we were done with dinner. We did have a quite the interesting topics of conversation - sleep disturbances, Cassie's softball tournament in Houma, LA, and New Orleans. Mom cried with laughter when Dad misheard Cassie's "people pooped" as "people pubed." I digress. Nick went to join the Others while I read. The theater was so loud we couldn't fall asleep until it was finished at 11:30. Ugh.

Felix will eat ALL the yogurt!

Thanks, Grandma!

21 March - We had an hour to kill between waking and breakfast. All the folks except those with small children went on an excursion to Chichen Itza. We took a cab to Playa. We walked on the main shopping street until I fond the shop I remembered the last time. I got a replacement water glass and five salsa bowls. Felix was pretty lethargic, so we headed straight back. Were were only there about 45 minutes. He took a nap at 10. We relaxed in the room and I made dinner reservations. We again had to kill some time until the lunch restaurant opened. Felix makes such messes at meals, but nearly everyone thinks he's cute. We went down to the pool after eating. First, Felix played in the playground. Then we waded in the kiddie pool, before taking him into the big pool. He's getting better (or more comfortable) at floating. Felix and I got ice cream cones on the way back to the room. We all showered and settled in. It's very quiet. Felix ate prunes and two bananas and decided he wanted to push his stroller around the room. Eventually, we fed him dinner and put him to bed. Then Nick and I dressed for dinner at the tropical restaurant. I got a tasty mojito to start. I'm trying more seafood while we're here and tonight was no different. They had octopus and squid, to go with the clams and mussels I tried earlier this week. For an entree, I got a tuna steak (delicious!) while Nick got spaghetti with lobster. His was good, too. It was a nice dinner for just the two of us. I also got a tiny lemon meringue pie for dessert. We walked around looking for the Others after dinner, but didn't see anyone, so we went back to the room. We went to bed early and the show wasn't too loud.

Exploring the resort

Baby sombrero

22 March - I got up around 6, hearing monkeys outside. I didn't see any, but when Felix and I went out a little later, we saw two. We also had a gecko on the patio, which Felix called a "lilad". We went to breakfast shortly after 7, but didn't see anyone else. It rained while Felix and I were monkey-watching, so it was cool out. We went back to the room. We heard an airplane fly overhead and Felix asked for "more airplane". Mom and Dad stopped by on their way to breakfast, both with presents for Felix: a Chichen Itza shirt from Mom and a bouncing ball from Dad. We went to the beach and met Cassie and Leslie. We made a sandcastle on the edge of the water, or ate least tried to. Nick and Leslie did the main construction while Cassie and I built castles Felix could smash, and he did. Mom and Dad joined us, and eventually Felix got tired. As I took him to nap, we found monkeys! I called the Others on the walkie-talkie to let them know. Mom and Cassie joined me. I read with Felix while he napped. He woke at 1 and we met Nick for lunch. After lunch, we went back to the beach. Both Nick and Cassie got buried in the sand. Dad & I took Felix into the ocean, but it was pretty rough. I lost my sunglasses, and Dad and Felix bumped heads. At around 4, we took Felix back to the room to shower and feed him dinner. We put him to bed at 6:30, then we met Mom and Dad along with Leslie (Cassie too passed out) for dinner in the buffet. It was nice and the wine kept flowing. We check on Felix, then took our beers to Mom and Dad's room. Glad I stopped after one beer, otherwise I would have been seriously hurting the next day.

Smash sandcastles: Done!

Bury Nick: Done!

Bury Cassie: Done!

23 March - We were up early, as usual. We ate breakfast shortly after 7. The buffet food is starting to wear on me, and it's only Wednesday. We played after breakfast, waking up Mom and Dad, and seeing a monkey and lizard close to our balcony. At around 10, us girls (Mom, Cassie, Leslie and me) went in to Playa. We walked a long way, but didn't go into many shops. I did get a raspberry-colored shawl for about $14. We also picked up little gifts for {Amy's son} Finn, who despite only being 11 months old, will be having his birthday celebrated tonight. We stopped for chips and guacamole, found the sports bar we were at the last time in Playa (La Taverna), then headed back. Got back o the hotel at 1. Joined Nick and Dad, along with Felix and Amy for lunch. After Felix's lunch, we got our swim stuff on and found chairs around the kidding pool. We were eventually joined by the Others. Felix had a lot of fun splashing around the pool. We got ice cream cones, played on the jungle gym, and got Felix dinner (four little slices of pizza). He was so tired he insisted on going to bed at 5 pm local time. we got ready for and headed to dinner. Everyone except Erik, Angela and Felix were in a big group for Finn. He was a sleepy baby, though. The highlight of the meal was the chocolate fountain. We left shortly after Happy Birthday, heading up to Mom and Dad's room to play Apples to Apples. I was tired and left around 9:30.

Monkey sighting!

So many festive colors found in Playa

Trying to keep Felix from drinking the pool water. Yuck.

24 March - Felix's going to sleep early had repercussions this morning when he woke at 4:44. We got him to play in his crib for 45 minutes, giving us more time to sleep. Eventually we got up  fed him prunes and yogurt, and killed time until the restaurant opened for breakfast. The Badger basketball team is playing in the Sweet 16 game tonight, so we all put on our Badger wear. We went to breakfast where we saw Cheryl, Stephen, Grandma and Dennis. After eating (Felix liked the papaya this morning), we changed into swimsuits and headed to the beach. Felix wanted to go into the pool, so I waded with him while Nick held down the circle of chairs. We took Felix into the ocean, but it was a little scary for him, standing near the waves. He was getting tired, too. I had to make him a sad man because he did not want to shower. Eventually, I got him to settle down and nap. I read on my Nook and closed my eyes briefly. After Felix's nap, we met Nick for lunch, changed, and headed down to the beach. I talked with the Wisconsin couple Nick and I met this morning, and Lilo and Karl {from Germany. I tried to speak a little German to them, apologizing for forgetting so many words.} who the Others met yesterday. We mostly followed Felix around when he wanted to explore. We got him pizza for dinner, then took him back to the room. He was in bed by 6:20. I got a plate of food and Nick went to go into town with the Others. Again, I stayed here, but didn't mind because I'm not as big of a basketball fan. It was pretty quiet after that. I read, waiting to see if any part of the game would be shown. A little of the first half was shown, but it didn't look pretty. Nick came back a little after 11 to say they lost.

Badger Fans, ready for the day

My beach boys

25 March - We woke up around 6. I played with Felix while Nick tried to sleep longer. We went to breakfast shortly after 7. Then we came back to the room to change for the beach. We had a tough time finding chairs, but eventually found two open huts. Dad came down to join us (the others were shopping). Felix had fun throwing handfuls of sand into the waves. He got tired shortly after 10, so we put him to bed and packed up most of our stuff. We will still have a lot of last-minute packing to do in the morning. Felix woke up at non, and we went back to the beach. We ate lunch, but it was pretty warm out. Nick took Felix back to the room while I stayed out to read. After a while, we decided to walk to the nearby shops. Felix and I went with the Others. It sprinkled on us. We walked and went in a few shops. I got a purple stone pendant necklace to wear with my dress tonight. We had some time to kill, so we took Felix to get dinner. He was in a silly-monkey mood after that. We watched Jeopardy and Big Bang Theory before putting Felix to bed. After he was asleep, we got dressed for dinner and met the Others, along with Grandma and Dennis for a drink before dinner. The six of us were eating at the Japanese restaurant in the resort. It was a nice hibachi show with tasty sushi. I ordered chicken and octopus to be daring (it was actually very good). Nick and I got sake on top of the wine we were served with dinner. After dinner, we went back to the bar, where interesting conversation and copious drinking occurred. We got back to the room and finished packing at 11. I tried to stave off a hangover drinking two cans of mineral water and a bottle and a half of regular water.

Geepa & Grandson

Dennis, Cassie, Grandma, Leslie, Nick, Dad, Cara, Mom

Leslie, Cassie, Mom

26 March - Felix woke up screaming at 2:30. By 3, we gave up and brought him into bed with us. He slept well, but my intestines were doing unhappy things. We got up at 5 (I barely slept after bringing Felix into bed with us), checked out and grabbed breakfast for Felix. I couldn't eat anything. Our shuttle to the airport came at 6. The ride was hard in that I needed to pee and Felix kept bouncing on me. We finally got to the airport and after killing an hour and a half, we were airborne. Felix and I slept for a while. He got antsy the last hour of the flight. After customs, we got our luggage and gave Felix a chance to run around. We caught a shuttle to our car, said our good-byes and headed to Madison. After stopping for a quick bite of McDonald's, we pulled in a little after 5. Despite the cold, we were glad to see less snow on the ground than when we left. Mom, Dad, Cassie and Leslie stopped by to collect cars, and that was the end of our adventure.

Words Felix learned on this trip: agouti, beach, boat, castle, donkey, flag, float, fountain, help, hola, jungle, lizard, ocean, palm, papaya, path, peacock, pool, sand, shell, turtle, wave

{transcribed 1/29/2020}

Puerto Vallarta Mexico 2009

14 March 2009 - At 10 am, Mom, Dad and Cassie showed up at our house in Madison to begin our 2nd K Family Mexican Adventure. This time around, Grandma is treating everyone on a Pacific coast vacation. A few of the faces have changed from the last trip - Anne, John and Beth are along this time; Braden and Cassie broke up so Braden isn't along, but Josh's girlfriend Whitney and Erik's fiancee Angela are. I am also 21 weeks pregnant, so this is going to be a very different trip for me. We met up with everyone at the Milwaukee airport after getting lunch at Perkins. Our flight was delay 30 min, and the alleged 4-hour flight was actually 5 hours, so that wasn't terribly pleasant. On the flip side, Dad won the plane's "Bag o'Bucks" in which passengers could put in $1 or more for a chance to win the pot. We finally got to our hotel ~ 9:30 pm local time. After getting our room, we met up with the fam for a later dinner. I probably overate a ton with how my normal schedule was messed up by traveling. I came up to bed after dinner because I was tired. The hotel seems okay on first glance, though the corridors are extremely echo-y. I think I'm tired enough to ignore it.

Gate-waiting

15 March - Nick and I got up around 7:30 and went down to breakfast at ~8:30. It was nice to see the resort during the daylight. After breakfast, we took care of our transportation back to the airport. Next stop: the beach! We (Nick and I and most of the extended family) went in the ocean to face the gentle waves. The water was a little chilly, but I got used to it fairly quickly. After we tired of getting pummeled by the waves, Nick, Ben and I went into the pool with the swim-up bar. I kinda got bored after a while so I alternated between pool and beach before decided I didn't want to be wet anymore. I went up to the room to shower, and then walked around and took some pictures of the hotel before taking a short nap. I had a little difficulty finding Nick so we could go to lunch, but eventually I did and we had a nice meal with Cheryl and Stephen. Cheryl's so excited about the baby I'm growing inside of me. It got pretty windy by the beach, so we went back by the pool for a bit. Once that got a little old, Mom, Dad, Cassie, Nick & I relaxed in Mom & Dad's junior suite. At around 6:30, we met up with everyone else, and at ~7, went to have some dinner at one of the buffet restaurants. We saw the sunset just as we got there. Dinner was good, and the guy making a show out of Kahlua, coffee, ice cream and fire was even better. After dinner, we got a dose of reality finding out the Badgers are seeded 12th in the NCAA tourney. We joined some of the others in the theater area to sit and relax for a while. Loud thumping music and sound made the baby very active. Nick and I went up to bed shortly after 10 and stayed up reading.

16 March - I did some yoga in the room as the sun came up. Nick, Cass & I ate breakfast together, then met up with everyone else except Cheryl's group to plan our snorkeling excursion for tomorrow. We managed to get a deal where it'll only be 20 of us on a chartered boat to Yelapa. That took quite a while to get hammered out. Eventually, Mom, Dad, Cassie, Nick and I managed to break away and head down to Puerto Vallarta on the local buses. What a wild (as in fearing for your life) ride. With the help of some knowledgeable tourists, we managed to make it downtown. There, we briefly saw the rest of the K clan who taxi'd down. From the town square, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe so Mom could buy her guitar pin and to have a few drinks in air-conditioned splendor (warm one outside). Brian, Anne, John and Beth found us there. We left to go find lunch for the five of us, settling on Senor Frog's. That was amusing (phallic drinkware and balloon hats) and tasty. We did a little souvenir shopping, getting beaded animals (blue and white gecko for me) and a silver necklace. By that time, everyone was pretty tired, so we took another hair-raising bus ride back, stopping at the Walmart (!) to change buses. We refreshed and rested ourselves when we got back, met up with Mom, Dad & Cass in their room, then went to the restaurant along the beach for dinner. So pleasant, hearing the waves crash as you eat. The food was okay, though the fresh fruit is fantastic. They had a mini market around the courtyard, and Dad & I decided to take a turn and see what they had. I found small ceramic bowls like the ones I got last time. I wanted two, but I only had enough for one (and a bargain at that since she took 100 pesos for a bowl she wanted 150 for. We went back up to the folks' room and played Apples to Apples until 11.

In Puerto Vallarta

At Hard Rock Cafe with John and Beth

LOL

"Virgin... not!!!"

Strange things happen at Senor Frogs...

Souvenir hunting in Puerto Vallarta

Hoping not to die on the bus

17 March - This morning, Nick and I got ready early and headed down for a bite of breakfast before meeting up with everyone except Cheryl, Stephen, Erik and Angela for our Yelapa excursion. We managed to herd the cats and made it to the pier on time. All 20 of us got aboard the schooner "Elias Mann" with our Pegaso tour guides Benjamin, Lee and Luis. The ride out was pretty interesting: we saw three humpback whales, including one that went under our boat and another that surfaced ~ 20 feet from us (so cool!), giant manta rays, and a few of the girls (Alissa, Whitney and Cassie) got seasick. I was fine. The day was bright and beautiful. The water on the bay was a little choppy, but not too bad. Seeing those whales was such an unexpected treat. On our way to Yelapa, we stopped to snorkel. The water was a bit chilly and "green" but there was a variety of fish among the rocks (much better than when we went snorkeling on the Disney cruise). After we had our fill of that, we were back on the boat and headed for the accessible-by-boat-only village of Yelapa. Our guide walked us through the hilly, run-down "streets". I got some good pictures. There was a shop (not sure if it could be called that - more like a workshop/stall where rosewood items were made and sold. I found a gorgeous vase and bought it for 400 pesos. Totally worth it. From there, we walked back down to the beach where we met up with Grandma and Dennis, who didn't attempt to walk the hills, for lunch. I don't know what kind of fish I had, but it was fantastic. Nick had the same. We left Yelapa shortly after lunch. The way back was a bit more subdued with the exception of the classic rock playing. [We also stopped at one point and several people jumped off the boat to swim.] Once back at the hotel (~6:30 is when we got back), Nick and I had a long discussion about our preferences for vacations and relaxing and why this vacation is a little difficult for me when everyone around me is drinking and I can't allow myself to have more than one drink per day if any. We met up with Mom, Dad and Cassie for dinner at the Mexican restaurant. I had way too much for dessert, but it was took good-looking to pass up. Because we spent the day with the family, Nick and I decided to have a quiet evening by ourselves in our room. We put on the World Baseball Classic game on ESPN and watched the USA come from behind in the bottom of the 9th to win. I wrote today's entry and we both read (I can see the future!). Nick adds that we got a free shot of liquor with the purchase of that vase. He is convinced it was moonshine, and from my little sip, I'm inclined to agree. Also, for future remembrance - using the tiny ship's head. :)

Manta rays, the squirrels of the sea

Whale!

 

Ready to snorkel

Fish faces, part 1

Teeeeeeensy sip

Making a rosewood vase

Yelapa road

The local transportation in Yelapa

Cute little Yelapa school girls

The tourist beach

Nick getting silly

18 March - It was a very quiet day for us. We slept in until 8:30, then once up and ready, decided to go to the Mexican restaurant for breakfast. We wanted to make dinner reservations for the Asian restaurant for the two of us, but they were already booked when we went up. We decided to head down to the beach to read, but had to wait to go because a maid was cleaning our room. Nick brought a book and I brought my baby booties I was going to attempt to embroider. It was nice, but a little breezy. We saw some of the others come down, including Mom. We decided to head up to their room for a bit and sit on their balcony. Once lunchtime rolled around, we went down to get a bite (well, everyone but Dad). Cassie came back from her canopy tour excursion and joined us, and so did Anne and Beth, briefly. We headed over to the beach and went in for a swim. The water was warmer than yesterday, but didn't seem as nice. Cassie and I didn't spend too much time in there before heading up to the seats the K Clan had claimed. We sat and chatted with folks as they wen to or came from the water. I sipped my fruit juice concoctions as everyone else had more physically altering drinks. Robby told a few jokes. Oh, and some couple got married on the beach near us. Nice, but the girls were wearing dresses that seemed way too heavy for this environment. Talk turned to the woman with the enormous boobs and magical swimsuit from yesterday. (It was magical in how it actually stayed on). Nick and I headed back to the room to shower and relax before meeting up again for dinner. Somehow, after our showers but before we left the room, all the water in the hotel got shut off. It was working about an hour later, but that was bizarre. Since nobody else gathered seemed terribly interested in eating or had reservations, Nick and I went down to the Mexican restaurant by ourselves. Dinner way okay. Definitely getting monotonous in terms of food choices, through. we played cards in the lobby bar area before Ben joined us for some Rummy. When my parents joined us, we tried to teach Ben how to play Sheepshead, but I don't think it was a success. We all went back We all went out to the theater area which was incredibly loud and crowded. The baby started kicking me like crazy, probably trying to get away from the show which just had dancers and other dress up in wigs and drag, and lip sync to overplayed songs. I wanted to get away from it, too. Once I learned to ignore it, I had a better time shouting to those around me. When the show ended, Nick and I went back upstairs to read a little before bed. I'm glad we didn't spend any money on other excursions, because they've either been "okay" (just okay isn't good enough for $85) or downright terrible, like the City Tour that Grandma, Dennis, Cheryl and Stephen went on today. I'd rather save my money for potentially buying souvenirs in Bucerias tomorrow.

"How big were they?"

Fish faces, part 2

19 March - This morning, Nick and I slept in a little bit before going down to breakfast. After eating, we headed back to the room for some quiet time before I was collected by Mom and Cassie around 10:15 to head north to Bucerias. Dad and Nick stayed behind to watch the first NCAA tourney games while we had our own adventure. We were dropped off near the flea market. It was sunny and pretty warm. We wandered through the flea market, constantly having to say no to men, women and children who tried to force their wares on us. I decided I wanted a house number tile definitely. Found a few stalls, priced them out. We met Brian, Anne, John and Beth briefly before starting our second loop of the small market. The three of us each ended up buying at one stall. I got the house number and stand I wanted, plus a spoon rest and a pretty iridescent bowl, while Mom & Cassie both got glasses they'll use as candle holders. We wandered back along the beachfront street, taking some pictures. Since it was hot and noon, we stopped at a restaurant. There, we got refreshments, guacamole and chips, and I got a bowl of tortilla soup. I paid for a very... interesting rendition of La Bamba played by a strolling musician. We headed back to the hotel after that and spent a few quiet hours in Mom & Dad's room. Then, Nick (who had been swimming) and I went back to our room to rest and get ready for dinner. We all (yes, ALL) met up for dinner at 6, took a family picture (herding cats, I swear!) and went to dinner at the Brazilian restaurant. we sat with the folks, Cassie, Kathy, Grandma and Dennis. The dinner was excellent, but LOTS of meat. Afterwards, a bunch of us headed to the theater area and gathered around a few tables. Mom broke out the glow sticks and she, Dad, Nick, Tyler and I played Sheepshead. I I decided I wanted to avoid the Michael Jackson show, so I left when that started and headed up to the room to write and read.

Bucerias flea market

Sisters

Matching with a fake parrot

Being serenaded

K clan, 2009

Salud!

Nick caught cheating

20 March - Our last full day down here was by far the quietest. I was up early and asked Anne to include Nick and me on the reservation she was making for her family and Rob's family for the Asian restaurant. Nick and I went to breakfast after that, meeting up with Mom and Dad. Nick was feeling a bit hungover and I have had plenty of sun myself, so we spent the rest of the morning in the room reading, watching bball, and in my case, doing word puzzles. For a little while, we got to "see" the baby move for the first time when I laid back and bared my belly. We went down to lunch and then to the beach. Nick, Alissa, Beth, Ben, Tyler and I played volleyball against some friendly folk and Whitney. The sun and sand were both scorching, so the game didn't last long (not that it was much of a game to begin with :) ). We found out a number of family members got some sort of tummy bug that was doing evil things to them. I have my fingers cross (and washed thoroughly!) that I'm not going to get it. We headed back up to the room for a siesta and more of the same as this morning. we met up with the others in our dinner party at 6, then proceeded to the Asian restaurant. The hot food was okay, but what I really wanted and got was the sushi. Yum! Nick enjoyed the sushi and was very excited to get fried ice cream. We decided it wasn't worth it after all to catch a cab to Bucerias to watch the Badger basketball game at a sports bar, especially because we had no idea which one Mom and Dad ended up at. Instead, we went back to the room and tried to get a sense for the game from ESPN's bottom line. I got my stuff ~90% backed for the trip home. Both Nick and my tummies are feeling a bit unsettled, and I hope that's as bad as they get. At ~10:15, the final score came across the bottom line - Wisconsin 61, Florida St 59 after overtime (preceded by a phone call from Dad letting us know the final.) Woo!

Nick, me, Ben, Beth, Tyler

21 March - Our last day in Puerto Vallarta was a quiet one. Nick and I got up and had breakfast, then went back up to the room to finish packing. We had to be out of our room by noon and we were. After that, we ate a bite for early lunch, killed time playing sheepshead in the lobby, and had a late bite for lunch since we're not getting food on the plane. Even after that, we had more time to kill, which we did sitting in a big group in the lobby. Our transportation is supposed to take us at 5:10 and our plane leaves for Milwaukee at ~7:45. I can only hope that it'll be on time. And... it was.

Preying mantis at breakfast

Courtyard fountain at the hotel

Nick enthralled by the giant plants

Close enough...

22 March - We got back to Milwaukee at 1 am, swiftly went through customs and collected our bags, then found a shuttle to Mom & Dad's SUV practically waiting for us. We got to Madison and our house ~3:30 am. The kitties wouldn't let Nick and me sleep.

Unfortunately, Nick was sick with flu-like symptoms Sunday and Monday, while I seemed to get what Cassie had, preventing me from going in to work as well. I'm not sure if I'm keen to go back to Mexico any time soon.

{transcribed 1/29/2020}