Mexico Espectacular

After spending a day at Xcaret Mexico I can say Loren and I are "espctacularly" tired.  It was so much fun!  We enjoyed an adventure filled extravaganza  of the culture of the Maya and the history of Mexico.  There was a surprising amount of Mexican visitors at the park.  Almost like the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, Disneyland and Sea World were combined into one park.  We kept joking however that the branding put Sea World to shame (as Sea World has a complete lack of branding what-so-ever), and it was a lot less safety conscious than Disneyland.  Corporate criticisms aside, then park was everything we expected and more.

We managed to canvas almost the entire park in one day.  A feat my well traveled mother-in-law might argue is very hard to do.  As we had spent all of the previous day snorkeling we opted to wander around the park exploring.  We looked at tropical animals, though we chose to stick mostly to those living on dryland with the exception of the manatees.  Loren got to see his peccaries, we saw a tapir, leopards and loads of parrots.  There were more lizards roaming freely than you could shake a stick at and we even saw an Agouti crossing the path on a nature hunt through a densely planted area of the park.  

One of our favorite animal exhibits though was the Mariposas or butterflies.  It was amazing, more like a fairy world than anything.  There was one particular butterfly with blue wings that seemed to be attracted to my feet (or my blue nail polish).  One of them landed on Loren's sandals too.  Orion mentioned he wanted most to go to Mexico to see the butterflies so we made a special trip to film them for him.  it was so magical to see them fluttering everywhere and have them fly through our range of vision. It was very magical.

We had fun taking in most of the park's cultural aspects.  We attended a demonstration of the Ritual of Los Voladores.  It was pretty incredible to watch the men first climb the high pole and then to spin or "fly" back down on ropes going around the pole thirteen times a piece.  On the Mexican Cemetery mount the Mexican flair for color was out in full force.  

After touring the Hacienda and the equine area we were all set to attend the night show.  Just as the name promises, it was quite the spectacle.  We were treated to a game of the pre-hispanic ball games of the Maya as well a crash course in Mexican history through Cortez and the cultural folk dances and music of the various regions.  The whole production was in Spanish, however the flow was easy enough to follow even though we could not understand the narration.  We loved it.

Due to the porcelain quality of my skin I am very cautious about sunscreen and coverage when venturing outdoors.  Today we discovered the only part of me to show any indication of sun.  I was meticulous making sure that all of my porcelain hide had been covered when snorkeling yesterday.  This was in part thanks to the admonitions of my brother and his unfortunate sun experience while snorkeling here last year.   Loren neglected one swath of gluteal flesh and I have a burned crescent on my back side.  Loren has been teasing me all evening like Achilles I have only one part of me didn't get "dipped in the river."  Ouch!

Under the Sea

As with most new experiences today's snorkeling expedition was froth with excitement, a little peril and a massive learning curve.  I rapidly discovered that not only does sea water taste incredibly foul but that it is too astringent on the eyes.

Through help from our guides and much trial an error I was able to finally adjust to the mask and snorkel.  I found I had to hold the mask to my face in order to ensure my contacts were safe from any sea-born invasions.  That only left me to empty my snorkel periodically so as not to to inhale the ocean through my own personal breathing tube.  Loren said his previous snorkeling experience had used superior snorkels that prevented water from entering from the top.
--Note to self make sure you get one of these!

Feeling like Triton's own daughter I was finally able to enjoy the scenery. It was amazing to me how alien the world looks under the water.  From massive brain corals that looked a double for extra-terrestrial eggs to fan-like or branchy Gorgonian corals resembling more flora than fauna.  We swam through miniature coral canyons and underwater savannas.  At one point there was a fish I could swear was following our snorkeling party.

Our tour took us to two locations in the morning, fed us an incredible lunch and then took us to a third larger spread out area that we were allowed to explore on our own.  During the third trip Loren and I got separated and I swam to each loose group looking for him.  We had swam generally together the whole day and it was disconcerting to find myself away from him.  It turns out he had been looking for me as well.  We are truly two peas in a pod.

On this mini trip I had the unique opportunity to use my language.  There happened to be a french woman in our group as well as some French Canadians.  I was able to chat with and translate for the french woman, whose name was is Magalie.  She in turn walked me through the basics of snorkeling. It was such a joy.

(all underwater photos were borrowed from other sites as we did not end up buying a waterproof camera.)

Hola, from Cancun...

Hola, Seniors and Senoras!  Coming to you live from the super fancy resorts of Cancun, Mexico.  Loren and I embarked on our latest adventure to this exotic location.  Traveling among the middle aged and retired I find I am reminded somewhat of the resort location in the movie "Dirty Dancing" but with much more flair.  That isn't to say this local doesn't have it's cultural charm but the plane-ride here felt more like going to "Fantasy Island."  With the range and caliber of some of our fellow patrons I might have expected to be greeted by Mr. Roarke and Tatu upon disembarking from the shuttle.

Our flight was fairly uneventful.  The pilot was competent and the take-off was one of the smoothest I've ever had.  We were lucky enough that the people sharing our rows were willing to swap seats so Loren and I could sit together.  We were told that the gentleman had been married for 27 years and so long as we didn't mind sitting next to his wife he didn't mind.  In the end they ended up being some really nice people from Montana.  In fact at the end of the flight I happened to see their last name on their customs form.  It turns our they were distantly related to me!  How funny to fly together on the same flight as another branch of my mother's family!  I got to hear some interesting things about the Brimhall family I wasn't aware of, such as the fact that at least two of the lines have kept up the tradition of naming their daughters Lydia after Sylvanus Jr's wife Lydia De Guiteau.  Also she told me the youngest brother of this same Lydia was the De Guitteau that tried to assassinate President Garfield! The world becomes a very small place when you get going on your genealogy.

It was a little bit of culture shock braving the oncoming barrage of shuttle groups, timeshare sharks, and random vendors as we left the the airline terminal.  Thanks to the vigilant training of my seasoned mother-in-law we were able to make a run of the gamut unscathed.  It was a relief to find ourselves blissfully ensconced in the quiet, air conditioned interior of our shuttle.

From there it was a voyage through palm lined vistas and hotel resorts, I sort of felt more like I was in southern California.  We rode in a group shuttle with two couples from Wisconsin, a young woman from New York and a woman from Los Angeles, California.  It was interesting to listen to the friendly banter as we all discussed our reasons for being there and our various previous travel experiences.

Once at the Royal Sands we were introduced to our apartments. Loren and I enjoyed looking around at the various businesses interspersed on the ground floor of the resort. We ate dinner at the onsite restaurant La Viranda where we dined on psuedo american food and discussed possible activities for the coming week.  I may have convinced Loren to get a "fish pedicure" with me, one can only hope!

Rekindling Old Ties

Sunday for our second day of the trip Orion and I got to meet Loren's sister Becky for the first time.  She had flown down to be with us for a part of this trip.  It was most momentous as Orion had spoken on the phone but never met his Aunt Becky.  She lives in New York and so arranging a meeting easily was not realistically doable.  At breakfast he wanted to sit next to Grandma and Aunt Becky.  He was very affectionate and seemed taken with his Aunt Becky.

Later we went to visit Loren's Aunt and cousins.  They live up a canyon about 45 minutes outside of Anaheim.  We had quite the adventure trying to get to their house.  I told Loren parts of it felt like a cross between Park City and rural France.  It only lacked the stones walls topped with broken glass to keep the vagrants/vandals out.

It was a nice visit.  Loren's cousin Gara was a nice hostess and had quite a large lunch prepared for us.  He husband is a fix-in guy and loves to haunt flea markets, garage sales and estate sales.   The property was decorated with many of of his finds and treasures.  They even had two chandeliers that a client had him switch out which he had arranged under a trellis/a-framed arched gateway.  It was very charming the way they had things arranged.  He regaled us with stories of how his grandfather acquired the property for $500 then the house in two pieces each for $25.

Orion was very taken with a hot-rod tricycle he found.  They had it tricked out with many of the same accents of a red corvette convertible from the 1950's.  It had the bullet-style lights, chrome and fenders reminiscent of the cars from that era.

A New Adventure

In the last year much has happened and changed in my life.  It has been an emotional roller coaster and I have learned a lot about the kind of person I am.  After being divorced I have been thrown back into the single pool.

I am dating a kind and patient man with a little boy.  We recently left on a trip to California together with his family.  Anyone who has driven with a six-year-old understands the challenges of bathroom breaks and boredom.  We had a good time listening to imaginary games and talking about going to California and seeing the Pacific Ocean.

It is amazing how a child's concept of space and time is so different from that of an adult.  We used a map to try to explain where we were going and how long it would take.  Unfortunately it was still not enough to allay the eventual question: "How much longer?"

Our planned destination and the highlight of our trip was kept a secret from Orion.  However I made efforts to be as subtly festive as possible.

As we drove across the mountains in Nevada we saw amazing rock formations, the beautiful layering of hills and mountains.  We even took time to stop for fifteen minutes and enjoy the magnitude of the stars in sky and show Orion the Milky Way and his own constellation.  We saw an incredible rainbow sunset.

In my many years of car trips I have learned to sleep and rest and enjoy the ride.  Orion surprisingly however did not fall asleep until we specifically told him to rest his eyes after we crossed the Californian border.

With the government shutdown last week the checkpoint was eerily unmanned.  I expected to have our bananas confiscated for sure.  We finally got into Anaheim around 10:30 PM Pacific time.  It was nice to settle in after a long 12 hour long drive.