Worth The Wait

This was 2002 

Fast forward 9 years, 4 weeks...and presto the honeymoon we never took.

At the time we were married a honeymoon didn't fit into the picture of our life and it was put on the 'someday' list. Fast forward to 2011 and we had the time (with a little LOT of help from our families.)  The original plan was to make the celebration around the 10th year, until my sister called with a great deal which we couldn't turn down.  Cancun here we come! An added bonus was the happily offered live-in care by my sister and brother-in-law and their 4 children!

I appreciated the time away especially since life is just busy with 3 kids in school and work and all the daily life that happens.  Being away for 5 days with Devin was wonderful, tropical and relaxing.  We were able to give our relationship focus and enjoy eachother's company without having to fight for attention.

I can vacation happily at a pool or beach.  Give me a book, sun and water and I am S.E.T.; Devin on the other hand considers this to be torture.  I did see many couples at our resort who vacationed this way but this is not our fate. 

There was a catch to our fabulous trip - our second morning was wasted spent listening to a million beautiful reasons  to buy into a vacation package deal.  We declined to spend the $11,000 needed for the special package.. shocking, I know!  When the sales guy began discussing price Devin slipped into his sales mode and asked the guy "what can you do...?" I might have convulsed...slightly. Devin took notice and asked for a moment alone with me.  I gave him the decease/desist order on price rangling since we weren't buying.  He quickly shut the discussion down and we were soon back to vacationing.  

Our third day we took an all day guided tour of Chichen Itza.

We spent a good deal of time in this bus. Dad, Devin took this photo just for you.

Our guide did an amazing job or speaking   English and Spanish almost simultaneously for the 2 1/2 morning portion of the drive to the cenote.  

The ride on the bus in the morning was long at times since we were driving in the dense forests of the Yucatan peninsula and I was far back in the bus.  I'm used to being in the drivers seat or directing the driver. 

We were not totally prepared for the long day or drive.. should have brought watches, didn't buy snacks before our bus left like we should have.  As we headed through our day we kept saying.. "OK, next time we know to..."  Like this kind of trip is going to happen anytime soon! It wasn't anything tragic just mental notes about what would have been useful. 

I did enjoy seeing signs of life amongst the dense forest, but that was scarce too.  It was interested to see the stark contrast of homes in the Mayan towns compared to our homes here.  It made me consider what is really necessary in my life.

Our first stop of the morning was this cenote.  I don't know the official name or if this one has an official name.  We were not prepared to swim here as the guide who sold us the trip didn't share this helpful but of information.  I was more bummed about that then Devin.  The pool was 150 deep and I'm not sure how far down this was but I would have LOVED to swim.

 This is as wet as we got.

The water was pumped to the surface to create a waterfall effect

 

We stopped for a much appreciated lunch and spent a bit of money on some souvenirs.  After that we road for another 30 minutes to Chichen Itza.  The tour was roughly 2 hours and it went fast.  Our guide went so fast through so many facts.  I tried to put it all away.  After we got on the bus I spend some time jotting down my notes (something I saw from our friend Nancy when we were in Greece.)  Some words were unfamiliar to me, so I've gone online to do a little more research.  

I was very intrigued with the Mayan culture and the El Castillo and the how it stood as their calendar.  I enjoy learning beyond myself and I'm so glad we took this tour.  I found myself trying to imagine what is was like to long ago - of course my imagination can't compare to the reality of it all, but I do enjoy creating my own picture.  There were many parts to the site which we didn't have time to in the couple hours we were there.   

 El Castillo

Small in comparison.  

About 7 years ago they stopped allowing people to climb on the ruins.  People were leaving graphite and taking pieces of the stones.

El Caracol

One of the many Chac masks

And we will leave Chichen Itza with one more uncomfortably stiff tourist photo.  I was very unsure of how to stand without a husband to hold on too.  Must have something to do with the fact that I'm usually behind the camera lens and not in front of it. 

Now what would our trip have been if we didn't have our picture taken wearing some authentically (hot) hats? 

This is all our waiter's fault.  He was lively and funny and offered to take a picture and then there were hats involved and several more photos and... well...enough said.  Enjoy the laugh or two.

 We spent a few days eating the resort food but it was getting old by the end of the vacation.  While we were on the tour of Chichen Itza a couple mentioned a nice restaurant looking over the lagoon.  So we dressed up for our last night of vacation.

Here is the relaxed and tanned (finally) me enjoying the gorgeous view and warm temperatures on the veranda over looking the lagoon.  

While we were relaxing another guest showed up.

 It was a little hard to photograph him (or her).  Whichever it was large and hung out for a bit.  Devin looked it up and believes it could be an American Crocodile.  The owner said this animal shows up around 3 times a week.  Devin was fascinated and he would probably pick this as one of his highlights from the trip. 

We returned to find everyone happy, healthy, and well taken care of although slightly sad that all the great playmates were leaving.  The kids had plenty of fun as evidenced by this and this and didn't have time to miss us.  We'll have to figure out how to return the favor...someday.