Cozumel 2011

Bruce and I planned our trip to Cozumel and boy did I need a vacation by the time it came. We booked in May for Des and Mike's wedding, of course. We used a time share that Aunt Della had given us for our wedding. Because it was a time share Bruce and I ended up in Mexico days before the rest of Des and Mike's friends and family came down. This was nice because Bruce and I could pretend we were on our second Honeymoon (or I guess we didn't really have to pretend) ~ but first we had to get there. We overnighted to Mexico. Not a good idea for those of us who can't sleep on the plane. We did get to see the sun rise over North Carolina, though. We were exhausted when we got to the hotel, but we made it.

sunrise from the plane

We stayed on Playa San Francisco at the Occidental Allegro. It was bungalow style, which I love, with friendly guests and staff.

 

 our bungalows across from the "inactive pool" 

We were burned fairly quickly on our first full day. We ended up relaxing A LOT (so not like us). We were in the shade reading, doing word finds and sleeping for 2 days straight. It was too hot for us to do anything and nothing was within walking distance. We had plans to go to all sorts of places, but didn't feel up to it so we just enjoyed our time relaxing. Probably something we should do more often. We walked on the beach multiple evenings after dinner and it was beautiful.

our beach and hotel dock at night

We saw a lot of creatures around our hotel ~ iguanas, geckos, snakes, jumping spider, frogs/toads, turtles, crabs.... Our hotel also tried to have activities for us to participate in with other guests - usually we were too hot to care, but we did see a "Fire Show" (we didn't do disco, bingo, beach volleyball, or movies).

one of many, many, many iguanas












the fire show was impressive

We went snorkeling a few times ~ at our hotel, at el Parque Chaankanaab and in a Glass Bottom boat tour. They were all fun to do and we saw a lot of different fish at all of them ~ baracudas, parrot fish, star fish, great baracudas, sting rays and many other tropical fish of varying sizes.  I wish I had a good underwater camera to remind us of all the creatures we saw!

We went to el Parque Chaankanaab twice. They had a nice beach, a fun restaurant and miniature replica of the Mayan ruins.

 the beach at the nature park

 Bruce at the entrance to the mayan ruins replicas

 Melanie posing with a mayan statue

 Bruce ordered the Piña Colada in a pineapple

 Bruce turned Mexican!

 Oh no! Melanie too!

 Mama came to the park the second time with us

at the entrance to the park

We went to the park a second time to do a Dolphin Discovery visit ~ a Mother's day gift from her daughters that Bruce and I also got to enjoy. It was a mama dolphin with her baby in our enclosure. It was really cool. We were with one couple so the 5 of us got to really enjoy our hour with the dolphins doing hand shakes, belly rides, a foot push, a hug, kisses, etc. Super fun and I would do it again! Here are just a couple of photos from our time:

The day we went to the Dolphin thing was the day Des and Mike had a wedding on the beach. We got to the hotel and had lunch with Mike and his dad. We had dessert with Mama and Shannin and then we headed to the hotel to get ready. We could see multiple rooms from the balconies ~ I was in Des and Mike's room, Mike was getting ready in Mel and Brian's room and Bruce was in Mama and Robert's room. 

Des and Mike's wedding got off with minor glitches, but it didn't matter. They had a great ceremony where they chose their own music, had beautiful weather, read their own vows and combined their sand together. It was short and sweet ~ I hope it was just how they wanted it.

After the ceremony it was time for formal photos. After that, we all just seemed to "glisten" more and more as the night wore on. The temperature didn't seem to drop and we were all wearing too many clothes for the weather and we were dancing and moving around talking to each other and we just got hotter and hotter. Bruce and 5 other people ended up jumping into the pool at the end of the night ~ why not? We were all soaked in sweat anyway.

 a quick family shot with Shannin standing in for Brittany

sunset after the wedding ceremony

 

On our last day, we got up to eat breakfast and walk the beach. Here are our goodbye photos:

 lifeguard Mel

 

or not

 good bye Cozumel, we had fun (Bruce is so sad he can't smile)

 one last farewell to beautiful waters

 our shadows in the ocean

good bye bar swing (not a great idea)

Although I never would have chosen Mexico as a destination, we were surprised by how much we liked it and would even come back some day. The beaches were nice, the water was warm, the colors of the island were beautiful and there's not a lot to do so we can't feel guilty for just sitting around. 

 

San Juan Island Boat Trip

Yay! For my birthday Bruce was a very busy bee. He managed to get almost all of my family (Des had a class) to come to the San Juan Islands for a boat trip (it was a whale watching trip, but that didn't happen, so it is a boat trip now). I was in shock that he managed to do all this stuff behind my back without me having any idea!

We got up super early on Saturday morning to get ready and we caravaned up to Anacortes where we took the ferry across to Friday Harbor. It was absolutely beautiful there. After days and days of rain (and some snow - in APRIL!!!!) we were blessed with sun!!! It was already a perfect day. Friday Harbor is so quaint and just being next to the water lifts my spirits.

We got ready to set out on a whale watching tour - Orcas had been spotted the day before hunting for food just an island away. Would we get lucky? Unfortunately, we didn't see Orcas but have no fear I was in love with being on the excursion with my family and birthday twin, Stephanie,and her husband. The only ones missing were Mike and Des who were teaching a class, so what are you gonna do? Steph and her husband were great substitutes.

Bruce and my dad each spotted Harbor Porpoises but there were too quick to capture on camera. They looked like mini-Orcas because they were black and white. We also got to see Harbor Seals sunning themselves and splashing around in the water. Then there were Stellar Sea Lions singing and sunning themselves. Every time I tried to capture their singing on camera they got shy and quiet. We saw an island that had exotic deer and sheep (?) brought to the island to hunt. There were lots of babies and males with curly horns. Of course there were bald eagles everywhere - apparently 10% of all the bald eagles in the US live in the San Juans! There were more birds that I can't even begin to remember the names of and I loved seeing them capture fish. There were falcons but I can't remember the specific kind. At one point we stopped in a huge kelp bed that grows 1 foot or more a day and is harvested for use in things like toothpaste.

 Harbor Seals

 Ryan on the lookout

 Sprits high looking for wildlife

 Attentive lookouts

 Ryan enjoying the sunny day on the water

 on a constant lookout

 Coming up to more Harbor Seals

 They all started jumping in the water - I hoped as bait, but that's just mean

 Stellar Sea Lions sunning themselves

 Stephanie trying to avoid the spray in some really, really choppy and windy waters

 Michael tirelessly on the lookout

 Ryan after his nap

I guess San Juan Island area is a very nutrient rich environment and has an amazing array of wild life above and below the water. The islands are actually tops of what used to be glacial mountains that were formed when the glaciers began melting and rounding out the tops of the mountains to become the cluster of islands that we know today. Gorgeous!

Overall it was an AMAZING day and I couldn't have asked for a better time. Thanks so much to my family and friends for getting together with me as an excuse. I love you all!

 

Just because it was funny - it looks like the boat was driving itself :)