Paradisus

Paradisus is decorated in an Aztec style. The buildings are all thatched roof and there are no walls in the main buildings. They do have fabric panels that can come down if it rains. It did rain one day for about 15 minutes.

There were many of these around the grounds, all different. I really liked this ones poncho and jewlery.

This was one of the seating areas for one of the restaurants. The walkway in the background went all the way out to the pool. All of the main areas were surrounded by water. We wondered how many people fall into the water after having a few. Paradisus is an all-inclusive resort and there were people that didn't seem to recognize when they had enough.

These little huts were great because when we were ready for some sun you could pull them from under the huts. We were glad there was plenty of shade as the sun was really hot. I really like the way the grass shows which way the breeze is going. The sand is fine white sand and there was a machine that looked like a lawnmower that came through several times a day picking up the seaweed. I expected to fine seashells, but there weren't any.

The swim up pool bar was really fun. I took this picture about 7 AM in the morning before walking on the beach. Later in the day it was much busier.

The cement chairs under the pavillion were great fun, we got drinks from the bar and then went and sat on one of those. On the right are more cement chairs which is also where the bar is. On Saturday night there was a wedding reception in the white dome in the background, the wedding had been on the beach at sunset.
I took this picture near the white wedding dome. Here is another row of the cement chairs in the pool. They were so fun and they were really warm from the sun so when you sat on them you had to wet them down but the warmth from them felt wonderful.

Next up....a request for a picture of Kate's hair do. She won't put it on Facebook but I think she looks really cute. She is going to be in Thoroughally Modern Millie next week, as Lucille who is Millie's friend. All the "modern" girls got their hair bobbed, so cute!

Mexico

This is the airport in Cancun, Mexico. The airport looks like it's out of the 70's. They have three luggage belts, but strangely they only use one. There was so much luggage on the belt that they announced that they won't be putting any more luggage on until people start taking some off. The resourceful American started rearranging the luggage so there were empty spots on the belt and they started it back up. Mic and Steve went in and fought the crowd while Lizi and I stood talking.
Once we got our luggage we went over to stand in the customs line. This was a pretty efficient system, they just looked at our passports and asked where we were staying. While on the airplane we were asked to fill out immigration forms, which we did. They wanted to know if you were carrying any firearms, illegal substances or more than $10,000. Then in BIG letter that said were to declare if we had any fresh fruits or plants we were not going to be allowed to bring them into Mexico. I guess the other stuff was negotiable.

We started peeling off our layers of clothes as it was about 80 degrees in the airport and about 85 degrees outside. That's when Mic told me I wasan't allowed to complain about being hot.

When we got on the bus we saw this;
The sign below it said that if the bus entered water or caught on fire to use it to break the window. The bus only had two speeds, fast and slamming on the brakes. The drive took the speed bumps so quickly that you came right out of your seat. It only took about 30 minutes and we arrived at Paradisus.

Up next, a tour of Paradisus.....Until later

Teenager no more!

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 years and this baby turned into a man. Mic and I spent the day in Kalamazoo taking Jack to lunch and a trip to Meijer for groceries. He's such a wonderful young man, I'm really lucky to have had him in my life. He's always brought such joy and fun.

This is me 20 years ago February 28. The really fun part is that Mom and I were in Florida over that time period and we stayed in the same house we stayed in for that visit. Thanks Jo! It's weird to think that it was only two weeks later that I had him. All 9 lbs. 6 oz. of him.
Here's to the next 20 years!
(Tomarrow I start blogging my travel adventures). Until later, Karen