South of the Border or "Did I forget to pack my Uzi?"

Despite the warnings about gun toting drug lords, we embarked on a spring break vacation to "sunny" Mexico. Did I say sunny? It was more like hazy to cloudy (with a little wind) Mexico, but very hot and didn't actually rain on us so I guess I can't complain. The only gun toting we saw was by police and federales which were quite prevalent along the major highways. Dang- no shoot-outs!

This event was actually a mini family reunion to celebrate my mothers 80th birthday, and was attended by Cathy, my Mum, Jaimie, me, my sister Connie, and her husband Bill (Cathy was hiding behind the camera). We rented a rather palatial house on the coast of Akumal, just south of Cancun, and based our stay out of there. I was here once before about 30 years ago and man has this place changed. What was once an idyllic, sleepy stretch of deserted palm covered beaches has turned into tourista city. Places we slept on the beach are now multi-mega resorts with security check points, people everywhere. Too bad really, but that's progress.

We had a great time though and got to do some different things. Jaimie swam with the dolphins, and event got a pretty amazing foot push. I sort of naively assumed it took some training to do this but I guess the dolphins do most of the work. I saw a manatee which I'd never seen before. We saw the guys that hang upside down and spin around ever lengthening ropes (precursor to bungee jumping by the way). Cathy and I did some scuba diving but due to the wind and high seas the visibility was pretty disappointing. We did see some cool sea turtles though and that is always fun.

Connie, Bill, Jaimie, and my Mom took an expedition over to the Chichen Itza ruins one day. Jaimie bought herself a pretty dress on that trip. I opted out due to the long bus ride, but we all visited Tulum. When I was there before it was a dirt parking lot (with small children playing in garbage piles) and you walked up to the ruins for a look. Now it is a major deal with shuttle rides from a remote parking area, pay to get in, and an unbelievable number of people milling around to the point where you can hardly walk.

I also rediscovered something that I had learned long ago...they can't make a drinkable Margarita in Mexico. No worries- we're off to the liquor store for a bottle, and some mix and before you know it I've got my brother-in-law doing shots at the kitchen table. Did I mention the trip was pretty relaxing?

Surprisingly, when we got home it was snowing...and it hasn't stopped since.