Rick and Janell's News: Cancun Birthday

On the 18th of September we had a get together with the family to celebrate my birthday. We started out with a gospel discussion about the plan of salvation (2 Nephi 2) and then had a turkey dinner with all the fixins'. I have had a turkey in the freezer since Christmas and really needed to get it cooked up. Rick and I provided the turkey, potatoes & gravy and stuffing. Sarah brought rolls and Kendra brought a jello salad. It was a delicious feast. Afterwards we had Ruby Snap cookies (at my request) and then opened presents and shared memories. It was a nice night to have everyone in our home.

The next morning we left bright and early to head to none other than CANCUN!

I have resisted going to Mexico for a lot of years. We have been there plenty of times, and I just have not wanted to go. We had been planning to spend a few days in St. George to celebrate my birthday, but the week previous to my birthday I went to Vegas to help out with my mom and dad and it was very hot! One day the car read 114 degrees! I was not too keen on going somewhere quite that hot for my birthday, so I mentioned to Rick that I would like to go somewhere else. That evening I opened the map of the states to see where we could go and nothing jumped out at me. I then thought of Cancun and it's beautiful sand and water, and I said to Rick, "I wonder if Southwest flies to Cancun"? Shocked, and with a twinkle in his eye said, "Really? Let me check into that!" (He really loves Mexico:)

Anyway.... that's how it all started. Southwest required really high points, but in checking with American we found some pretty good deals, so we booked them.

That brings us to my birthday (the 19th) and off we were bright and early in the morning to Cancun.

We found a Marriott affiliate in the Westin on the South side of the hotel zone. It fit perfectly for us because it was out of the really noisy, party area, which is not our thing.

We got checked in and arrived to our room with balloons and a birthday treat from the hotel. That was really nice of them. Happy Birthday to me!

Even though we were upgraded to a suite our room was very basic in comparison to other places we have stayed. (nice for Mexico, though) The thing I loved most about our room was our wonderful view! It was incredible! It overlooked the pool and common areas and had a nice view of those beautiful Carribean waters... the very reason I wanted to go to Cancun!

It was so beautiful and a good start to our amazing trip!

After unpacking we walked just outside the hotel to catch a bus to the mall. We were on the hunt for some Mexican food, and the mall was suggested to us to find some. We found a little place just on the Lagoon inside the mall and had our first dinner. We had chips and guac, tacos, and of course, a V Pina Colada.

It was a great meal to start off our trip!

After wandering around the mall and getting some Haagen Dazs for dessert (at a steep $8 each) we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the warm pool. It felt so nice and was a nice way to end my birthday.

We got a good night's rest, and Rick woke up early (as usual) and went for a run. He woke me up just after the sun came up because he did not want me to miss it. He got this nice picture of the sunrise from our balcony. Did I mention we had a beautiful view?

Each morning we were able to eat at the hotel's restaurant which was included in our stay. It was such a GREAT breakfast. It was a full-on buffet with a mixture of Mexican and American breakfast foods with lots of fruit and pastries. We ate plenty which fueled us for the day.

We didn't have to eat again until dinner.

The first day we just hung around the hotel and swam in the ocean and pool and read our books and walked on the sand and just enjoyed being lazy. We thought it would be fun to go parasailing, so we walked down the beach to where we were told it was but there was no one there. We walked as far as Club Med but were immediately turned away by the security guards....I mean they did not want us to set foot on the property, which I thought a little comical and interesting. Our hotel was an open beach for anyone and of course, there were many many hotels along the beach. Anyway, we found this cute sign on our walk to "Club Med" and got a picture.

That night we walked out to the beach, and just as we got onto the sand I said, "hey there's a crab!" And then I noticed it was not crawling like a crab but was kinda flopping around and I exclaimed, "I think that's a turtle!" And it sure was. And then we looked around and saw more and more baby turtles (around thirty) that had just hatched and were trying to find their way to the water. They were clearly off the path and not very close to the water.

Rick went to get an attendant to see what to do, and the attendant said to put them in the water, so we did! We picked them all up and got them to the oceans edge before the birds could get to them. This was so fun because this was something that we had always wanted to see (not knowing that we could actually help in the process). Another bucket list check!✅

After getting the little turtles in the water we decided to walk along the beach and lo and behold we found about FORTY FIVE more babies trying to get into the water. The mothers had made there nest by the ocean break wall. Many of the hotels gather the eggs and keep them incubated until the time of release (around sixty days), but apparently they missed some of the eggs because there were a lot of little babies hatching out in the open that night. I can't tell you how fun and exciting it was to find these little guys and get them to the water to start their journey in life. Yes, we did see some birds hanging around (even though it was dark) waiting to get an easy meal. We got a lot of video but here his one lone picture of a baby turtle and me.😀

The next day we took an excursion to go snorkeling on the reef just outside of Puerto Morelos. We got to see some sting rays, a shark, beautiful reef and lots of tropical fish. We had two separate stops and really enjoyed our time in the water. We were not allowed to wear ANY sunscreen, so we had to buy a swim shirt for each of us. (Rick forgot his at home and I didn't bring one.) The shirts helped a lot although I did get a little burned on the back of my legs. This is our only picture on the excursion. He's cute!

After getting back to the hotel we decided to get an early dinner just down the street from our hotel. It was hot and humid out and a longer walk than I was expecting. The food proved to be so so as well. I had coconut shrimp and Rick had the fish. He also got a V Mojito, that he really enjoyed!

He said it was one of the best he's had!

The next day proved to be the funnest day of the trip. We booked an excursion to La Isla Mujeres. We had been there once before in 1993, the very first time we had ever visited Cancun, with our friends Karrie and Gordy Villarini. We did some snorkeling back then, and it was just a small place with not many amenities. Well in the past thirty years it has drastically changed!

We started off the day getting picked up in a van (along with a couple of other stops picking up other couples) which took us up to the top of the hotel zone where we caught a catamaran. We headed out onto the beautiful morning waters and stopped halfway to the island to do some snorkeling. We saw a few fish and some coral but nothing like the previous day. It was wonderful to get in the water, though. There was a very strong current so we pretty much all stayed together and drifted to a spot where the boat picked us up. After the snorkel we had some lunch. I could barely eat it. I had just had a few pastries that Rick had brought from the hotel, and it was only 10 in the morning, and I couldn't bring myself to eat ceviche and guac that early. We stopped one more time a bit later and took another swim. The current was VERY strong so instead of swimming it was more like....hold on to this rope or you might be swept away kind of a feeling. Some did attempt (and succeeded) to get on a paddle board which gave us some entertainment, but for me I was not gonna let go of that rope. The water sure felt good, though, and it was just as I remembered from thirty years ago....pristine and clear and beautiful so as to see clear to the bottom! It was incredible! Here we are in our new swim shirts! 😀

We got to La Isla and boy was it different from the first time. There were shops and restaurants and little homes. It was just so cute and fun! We rented a golf cart right off the bat and started in on exploring the island. We loved just cruising around in this little vehicle. It kept backfiring as we went over the speed bumps which made us laugh and laugh!

We made a couple of stops along the way for pictures and to purchase a couple of shells from a roadside home.

We bought a conch shell and a brain coral.

It was funny to see Rick try to blow the horn of the conch.

Both the dad and little girl could do it and showed us how.

Rick tried but it came out sounding like a beached whale!😂

Of course, I wasn't going to embarrass myself by trying....

We stopped at the southern most part of the island and took some pictures.

We had lunch right on the beautiful beach and didn't want to eat too much because we wanted to save space for dinner. We decided to share the nachos, and I said I would only eat a little but let me tell you, these nachos were sooo good we ate every bite! And then of course after swimming and before having to turn in our cart, we had to find a churro! Which I can happily say we found!

A snake shot before we left Isla Mujeres. Eww....

We loved our time on the island and will definitely be back. Another thing that will bring us back (most likely next August) is the fact that there are excursions that go out to swim with the whale sharks. When we found out that the last excursion was the Thursday before got there we were really bummed. That has been on our bucket list for a while. So La Isla Mujeres and whale sharks, we are coming for you next year!

Another crazy thing that happened was on our ride back to the hotel. We were with three other couples in a van being dropped off at each hotel respectively. There were two couples in the van who clearly had too much to drink while on the island, and we were amazed how they were sitting in close proximity of each other, but instead of quietly talking were yelling their words. It was sooo loud! The. Whole. Way.

Rick and I just kept looking at each other like, this can't be real, but it was. We heard way more conversation than we wanted to!😑

We enjoyed a nice dinner that night at a Thai restaurant in the mall. The restaurant was very beautiful, and it felt as if we were actually in Thailand with all of the decor and ambiance. The food was very good, and we decided we would like to return someday.

The next day was our last day. We wanted to have another relaxing day on the beach and the pool so we did. We also were hoping to find the parasailing outfit. We were able to find them right where they were supposed to be two days before. Apparently they had a breakdown that day so that's why we couldn't find them. Our parasailing adventure was so peaceful and beautiful. We didn't go nearly as high as when we were in Tampa...that was terrifying. We got some air but it was just right and not too high.

We both loved it!