Hola from Playa Del Carmen

Hola,

Mexico was great - and appeared safe in the tourist areas. We spent 8+ days in Playa del Carmen - whew - lotza fun.

Playa del Carmen is a tourist area that is much more relaxed than Cancun. Playa is about 40 miles South of Cancun. (ASK Connie if you need any travel tips - she has searched everything about the area.) The town is spread along the beach - with the main street lined with bricks and closed to car traffic. There are 20+ blocks of walkway with restaurants and shops - just a fun place to go. And there are plenty of activities within a short bus ride.

Highlights:

4 favorite activities:
The beach - can't beat it.
Scuba diving - saw several large turtles!
Climbing the ruins at Coba Mayan Ruins.
Hidden Worlds was fun - zip lines and cenotes. A little spendy. (Save $10 buying tickets on line!)

3 favorite Restaurants:
Yaxche Mayan Cuisine- mmmmm
La Cueva del Chango
Babes Noodle Bar (Cervesa is 30 pesos, water 32 pesos - gotta save $$ when you can)

$1 US = 14.5 pesos

3 disappointments:
Too windy a few days.
Had to come home.
Connie was pretty sick for a few days - bummer!

Another Favorite activity - we met so many people from all over the world!! France, Germany, the States, and Mexico and more. We enjoyed getting to know so many people. The hotel we stayed at had a really fun feature - a continental breakfast which was served. Everybody showed up at 8am - and got to know each other over coffee, juice and rolls - talking about the planned activities for the day and sharing tips about the area.

Language faux pas:
I went to an Internet cafe one evening to catch up on the news. I was at a desk that was outside, right of 5th street - the street for only foot traffic - chatting with one of the vendors at an adjacent store. The vendor had limited English - and I had limited Spanish - but we were chatting.

Another tourist wanted to play a practical joke on his wife. She was very pale - which is hard to do on the Mexican Riviera. The husband wanted the vendor to ask the wife "Where is your tan?". This is apparently a family joke for the fair skinned wife. The wife was a few shops away with a friend and her parents. So the vendor walks up to her and asks "where is your tan?" - everyone breaks out laughing - including the wife.

So they family works their way down the street. About 5 minutes later, the vendor is asking how good my Spanish is - I said so-so. He wanted to know what it meant to say "where is your tan?" He had no idea what he was saying and why everyone was laughing. He finally understood the joke once I explained what was going on. (I think he was originally offended that everyone was laughing at him because he didn't really understand it was a practical joke.)

Sooo - the next evening I was walking past the store - same vendor outside. He didn't recognize me at first. I leaned over and said "where is your tan?" - he laughed.

The other fun language story was trying to figure out when the time was going to change. The time had already changed to Day Light Savings at home, but not in Mexico yet. We had been advised by fellow tourists that it may be the day we were traveling home. We had to ask a lot of people over several days before we found out it would be next weekend. One of the themes in Mexico is that no one really cares what time it is - let alone tomorrow. We fit in well with the concept - except we wanted to catch our flight home.

Connie had asked a shop vendor if the time was changing tomorrow. He replied "Oh no - it's going to be nice - no rain - no wind."

Oh well.

Here are a few favorite photos:

Climbing the temple at Coba:


















Our hotel:





















Fishing boats along Playa
















5th street in Playa - no cars!!!

Mike and Connie at Coba

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in." Robert Orben

"oz"ome Portland trip

OK – so the dog tricks are a little boring. Sorrrry!

We took a little break this weekend to make memories. (cuz that’s what we do!) It’s been a long winter – the weather has been crappy – and Spring Break is still 2 weeks away. So we took off to Portland for a couple of days. Last December, I’d bought Connie tickets to a play for her birthday.

Fate threw a few challenges at us. Connie was sick on Friday – real sick. Thankfully she was feeling a little better on Saturday – so we took off Sat. AM. The wicked winds from the East blew like I’ve never seen before. The water from the Columbia River was actually blowing a mist onto the truck. It was a three hour fight driving into the wind the entire trip. YUK!!!

Oh well – so we arrived in Portland – and stayed at the Residence Inn. It’s OK. The story I want to share about the hotel is how we pick them. Most people that know me understand I don’t mind shopping for a bargain. Some critics may even argue I’m cheap. So, either way, I’m a big fan of Priceline! Try it if you haven’t yet. They have 2 methods of selecting a room – you can either pick your hotel at the “rack” rate – or bid on a hotel. You don’t get to select the hotel if you bid – but I’ve never been disappointed. We regularly find 3-star hotels for $50-$60. For this trip, we bid $50 for a $139 room. There are always a few extras – but it’s still a nice deal. We had to pay a little extra for parking, but included was a decent breakfast. You can select the location in the city – and the star level. We’ve stayed at 4 star hotels, but find their restaurants can be too spendy. Ok – so enough about travel trips.

For those that haven’t been to Portland – it’s a great city. It’s easy to get around, plenty to do, and great food. Not that I need a lot of great food. So, after a yummy seafood dinner, we had to get ready for the play. While waiting for the elevator, Connie made quite an impression on one of the other hotel guests. This probably isn’t the best forum to describe the meeting – but just ask her the next time you talk to her – it was definitely a “memory” – if not a little embarrassing!!!! (Probably one of the highlights of the trip).

We also had to take Bowie – jeez. Oh well, momma was happy. This hotel is VERY dog friendly. I’m sure the people in the room before us had a dog – because we found a new dog toy under the bed. Of course, Bowie had the stuffing tore out of it in about 5 minutes.

So we are off to see the play- ah – to see Wicked. It was an “oz”ome play. The comedic-musical play was about the lives of the witches in the Wizard of Oz. The play was very funny – music was so-so. (Not as good as an Andrew Lloyd Weber play). The moral of the Wicked story is - not all is at it seems. There is good in what is perceived as bad, and bad in what is perceived as good. There is humor, certainly a few twists, and the cast was great. GO SEE IT!!!!!

I indulged a little a few weeks ago – purchased a GPS for our car. While I know my way around Portland, and would have found my way into and out of town, it was really nice to have the GPS. I’d just bought a basic model on BUY.com (shopping for bargains). This darned thing paid for itself the first trip!! Most of you know I’m addicted to coffee. Not just regular coffee! I like a good cup of coffee. So, I just had to push a few buttons on the GPS and it directed me to a really good coffee place in Gresham. We grabbed a couple of Lattes and a bag of fresh roasted beans – mmmmmm. I’d have never found this place – and would have settled for just another Starbucks.

So –it’s Sunday morning. On the way home to Pendleton, we took a break at Wahkeena Falls. What a beautiful place. (See pictures below) The nice thing about driving to Portland is the drive through the Columbia River Gorge. There is about 100 miles of forest and waterfalls. We try to stop at new locations and take a small hike – about a mile this trip.




I’m “trying” to change the flavor of this blog. We are just starting – so It’ll take a little while. So, with that in mind:

In his final letter to the Scouts, Baden-Powell wrote:

"...I have had a most happy life and I want each one of you to have a happy life too. I believe that God put us in this jolly world to be happy and enjoy life. Happiness does not come from being rich, nor merely being successful in your career, nor by self-indulgence. One step towards happiness is to make yourself healthy and strong while you are a boy, so that you can be useful and so you can enjoy life when you are a man. Nature study will show you how full of beautiful and wonderful things God has made the world for you to enjoy. Be contented with what you have got and make the best of it. Look on the bright side of things instead of the gloomy one. But the real way to get happiness is by giving out happiness to other people. Try and leave this world a little better than you found it and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate you have not wasted your time but have done your best. 'Be Prepared' in this way, to live happy and to die happy - stick to your Scout Promise always - even after you have ceased to be a boy - and God help you to do it."

Bowies tricks