We Made the Most of Our Last Day

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Today in Colorado it's minus 18 degrees with a wind chill of 25 below.
As we are all looking for ways to get through all this cold and snow blues,
I would like to offer you all a stroll around the Mayan ruins at Tulum, and some time on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. This beach at Tulum will help warm the cockles of your hearts,

Our last day began quite early, meeting a small group of people who were also staying at the resort.  We took a shuttle down to the the dock to catch a ferry over to Playa del Carmen and from there we took another shuttle on to the Mayan ruins atTulum.

Now, if a month earlier someone would have told me I would be strolling around photographing Mayan ruins, I might have thought them kind of cruel for teasing me like that; but there we were. As a boy, maybe in fifth or sixth
grade, I got my first glimpse of Mayan ruins in my Weekly Reader. The Huck Finn in me wanted to go right then to see them, not having a clue how far south of "O" Street it was! Now, some 55 years later, me and Huck finally got to see them. Of course, he wanted to do a lot more climbing around than time would allow, but we made a pact that there would be other days and other ruins.

After our group had the guided tour around the ruins, it was time to go down to the beach. Side by side, the two worlds of past and present were quite striking. Surely the people who built the buildings more than 600 years ago spent time on this same beach. I have spent my life building stuff, to include more than a couple of structures, and it's safe to say none of them will be around 600 years from now, in any form. I remain humbled by all that I saw that day, but persistent.

From Tulum we went back to Aventura Cove Resort at Playa del Carmen,
a sister resort to Cozumel Palace where we were staying on the Isla de Cozumel.  There, we had a delicious late lunch and some pool time with drinks before catching the ferry back.

When we returned to the resort it was time to get ready to go down for our second romantic champagne dinner on the beach area.  From our first sips
of a martini to the last bite of our desert, it was like being in our very own romantic comedy.  We talked about the five previous days and the people
we met, the things we saw, the food we ate and mostly about the reality that this vacation wasn't going to be a vacation of a life time.  Rather, we will be going and doing and seeing more often than we ever dreamt....there was much laughter. And, one of the many reasons for our smiles was that our whole day was compliments of the vacation dollars provided by the resort.

Here is the link to the pictures from our last day and some of the great people we met. As usual, they can be seen by clicking on the slideshow icon or also by clicking on the word Detail under Day Five. By using the second method, you can see the descriptions I have written of the photos.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagalongphotography/sets/72157625933999762/

A Day for Chillin', and Something Brand NEW

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Finally getting back to finishing out our last two days on the Isle of Cozumel. It seems like so long ago, but by simply pulling up the pictures I can almost feel the ocean breeze, and reflect on how relaxing our time was there. It's still hard to believe we just did it, made reservations, booked a flight and went. Everything else would and could wait, we made time just for the two of us to enjoy each other.

So, day four was kind of  easy going day. We went with some people from the resort on a tour of a replica Mayan village, and onto a beach at Chankanaab Marine National Park. Vicky tried snorkeling for the second time, but realized we would do better up on the beach, and followed our bliss, knowing what was waiting for us back at the resort. We had appointments for 80 minute massages, which were paid for with our vacation dollars. For me it was therapeutic massage,and for Vicky a facial and massage. This is where that "NEW" business comes into play. At 64 years of age, I had never experienced that kind of a massage before. It was amazing.  I haven't felt that relaxed, maybe ever. I came out of the spa feeling like I was floating, and without a doubt, a smile of my face. Surely something so good must be illegal, but not so, just another piece of a great vacation.

After our massages we had some time to relax in our room before we were to meet friends for dinner out on the terrace. Time to tidy up as it were and a little time to plot and plan for our last day.

Somewhere in an earlier posting I mentioned a young man named Matt. Well, Matt introduced us to World Ventures a short time ago and in large part was responsible for Vicky and I enjoying a great vacation. If it had not been for Matt, I would not be writing this on this blog, and Vicky I would have been at home, thinking spring. Rather, we going to be having dinner with Matt, his wife Kristen and his two beautiful little girls Isabella and Emma.  Kristen's parents, Dennis and Judy were also there, along with another World Ventures couple, Mike and Denise.  We all enjoyed a wonderful dinner under the stars.

After a great evening we went back to our room, to get ready for our last day, a trip to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, which I will be posting on later.

The link below will take you to some pictures I took during this day. Hope you enjoy them. As usual, your comments are appreciated.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagalongphotography/sets/72157625891490456/

From Sunrise to Sunset, A Perfect Day

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Of all the days on the Isle of Cozumel, our third day was my favorite, I think. Actually it started on the second day when we decided what we wanted to do on the third, and that would require renting a car. Now, on the Isle of Cozumel, there is no shortage of makes, models, and deals to be made when it comes to renting a car, so basically the window to a world of possibilities was wide open. So, when all the searching and dealing was done, Vicky and I were going to be cruising around Cozumel in a Mexican Ferrari!? You'll just have to see the pictures. Oh yes, when the final bargain was done, we paid $10.00 for 24 hours, plus we had to refill the tank prior to returning the ride.

Our plan was to drive to the eastern shore of the island to watch and photograph the coming of the sun at 0624hrs that morning. Working backward from that time, allowing for travel time, breakfast time, those extra few minutes in the morning required by the better half of our team for primping, we calculated wake up time would be 0500hrs as it worked out. We had room service bring up breakfast, which was one of those many little treats of our trip, and sipped our coffee and ate our scrabbled eggs as we got ready to go. Our timing was perfect and a place was quickly found to pull over to park and set up my camera. Let's just say it was grand!

After I felt there were no more sunrise scenes to catch and release, we drove north along the coast highway, stopping here and there and gathering more pictures. For most of the the day, more or less, we had the beaches to ourselves.
About midway along the coast we stopped at an overlook area and while there, observed a young couple walking hand and hand along the beach. "How sweet", we thought. We did meet them and they introduced themselves as Brian and Cat.  They volunteered to take a picture of me and Vicky and it turned out to be one of our favorite shots! So now, thanks to Brian, Vicky and I have a picture of the two of us on one of those very special days spent together.

By mid afternoon we were back at the resort and thinking, "now what?" Vicky chose a nap, and I went down for a dip in the pool and a chance to visit with some people we had met. While I was kicking back, out from one of the restaurants came a line of about 10 or 12 young chef types with their white stove pipe hats, all carrying a tray in one hand of something, and offering what they had on the trays to all the guests....and me without my camera. What a sight! Well, what they had was the most amazing ice cream bars I had ever eaten. Vicky is coming close to forgiving me for not bringing one up for her, I think.

After Vicky woke, we got cleaned up and came down for a buffet dinner on the terrace, and watched the same sun we watched come up, go down. Any nearer to a perfect day, and it would be off by a little.

Our evening ended with live entertainment out on the open terrace. There were eight dancers who performed for more than an hour and made nine costume changes without the show ever stopping. I don't ever remember the Holiday Inn providing that kind of entertainment.

So as the show ended, it was back to the room for some quality jacuzzi time.....Hey! We were on "Mexican time"

Here is the link to some of the pictures taken that day. As usual, please feel free to leave coments
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagalongphotography/sets/72157625841714124/

Win! Win! and Grin!

We have been home for a few days now from our first vacation using our World Ventures membership and I am very happy to report we had one of the best times
ever.

Over the years I have traveled by many different means, to many different
destinations, and this trip provided me with yet another brand new experience.
We stayed at the four star, all inclusive Cozumel Palace Resort for less than we normally spend staying at Holiday Inn. That has just blown me away. We had our
own jacuzzi in the room, a stocked liquor cabinet, 24 hour room service, all meals available in four different restaurants within the resort, an open bar pool side, and some of the best people providing all the amenities. And did I mention all gratuities were included? We were simply treated like kings and queens.

When we booked the trip, the package included $750 vacation dollars. This is credits issued by the resort for various activities at the resort and elsewhere on the island. However, when we got there we found out they had a special promotion and had doubled the amount. Oh boy!! So, what we did with ours?  We had two romantic dinners, a therapeutic massage for me and Vicky got a facial and a message. We went on two different day long tours, one being the Mayan Ruins at Tulum,which included transportation, drinks and lunch of course and our own tour guide.
Here are two links to pictures of the first two days we were there. Most of the first day was travel time, but we did manage to get there in time to have a great meal out on the terrace, look around a little, and fill the jacuzzi for some quality time. The second day was used to walk around the down town area, some pool time, watch the sunset, and ended with a romantic dinner. OOOH Baby!

Click on a link, then when it opens click on the slideshow icon in the upper right corner. When it opens, click on the square in the lower left to enlarge. Please feel free to leave comments as well. Always enjoy hearing from you.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagalongphotography/sets/72157625687208491/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tagalongphotography/sets/72157625696277909/