~Adventures of Mexico~

Ok...one word...AMAZING! This vacation was so needed and it was great. We spent most of our time between Cancun and Playa del Carmen, (that's where our hotel was). Our hotel was amazing! it was so pretty and right on the beach. We left on the 23rd and got to Mexico around 4PM. It was so warm it was great! Friday was pretty much a relaxing day, we checked into the hotel, met up with Randy's parents, had dinner, and just relaxed. While we were there, we ended up doing 2 days of diving, (we thought 3 might be a little too much) and then we spent 2 days doing the Mayan Ruins. The first one we went to was Chichen-Itza, which is probably the most popular of the Mayan Ruins, and the amount of people that were there proved it. The ruins themselves were really cool, but the place was packed with vendors all trying to get you to buy their stuff. I know they're just trying to make money...but it was pretty annoying. We also got to swim in a cenote (and underground cave) which was pretty cool. I was really looking forward to dive one, but Heidi doesn't really like enclosed spaces, and after she told me why...I agreed with her. Monday was our first day of diving...and it was really cool. They had us flip off the boat backwards (which I really didn't like...but it's better then just walking into the water), and then we went down. Since it was my first open dive, I pretty much freaked out. I got about 2 feet under the water and started to freak out...I almost went back up to the top, but everyone was waiting for me at the bottom. It's really good that I had gone deeper in my class, otherwise I don't think I would've been able to talk myself into going down. Once I hit the bottom I was fine, so that was good. I think it was a combo of flipping off the boat backward and being in such an open space. The second dive we did that day was so much better. I didn't feel the anxiety at all, which is good, and flipping off the back of the boat was MUCH easier! The next day was pretty much a lounge day, we went and got massages in the morning and then laid by the pool in the afternoon. It was so relaxing. Wednesday we went to another Mayan Ruin called Tulum. It was awesome! And...there were NO vendors! My new favorite place! ha! We had a great guide who has a master's in Anthropology and specialized in physical proof that the Book of Mormon is true. We asked her to do an LDS tour (you can get them either way), and it was amazing to hear her testimony of the gospel and all the proof that was found in the ruins. The spirit that was felt there was just more of a testimony to me that the church is true. It was amazing to see the symbolism that was there, and how similar it is to my beliefs. And these ruins have been there for hundreds of years. It was amazing! The next day was our last couple of dives, which we had to take a ferry ride to Cozumel to do. This was by far my favorite set of dives, although I really liked the dive guide in Playa a TON better...he was just so helpful with it being my first open water dive. The guide in Cozumel seemed to be annoyed that he was diving with "beginners." This dive was way deeper, 60 feet instead of 35 like the first one, and it was a drift dive. It had a pretty strong current so you had to really pay attention otherwise you'd miss things. The water was crystal clear...visibility was probably close to 100 feet, which is huge underwater. The reef was so pretty and so much bigger then the one in Playa. Friday we came home, which I really didn't want to, we hit the dallas airport and saw the weather, and almost turned around cuz it was so cold here. But we had to come home, but it was a fantastic trip and I can wait to dive some other places!

The beach our Hotel was on

Pool side view


The family at Chichen-Itza


Outside of the Cenotes


Randy jumping into the Cenote...it was super cold!


More Cenote


Ruins at Tulum...this is a carving of a face, one side is perfect, the other is imperfect.


The view from the Ruins...can you say awesome!


All the different ruins of Tulum


Mark and Heidi on the 1st dive


Randy and I standing on the ocean floor


A sting-ray


A school of Fish


Mark Swimming through the school of fish


Cozumel...the 2nd dive


Me and Randy on the last dive


The Mountain of Clouds on the ride home