Isla Mujeres ~ Magical

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Don't ever be ashamed to tell your parents you love them. Ever.

We have enjoyed ourselves so much as you can see from the blogs. I am very happy that Mom was able to come along with us; it has made for a fun trip and a chance to spend quality time with her. Life is busy with kids, schedules, work, and with mom out of town, we have to plan for visits. So being able to spend this wonderful time together, to sit down together, break bread, chat and share and just bask in each other's company (well assuming Mom is basking in mine?) has been a gift. A real gift.

I have a wonderful dear friend who is dealing with her mother being ill. And I got an email from her to say please enjoy your time on your trip with your mom because she wishes she had enjoyed a trip with her mom. It makes you think, and it makes me grateful for having the opportunity to get away from the rat race & connect with the family. And it makes you realize how fleeting time is. What we have, is what we have now...Over the years before we started to travel, I'd see friends going away & say "well we'll do that next year" and before you know it a decade is passed...

You can plan all you want for next year to do things or trips with your family, your spouse, your kids but life is like a game of roulette, not controlled by anyone or anything. In life you can choose to be the roulette wheel which is always the same, never changes, always black & red & always travels in a circle. Or you can choose to be the ball that is energized each time in a different way by the thrower bringing additional energy to that old spinning roulette wheel by bouncing & spinning along the way.

The reality about life is you have NO idea what's lurking around the corner, so we have to slurp up the good moments now, and take the pause button off hold. I know that's easier said than done for many people. If I didn't have this job in Playa del Carmen, we wouldn't have the same opportunities (my family is bowing down to me now calling me the Queen...hee hee) So right now we are enjoying everything, every moment that we can.

So to this special friend & lady, I send you big hugs. Your heart is bigger than the sun, and you have my admiration for taking such loving care of your mom, especially in light of how you have transformed your life to make her comfortable and looked after in your own home. And while I'm at it, my/our hat is off to the husband of this special gal, who been such a wonderful supportive man and who is so loving to both his wife and her mom. The one true test of marriage is not in good times, it's when the hurricane blows through that you find out whether your marriage is built on a solid foundation or not, and theirs certainly is. (We've had our hurricane too when my brother Bill passed away & I thank Al for that support during murky waters). So those 2 are withstanding the storm together, and well, I am so glad to have such amazing people in my life...Manon & John, we love you. "May the blessing of the rain be on you, and the soft sweet rain may it fall upon your spirit, so all the little flowers may spring up and share their sweetness in the air"...

SO to move on, yesterday was fantastic with a trip to Isla Mujeres. Caught the ferry at 9:30 am and it was a beautiful quick trip across, with the amazing Caribbean colors that makes you think it is all an illusion. The Caribbean is known for it's hue and beautiful colors of blue, turquoise and a mix of colors at times that makes you think that an artist has a palette of colors that they throw in the sea together. Part of the reason it's like that is due to many factors. One is there isn't a lot of iron in the Caribbean so it doesn't form algae which also makes the colors so much more vivid. And other factors come into play like the ocean depth, the fact there is sand in many places and how the sun reflects off the reef all comes together making the water magical, mystical, magnificent and spoken of fondly from people all around the world.

Once in Isla Mujeres we rented a golf cart and toured around with mom being my co-pilot. I love the speed limit signs; they say 3 kms per hour!! One cart was going SO slow that I wanted to pass, but can you imagine, you try to go and pass and pssst, nothing happens? You just stay neck & neck? How embarassing.

On Isla Mujeres they even have a drive-through beer store. Al's fantasy. Yep, you can drive in with your cart, order your beer and off you go. Homer Simpson would've loved that!!! And in Homer's world, "Beer...a temporary solution to everything". (Funny how that's Al's saying too for that matter...!)

First up the turtle conservation farm, then a lunch at Zamas Beach Club, and it is a spectacular spot we enjoyed so much from our last visit. Food was good, we swam in their pools and mom got a neck massage as a starter and then a 65 minute massage. Obviously relaxation was on the menu.

After we left there we headed to another favorite beach front restaurant, and enjoy lobster (for moi!), a club sandwich, quesadillas and Al enjoyed a smoked salmon penne pasta. The service was impeccable, the view beyond spectacular, and the food was fit for a king or queen in our case. And really inexpensive for what we enjoyed. (I will have to send more pics; too many for this blog!)

Ahhhh....we enjoyed the live guitarist on the ferry on the way back, our driver Victor was waiting for us, and we all had a lovely snooze on the way back to Playa. A light mist was falling so it made it all the more cozy for a nap.

Back in our beautiful condo we elected to stay in and enjoyed some Australian Open tennis (Serena Williams got her butt handed to her on a plate by Ana Ivanovic) and the Australian Open has always been Serena's banker, as she's won it 5 times so it was quite a riveting match to watch.) Great great tennis that had us all on the edge of our seats.

All in all a great few days. The weather is our friend right now, and I tell ya, the sand between our toes is absolute bliss 😊

To cap off our day, we went to bed last night with our balcony doors open again as it was no nice & comfortable. At one point around 3 am or so, I heard yelling and screaming, only to get up and look out and there was a couple in the pool hamming it up. So I asked nicely, hey guys, can you keep it down like, um, maybe some people want to sleep? Al was getting up for a dive early and they were really creating a ruckus. Keep in mind the pool is off limits by midnight because this is a condo hotel, not a party town resort. We know most of the people here and these were newbies.

Anyhow, so the guy basically says he paid a lot to rent the condo so therefore he was going to whoop it up. Now listen, I have no intention of raining on his damn parade but it's 3 am and why can't they be like every other new arrival at the condo, drink too much and pass out in their lovely condo? And we love to whoop it up here ourselves but not at that hour & not to the annoyance of our neighbors. So I told him, listen, everyone else that's in these condos also paid for it too, and want to also get some shut eye & did he think the rest of the people here paid to rent their condo with coconuts? He rented a condo, he didn't buy the pool. I was eyeing up some limes to whip off and hit him in the head but clearly he's been hit in the head enough the poor sap. I still have somewhat of a pitching arm and it was ready and willing to go at that lad.

So within a short amount of time he dragged his soggy butt out of the pool and assuming he went to bed because it was all quiet again. Maybe he took a long walk on a short pier and was whisked off by the mighty ocean to annoy some other people somewhere far away? I feel bad for those folks...

Well on that note adios my friends. I will catch up with you about Al's amazing cenote drive today (Sunday) & our amazing afternoon of a BBQ on the beach today followed by a flambeed dessert prepared at our table while we had a mariachi band perform for us. Otherwise we are enjoying a lot of R&R, and more R&R and well...you get it don't you?

Signing off for now...gotta line the limes up in case that twit comes back out at 3 am. I will be ready to launch. HEH HEH...and more HEH HEH.

Sal (OH & there are lots of pics below & onto 2 pages I think. As I said before, this blog has no spell check, no grammar check, no coat check, no hat check, no pay check ;> no check at all.

PS Martha, thank you SO much for all you've been doing back at the ranch and for making sure Lara is tended too. You old dog you...I almost kinda miss ya...kinda...a little, sorta, maybe...a little dab, a smidgen... I'll buy you McDonalds when I get home; what a big spender I am (HEEEE HAAAA...oh never mind)

PSS I hear snow squalls were happenin' today in Ottawa. Gosh darn...no snow squalls here but at one point there was an ocean wave squall... 😊

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Comments

[Cindy]

fun in the sun
hey there Sally. what a lucky gal you are, basking in the sun. Enjoy. More snow in the forecast here in the Northeast of USA. love reading your posts.

[Playagal]

fun in the sun
Yes and very cold for Ottawa when we get back. Going to back a big bottle of the sun to take home with me. Thanks for your comments Cindy!

[zully Alvarado]

Great time at Isla de Mujeres
You look like a mermaid here Sal..I had to enlarge the shot, as I was sure you had put on some mermaid costume on. Nice!