How I spent my vacation....

Cayla and I took a trip to Cancun, a trip that I had won from KS95. I figured February would be the time to go, so here's how it went. We stayed in an Oceanview Suite at the Great Parnassus, an all-inclusive resort. When we got to the hotel, it was gorgeous - completely open lobby (no doors!), water tricking down the back wall (a common theme we came to find out), 3 tiered infinity pool... it was great :)

Friday 2/20: Got to airport, went through security, got on plane. Pretty uneventful. Plane landed, and since Cayla has a broken leg, she got a wheelchair ride - the guy brought us to the front of the line at customs, and right through the ever famous timeshare room, and zipped us out of the building and to our ride in record time. Got to the hotel, checked in, then at the end of the check-in, we got a little walk-through of our benefits from "Guest Services." We both got into the discussion, even when she offered us breakfast at a new "sister hotel." We were both tired and cranky, had to use the bathroom, and just wanted to go relax in our room, so we got the breakfast scheduled, signed the form, and brought our copy to our room. Then, we notice on it something about 90 minutes "to fully understand the concept." Oh shit, we just agreed to a timeshare presentation. As a perk to booking through NWA WorldVacations, we had representatives right there in the hotel who looked out for us. And that's definitely the way to do it. Anyway, got to our room (complete with jacuzzi on the balcony overlooking the ocean, and an awesome shower), found a place to have dinner (Big Ben, a steakhouse, the food was ok, not so great...), explored a little bit, and called it a day.

Saturday 2/21 we actually got to meet the NWA local reps for our hotel. Friday we had thought about what activities we wanted to do for the week, we decided to do the Jungle Tour, and the NWA guys recommended Sunday, so we wouldn't get caught up with all the spring breakers that were expected to arrive Sunday... $66 each to drive a speedboat out to a reef, and snorkel for 45 minutes. The rest of the day, we explored the hotel and relaxed. Right away in the morning, the timeshare lady (who we now realized had a different nametag than everyone else...), called us to remind us of the breakfast, and we cancelled (Cayla told her I was sick), then when we went down to the lobby, she came up to us and was upset about us cancelling, and tried to reschedule. We said "not interested" and walked away. We spent some time relaxing on the beach as well, stood in the ocean/caribbean sea/whatever it is :P Took advantage of free alcohol :)

Sunday 2/22 we took our jungle tour. They actually let us snorkel for an hour instead of just 45 minutes. When we returned the flippers and life jacket, they actually put a shell on the desk that said "TIPS" on it, and said "Here is tip jar, you give tip for my good service." Funny, back in the States, tips are OPTIONAL..... This was also our first experience with the bus - those drivers are CRAZY! But cheap, 6.5 pesos for a ride (65 cents US). Spent more time relaxing today as well. Crazy timeshare lady accosted us again, trying to sweeten the deal to get us to the timeshare, and I went off on her, and didn't hear from her again all week. As part of our package, we got to have a gourmet dinner in our room one night, so we chose this night. When they said "gourmet dinner", I expected them to just bring some random nice food up to us. They called ahead to see what kind of wine we wanted, and when the scheduled time came, a guy came up to our room with a table on wheels, all dressed up with white tablecloth, complete with candle and everything. They brought up menus from Big Ben for us to order from, and offered to switch to the french restaurant menu if we wanted. We took that option (since we weren't so impressed with Big Ben...), and he brought up the menus along with the salads. We opted to not have the appetizers, just had the main course and dessert - and it was wonderful! He kept coming back every 10-20 minutes or so to bring food, take orders, whatever a normal waiter would do if you were in their restaurant. It was awesome!

Monday 2/23, as part of the room we got, we got to go on a Lagoon Cruise. Took a spin around the lagoon, one of the activities people from the Parnassus resorts was there and had some contests going, and we had a "Light Lunch", which consisted of 3 courses - salad, chicken and vegetables, and a brownie dessert. Open bar the whole time too. For supper, we went over to the Golden Parnassus resort (full exchange privileges are nice) and ate at the Old Barn, on the recommendation of people on the cruise. And it was the best restaurant I was at all week. The Filet Mignon I had there was the best steak I've ever had from a restaurant. Brought to the table on a sizzling skillet. AMAZING. The wild rice..... was rice with a few black specks. But the steak was awesome. The place looked like an old west saloon, had a lot of character to it. Explored the hotel a bit, was happy about having chosen the Great Parnassus instead of the Golden Parnassus (the Great was so much nicer, but the beach at the Golden was better). By the way, don't throw your cigarette butts in the lagoon, the crocodiles are getting cancer :P

Tuesday 2/24 We went to the market and went to Sr. Frogs. Sr. Frog totally didn't impress me, but I'll bet it would've been more fun if we would've gone after 9pm when it turns into a party bar with $45 cover charge for open bar... and if I was a guy who goes to those party bars :P Went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit, then went to another market to try and see a sunset. It worked somewhat, but it was kinda cloudy so it wasn't too successful.

Wednesday 2/25 We relaxed in the pool, and went back to the Golden Parnassus for dinner with some friends we made at the pool. Yes, we went back to the Old Barn again. It was still awesome :)

Thursday 2/26 time to go back home :( The flight was at 3:40, boarding time was 3:00, so our ride to the airport (which we didn't get to schedule) picked us up at 12:10. Lovely. Anyway, got on our ride, which stopped at 2 other hotels, and proceeded to the airport. When we got to the airport, the porter grabbed our luggage and, noticing Cayla's broken leg, put us in the first class line to checkin. Craptons of people waiting around, but only like 7 in the first class line :P They called for a wheelchair, but didn't have anyone to push one, and never could even find one for her, so we just went up without... got priority service at security though. The easiest security line I've ever been through. First sign: "Please keep your shoes on." Threw the stuff through the scanner, walked through, no problemo. After security, the path actually takes you through the duty free store - no way to go around it, have to go through it. Hit up the food court before the flight, and heard they changed the gate, creating a far shorter walk for us. Even got some better seats (row 19 instead of row 41...) Once we were on the plane, a 10-15 minute delay was announced. Awesome. Pushed back from the gate to wait out the delay. Then they said it would be a 2 hour delay, and they were calling the company to see if they wanted us to wait it out on the tarmac or go back to the gate. 10-15 minutes later, they heard back and said we were going to just go and deal with any delay once we got to Minneapolis. Slowed down a bit in the air for a 10 minute delay due to the snowstorm, then we had a 10 minute holding pattern, then right when we were ready to start landing, they changed the runway on us. So it was really an up and down ending to the flight, but we made it in one piece, and that's whats important. Had a delay in getting to the gate once we were on the ground, I think officially we were only 40 minutes late, which isn't too bad. Cayla turned her phone on once we could (on the plane), and found out our ride didn't want to drive in the bad weather, so we started calling around for plan B, and finally found one (thanks Josh!!)

By the way, if you get a chance, you have to try a Riviera Maya. Green melon liquor (Midori I think), orange juice with a spritz of grenadine and a spritz of something clear (7up maybe? Not entirely necessary I'm sure), and frozen strawberry daquiri on top. Looks like a stoplight. It was awesome :D

That's enough for now - ask if you want more details.