Last post from our Paradise...

This has been a trip for the books. We’ve had so much fun meeting and interacting with others here in Mexico. I think 14 days is the new norm for our warm winter destinations.  7 days just hasn’t been enough in the past and now that we have had a taste for longer...
  We leave here at around 2 Mexico time and arrive in Calgary around supper hour. Thank you, Melissa,for coming to get us. See ya all very soon...

Day 13 of 14...

It’s fascinating how you can meet friends in only a few days that can mean so much.  Heading to supper with Lamont ( a amazing young black man) from New York.  He and Joanne insisted that I go to the Italian restaurant. So in less than an hour, we will be joining Lamont and his girlfriend for supper. So cool to meet people from all over the US and Canada that are so friendly.  🍻 We didn’t win at volleyball today but my toes tell a different story!!  So sore to walk...,Joanne might have to pigback me to supper! Classy Canadians I would say!!

Day 12 of 14...

   After the monkeys in the morning we went for breakfast at the buffet.  Everyday something different at the buffet is such a treat.  As Melissa would say, the rest of the day was not that exciting.  Laid by the pool until the pink party started.  Pink balloons, tequila from water guns, as acrobats performed on center stage!  Our pool day was cut a little short by our Japanese a la carte reservation.
   A quick shower, change of clothes and off we go. What a show! Steak, shrimp, chicken and all the fixings!  SO GOOD!  After supper the Mexican vendors took up the courtyard with their junk sale.  As we wandered through the booths we ran into a couple from the USA. They stated that we would get better deals after 9pm. OMG that is way past my bedtime but as a good husband, there I was bartering with the Mexican’s over crap.  After 3 trips to the room with armfuls of prestiges hand crafted Mexican treasures, I forcefully stated to Joanne “Good Luck with the Mexicans” and headed to the room for the night.  Okay maybe the last 2 lines didn’t really happen that way. (They were for Melissa)

Melissa!!

Day 13 of 14

Well  Saturday already. Only 2 full days of sun left before as all of you tell us back home, back to lots of snow.  Ugh!!!! This truly is a tropical paradise.  The monkeys yesterday topped off Jo's trip.  Our day started a little different today, an al a cart breakfast of steak and eggs!!  Then back to the pool for a day of volleyball.  Omg I'm not as young as I once was.  Both of us got sunburned and I have no skin left on my toes.   I couldn’t move my arm at supper!  I almost asked Joanne to feed me it was so bad.  I will definitely need a lot more cervesas tomorrow.  We have met some interesting and of course very friendly Americans again.  They played a game at the pool where they had a number between 1-100 inside a balloon.  We all made guesses.  Jo was at the washroom so I picked her number. Lucky 52!!! And won her a t-shirt.  Now if I could just win the lotto max.  Out for supper at the steak house again and our day was complete.

More Exciting Post

We heard there we’re monkeys at this resort but we were sceptical until this morning!! One of the monkeys actually walked around giving High Fives to the kids!! (Hoping we have video of it but can’t view it.) More pictures on our Online Photo Album... Click the camera on the right side of this page to view all of our photos

Is this post more exciting Melissa?

Such a great start to our day!! 

Good Day of...

Well 5:15 came quickly. Up and on the bus by 6:10. Off to Cancun where we took the luxury sailboat/catamaran over to the Island called Isla Mujeres.  We stopped for people to snorkel but the sea was too rough for us landlubbers. Then as we got closer to the island we stopped again where we could jump off the boat. The water was too deep for me but Joanne jumped in. Then after a 25 min walking tour we rented a golf cart and toured around for an hour.  The sea was amazing colors of green-blue.  All inclusive drinks on board and lunch with more cervesas and nachos at the beach completed our trip.  Back at the resort. Enjoying the pool music and some room service while relaxing. 

Another Day...

Got up late again. Getting used to this sleeping late. Out for breakfast and to the Westjet desk to book a tour. Decided to take Brenda's advise and go see Isla Mujeres tomorrow.  Back to the pool after for more sun.  Joanne finished her book. Walked around the resort again and that took up an hour of our day. Supper at the buffet tonight and up to our room early as our tour leaves at 6:10am. 😬

Foam Party....No words...

WOW...

Day 2 at Paradise

This resort is massive!! I really do mean that!! WOW our room is about a third of the way to the ocean, beside the adult only pool. Which is pretty amazing🌴

Moving day...

This morning our stay at the Grand Riviera Princess will come to an end as we move on to the Ocean Riviera Paradise Resort for 7 days. We’re sure liking this 14 day thing!  If we weren’t moving on we would be boarding a plane this afternoon and well....weren’t not ready for that. I’m still working on my tan!!  

The gardens, pools and court yard are very nice here. The other being so new might not have the gardens this one has! In only a few hours we will see firsthand. Kinda excited for the next leg of our vacation 😁

Beautiful Morning!

For once, one of us got up with the birds! What a amazing morning sitting on the deck listening to the birds! Oh of course I’ve opened the screen door so that the other one can enjoy the sounds too!!

Day 5 of 7

 This morning was another one of those mornings when we slept in! We had breakfast and then decided to walk down the beach to the south. We wanted to feel the sand between our toes and the sunshine on her foreheads!! (Ouch)  we walked about 30 minutes south, checked out our other resort, and then decided to stroll on back. Our next resort lootks amazing! The food in this resort is so so!! The buffets are okay here (not 5 star) and the a la carte’s are pretty good.  We talked to a couple down  on the beach that are staying at The Ocean Riviera Paradise and they stated the food is top notch !! So excited!!

Day 4 of 7..

 Not much for excitement on day four of seven. It basically was a day to lay by the pool and work on our sunburns. Which we did an awesome job at!!  We Laughted at a few women that had too much tequila, early in the morning and they paid for it at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when they told us they were going to bed.  Rookies!! Enjoying day at the pool!! ❤️🌴🍻👍

Recap of the first few days...

Click here to see a video of your first few days

Day 3 of 7 here

Today was another day of sleeping in. We kind a dawdled in the room this morning and went for breakfast about 10 AM. After breakfast we headed down towards the ocean where it was very windy and chilly. After approximately two hours it began  to rain on us. So lunchtime it was! After lunch we headed to the pool where we laid for a short time until it rained again! So back to our room for a nap oh retirement would be great!  After our quiet little nap in our room we walked around the resort taking a few pictures waiting for our steakhouse a la cart reservation tonight.  The meal itself was great but the drunk annoying couples were not!!

Day 2 of 7 at this Resort

Today was a day at the pool and the chance to soak up some sunshine. ☀️We got a couple chairs and hunkered down for the day. Hugo would bring us drinks as we lay and relax. At different times through out the day we would we have to get up and jump in the pool because it was quite warm (just mild sunburnt patches). At one point, it was a good thing Joanne wasn’t sleeping!! There was a little girl in the pool that had lost her floaty and was struggling to swim. Joanne watched her for a little while until she jumped into action.  By this time the little girl was taking on mouth fulls of water. When Joanne got close to the little girl she hung on for her life!! So many by-standers and no one else helped!! As Joanne asked around the pool to see who she belonged to, her mother finally came over and ask what she was doing with her daughter? Joanne explained the situation and the couple both thanked Joanne for a great job. Well done sweetie‼️❤️

Our pool seating arrangement had one family on the right from Toronto and couple from Nunavut.  They said it was -54c when they left there on Monday. As we conversed with them they then told us that they are  RCMP Officer’s from up there. The chat was so engaging they ended up missing their  à la carte  reservation!! Once again Joanne and I had too many beer, blue lagoon’s, and sea breeze’s along with many other kinds of drinks. At the end of the conversation we talked about maybe going over to the island with them tomorrow. This resort is so big, we’ll see if we can find them again? 

First full day..

Well today was one of those days where it started off late and with a headache!! Time change and the flight kinda got to us. We headed out for breakfast this morning a little late and then caught a cab to Playa del Carmen where we met Joanne‘s friends Bev and Gerald for drinks at Senor Frogs. After a few shots of tequila and a bite to eat we headed down fifth Avenue. Soon we stopped at another bar and ordered a few Cervesas. After a couple drinks, the tequila started flowing and before we knew it, everybody had a buzz on and it was time to carry-on down the strip. We strolled on to the beach and back to Central Park where Bev and Gerald would catch the ferry. Joanne and I hailed a cab and headed back to the resort for a evening of investigating. We haven’t really seen the resort so we took the time to wander around and holy man is this place big.🌴

Why...

Why on the first night...

Oh yeah there free!!

The Start of Mexico 2018

🌴We have made it🌴!! Our clothes are off (at least the winter ones) and the beer is free 🍻flowing!! The flight was all good. Thank goodness for all the technology that I brought with me!! It really helps to pass the time😁

4 cerveza fría por favour

Not a good start...

So the drive down was good!  Thanks to Melissa for driving us down to the airport!
Get to the airport, get our boarding passes and then security... Well first security check we were pulled in apparently because I look techie.  Had to pull all our electronics out of our bags for per-security check.  SERIOUSLY!!  Okay so out comes 90% of what I packed!!  Okay maybe I’m a little techie!!  So, all was good and away we go to the Real Security Check!  Well as luck would have it, I’m randomly selected for a secondary search... PAT DOWN or SCANNER?  Since it was a male security personal I opted for the scanner!  NO BIGGIE!!  and now were at the bar for a much needed drink!! WOW!!

Morning temperature 

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Guess...

WOW, Guess who can't sleep? 

NOPE, GINGER ALE!!

Just a few last minute things....

Well the time has come to get some of the many things ready to be packed (in Joanne's case: 14 shirts).  Joanne is downstairs doing laundry and I'm running some of the last minute things that we need through my head.  Trying not to forget anything! Not that we really need much?

Looks like a perfect way to relive a little stress!

Also, the comments section of the blog has been setup so don’t be afraid to leave us comments

One other thing we will be uploading, if WiFi allows us, a few pictures
Here’s the link to our photo album:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/JraqEKCIB2zXHr7r1

Last day of work…

Wow! Can you believe that this is the last day of work before we leave on our vacation on Monday. One thing about booking a trip nine days before you go the excitement grows pretty quick!! Also, this chilly weather helps to get too!!

Our song for the next 14 days!

It won’t be long now...

It won’t be all that long until we are on the sun filled beaches of Mexico!  I think we are pretty much ready to go! Joanne has tried on all her new clothes and swim suits with all being good.

Shopping day...

For some reason Joanne thinks she needed more bathing suits??  So into Walmart we go for swim suits and shorts!! I bought a couple more pairs of shorts considering I left a bunch in a hotel on our last summers road trip!! I must say, it was a good feeling buying shorts in February (-19c). What should have been a 15 minute adventure in Walmart turned into an hour because someone had to try on all her new wardrobe additions.  I on the other hand, just like every other male, I just grabbed and carried on!  One thing about booking a vacation 9 days before you go, you don't have much time to get things ready.  Which isn't a bad thing at all.  Anticipation somethings is hard to deal with.  It won't be long now and we will be on a beach listening to the waves.  I'm really hope that with every wave, as it returns to the ocean, that it takes a little of Joanne's stress with it.  A co-worker of mine has bought a Star Registration in Stacey's name.  So every time you look to the SW night sky you will be looking in the direction of the star named "Stacey Jane Meulenbelt".  It just happens that while in Mexico were going to be that much closer to her star.  We will be sure and cheers Stacey while were standing on the beach.  Love ya Stacey! Miss you a bunch!

Someone is getting prepared for her holiday

Picture taken by Stacey after digging up 20 trees (Corkscrew Mountain)

With weather like this...

It's easy to plan a holiday when it's like this!!

Sent from my iPhone

Were in need of some "Vitamin Sea"

With our level of stress being off the charts we have decided to ... go on a Vacation


Joanne has gone and done it again!  This time were going back to the Caribbean side of Mexico.  The only difference this time is that we will gone for 14 days.  The first week will be at the  Grand Riviera Princess and the second week will be at the Ocean Riviera Paradise.

Grand Riviera Princess

Ocean Riviera Paradise

We'll see how this all works