Akumal, Mexico - HERE WE COME!!

HMMMMM - pictures don't always go where they're supposed to go - especially when you're on vacation - so enjoy the pics and THEN read about them below!!!!

Bartering was at its' best when Glenn traded a granite kitchen job for 3 weeks in a beachfront condo in Akumal, Mexico!! No, we couldn't take 3 weeks off at one time but we could certainly take a week - so we called up our good friends Cindy and Rene from Oregon and set up the dates!!

For once, our plane didn't leave at 6:00am!!! We had a 10:30 departure from Denver so just drove up that morning (in 10 degree weather) and headed for check in - because there were no seats together when I booked the non-stop fight, I asked at the counter if there was any way we could sit together and she told me the fight was fully booked BUT they had some seats left in first class if we wanted an upgrade - we had never flown first class before so I figured it would definitely be out of the budget but when she told us it was only $132.00, we looked at each other and said YES!!

Since we were there in plenty of time, we stopped and had a nice meal BEFORE we went through security along with a great cup of Caribou coffee - the morning was definitely going well!! And with our first class ticket, we had a special line to go through for airport security and of course got to board first! Gosh, we loved sitting in first class!! The drinks, the snacks, the leg room, the service - now I know why people spend that extra money to sit there!! I hope this won't be our last time to experience it!!

After a non eventful 4 hour flight, we landed in Cancun (and of course were off the plane first) but our plane arrived BEHIND the other 5 that were sitting there and customs was a nightmare..............an hour later, we were finally through it, our button turned green and we grabbed our luggage and headed outside to catch a shuttle over to terminal 3 where Cindy and Rene had landed!!! Between our texts, we managed to meet up a little while later and they had the rental car already picked up - we were off to Akumal!!

Luckily it was still light out by the time we arrived and we reached the condo complex with no problem! The pool was beautiful - our condo was even more so!! With 2 bedrooms and 2 baths, and a super nice sun room that leads out to the beach, it was perfect!! We dropped our suitcases off and headed back down the road to eat as we were all SO hungry - we had passed a nice looking restaurant on the way in and after checking the restaurant list, found it was a good one!!

  Seating was outside under the palm trees and with the almost full moon rising, it was gorgeous!! I ordered a mango margarita and let me tell you, it was the BEST one I've ever had - the rim had the usual salt on it but also something reddish and when I took the first sip, it had a little kick to it - I couldn't quite place it but whatever it was, it was very unusual and very good!!! We later asked the waiter what it was and sure enough, it was a form of a chile powder - sounds pretty strange but it was such a unique combination of flavors!! I even ordered a second one!! Dinner was fantastic - we all had something different and my grouper fish was wonderful. What a great meal to end our day!!

We laughed, we talked, we unpacked and we smiled a lot, knowing that we were in paradise once again - To be cont'd.....