Luke and Rachel: August 3-9, 2013 ~ Cancun!!

August 3-9, 2013 ~ Cancun!!

Lucas and I were able to go to Cancun with Sally, Sam and Jordan over my break from nursing school. It was a mini Tielemans reunion. We arrived in Cancun August 4th. Due to Sam's job with JetBlue Lucas and I were able to get buddy passes and fly for cheap. We fortunately made all of our flights even though we were flying stand-by.

August 5th

Lucas and I woke up early and went on a bike ride. The bikes were provided by the Hotel for FREE! We ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch. The tacos were really good! We were also able to drive sailboats for FREE, complimentary of the hotel. Sailboats are harder to steer then I thought. I thought I understood the mini-lesson the instructor gave so I was in charge of steering...boy was that a mistake. It was windy, so I couldn't blame it on the wind, it was just me steering into the wind that was the problem. I didn't get us stranded but I didn't steer us in the right direction either. Lucas and I were frustrated with each other and the sailboat for probably 40 minutes of the hour that we got to ride the sailboat. Lucas ended up steering and figuring it out. The 20 minutes or so that we got the steering and the concept down was really fun though! It was Sam's birthday and so we celebrated by going to the restaurant at the resort we were staying at. Lucas and Sam both got buffets and they were full to capacity after. I just got a burger because I can never eat enough to make a buffet worth the money. But it was a nice dinner.

At night we went out to the beach and noticed a huge line of people. We thought it was weird so we went over to see what the big commotion was, it was baby sea turtles!! The resort gathers the eggs that the sea turtles come on shore and lay, that way they don't get trampled by the tourists and resort guests. Once the sea turtles hatch they let the resort guests put the turtles into the ocean. It was the coolest thing ever.

August 6th

Today we went to Chichen Itza. I have never seen ruins before. It was breath taking. We didn't get a tour guide but we listened in on the different tours that were walking around and it was interesting to know the history behind it all. Looking back at pictures it looks like we were photoshopped into the picture, its surreal. On the way to Valladolid, the city we would be staying at at night, we went to the cenote Ik Kil. Ik Kil is located on the highway between Chichen Itza and Valladolid. The cenote water was very cold but it was beautiful! It was weird though because you walk down a tunnel into a cave and then there is water and you swim in it. At night we stayed in the city Valladolid. Sally, Jordan and I ate at a restaurant and the boys went to get some food off of the street. The food off of the street didn't look very good and didn't look sanitary so at first the girls thought they were the smart ones eating at a restaurant. When the boys came back with the sandwiches off of the street we were sad we chose to eat at the restaurant. I don't know what it was about the sandwiches but they were the best thing I had ever tasted!! We all got corn on the cob off of the street also, they put everything imaginable on the corn. I thought Nacho Libre (the movie) was just exaggerating the fact that they put everything on the corn but they really do! It was fun eating food off of the streets and seeing the city life, a completely different feel than the resort. Their churros were the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. They make the churros with cinnamon bread and I think that was the secret as to why they tasted so much better then anything in the US.

August 7th

In the morning we went to a market in the town and got breakfast. The bread at the market was really fresh and better then bread in the US. I don't know what it is about the food in Mexico but I love it all! We went to another cenote and more ruins today. The Cenote we went to today was more enclosed then the last one, it was like swimming in a cave. The ruins we went to today were Ek Balam. The thing that made them extra cool was that we were able to climb them! It was really cool being able to climb the ruins and have an amazing view at the top. The stairs were very steep though, I had to climb one step at a time and I felt like an old person doing so!

August 8th

Today we relaxed at the resort and spent our day at the beach. It was sad to think it would be our last day in Mexico and the last day of our vacation. They had sand volleyball on the beach and that was a blast!! I love volleyball as it is but playing in a mini tournament with family made it that much more fun. Sam, Lucas, Jordan and I were on a team with 2 other random people and boy did we dominate! I don't know how many games we won but we kept on winning and eventually stopped playing because we were tired. At night we played tennis. The resort had tennis courts and they provided rackets. It was fun playing doubles with Sam and Jordan. Lucas and I make a good team. After a little while Jordan and I ended up just watching the boys play because they are really competitive and really enjoy playing sports together. I wish I could have played more but it was still fun watching the boys play. While Jordan and I were sitting and watching all of the flying bugs came out...it was kind of scary because I didn't want any landing on me or biting me.