Sea Turtles and Sea Salt

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Adventure time!

So the one super exciting adventure that we had during this trip was a boat ride out to swim with sea turtles! I was so pumped to do it. Not only do I love snorkelling but turtles are my favourite and I was going to have the opportunity to swim with them!

What I didn’t quite think about was the circumstances surrounding this adventure. I knew we were driving to a marina, I knew we were going snorkelling, but my brain didn’t get quite as far as thinking “well, we’ll probably be taking a boat out into the ocean so I should be aware of the fact that I get motion sickness”.

We took a speed boat out into the open ocean and drove about 20 minutes north towards Cancun. Chad and I sat at the front of the boat with Dennis and Paula. It was a crazy fun adventure. My first real experience on a boat on the ocean (minus any time of Ferry).

Once we got to the reef we dropped the anchor, suited up, and found these guys…

Amazing.

It was so neat to see the turtles up close and personal. The guide that was swimming with us was feeding them fish. There were 3 turtles and a bunch of different fish swimming all around us.

Unfortunately after the feeding frenzy one of the turtles was still hungry and mistook Zia Paulas shoulder for a nice tasty fish. She screamed like a crazy person and started flailing about and we all started to laugh not knowing exactly what was going on in all the chaos. It was a pretty painful bite but he didn’t break the skin. It ended up looking like a big hickey on her back shoulder. She said the turtle probably smelled her fear. It made for quite a funny story the rest of the time.

After the turtle attack, Zia Paula got out of the water and hung out on the boat while Cindy, Chris, Chad and I followed our guide along the coral reef. Assuming this was our only stop for the day we took our time and swam about.

Once we were done we swam back to the boat. While trying to get in both Chad and I swallowed some sea water (Chad worse then I) which is the grossest thing ever. Talk about salt over load. It totally set off our stomachs would would prove to be very bad for me in a matter of minutes.

Once on board we found out there were actually 2 more stops on our journey before heading home. Only problem was Salt Water Tummy + Super Choppy Waves =

Gross Face Sea Sickness

One part of me was holding on for dear life, another part of me was trying NOT to get more burnt then I already was from the sun, and yet another part was trying not to hurl over the side of the boat.

Though the boat ride was exactly the same on the way out as it was on the way in, the presence of salt water in my stomach put me in a very bad place.

When we finally got to the second stop I was doing everything I could not to puke. My stomach was in full force sea sickness mode. What was even worse was that the second coral reef was in a super wavy section of the ocean. I knew I wouldn’t survive long. Thankfully a group decision was made to skip crazy rough stop 2 and move on to nicely calm stop 3.

Ahhh…much better.

However, with in 5 minutes of dropping the anchor my breakfast followed suit and made its way into the Gulf of Mexico. Ick. The only good thing about that? No one was in the boat to see me and I instantly road the Post-Puke-Euphoric-Wave into a much better mood.

Zia Paula and I donned our snorkel gear and swam around a bit checking out the fishies while the boys waded in the water relaxing and chatting. Everything was so beautiful.

Standing in the water was much better for the tummy then sitting in the boat because at least you got your sea legs back, but after swimming around all I wanted to do was sit. Not even 5 minutes back in the boat and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I didn’t know what to do.

All of a sudden that ever so wonderful puking sensation returned and I knew my only option was to get out of the boat, swim to the edge of the reef and just do my thing. Only problem was it some how partially went up my nose and I started coughing and hacking like a crazy person which got everyone attention. Good one Danielle.

Chad quickly swam over and brought me some bottled water and I slowly started to regain my composure. I needed out of there quick. The wind and the water were making me shiver uncontrollably and sitting in the warm boat was making me sick. I was a total disaster.

Thankfully soon after my meltdown we were back in the boat heading to dry land.

I wasn’t much better once I got there, but I knew some fresh water, a little bit of something sweet for energy, and a quick nap on a comfy bed would probably straighten me out. I made some friends with a couple of lonely planters and the local bathroom but once my stomach was empty I was golden. All I needed was to lay down.

It was a great adventure despite a little Sea Turtle bite and some Gulf of Mexico barf. Definitely something I would do again (because I still think I’m invincible) but maybe next time I won’t swallow sea water and I’ll pick a calmer day to head out to sea!

Pimpin in the Hotel

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Our main goal during this particular trip to Mexico was to sit, read, and relax, so there aren’t too many exciting and adventurous pictures and stories. I will, however, start off this series of Mexico posts with our extremely long travel day and the fabulous hotel we stayed at.

Our trip was organized by my Uncle. There were 6 of us traveling and he wanted to make sure all of our itineraries matched up. He organized everything, and emailed it to his travel agent to book. Everything seemed ok until she frantically called Chad one day at work saying we needed to pay NOW or we would lose our seats. Umm…pay now with out any info!? Something smelled a bit fishy. Having worked with her on our trip to Italy, we knew what to expect in terms of having all our flight info confirmed BEFORE paying so we were a bit weary with the way this trip was playing out. None the less, Chad paid. We weren’t the ones organizing the trip , and we didn’t want to lose our seats.

Fast forward to a month before our trip when we finally got our flight info. My Uncle calls because after reviewing everyone’s flight info he realizes all of OUR flights and wrong. Yes, they still get us to Mexico and back, but the timing of all of them are off. GREAT. He calls to try and have the flights changed but it’s going to cost a whack load of money. We were not impressed. We were under the impression that for the price we paid we were getting the flights we requested, not the flights she decided to pick at random. And so, instead of forking over hundreds of dollars more, it took us 15 hours to get to Playa del Carmen…

Up at 4:30 am. In the cab by 5. Board the plane at 7:20. Arrive in Houston 2pm local time. Sit and wait during a 5 HOUR lay over. Board the plane at 6:30pm. Arrive in Cancun at 9:20pm local time. Drive and drive and drive to Playa del Carmen. Arrive at hotel just passed MIDNIGHT.

fack.

We think this is the top of Mount Baker.

Hello Texas.

In knowing we had lots of time to kill we decided to indulge in some Texas sized food fare. Pappa Deaux provided us with Mozzarella sticks (which were super tasting and filling), fried Catfish and Shrimp (my first time having Catfish. It’s pretty much flavourless), and a good ol’ Bacon Cheeseburger (for the man who doesn’t eat things from the Sea). The food was good but I will FULL in about 30 seconds.

After our American Food Explosion Chad awkwardly napped at a random gate while I sang Faux de Fa Fa and watched a girl walk her cat on a leash.

Finally in Cancun! Now for a 2 hour bus ride. Woot Woot!

We met the rest of our party at the Lobby bar that evening. I was dying from Grease Hair, Plane Sweats, Lack of Sleep, and a sudden Hunger attack. Chad grabbed some beer, I grabbed a basket of fruit and an hour later we were officially done for.

Aww…

The view from out deck. We were on the second floor with my Uncle and Aunt above us on the 3rd floor and their neighbours Cindy and Chris beside them.

We stayed at the Riu Palace Riviera Maya within the only gated community in Playa del Carmen called Playacar. Every detail of the hotel was amazing.

Riu Palace Riviera Maya

See. Gorgeous!

The hotel we stayed at for our Honeymoon was within walking distance to the center of town (5th Ave) but this hotel wasn’t too far away. A $7 cab ride and you’re there! This hotel was definitly bigger and had a better buffet but not as good room service. They Royal had a lot more room service options. Both however, were amazing in their own ways and I would gladly stay at either hotel the next time we come (because there is always a next time with Mexico!)

If only it hadn’t taken us so long to get there!

Cancun, Houston, Vancouver

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

It’s always weird coming back home after a vacation, no matter how long you’ve been away. Our apartment always smells different. It smells like it did when Chad first bought it and we were renovating. You’d think after 4 years the smell would stop coming back. Maybe the apartment always smells like that but we are immune to it when we are there every day. It doesn’t smell bad, it just smells a little sweet. I imagine it smells like the little old lady who use to live in it before us. Maybe she is still haunting the place. I should probably put out some doilies for her. I think she’d like that.

I’m stuffed full of Mexican Resort Food. The food was good, but I’m stuffed from it. I need to get back on a regular meal time schedule. Pasta and Sushi, the food of Champions. It’s weird that staying in a place where you have all this amazing food at your finger tips, the one thing Chad and I really craved were McDonald Cheeseburgers. We still haven’t fed the beast yet, but maybe tonight. Midnight.Food.Run.

I’m actually tanned for the first time in years. It’s half real / half fake. I’m also starting to peel so part of me looks super discoloured. Awesome sauce, I know. There is no sense in going to Mexico and not attempting to get a tan. Even though I don’t tan, I burn, and then I stay white and red, and then maybe, with some help in the sunless tanner department, I can start to turn golden brown.

I actually finished editing all my pictures from the trip on the plane yesterday. I will be picking up the pictures from the rest of the peeps tomorrow so on Monday I will ACTUALLY be organized with photos and stories including Zia Paula getting bit by a sea turtle, me puking in the golf of Mexico, and Chad becoming friends with Montezuma’s revenge.

Tonight there is hockey out in Surrey and I will attempt to keep my sleepy ass awake for most of it. Did I mention that we didn’t get home until close to 2am and I didn’t fall asleep until close to 3 and that my alarm went off this morning but the volume was turned down so low that I didn’t hear it and got up an hour later then I was suppose to? True story.

I’m high on the fresh Vancouver air.

Husbands Are Bad Influences

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Well, I feel kind of bad leaving the blog on such a negative note but I haven’t had any time to do anything this week. I am ‘forced’ to blog at 6am at YVR.

Note to self: Thinking that you will just go with the flow and not worry about things DOES NOT WORK. Don’t you know yourself by now?

Got up somewhat early Saturday morning for an appointment and to run some errands. When I got back home Mr. Ciavarro was dressed (to let Mr. Tyrrell into the building) but in bed due to a random yet late night at the Roxy. Most of the cleaning and organizing I had to do was done the night before, but I still had to clean the bathroom. Nothing I said motivated Mr. Ciavarro enough to actually get up and shower so I could clean said bathroom*. So what did I do instead? Well, I let him convince me that I should take a day off and spend it also in bed watching TV. Well, he didn’t have to tell me twice.

Flash back to last night at 10:30pm when I finally finished packing and organizing and now had to face the fact that I still had not clean the bathroom. Oh wait! Lets add to that my discovery that every cleaning product I had was empty! I was left with only Carpet Cleaner and Windex. Why do I do this to myself?

Sleep is overrated, right?

*Note: Could I have cleaned the bathroom with out having Mr. Ciavarro shower, of course, but then I wouldn’t have had such a relaxting Saturday and it wouldn’t have made this story all that interesting…

I didn’t realize it was November

Posted on April 4, 2011 by Smelly Danielly

Life Update.

I am going out of my mind with this cold rainy weather here in the great city of Vancouver. But unlike everyone else, I actually get to run away from it to beautiful sunny and hot Mexico, so really, I should stop complaining about how cold me feet are. But seriously, I think all of Canada is fed up with this crappy cold snowy, rainy weather.

Mexico has kind of snuck up on us. I haven’t even thought about it until I realized I’m only at work 3 days this week. I haven’t thought about packing or outfits, or anything really. I did buy some sun screen and sun glasses but that is about it. You can guess what has taken up all my mind space.

The apartment is still on the market. It’s almost been a month now. We’ve had a constant stream of interest, which is good, but no offers, which is bad. 15 or so groups of people have come through and nothing has happened, which of course leaves me frustrated. Probably the number one thing I hate about this whole experience is the feedback. People are not very smart and it is very difficult to stay positive when people end up wasting your time or have negative things to say. Our apartment is great and everyone loves it, but no one loves the building. Yes, it was built 35 years ago, you would know this if you read the info sheet. I’m not really sure what you expected a 35 year old building to look like, but if you aren’t interested in something that old, why are you even bothering? So the carpet is dated and we have 70s wall paper on the walls, big deal, you don’t live in the hall way now do you! The building is structurally sound, there is nothing wrong with it, and the small repairs that are needed to maintain it are being made. I’m not sure what else you need. I also don’t understand people who come to see your place and they leave saying ‘Oh no it’s too expensive for us”. I’m sorry, what? You can see, very clearly, what the price of our unit is on the info sheet and you can also see, very clearly what the inside of our apartment looks like from the pictures. If you aren’t interesting in spending that kind of money why are you WASTING MY TIME. Omg I want to hurt these people. Thank you for making me rush home on a Friday at lunch time to make sure the apartment was clean and organized enough for your last minute decision to view it. Thank you for then telling me our building is too old and the price of our unit is too high. Thank you so very much for allowing me to believe that someone was interesting in our place and from that interest may put in a offer. Thank you, most of all, for wasting our time and leaving me feeling defeated once again.

Nothing positive has come out of this experience thus far, and I doubt anything will. I am not built for this shit. I just want everything to be over with. I almost want to give away this stupid apartment for free. I am just tired of dealing with our stupid building and all the bullshit we have had to put up with for 4 years. As much good as we try to do for it, it just can’t cut us a break. I just feel so negative and frustrated.

Someone hand me a friggin Margarita.