Goure-Simpson-Messner-Collerelli Family Vacation

Josh and I just got back from our family vacation to Mexico. We stayed at the Barcelo Maya Caribe resort near Playa del Carmen along with 17 other members of my family (and that's only a few of them). Overall the trip was great. It was a little hard to travel in such a big group, but for the most part, things went about as smoothly as possible. We were there for 5 days. Two and a half days were simply spent hanging out on the beach, swimming in the pool, and having drinks. We did pick up a few volleyball games including a 3 game set against a group of Italians. We won, naturally. However, it wasn’t pretty—no literally, the Italian men were wearing speedos and the only woman on their team had hairy armpits.

One day we went deep sea fishing on a 55’ yacht. I can’t remember the last time I was out on a boat. It was a lot of fun, especially since no one got sick. We went out for 6 hours. About 2 hours into the trip we caught a Mahi Mahi. Note Josh’s sweet action shot. This thing was big . . . .and very difficult for my 77 year old grandpa to reel in, but he did it.

We cruised around fishing for a few more hours with no luck, so we switched over to bottom fishing. During that time we caught a big Red Snapper, a Yellow-tailed Snapper, and a Trigger Fish. My sister Abby caught the Trigger Fish. Although it doesn’t look super-huge, it was tough to reel into the boat. They had to put a safety harness on her and everything. When we docked the boat at the end of the trip we found out we were the only boat to catch anything in that port all day, so the trip was definitely a success. The captain of our boat cut up the Mahi Mahi we caught and gave it to us to take down the street for lunch. The owner of the restaurant took the fish and cooked it for us for $5/person . . . . .and it was delicious!! It was truly one of the best meals I had down in Mexico. On the fourth day of our trip we went on the Maya Zip Line tour through Alltournative. The morning of the tour it started raining—scratch that—pouring. However, I think it was a blessing. The rain actually helped cool us down a little bit because we were out in the middle of the jungle. The tour started with riding bikes through the jungle to get to the zip lines. The bikes were not high tech by any means, but the trail we followed had lots of hills and valleys, so it was a ton of fun, even in the rain.
After our bike ride we went on three progressively larger zip lines. This part was a blast! I could have gone on ten more. To get to the last zip line we had to climb a giant tower. It was tall enough we had to clip on to the safety cables on the top level in case someone slipped.

Did I mention my sister was really hung over?

Note the giant hole in the platform.

After the zip lines, we rode our bikes back to the base village. From there we got ready to swim in the cenotes (underground caves with fresh water pools inside). The Mayan people view the cenotes as entraces into the underworld. They are of great spiritual significance to them, so we had to go through a cleansing ceremony to be allowed inside. Our guide, Angel, prepped us for the ceremony since we would be expected to display respect and engage with the Shaman performing the blessing. Oh yeah, remember how I told you my sister was hung over?? Well, the cleansing ceremony sent her over the edge. We could hear her puking and chewing it back. Note Anna on the right side of the picture. Classic.

After our “cleansing” we went through the real cleansing to rinse the chemicals off our bodies before getting in the water. I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Too sexy, right?

The cenotes were amazing. The water was fresh and clear. However, it was a little creepy walking through the parts of the cave where there wasn’t very much light. I’m sure I stepped on some really weird stuff. In the first cenote, there was a 5-6 foot jump into the water. I can barely jump off the low dive at the pool, so I passed. I know—I suck and I regret not trying it.
My mom getting to jump in!

In order to get into the last cenote, we had to climb down a ladder. This brought us to a small platform about 18 feet above the water. Now this is where the real diving started. Again, I was too chicken, but I climbed down another ladder to watch people jump in from the water. It was really impressive. Everyone had a lot of fun!!

To wind down from all of our excitement, we sat down to a traditionally cooked Mayan meal. Some of it looked questionable, but it was fantastic. I think it was the best meal I ate all week. We had: home-made tortillas, empanadas filled with either black beans or potato, rice, black beans, chicken that was stewed in some sort of tasty broth, fresh fruit, hot sauces, and soup. I cleaned my plate and I’m pretty sure everyone else did too. If you are ever going down to Playa del Carmen, I would highly recommend this tour, especially if you have a group of 10 or more people. Throughout the tour, there are people taking pictures of you so you don’t need to worry about bringing a camera. The pics are a bit pricey, but if you can split the costs between the group, it’s a great deal for a ton of memories.

Other highlights of our trip included a broad array of creature interactions:

1. In a tidal pool we saw two eel. A big one and a little baby one. The baby one attacked a crab and killed it, but it was too big to eat so he got bored and left it behind.


2. On a walk down to the beach my sisters, Josh and I saw a cute little black squirrel on the pathway. As it walked over to the edge of the path a giant iguana attacked it and tried to bite it’s head. All the girls screamed. Luckily, the squirrel escaped.


3. One night Josh and I came upon a giant rat. It’s body was the size of a Chihuahua and the tail was about a foot long. It was creepy. For about 30 seconds we were in a staring contest. Finally it started to take a step away from us, but I got scared and screamed. At that point, the rat ran at us. Seriously. I think it smelled my fear. I ran and screamed down the hallway of the hotel while Josh prepared to beat the rat with a housewarming present we bought for his sister. Thankfully the rat lost the scent of my fear and Josh didn’t have to engage in battle.


4. The last, and perhaps best creature encounter occurred at the “Jaguar.” The hotel’s hip disco. We saw a gentlemen dressed in a skin tight wife beater, daisy dukes, tube socks, and high top sneakers. He was a dance machine. I tried to catch him on film, but his moves were too elusive. Here’s the best I could get. You will need to tilt your head to the side. I couldn’t figure out how to flip it.

No Neck

Preface: I know I don’t always eat the healthiest things and I can be a little picky when it comes to my food, but there are some people who just cross the line. Despite my own flaws, I am going to rag on two obnoxious individuals I came in contact with yesterday.

Yesterday was really busy at my office. I didn’t get to have a lunch, so by 5:00 I was starving. Since I knew I would be having dinner in a few hours, I decided to swing by Jamba Juice and have a quick snack. I usually only go into the Jamba Juice in the morning or at lunch, so I was surprised to see a long line inside. Of course I got stuck behind a couple who combined, probably topped the charts at 750-800 pounds. The bulk of which was attributed to the female half of the equation. Since I was at least 6 inches taller than her, I can confirm that she had no neck. . . and very greasy hair.

When they finally got up to the counter both individuals ordered the “Strawberry Shortcake.” This is one of Jamba’s secret menu items. The secret menu is made up of employee invented smoothies, old menu items, and smoothies that are way too unhealthy to be on the public menu. I have heard the Strawberry Shortcake is one of the “unhealthy” ones. Back to the story—Not only did they both order one of the most unhealthy drinks, they both ordered the Power size which is 30 ounces! At this point, I’m actually not too annoyed. People can choose to eat and drink whatever they want. I started to get pissed off when they started substituting items from the “secret” menu. All I hear is “No, definitely no soymilk, just add more juice. Plus, I want raspberries instead of strawberries. Oh oh, and extra sherbert.” This went on for what seemed like forever, then it was finally my turn. After the lady at the counter took my order I went over to look through their nutrition book while I waited for my order. While I’m browsing through the book, I hear No Neck say to her counterpart, “Well I was going to sit down, but that girl is in my way . . .maybe other people want to look at the book.” I had only been standing there for about 1 minute, plus the closest chair was at least 3 feet away from me. I don’t know how I could have been in her way, but to be polite, I moved over and quietly waited for my drink. She immediately bypassed the book and sat in a chair by the wall. No, not the end of the story. While sitting there, she starts complaining to her husband that there is not enough stuff in the blender to fill the power size smoothie cups. He tries to assure her there is, but she insists he go talk to the guy making the smoothie and tell him to add more to the blender. Oh course, the guy goes up and tells the poor kid to fill it to the brim. The guy does it since it is obvious this lady wants to drink every stick drop. By the end of the ordeal I was totally grossed out. I really hope those folks know that just because they ordered something at Jamba Juice, does not mean it is healthy.

Afterwards I also had to look up what was in a Strawberry Shortcake. I couldn’t find the number of calories, but here is what I think is inside: Pineapple Juice, Soymilk, Frozen Yogurt, Strawberries, and ice. For other secret flavors, check this out.

Finally!!

I used to make fun of the dorks who dressed up in Yoda and Darth Vader costumes when the Star Wars movies came out. While they clapped and cheered during the movie, I would laugh inside—at them. However, as of Saturday night, I can no longer make fun of dorks who dress up for their favorite movies. Yes, I went out with the girls, drank cocktails, and dressed up for the Sex and the City Movie. . . and it was awesome. I wasn’t alone either. I think almost every single woman in line (which stretched at least 200 yards) was wearing a dress, heels, or both. And yes, people yelled and cheered when they let us into the movie, during the movie, and after the movie. It was a major event.

As for the movie itself, it was good: funny, charming, heart-wrenching, and sweet. I spent many days and nights watching past episodes with my friends and this felt just as comfortable. I do wish Gina and Mariyah had been there with me, but I’m sure we will get our chance to watch it together on the good old television eventually. Maybe I will even dress up again.
Click here to find out which Sex and the City characters you relate to the most. I am 50% Carrie, 30% Miranda, 20% Charlotte, and 0% Samantha.

Return from the Valley of the Sun

Last week I went to Scottsdale, AZ for a conference on Urbanization and Water Transfers. It was really nice because Josh was able to come out with me. The conference was at a nice hotel close to downtown Scottsdale, so we were able to go out and about every day. Our first day in Scottsdale we started things off by going on one of the tours offered through the conference. It basically consisted of visiting Arizona Falls and the Waterfront. Both are new projects involved with the Salt River Project (SRP). Here are a few pictures from Arizona Falls, the first hydroelectric plant in Phoenix. It’s not much of a plant. It is more of an interpretive architecture display.

This was the roof over the area that was used as a dancefloor in the past

Later that night, we stopped by the hotel’s complimentary happy hour before going to dinner. The only other person participating in the happy hour was someone from my conference—and he was wasted. The person (Guy—yes, that’s his real name) automatically drew us into his conversation with the bartender about how he was the only smart person from his office and how he would have gone to law school if not for “the drug charges.” He claimed the drugs the cops found down his pants weren’t his. They were placed there by “a bunch of queers.” Needless to say, we were amused by Guy, but had to leave him to hit on the bartender because we had dinner reservations. We ate at a restaurant called Sea Saw. I am not exaggerating when I tell you: this was the best meal I have ever eaten. It wasn’t a ton of food, but it was delicious and filled me up without making me feel like I was going to pop. We had edamame soup, oysters, yellow tail w/ grapefruit and avocado, gravalax (cured salmon w/ a basil oil balsamic reduction, pecorino and toasted almond), seared tuna tataki, foie gras, and amazing fritters w/ apple and red bean sauces. All I can say is, if you go to Scottsdale, you should eat here!! It is mellow, unpretentious, classy, and the food is great.

The Wine List was a 1.5" Binder. . .I had to do a sampler

Thursday we did the Art Walk downtown. The weather was great, so we decided to walk. By the end of the night we had walked at least 6 miles. The only thing that kept me going was the cupcakes I carried in my purse the whole night (pathetic, I know). Sprinkles Cupcakes of Beverly Hills has a new location in Scottsdale, so we stopped by before the Art Walk. Very Yummy! The hype is legitimate. Word is, they are going to build one in Denver soon. . .


My conference wrapped up Friday and we decided to take the Taliesin West Night Lights Tour. Taliesin West was Frank Lloyd Wrights winter home as well as the home of his School of Architecture. The tour lasted two hours and was very interesting. I would recommend it. The thing that surprised me the most was how small some of the rooms were. Frank Lloyd Wright was only 5’8” and thought that building rooms too tall was just a waste of space. I never did bump my head, but I thought I was going to while walking into every room.



The desert right before the tour started



Everything was triangular to mimic the mountains

This room was for entertaining. The entire wall was lined with seating.