Ray & I decided to go somewhere warm for our celebration. After many long days of us cooped up in our respective offices – me working on Cherished Hymns and him working toward the “Go Live” date at his work, we decided we were going to spend a few days for true Rest and Relaxation. If you know us, you know this is a rarity.
We left nearly freezing temperatures in Eugene, Oregon to enjoy our 4-night stay at the Kempinski luxury hotel in Cancun, Mexico. Most of the time, we soaked in the experience of staying at what used to be a Ritz-Carlton, with its own beautiful white sand beach on the Caribbean Sea. We swam in the turquoise, warm water, relaxed sea-side on chaise lounges that the staff prepared for us (including neck rolls for our comfort!), dined at 3 of the 5 restaurants on-site, worked out in the glass-walled gym as the sun was coming up over the Sea, wound down in the evenings in the pool-sized jacuzzi and lagoon-style heated pool, and even got room service one evening for dinner. Everything about the Kempinski was top-notch, but especially the very friendly and accommodating staff. Oh, and I forgot to mention the amazing buffet breakfast we relished every morning. It was not your ordinary buffet, and we would never have chosen to try it if it wasn’t included in the price of our reservation! Guests pay over $40 US dollars per person to experience the breakfast which includes a taco bar where you choose your toppings and watch the server hand press your tortilla and cook it on a drum griddle with your toppings sizzling next to your tortilla. Every morning, José brought us fresh-squeezed juice, coffee, and a “power shot” which was a mixture of several fresh juices and sometimes Greek yogurt added in for protein.
Our first objective outside the resort was to get to the local mall that had what some of the staff referred to as their version of a Wal Mart, “Soriana Super.” We wanted to get some bottled water, wine, sparkling water, and a couple of snacky items. We also shopped a few of the stores and found a really nice linen shirt for Ray.
In the next couple of days, we ventured out to experience a few “must-sees” of the Cancun area: Playa Delfines (where the huge “CANCUN” sign is, and you stand in line to get your snapshot of proof that “We Were Here!”), Museo Maya de Cancun (which turned out to be a great alternative to an expensive excursion, since we weren’t able to book the all-day tour to the Tulum Mayan Ruins, cenotes, etc.), the Las Vegas-style section of the Cancun hotel strip with the Coco Bongo show, Señor Frog’s restaurant, lots of loud music and hookah lounges, and more craziness than I bargained for at 6 PM, and finally the wild and crazy ride back to the hotel in one of the public transit red buses.
As I mentioned, we weren’t able to reserve a spot on the Tulum day trip I thought would be the highlight of our vacation, but I decided to create our own excursion and visit Isla Mujeres. This was one of the outings several people recommended in YouTube videos that we watched before we left home. We learned from “3 Days 3 Noches” that you should be sure to get a golf cart rental NEAR your ferry landing on the island. That was a crucial bit of information that made the difference between a bummer and a great day on the island! We took the advice of our concierge at the hotel, and got a ride up to the Playa Tortuga Ultramar ferry port which takes you to Isla Mujeres. Once we got on the island, we said “no” to all of the vendors trying to sell us something, and walked directly across the street to the golf cart rentals. We soon found out the first golf cart rental only took cash, but they were super helpful, and escorted us a few doors down to the BEST place to rent golf carts! (Well, it was the best for us, because it was a problem-free, great experience!) We got a “Rentadore Caribe” Club Car for about $85 US dollars for the whole day.
We were on our way, and I was on a mission. I wanted to get to the furthermost southern point, “Punta Sur,” and the furthermost northern point, “Playa Norte,” and (not necessarily last on the priority list!) to a good place for lunch (which turned out to be “La Lomita” restaurant – on the interior of the northern section of the island) before the day was done. However, I had a more important mission before we got to any of the places on the docket: Ice & purified water for our Nalgene & Starbucks stainless/insulated water cups. We stopped at a little market on the way down to Punta Sur, and it turned out to be a great island tour hack! The back of the golf cart had a plastic-lined stow with drain holes, so we stored our purchased liter of purified water on our 7 lb. bag of ice there, and had it at our disposal when we needed refills! It lasted the whole day. Just a side note: refilling standard disposable water bottles would not have worked, because the ice pieces were very large. We were very glad we each had refillable water bottles with wide openings for refilling!
Some of my best memories of our whole trip are scenes from our independent adventure on Isla Mujeres, where we talked with several folks from other parts of the world and from the local area. On the way to the island, a lady, about our age, sat next to us and talked about her life in retirement. She was from Minnesota, and had traveled all 50 states since she retired at the young age of 55. It was fascinating to hear her stories, and how she “took the bull by the horns” to accomplish her dreams even though her husband didn’t want to travel abroad any more. We met another couple who had been to the Cancun area over 30 times in their retirement! They were there this time to escape the rare cold snap in Florida. It was in our conversation with them that I became so grateful for the advice from our middle daughter and her husband to go to Cancun for our celebration instead of trying to do a bicycle tour through the middle of Florida!!
I can’t even tell you how thankful I am for the opportunity and ability to make a trip such as this. I never dreamed of being able to stay at such a nice place or to create a celebration of our accomplishments on a whim. Once again, I feel privileged to be at this season of life: retired, busy, and contented.
I’m posting links to my Cancun trip video and some of the places I mentioned for your convenience:
rechelle's lifelyrics 
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