The Princess awaits...

Thanks to my sweet mother in law, Mimi was the belle of the ball even if she didn't make it to London for the wedding

Thank you Becky and Vic!

She awaits Prince Otis who is conveniently (always) dressed in his black and white tux.

Easter Afternoon

Last weekend we skied and relaxed in Sun Valley before the slopes closed for the season. Long groomed trails and sunny weather in the 40's made for the ideal ski experience, and there was live music and costume contests which made for great entertainment.

On our way home, Buck wanted to show me the nature preserve in Pekabo, Idaho and it was a beautiful stop. We saw so many big papi trout but the season doesn't open until the end of May.

Bucky signing in

Best of Tulum

It is April 26th and we awoke this morning to snowfall. I miss springtime in Florida. Especially the azaleas blooming in the backyard, the crape myrtle's heavy branches weighed down from new blossoms, the film of pollen on the pool surface, and the warmth of waking up with the windows open. But, for now I resign to reflect on our last day in Tulum.

Even though the ending of our honeymoon was more eventful than the beginning, I would trade a boring cold spring day in Pocatello for a warm frustrating day in Mexico.

We started our "Best of Tulum" day with breakfast at our favorite Italian restaurant.

Drinking oversized cappuccinos as we watch a morning shower work its way across the beach

Enjoying delicious homemade bread with a ripe tomato omelette

And returning to our hotel half an hour later to realize the money we had hidden to pay for the hotel was no longer where we hid it. It was unfortunate morning, as we spent our last day of our honeymoon filling out police reports, waiting in our room for the situation to be resolved, and being a part of someone losing their job. We made the best of it by staying close to the phone and taking dips in our private pool (not a bad place to be stuck). And by early afternoon, the situation had been resolved.

It was a sunny and windy last day

After the incident that morning, we continued our "Best of.." tour with a visit to Mateo's where we enjoyed mango mojitos and fish tacos

the wind did not let up the week we were there, but it did not stop us from using our Wal Mart snorkeling gear

And to complete our "Best Of Tulum" tour, we ended with a delicious meal of lamb (cooked three ways) at Hartwood.

The next morning we woke up in time to enjoy the beach for a few more hours and head to Cancun to catch our plane. But how could we leave Mexico without one more reminder of The Grand Mayan? We stopped in Wal Mart to make a quick return and as we were leaving, the manager said, "Are you interested in a complimentary brunch and checking out a new hotel called the Grand.." My glare must have stopped him before he could finish his sentence. I politely said "we have already 'enjoyed' that brunch, thank you" and rushed to the car.

And with that said, we were relieved to return our car rental safely and fly home.

(little did we know we were returning to Salt Lake with a car that had an oil leak... We pretended not to notice and proceeded to drive 2 hours in a snowstorm back to Pokey)

The End

Fishing Day 2- So many clams, and a few bones

We were tempted to cancel our second day of fishing after the poor conditions we had on day one, but we decided to see it through.We wokr up at 6am and after an hour and a half drive in the shuttle, an hour and a half boat ride south of the inlet (Wilberth was determined to find calmer flats), we were ready to fish. It had only ben an hour before Wilberth said “Did you bring raincoats? Going to rain, put on raincoats”. Our reply, “Seems about right”.

Bucky had been stocking up for a bonefish trip since he was 8 years old, tying flies for the past 3 months, researching and practicing casting in a nearby park, and looking forward to this trip for about 20 years. With the wind making it impossible to sight cast and the cold rain coming down in sheets as we sat in the anchored boat on a flat that was an hour away from the resort, we were more than disappointed. Wilberth knew it was an uphill battle with the uncooperative weather and he could also see we were in need of a moral boost, so after the storm passed, he drove us to a mangrove sheltered inlet where he instructed to cast and strip... Jackpot. Bucky caught his first bonefish and his second, third, fourth and fifth.

On my second cast, I set the hook on a strong fish. Wilberth saw me buckling down on the reel and shouted “Let-him-play-let-him-play-let-him-play”. He ran as my reel spun, zzzzzzzzzzz. I fought him for a few minutes and wished I had been bench pressing as my arms quickly tired and shook as I tried to keep the tension on him. He made a 70 yard run and then the line went dead. Wilberth said “uh oh, he on a branch now. He gone”. The clever fish went deeper, wrapped himself up in a branch and broke the line. Wilberth said he saw him and he was 5 pounds... and all I wanted was to hold him.

Wilberth also drove us passed these isolated mangrove trees where hundreds of frigate birds nested. They reminded us of “How to Train Your Dragon” as these enormous pterodactyl-like birds hovered, circled, and landed in the trees.

Their red throats ballooned, resembling swelling hearts amidst the bright green foliage.

We thanked Wilberth for the more successful day and headed back to our hotel

Nom, nom, nom

Eating. Sleeping. Sipping.

Regressing to this infant schedule provided our best days in Tulum.

Mezzanine was a beachside thai restaurant that introduced us to the Dantori. A frozen beverage which is now being recreated in our home once a week in our new blender. Please visit and we will have an excuse to make a pitcher of this refreshing adult kiwi slushie.

Tom Kha Gha with fish...Bucky excused his manners to drink the last of this deliciousness

Sitting atop the beach with sweet fruit drinks and warm thai cuisine, wind cooling our sunburns, overwhelmed with gratitude for this perfect moment

Cenotes Snorkeling

Buck and I drove north to snorkel Dos Ojos cenote. Cenotes are where freshwater underground rivers have carved their way inland, leaving miles and miles of underground caves.

We opted for a “guided” tour of the cenotes and rented wetsuits and snorkelng gear. I use the term “guide” loosely as it was more of a race to keep up with our Spanish-speaking friend as our 40 minute “guided” tour turned out to be a 12 minute race to keep up with our guides disappears flippers before us.

But, there are restricted parts of Dos Ojos that are only accessible when guided, like the “Bat Cave”. In order to get there, you have to dive, holding your breathe as you swim under a massive upside-down stone drip castle to reach the other side, surfacing into a beautiful vast cave. Bats hide in the stalagtites, occasionally swooping down but keeping their distance from the snorkelers. Thankfully, our guide rested on a rock for a few minutes, letting us swim around on our own. After the Bat Cave, we swam to the second “ojo” and then circled back to where we began.

I was happy to have a wet suit but could not seem to stay warm (one of the many benefits of a hypothyroid). At one point, Bucky and I separated and later, when I lifted my head to try and find him I saw him sitting on a nearby rock, waving and laughing at me. He explained that amidst all the other snorkelers in this cave, he quickly spotted me because my snorkel was the only one trembling out of the water due to my chill.

Cross eyed, cold, and accidentally snorting water

underwater rock formations

Even though the water was a bit uncomfortable for me, the experience was unique and unforgettable. We had no gage on the depth of the cenote until we watched a faint light slowly emerge and brighten over the time span of a few minutes as scuba divers surfaced. It was an eerie experience and even though the only inhabitants of these cenotes are small minnow like fish, I could not shake the feeling that a dinosaur sized monster lurked below.