And the answer is, "aaaaaaahh..."

The question of course is, "What sound does John make when relaxing in Cancun?"

[edit] This just in... Jody has a collection of photos from our trip online, here.

I regret to report that we are home from our brief escape. USAir did their best to attempt to ruin the trip by screening the worst movie I have seen since "Knocked Up." They showed Michael Bay's "Transformers" and it was awful. Like the other movie mentioned, it had the weakest possible storyline. Who on Earth (short of the flimsy Optimus Prime and all of his equally fragile cohorts) believes a mouthy teenager has artifacts for sale during show and tell time in his history class? And his father ponies up two grand for half of a complete POS Camaro? I know we're living with $3/gallon gasoline, but four G's for that pile of junk is so Unbelievable Hollywood... even if it did turn into a robot... the looked like -I- could take it down with hand tools.

Sorry. I grew up in Japan in the 70's on a diet of seriously tough giant robots. I am a robot snob.

Bienvenidos a Mexico! Are you sure you have a ride to your hotel?

Cancun's airport had changed, but the gauntlet to get to the pre-paid taxi/limo area is still the same. We boarded a Volkswagen Eurovan (you knew I'd mention it, Jody!) and were soon whisked away to the Westin Regina... er... the regular hotel side. Yep, another attempt to ruin our weekend as the spa and our condo-like room were in the building that was closed for renovations. We got booked into a (very nice) regular hotel room. We got a $40 credit for the restaurants and complimentary buffet breakfast.

This is where things began to work back into our favor. Breakfast was awesome. As I may have mentioned before (or elsewhere) I am a breakfast guy. I like breakfast foods and the Westin Cancun took care of me. Fresh fruit and Mexican dishes and seriously good coffee and this awesome hot chocolate drink started every day. And what busy busy days we had...

Here is how a typical day went this past weekend...

breakfast, find a secluded palapa on the beach, position a beach chair under the palapa for good shade, lay back, knit socks or do sudoku puzzles, periodically move the beach chair to stay in the shade, enjoy the sounds of the waves and the breeze in 80°F weather... repeat daily

Like this...


We left the hotel one afternoon to have lunch and shop but that was not necessary. If you're thinking of taking a trip yourself but are afraid of foreign places, go to Cancun. You will have all the Hard Rock Cafe, Outback Steakhouse, Harley Davidson you can stand. It's like we were in the US except everyone spoke Spanish. ;)

We stayed at the hotel otherwise and had no problem with doing so. The bar and grill by the pool served yummy lunches of quesadillas and guacamole and a BLT sans the B one day. In the evenings we tried both of the sit down restaurants and went back again to the beachside place, Sea and Stones. They're right on the beach and serve very reasonably priced dishes that you cook for yourself on super hot stones. They were like smooth pavers heated so hot they'd cook our bite-sized marinated meats right before our eyes a la fondue or hibachi style. The meals were so good and relatively inexpensive we indulged and had dessert both nights too. :d


On the beach I managed to get swept away long enough to forget to sunscreen my left arm one day. I'm paying for it now but the sting just reminds me of the relaxing weekend.

Back home, reality was waiting. Yesterday I had to get a pre-surgery checkup and an EKG. I got the BMW dropped off for the inspection and alignment. Today I will get a chest x-ray and give another coupla vials of blood so that I'll get the green light for surgery. I will also followup with the radiology clinic and get an orientation brief for the ostomy I'll be attached to. Then I'll come home again this afternoon and get to work on Thanksgiving; I'm making the turkey and I'm glad I can do it. With luck, the BMW will be ready for me to bring back home this afternoon along with new stickers for the tags! :)