Saturday, April 19, 2008 Time to go home Sad day

Tamee getting ready for the trip home. That's my sand on the table! Bishop Sampson enjoyed it!

Unfortunately Tamee didn't feel too hot, so she took a nap before we left. I was lucky. I didn't get sick at all! It was all the bottled water I drank!

The last moments on the porch/deck....i love that place...many good moments spent reading.

last glimpses of the beach.

Darlene's cute little girl...girls love flowers. Remember that boys...unless they're weird!



We saw Kevin at the airport. Then we went through customs and boy were Tamee and both glad that I brought to extra bags full of water to begin with (there were only 7 bottles left over when we left! We didn't have to buy water the whole time and we were relatively healthy the entire time!)




"Hey we're still on vacation, Sir will you take our picture please?" I just had to ask! You know me!



I wanted to bring something back for all my students. We had extra cheerios So i thought it would be a nice gesture to bring them back "Mexican" cheerios! They were grateful and interested to see that ironically they tasted the exact same as "American" cheerios! Amazing how that works!

Tamee getting a last photo while she waiting in the airport.

Friday, April 18th, 2008

Tamee and I were lazy and didn't do dishes all week! So by the time we got to the end of the week, we had to use the coffee pot as a mixing bowl! I made some muffins i had brought from home...however we didn't have oil or butter (we did have eggs though) so i did what i could and experimented with them and made them into pancakes! they didn't rise because the lack of other ingredients plus we didn't have muffin tins. But it all worked out, i ended up bartering with them on the beach. I got a good deal throwing them in as a monetary substance! The guy took it! and I think he actually enjoyed the pancakes!!!

Tamee doing her favorite pass time...you would think she didn't have a washer and dryer back in the states at the rate she was knocking out the laundry! (love you tam tam!)

One thing we didn't get to do was horseback riding on the beach

I was sitting reading my book content under the cabanas and Kevin came up to me and said, "You look so cute there just reading. Would it be okay if I took a picture of you?" I said, "Sure." I was fried. Literally, the heat was pouring off of me. It was painful! But oh seriously what fun. It was worth it! So Kevin took my picture and I took his.

Kevin got a little crazy and creative with his picture taking. It was lotsa fun! Then when I had to take their picture, it was painful, cause my skin was so burnt and tight, i couldn't even bend very well.





This was my second to last boyfriend in Cabo. He seriously wouldn't leave me alone. He was like, "Why do you have to leave? Why don't you stay here with me? I will make you so happy." I was like hmm...let me think about it...oh, wait, I have a life back home. As much as you could offer me as a vendor, i'm set. Thanks!!!

So this is Kerry, Kevin, Jordan and Rob. We met them and ended up spending our last night with them. This hotel was so great, because everyone was like family by the end of the week, because with time shares, people usually buy a whole week and so the same people are there for the majority of the time. So after Kevin took pictures of me and I took pictures of them, we ended up hanging out. He bought me a pina colada and Tamee was up in the room reading away her last day there fried. I went up and got her. She came down and we ordered pizza and watched the moon come out and glisten on the sea. It was so gorgeous that Kevin asked if Jordan and I could go stand as a couple on the beach with the relfection of the moon and sand and sea. It was great. So there I am with Jordan my last boyfriend in cabo. We even held hands to make it more real.


Tamee and Kevin went and enjoyed the serenity of the ocean and moon. We were lucky to run into Kevin, because he introduced us to Cornhusker's Lotion, which is oil free so it gives you moisture without locking in the heat. Tamee and I were on fire, but were freezing all at the same time. After we put on the lotion it was like a miracle and we dropped like 10 degrees in pain. it was great! We were able to enjoy our pizza without pain!

Thursday, April 17th Boot camp, Kareoke and Mambo Cafe

Tienes hambre? a good little bit of spanish for my students and a great way to start out the morning!


This is mostly how i spent the majority of my time. I do love reading and being in water in the sun! What a good book!

This is the crew! We had a blast and by the end of the day we all knew each other really well! We had 3 couples on their honeymoon, two people that worked at our hotel, Tamee and I and then the safety crew; our guides. It was safe and fun and secure the whole time. What a great day!

So i volunteered to be the ginnea pig for the first run...I was supposed to keep my right hand on the low rope as my brake, but then i got going so fast that i lost and i kept grabbing it by the time i finished and just went flying. They called me "trouble" for the rest of the time!



Then there's Tamee showing me up! She did it perfectly on her first run!

Rock climbing. I wasn't as smart as Tamee. I tried to rock climb first, and then my feet kept slipping and i kept on almost falling and I was freaking out, luckily i could switch over to the easier one...i might have died out there!


Commando Bridge. I was really afraid of this, but then once we got going, it wasn't so bad. And since i can swim it wasn't so bad!




This is Wayne and Lynette. They hadn't even been married 24 hours. I think their marriage will be long and fun! They made it so much fun!

Rappellon!!! that was our funny word. This was really fun. I got a lot of good air! Finally something I know how to do.


The race. Both Tamee and I were turning into Mexican pinatas. Not a good thing to do on the zipline!

Zipline

After my first run, these guys kept calling me trouble and watching out for me. It was great, like having 8 body guards.


Crazy Wayne! This is the biggest man I have ever met! He was crazy! We had so much fun!

Vendors: it really works to be friends with these guys! I got a cute really bracelet for 10 bucks and a kiss too!

Darlene is crazy! This is the crazy lady from San Franscisco who told us that we have a place to stay whenever we want there. She tried to hook me and Brian up on Tuesday. She is sweet for her intentions.

Mexicans, mexican beach, remember who you are and make good choices...nuf said.

One of my many pina coladas...this time it was for sure virgin! Look how close the beach is! That is so cool! Like 2 seconds after that I won the name that tune song! It was fun!

I sang "Bring me two pina coladas (virgin of course). Although I sang in a baratone voice, Tamee said I was right on key...miracles never cease!


Cha Cha Slide...

Tamee singing Summer Dreamin'...and wow! She was having fun with Estefano...I could have "been a part of something really special!"

We found these crazy people who were also from Utah. Small world. We were singing "Girls Just wanna Have fun!" and boy were we!

Later that night we went dancing at the Mambo Cafe and met Douglas (insideness and you're glad you don't know him...well, let's put it this way...he was supposed to be our ride home, but he kept drinking A LOT, because it was open bar. I told him that after 3 I would have to become the designated driver. He said, "Okay." But then after he drank more than 3 like 7 in the first hour (like water, not kidding) I said, "I guess it looks like I'll be driving home." He didn't like that. I guess you shouldn't mess with people when they are drunk and we kind of got in a fight, cause i said that i wouldn't be driving home with him and that we would take a taxi and it wasn't pretty and then we went outside and there was this, oh my heck, really drunk, drunk guy and he was like falling over while we got our taxi. I was ready to go home!) on a positive note, the band was AMAZING! They danced just as fast as they played, while they played their respective instruments. It was great. I could have just sat there and watched them all night, while I drank my virgin apple beer...I was pretty content!

Wednesday...huge, full day.

First thing to remember: What happens in Cabo, stays in Cabo! I can't say how many times I said that! Tamee was a smart cookie when she bought this tour for us. It cost 45 bucks each and it was an amazing full day tour plus lunch.

First we went to "Land's End" "El arco" really famous, on a glass bottom boat. We think it's where they filmed Pirates. Then we got to see the people train dolphins. You know I was dying and to make matters worse, we weren't allowed to take pictures. But it was sooooo cool! I am going to do that next time. I promised myself someday, I will swim with the dolphins.

This is called "Lover's Beach" Where 2 enter, but 3 come out. You just have to wait 9 months!

Then on the back side, sadly enough is divorce beach.

This is the Scooby Doo Rock...can you see it? It's the back of his head.

Then the famous Arch- el arco

This seal was so funny. He jumped up there and pushed off the bird that was chillin' there and then he was like king of the rock and stretched his head all tall and proud. It was great!

Hard Rock Cafe: Then we got to do a little shopping in Cabo San Lucas. We went to the hard rock cafe and other places like Burger King (didn't go there, just took pictures) and bought the most amazing coconut ice creams for a buck.



Then we went to the glass blowing factory. The oven is 1800 degrees. The guy made a turtle in front of us. It was really cool. And then when he was done, it was so hot that he touched a paper to it and it caught fire. It was amazing. Then they asked for volunteers and I got to blow the glass. It was really cool! It was like a huge balloon and then he just shattered it and they recycle it and start all over again. That's where I got OD his gimpy turtle and Amberly and Dane their vase he's supposed to put flowers in!

There was a coconut stand on the side of the road, where we pulled off to see the surfers and I bought a fresh coconut for 3 bucks. They hack it open, you drink what's in it and then hand it back and they hack it apart and put the "white meat" into a baggy for you to take with you. It was great!





Then we went to the taquila making factory. Really, we didn't get to see the intricate makings, but we did get have the opportunity to sample a few flavors. Since we don't drink, we said we didn't need a sample cup, but the other guy with us said, "Yes you do, then you can give me your samples." So that's what we did. We each got our sample and smelled it (culture, learning etc!) and then poured our samples into his cup to make his like 3 times stronger. He was a happy camper and was happy to be on tour with two mormons. We were the first Mormons they had ever met. They were from Chicago. Interesting, that is where my roommate Erin is from.

After that we went to Cabo San Jose (See there's two cabos, which means capes and they are divided by Highway 1 and in order to get anywhere you have travel that highway and pay a taxista 35 bucks...pricey. We paid it like 3 times, except for when we went home that day, we ran to the bus. More on that later.

In Cabo San Jose we had lunch and visited a mission and went shopping. That is where I bought my big bottle of Vanilla for 8 bucks and my little statues for Day of the Dead. Tamee thought I was crazy for buying them, but it's a culture thing I teach in class.

After lunch and San Jose we went back to Cabo San Lucas and went shopping, wheeling and dealing and very burnt and tired. We were on our way leaving and this guy had this huge iguana. He makes ends meet by sitting on the sidewalk having people pay him a dollar to take a picture with his iguana. Originally we were like, "Yeah, we'll take a picture just of you with it and he was like, "No, no, no" and put it on my shoulder. Then he walked over to Tamee and it crawled up her shoulders and head and she was screaming/laughing "No,no,no" as it crawled up her head. It was really funny!

So our day was done. We went to go catch the bus and sat at the bus stop (or so we thought, apparently it was a bus stop that was no longer in use.) So as I'm over buying another of my favorite coconut ice creams, Tamee is chillin' at the bus stop with all our treasures from the day (tons of bags) and this native comes up to her trying to tell her that the bus stop was more down the road and this one was no longer a stop. So we started walking to the new one as our bus breezes by us. We start booking it! Oh man, memories of the mission came flooding back! Always running somewhere holding way too much stuff! So I'm screaming in Spanish "Espera, Espera" and everyone is looking out the windows like "Stupid Americans". We made it huffing and puffing without exact exchange and jump on the bus. All sweaty, but happy to be on our way home! What a fun yet exhausting day! Off to the pool for us!

Tamee's treasures!