LIVEdigitally

Mexico Vacaciones - Thursday - Calm

Thursday, February 1st, 2007.
February already? Who knew? On a more serious note, we’re starting to have a serious problem. In two days, I’ve had a grand sum of zero naps. I guess I’m all napped out already.

Today was Eric and Edna’s last day, so we needed to make the most of it. The recipe for the day was:

1 ½ parts Sit at the Beach
1 part Grilled Food at the Lunch and Snack Bar
½ part Margaritas
1 part Sit at the Pool
1 part Gourmet Dinner
¾ part Argentinean Magic Show

Take all the ingredients, sprinkle with sun and tequila, serve warm.

I snuck in a little more volleyball (and also a Cohiba) prior to dinner. Otherwise, it was a calm, relaxing day. It’s probably time for me to fess up about something else. Before leaving San Francisco, I checked the weather report which predicted a week full of rain and cloudy skies. In reality, we’ve had less than a few hours’ worth of non-sunny weather since arriving (note: and it remained this nice through the end of the trip). I had kept this information to myself, as I thought I might just be able to make it change a little. And I will most certainly take credit for the outcome.

Dinner was at Le Colonial, the Gourmet specialty restaurant. We were served a fixed menu, and the quality was quite good, including dessert. The after-dinner entertainment was an Argentinean magician, whose show was a lot of fun. It featured what I’d call a “standard fare” of disappearing assistants, doves appearing out of nowhere, and the occasional sword or other pointy object. We had a great time and stayed all the way through to the end of the night. Each night’s performance concluded with the resort’s current “crowd-rallying line dance song,” a remake of Richie Valens’ “Hey Baby” (ooh, ahh.) Note: it turns out this is by a DJ Otzi, off the Kangaroo Jack soundtrack (amazing that I didn’t know that before, isn’t it?).

Traveling in groups, whether they be friends or family, can potentially be as much a strain as anything. Many people joke (or at least half-joke) that you should take a trip with a potential spouse, just to test those waters. I think the key to it is in having a mentality wherein you are prepared to both lead and be led. Plan to make some decisions (for food, entertainment, sightseeing, etc), and plan to have other decisions made for you. Also, let it be okay to have your group split at times, and be together at others. We had a great week with the Anzaruts, one that I see us looking forward to again in the future. And that’s a lot to be thankful for.