I'm a Wimp...

So I went out to the car today and as I was walking I thought to myself, "Man, it's a little warm outside today."  So I checked the weather on my phone...it was 71 degrees.  Really? That's it?  I'm going to die in Oklahoma next week, I'm sure of it.  Oh, by the way, I'm going to Oklahoma next week and I'm REALLY excited!

Viva Mexico!

So Matty surprised me with a trip back to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to celebrate our 5th anniversary!  We were there for 5 nights and had a fabulous time!  We stayed in Hotel Riu Jalisco, which is an all-inclusive resort in Nuevo Vallarta.  It's great to stay at an all-inclusive place, because you don't have to worry about how much money you're spending on meals & snacks while you're on vacation.  It was fairly cloudy while we were there, but it was still warm enough to enjoy the swimming pool & the ocean.

We arrived in Mexico on Wednesday evening, settled in to our hotel & then went "exploring" around the resort.  Since we had been here for our honeymoon, we pretty much knew our way around, but it was fun to see everything again.  The next day we woke up & got busy relaxing in the pool & strolling along the beach!  That afternoon, Matt had scheduled us for an exciting swim with Dolphins!  It was so much fun!  I couldn't believe we actually got to pet the dolphins & go for a ride on them around the pool!  Matt said he has always wanted to swim with Dolphins, so he was so excited to get in the pool!

The next day, Friday, we had another fun adventure in store for us!  It was called the "Outdoor Adventure" and included a speed boat ride across the bay, 4 x 4 off road vehicles, a mule ride, 1000 ft zip lines, rappelling down waterfalls, and hiking through the Mexican jungle!  It was such a great experience and we had so much fun!

Saturday was a little less adventurous for us.  We headed into downtown Puerto Vallarta to do some shopping at the local markets.  Matt had fun bartering for our souvenirs, and I had fun shopping!  We were able to get a hand-painted spoon rest (love it) as well as a beautiful pitcher, some vanilla, and some ornaments.  We were planning to take the bus into downtown, but a Mexican family that was staying at our hotel was waiting for the bus with us.  Instead of the bus, the dad of the family convinced the taxi driver to take all of us to town (12 in all) for a very good price!  So our trip to town was much quicker & more comfortable than the bus.   We did decide to take the bus on our way back to the hotel.  We had to switch buses in front of Wal-Mart & the Mall, so we decided to take a look around.  The mall was very nice with some pretty fancy stores.  Wal-Mart wasn't too different than what you see in the states, except some of the products were different & the electronics were much more expensive!  While we were shopping, a World Cup game was on.  When we walked past the TV section, there were at least 50 people stopped watching the game!  Of course, Matt had to join the fun and watch the end of the game!

Saturday evening we got to go on the Rhythms of the Night dinner cruise.  For this excursion, we took a catamaran across Banderas Bay to Las Caletas, an uninhabited island.  Once there, we watched "stories of ancient Mexican civilization told through live music and dance."  The show was truly spectacular!  After the show, we walked back down the beach to a candlelit dinner.  Although the plan was for the dinner to be on the beach, it had to be moved under cover of canopies due to the weather.  Following dinner, we had time to explore along the beach and enjoy some time on this beautiful island in the midst of the tropical jungle!

Sunday was spent relaxing at our resort and enjoying our last full day in our tropical paradise!  Our hotel had 2 restaurants that required reservations for dinner, so we took advantage of both places.  One was a Brazilian steakhouse that served delicious food, including the best grilled pineapple I have ever eaten!  The other restaurant was an Asian restaurant, where Matt tried sushi for the first time.  He said it was good...I'm not brave enough for sushi!  Monday, we had a few hours before we had to leave for the airport, so we headed down the beach to Bucerias, a small fishing village that also has a large market.  We did a little more shopping there, then took a leisurely hour long walk on the beach back to our hotel for some lunch and a nap in the lobby before we were scheduled to leave for the airport.  We arrived at the airport thinking we were about 2 hours early for our flight, only to find out that our flight had been delayed.  After waiting nearly 5 hours, we finally boarded the plane to return home.  We finally made it back to our apartment, exhausted but thoroughly relaxed from our trip at 1 in the morning.  What a wonderful way to celebrate our 5th anniversary, as well as our birthdays!  Thanks, Matty for a great trip! 

(P.S. You should be able to click on the collages to enlarge the pictures).