Honeymoon Days 4, 5, 6, and 7

Sooo...can I just say how much FUN we had on this trip??? Everyone makes that beautiful "did you ever leave the room?" comment about your honeymoon. Really people, as tacky as that comment is, we have the pictures to prove it! We got up at like 7 every morning, ordered room service for breakfast (since it was included and all), and then got ready to go on another adventure!! Day 3 was a BIG adventure, full of events. Some not so pleasant. We went to Chichen Itza!

Chichen Itza (not Chicken Pizza, as the Mayans joke) is one of the 7 wonders of the word. It was a 2 hour drive to this place, and we strongly considered NOT going because of the long drive (they make it a 3 hour drive because the bus stops at a small market so you can shop) but the beauty of this place was so incredibly worth it. The tour bus, windy roads, and speed of the driver caused me to be extremely car sick-but again-so worth it. The HEAT was insane, and there was no area to cool off here. Even at the entrance where people who don't have included tours would pay to get in had no air, and the restaurant that served lunch had no air. The heat was painful and exhausting, especially because of my motion sickness. We actually strayed away from the tour group because neither Jason and I were really interested in the history of the place. We were interested in the designs on the structures, admiring their beauty, and just taking them in for what they were. We read the little descriptions in front of them to somewhat know what we were looking at, but we wanted to explore on our own. This was especially intriguing to Jason being in the design field. It was a beautiful place, and so breathtaking to see what this culture did way before technology. The long trip, painful heat and pure nausea was well worth every moment of seeing this beautiful site.

Thursday was Jason's pick. ALL I wanted to do on our trip was swim with the dolphins, even though it was extra money. Luckily, we caught a break on it. So it was only fair to let Jason pick something "extra" to do. He really wanted to do this ATV jungle tour that we saw advertised. He thought that you just went on a scenic tour of a Mexican jungle, and the best way to go on the jungle path was ATV's. This sounded fabulous to him. So when we talked with our resort, they told us that one of the included tours was a "Paradise Snorkel" excursion on Maroma Beach in the second largest coral reef in the world, only smaller to the Great Barrier Reef. After the snorkel excursion, the beach offered ATV trips that also included an hour of speed boats. Again, this sounded FABULOUS to Jason. So we signed up. Now, snorkeling is not my thing. Or speed boats. Or ATV's for that matter. But Jason was really REALLY excited. So off we went. Let's just say snorkel gear never fits my head. I can never get it tight enough around my face for that saltwater to keep out. So after about 30 minutes, I was ready to get back on the boat. Jason was too actually-the waves were really rough, neither of us are used to swimming in that, and my eyes were burning from the saltwater. But the reef was beautiful, and there were thousands of beautiful fish. We even saw a stingray!

Then came the speedboats. No seatbelts, just a little two-seater boat for me and the hubby. Of course, he drove. I definitely didn't want to! The waves were so rough anyway, and the man that was taking us on an hour long path created MORE waves, and my small frame bounced everywhere. I just knew we were going to die. I was going to fly out of the boat, or Jason was going to flip the boat, SOMETHING. It was so scary. My whole body hurt after from all the jerking and the constant tension in my muscles as I desperately tried to stay inside this little speed demon for waves. I couldn't wait for our ATV ride. And then, 20 minutes later, I couldn't wait to be back at the resort. Jason's thought of a scenic jungle tour wasn't what he thought. It was a full on 4-wheeler course. I have NEVER been on a 4-wheeler before (yes I know, and I'm from Kentucky). Anyway, this course was full of dirt paths, bumps, sand dunes, the works. I was even more terrified on the back of this than I was on the speed boats. I think Jason had permanent imprints on his stomach from me holding on so tight. I just knew that he was going to kill us (again). And he swears he took it easy!! AHHH! He had a fabulous time, even though he felt really bad because I was so scared and all the jerking made me so sore. I was so happy to get back to our lovely resort.

This sign was in our van on the way back from our adventurous day. It made me laugh.

Even though this picture was from a different day, I only find it appropriate to put right after this sign. I'm not a huge fan of beer, but a really really cold one on those extremely hot days actually tasted REALLY good. Really. Since I used that word so many times in once sentence, I had to use it one more time, ha! Jason and I aren't very big drinkers, but we do like a few every once in a while, and it was really nice to have the frozen drinks in such extreme heat.

So immediately after we got back from our "extreme sport day" the resort was giving a "Honeymooners Cocktail Party." We got all dressed up (you had to be dressed up for some restaurants anyway) and headed down to the beach area. The beach on this resort is man made since it's on the part of the island that the waves are never calm enough to swim in, and the coastline is extremely rocky. So the rock wall is built up enough that you can't climb it, but you can still hear, see and smell the ocean. And the lagoon area IS ocean water, and they have sand...its just not a natural beach. Anyway, we headed down to the lagoon where they had champagne, finger foods, and romantic (somewhat cheesy) music playing. The resort toasted to us, and thanked us again for letting them be the ones to help us celebrate our most special time. They gave us all kinds of sweet stuff for being on our honeymoon. Since it's an all-inclusive, we all had to wear those plastic bracelets, but ours were pink and only the honeymooners got pink ones. They gave us T-shirts that said "Honeymooner" on it, a romantic dinner at the Mexican restaurant with special dishes that you can't get off the regular menu, the cocktail party, and a bottle of champagne delivered to your room, and 10% off at the gift shop! Every staff member congratulated you, and they were all extra nice to you. It was so neat!

Christine, this picture is for you. This was one of the desserts that we were served at one of the restaurants. It was a piece of cake from some other celebration on resort, and then the sample of all the deserts in that restaurant. It was blueberry pie, key lime pie, chocolate mousse, strawberry cheesecake, and one more that I can't remember!! But they were all REALLY yummy.

So on Friday we decided to visit another Mayan ruin site called Tulum. Tulum was MUCH closer to our resort than Chichen Itza, and so much more beautiful. This old city is set RIGHT on the coast line with a beautiful beach that tourists can swim in. We decided not to swim, but rather take in this site. Again, we strayed from the group to do our own exploring, picture taking, and studying. It's incredible to see the things they built, with the etchings in the stone that all have significance to them.

At the top of the city, where you could look down and see the beach and the beautiful ocean water.

There was so much greenery, palm trees, beautiful white sand, and some of the prettiest ocean water I have ever seen.

How COOL is this view?The same view from another angle. There was a nice, large, flat rock right at this area where this pictures was taken, and as Jason continued to walk and try to find more iguanas, I just sat here and stared for a while. Call me weird, but I LOVE the smell of the ocean, and the aroma from this elevation was heavenly. There was so much to look at and take in. It was definitely one of those moments when you look around and really think "How GREAT is our God?" The Mayans may have build their city on this beautiful land, but this view right here was nothing but the work from the one above. It was breathtakingly beautiful, and one of my favorite moments from the entire trip. We had been on the go all week and had a blast, but this was probably the first moment that I sat down and really took everything in.

After our beautiful site of Tulum, the bus stopped at another market for shopping. Jason and I had bought more things than we had already planned on, so we took pictures instead. This is him standing next to a tequila plant. I had no idea thats how tequila was made.

Us next to a wall painting of the Mayan Alphabet. You were able to use these letters and the sales people would make a necklace with the letters of your choosing (name, initals, single letter, etc.). Rather than buying a pendant that we would never wear, we took a picture of the whole alphabet.
Our next stop on Friday was Xpu-Ha (Shpoo-Ha) Palace Resort. It was another resort in our chain, so we were able to enjoy lunch, a different pool and scenery for the afternoon. We met some friends on this trip and they were at Xpu-Ha with us, so we spent time talking with them and learning about their lives. Shannon, they were in the military too! They had both already gotten out, but she had done two tours in Iraq and he had done one. I have no idea if they were in the Army, Marines, or what-but I think Army. Anyway, their first year of dating they spent writing romantic, handwritten letters to each other since they had to be apart for so long. It made me think of you.

We chose to just relax at the resort for our final full day in paradise. As a final splurge and a way to ease my sore muscles from "extreme sport day"-Jason let me book an 80 minute couples hot stone massage! I was SO excited. I had never been to a spa before, and this one was really top notch. There was also a hydrotherapy room that had a sauna, steam room, 3 jacuzzis with different water temperatures, and a foot jacuzzi (my favorite). They served me a Jamacian flower juice, that was supposed to cleanse your kidneys and be good for your heart. There are separate for hydrotherapy rooms for men and women, so Jason and I did spend one hour of our honeymoon apart. After the hydrotherapy session that was included with our package, we were lead to a waiting room (with hot packs around our necks and super comfy robes) and then taken in for our massage. The room that we were in overlooked the ocean, and was the most relaxing 80 minutes in my life. Afterward, they took us to another part of the spa that overlooked the ocean so that we could enjoy some hot tea before heading out to enjoy the rest of our day. The picture above is my adorable husband in the pool right after our spa morning.

Most of you know that its easy to get Jason to do stuff. They had already gotten us involved with a "Best Couple on the Resort" contest earlier in the week (with some pretty embarrassing games that I won't get into) and came in second. So on Friday, when it came to the belly flop contest, Jason said no way. We were watching close by (this picture is from my lounge chair) and Gustavo, the entertainment guy, called for Jackson from North Carolina. When Jackson didn't appear, he looked to Jason and said, "Aren't you Jackson?" Jason just shook his head, knowing what was coming. Gustavo asked his name and when Jason responded, Gustavo simply said "Jackson, Jason, close enough get up here!" The goal was to do a really cool belly flop, but to pop the balloon you were holding (it was supposed to prevent the pain). This is the shot I got of Jason.

Poor guy missed. See the balloon still perfectly in tact? 3 tries and a sore belly later, he popped the balloon and sadly didn't win.

A photo of us in our room (love that self timer) right before dinner at one of our favorite restaurants on the resort.

Here's Gustavo, Jason's new friend and the man behind my husband's sore stomach and chest. No, that is not his real hair, it's a wig. They had a samba show that night, and he always dresses up for them.

Sunday morning, time to go home! We were so happy to be heading home, we missed our family!

So sad to leave paradise...

We got bored at the airport, so we improvised and made a card table with our suitcases and played rummy. After a long day of travel, we were finally home-happy and sad all at the same time. Little did we know what the next week would bring us...and I know you want to hear this story! Stay tuned for our extremely adventurous first week of marriage at home! We've already been put to the test! :) And stay tuned for some of my favorite wedding pictures taken by the wonderful Jennifer Creed.