Ticket to Paradise....

I've been wanting to post about our vacation but it's been one busy time since returning. We have had MANY dance practices and drill team rehearsals. Six performances including one in Spokane and one in Ritzville and a dress rehearsal. There was the Young Women's Conference with a 35 minute talk to prepare on dating, and breakfast for 14 missionaries serving in Moses Lake, oh and a few loads of laundry to catch up on. And just to pat myself on the back (because no one else does---I cooked four days in a row this week and did (most of) my ironing.)

Reid and I, with our good friends David and Peggy recently spent 8 wonderful days in Cabo San Lucas. I am usually (always) reluctant to go on vacation. I don't like to be away from my kids. I hate spending the money. It's so hard getting everything ready and asking your friends to cover for you while your gone, and then when you get home it's almost impossible to catch up, but David got a deal that was TOO good to pass up and he was definitely not taking no for an answer. David and Peggy got a deal in the mail to stay at Pueblo Bonita Pacifica in Cabo San Lucas for 7 days for $299. (Yeah, can you believe it? ) and they could bring two friends and their friends could have the same deal.

Pueblo Bonita Pacifica is a new four star resort built right on the ocean in Cabo San Lucas. It is a No Kids Allowed resort and Peggy and I felt VERY young, (and thin) while we were there. Just for that feeling I would go again. David and Peggy used frequent flyer miles and Reid and I a different deal so we were on different flights but we both flew out of Seattle. Reid and I stopped in Los Angeles and David and Peggy in Salt Lake. The plan was to fly into the airport about a half hour of each other. David and Peggy were scheduled to get in first and that worked great since Reid and I are novice international travelers and neither one of us speak any Spanish except a few names of food items. ( I can order off the Taco Bell menu). But David and Peggy missed their connection and couldn't get out of Salt Lake for many hours. Reid and I arrived in Mexico and began the adventure. Getting through customs was just like the line at Disneyland and we waited for over an hour. Our luggage did not arrive. They promised it would be on the next flight and they would deliver it to our hotel. We bought shuttle tickets to the resort since the rental car was in David's name and proceeded quickly through the throngs of salesmen trying to get us to sign up for a timeshare presentation. Little did we know the shuttle service also hounded you to sign up for a timeshare. They take you over to the curb and ask you to come see a presentation. If you say yes, they quickly agree upon the deal and put you in a car that shuttle's you to your hotel, BUT if you say no they put you on a bus where you WAIT until they fill it up with other people that have refused their offer. We waited about another hour. The first stop was a liquor store. Most of the bus got off and got what they needed. (Let's just say drinking is apparently a big part of everyone else's vacation to Mexico). We rode for about another 10 minutes and the bus broke down. They called for a replacement. While sitting waiting for another bus we watched a car accident happen directly in front of us. We waited for about another 30 minutes and finally got off the bus and hailed a taxi. It took about 30 minutes in the taxi. We arrived at the hotel 4 and half hours after landing in Mexico and believe or not OUR luggage beat us to our rooms. David and Peggy arrived about 11:00 p.m. No luggage, no rental car...but happy to be on vacation and hey, the place was quiet and the weather was WARM.


Pueblo Bonita Pacifica









The other great thing about the Pueblo Bonita Pacifica is that they owned 3 other resorts in Cabo and you were welcomed at ALL of them with open arms. You could sit by any of their pools, lounge on the beach and order from their restaurants. One of their resorts was built into the side of the mountain overlooking the beach and you rode on golf carts to get around. They had a rooftop pool with an incredible view. David, Reid and Peggy dominated pool volleyball and David won every dart and ping pong tournament.

David and Peggy at the Pueblo Bonita Rose'

Reid and I at the Pueblo Bonita Rose'

Shoreline from the water taxi




David was in charge of where and when to eat and he did a great job. We had some great meals. We had some expensive meals and we had some inexpensive meals. We had Mexican food and Italian food and American food, and we had lots of it. My very favorite place we a small place for the locals that served only pork carnitas and homemade WARM tortillas. David told the waiter to bring us the best pork tacos they had and he did. We had plenty eat, a round of diet cokes and the bill was less than $20 for the four of us---unheard of in Cabo. It was so good we ate there twice!!! My favorite part of vacation is ordering food around the pool. Honestly, what is better than sitting in the warm sun and having someone bring you a delicious plate of guacamole and chips and a virgin pina coloda? (They could all use Inca's salsa recipe and the chips were not great....but, let me remind you I was laying by the pool and someone brought them to me....)

Church on Sunday

Our favorite restaurant


We drove all around Cabo and saw the beautiful beaches and resorts. We snuck in at one of the most famous resorts, "The One and Only Palmila." If you look it up on the Internet the rooms start at $1000 a night. WE ate breakfast there because we were not getting in without eating. It was beautiful and supposedly where the stars stay. The rooms each had their own infinity swimming pools looking out over the beach. We took a water taxi and saw the shoreline and did some snorkeling. The men golfed. We went to the movies. (Spanish subtitles can be slightly distracting). We went to bed early and got up late.