Cancun

Cancun, Nov. 2014

Ever since we had our baby Megan a couple years ago, we've been unable to go on vacation just the 2 of us.  We finally were able to do it.  Liz's Mom watched her while we went to Cancun.  Years ago we went on a cruise that stopped at Cozumel.  From there we took a day excursion to a place called XCaret.  We really enjoyed it and so decided to go there again, this time staying in a hotel so as to be able to do more things in the area.
We found a good Cancun tour company that we got a good deal on excursions and hotel.  The hotel where we stayed (Salvia) was in the hotel zone, which is on a strip of narrow land with the ocean on one side and a lagoon on the other (off the mainland).  Our room was right on the beach.  There were a couple of downsides like being next to a late night dance club whose sound kept us up a bit of the night.  Other then that, it was a decent place.

XCaret

Our first day we went to XCaret which is just a little over an hour south of Cancun.  It's called an eco-archeological park that combines jungle, animals, Mayan history, beach stuff and Mexican history and culture stuff.  In the morning we did things such as wandering around underground tunnels.  That brought us to an enclosed butterfly area where we walked among them.  We also saw jaguars, turtles, sting rays and dolphins.  While taking a picture next to a macaw, it tried to nibble Liz's ear.

For lunch we went to a Mexican buffet. There were a variety of different dishes besides the traditional tacos, rice, and beans. Liz tried some fried cactus but didn't care too much for the texture. After lunch we swam in the underground river.  When we came last time, this was what we really liked most.

Now they've taken the one river and divided it up into three - one mostly underground, one mostly not and the last about half of both.  We only had time to do one section, we did the underground section.  It was neat, but we preferred the one river it used to be.

We then went to the beach area where we relaxed on some hammocks for a few minutes.  There was also a shallow area that we could snorkel.  We tried it, but the water was so murky that we couldn't see much.

When it got dark there was a 2 hour cultural song and dance presentation.  It started out with people playing the ancient Mayan ball game where using their hips they hit the ball back and forth and try to hit the ball through sideways hoops high up the sides of the court.  Next they played a game that looked like flaming hockey.

They did presentations that showed parts of Mexican history, like when the Spaniards came, the Catholic missionaries converting the natives to Christianity, the establishing of the railroad.  They also did songs and dances that different parts of Mexico are known for.

Cancun

The next 2 days we stayed in Cancun.  We went to a flea market downtown called Mercado 28.  walking by each tiny shop the owners would continuously try and call you into their shops to buy something.  It got annoying after a while.
We spent some time at the beach.  Near our hotel there is a sea wall that blocks most of the waves and makes an area that is pretty calm.  The water in that area was very clear.  While we were in that water some fish came and wanted to make friends with us.  Also they nibbled on us a couple times.

We also spent some time playing in the waves.

We had put on sunscreen, but we still managed to get pretty bad sunburns.  Somehow we never manage to go to a beach without getting burned.

XPlor

Our last day we went to an adventure park called XPlor.  The first thing you notice is that half the park is underground.  The entrance / ticketing area and more are caverns filled with stalactites and stalagmites.  They give you helmets to wear the whole day.

The first activity we did was ziplining.  There are 2 routes.  The first route you went up very high towers and zipped to another tower, which you in turn climbed up and zipped to another tower.  That route you were quite high above the trees.  It took Liz a couple of zips to feel comfortable being so high up.  The last part of the route you zip through a waterfall into water in a cave.  That was pretty cool.

The second route wasn't as high (close to the tree tops).  There was also more water things along the route.  There was even a waterslide that you go down.  Very awesome.

We then went and did ATVs.  You get to drive on trails through the jungle.  At times the trails take you through underground tunnels.

After lunch we went to to do the rafts.

You sit on these 2-seat rafts, attach paddles to your hands and navigate underground caves.

It was pretty cool, though the people in front of us couldn't figure out how to control their raft.  They kept getting stuck sideways, which stopped us.  The people behind us kept running into us while we were waiting for the people in front of us.

The last activity we did was a cave swim.  It was a little bit different from the XCaret swim in that this was completely undeground and in more natural caves (with stalactites and stalagmites).

There were also sharp rocks that you occasionally stepped on or rubbed against.

Other Thoughts

Liz enjoyed the food quite a lot.  She tried Mexican mole for the first time, which she liked.  She had lots of fruits and native foods. Close to our hotel there was a restaurant called Le'Natura specializing in healthy foods. The breakfast menu was pretty good. Liz loved the fresh squeezed lemonade, carrot juice and freshly made salsa and guacamole. At one point she ordered coconut juice, expecting it to come in a glass.  Instead, they gave her a green bowling-ball sized coconut, with the top cut off and a straw in it, she thought it was neat.  For me, let's just say that while some were okay, some of their hamburgers where quite far from the type of burger I enjoy at home.
Cancun is billed as a place where all the locals know serviceable English, but it was good that both of us know Spanish.  We spoke more Spanish than English while we were down there.

It was a fun vacation, hard to come home to normal life.

It's Full Of Stars!!!

Puerto Rican Cruise

Time for another vacation report. Puerto Rico and a cruise in the Southern / Eastern Caribbean.


Sat, Apr 2nd: We had 3 US Airways flights from SLC to San Juan. I am not impressed with US Airways. They separated Liz and I on 2 of the flights. We got in late. Stayed at the Best Western at the airport.


Sun, Apr 3rd: Taking a taxi from the hotel to Old San Juan, we dropped off our luggage at the cruise ship so we could spend the day exploring Old San Juan. The buildings there reminded us of Antigua, Guatemala - all brightly colored, flush to each other and their front all the way to the street. The streets were a bluish cobblestone and really hilly. We made it to the main fort (El Morro). In front of it were huge grassy areas where tons of people were flying various kites. We saw a lifelike shark, butterfly, dragon and a red baron airplane.

The fortress was pretty impressive. It had 5 major levels and walls that were 17 feet thick. We had lunch at Ben & Jerry's - we had some very yummy pizzas made on pita bread. We also went to the other major fort in Old San Juan (Fort San Christobal). It was pretty big as well. - We then went to our cruise ship - Carnival Victory. It was themed after the 7 seas.

Mon, Apr 4th: St. Thomas - US Virgin Islands. We had a snorkeling expedition. The tour loaded us up on a small boat and took us to a tiny nearby island named Buck Island. What was really cool was the tour rented us a waterproof digital camera. For underwater, it took really good pictures and we were able to see what we were taking pictures of. We first snorkeled in one bay that had some turtles. We then went around the corner to another bay. At that one there was a sunken very rectangular shipwreck (barge like). We saw a bit more coral there with some more fish.

We had put on plenty of sunscreen, but when we got back we saw that we were super burned. After dinner we went to a stand up comedy show. Then to the mid-ship pool on the Lido deck (9) where they had a huge outdoor screen and we watched Toy Story 3.

Tues, Apr 5th: At sea. We didn't do too much today as we were hurting and trying to recover from our sunburns. It was a formal night, so we got dressed up and got our pictures taken. After dinner we went to a dancing show called 'City Of Lights' - it was New York style broadway songs. We went to another standup comedian, then went back to the huge outdoor screen and watched a little of The Last Airbender.

Weds, Apr 6th: Barbados. Our excursion took pretty much all day. We sailed on a catamaran for about an hour before we got to the first place we were to snorkel. Unlike the last snorkel excursion, they didn't give us fins on this one. We saw about 6 turtles, but the water was pretty murky.

We sailed to a beach where people could either snorkel or enjoy the beach. I snorkeled for a bit. This place had more coral and fish then the previous location earlier in the day. I then enjoyed the beach for a little bit. We then set sail back for port. At which point my limbs were pretty white. When we got back to the ship, they were pretty red.

Normally the cruise ship leaves Barbados at 5 PM, but one of the passengers suffered a medical emergency and passed away. We had to wait 3 hours for the locals to unload the body and the family.


Thurs, Apr 7th: St. Lucia. We went zip lining today. To get there we were taken by bus through steep narrow winding mountain roads. The bus driver was going twice as fast as was safe. There was also construction, pot holes and pedestrians. The zip lining was something like 18 lines. There was a swing rope we had to go over and there was also a platform we got lowered from. For me, they sent me down in more of a free fall. The zip lining was lots of fun. We went into a jewelry shop to enter a raffle, and Liz really liked a blue topaz necklace, so we got it. Tonight was another formal night.

Fri, Apr 8th: St. Kitts (Actually St. Christopher - I don't know how they shorten it to Kitt). We took a personalized island tour in a mini-bus taxi. There was only one other couple. We stopped at a place where they made fabric designs by putting wax on and then dying the rest of the fabric. we went to a fort on top of a hill called Brimstone Hill. The island was split between the British and the French, with the British in the middle, and the French on the ends. We saw where the Atlantic meets the Caribbean. We did some shopping, then went to some more standup comedy in the evening.

Sat, Apr 9th: St. Maarten. This island is split between the French and the Dutch. It was divided by having 2 men race and when they met was where they divided the island. While there are markers where the division is - there are no customs nor border guards. We went on a tour of the island. Along the way they put us on a boat where we sat in the bottom of the boat. It had windows under the water so we could see the ocean floor. There was a bit of coral. They also sent down a diver with some fish food, so a ton of fish swarmed him.

At the main town - Philipsburg, we went to the beach which was a very nice looking sand beach. We also enjoyed the water for a while. We also said goodbye to a family from Minnasota that we had talked with throughout the cruise. Then we had to pack up.

Sun, Apr 10th: We had breakfast on the cruise ship before dis-embarking. We then caught a taxi to the airport so that we could rent a car (because none of the car rental companies would pick us up and we had to return the car back to the airport). They gave us a Ford Focus :(. We traveled east and visited the Yunque National Rain Forest. It was treacherous because the road was really windy and not designed wide enough to be a real 2 lane road. We stopped off at a waterfall off the side of the road called 'Coco'. We then stopped of at a watch tower that you had to take a ton of spiral stairs up to the top. We also took a hike down to another waterfall called 'Mina'.

We then had a series of unfortunate events that almost made us miss our last excursion. We stopped off at our hotel - the Fajardo Inn, before heading to the Marina Del Rey. At that point we got on a boat that took us on a bumpy ride to the neighboring island of Vieques. When we arrived they took us in vans to a restaurant for dinner. Then we got loaded up on a school bus that took a super rough path. We eventually got to a beach where we met a boat (it was night at this point). We got out to the middle of the bay (surrounded by mangroves) and got into the pretty warm water. When you moved your limbs it would cause micro-organisms to combine 2 chemicals to emit light - causing a short glow. It's called a bio-illuminecent bay. If you moved slowly you could get smaller numbers to glow. They would look like stars flowing down your arms. The glow was very short, but the experience was super awesome. We then got back on the boat, back on the bus, back on the vans, back to the other boat, back to Puerto Rico where we drove our car back to our hotel in Fajardo.


Mon, Apr 11th: Drove back to San Juan and took 2 United flights back home. It was colder back home, but luckily we had missed the snows while we were gone - constant 70-80 degree weather and only a couple short rains.


Note: For more pics from our vacation, click on the pics in this post.

Hawaii, and all things vacationy

We just got back from our Hawaiian vacation. Let me give you all a rundown of what went down.


Thurs, Apr 22nd: We got to take a non-stop flight straight from SLC to Honolulu. It was nice that unlike previous vacations, we were actually going with the timezones, so in Hawaii we were 4 hours earlier (3 PM Hawaii = 7 PM SLC). Made for us being more or less awake for 7:30 excursions. We actually met a family from UT that we saw every single day of our vacation (and not because we were trying to, it just happened that way - weird). We got to our hotel in Waikiki with some daylight left, so we asked the front desk what there was to do. The attendant said that we could take a 20 minute walk down the road to Diamond Head park (next to the ocean). So we set off, but after about 40 minutes, and realizing we were only halfway there, we decided to turn back. We ate dinner at a place called "Cheeseburger in Paradise" where we watched the sunset over the ocean. Yum.



Fri, Apr 23rd: As part of our package we had a tour of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, but it did start at 6:40 in the morning :P. They drove us around showing us a lot of places: cemeteries, gov't buildings, king's palace, et cetera. The Pearl Harbor area had some replicas of weapons (torpedos, missiles, gun turrets) and the like. We got to take a ferry over to the USS Arizona memorial. Not much to see - 2 rusted out gun turret platforms.

I had talked to 2 different people about when the tour would finish (so I could plan on how to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center - on the other side of the island). The first person said it was ~4 hours long, and the second said it would end 11:30~noonish. So I had purchased transportation at 12:25. When we got on the Honolulu tour, we were told that we would be getting back later then that. Unfortunately the PCC transportation wouldn't give our money back. Fortunately the family from UT were renting cars to go to the PCC, so they gave us a ride. We ended up getting back from the Honolulu tour at ~2:10 (there was horrible traffic on the only way back to Waikiki).
When we got to the PCC, we only had time to see 2 small parts of the 7 villages - watched someone climb a tree for a coconut and have it husked, and watch the Tahiti dancing. We then went to the luau (where they bring out a pig that had been cooking underground and do some hula'ing and stuff. The shredded pork was really good, and there was some purple biscuits that were alright. We then went to the PCC's night show. In the show, they follow a man from birth to adulthood, and along the way it's as if he moves to the different island nations (they do a little bit of cultural stuff from each of them, like the different dancing). One really cool thing was when they had a few guys come out with grass skirts and there was some squares of flame on the ground. They would sit on the fire, and something about their skirts would make it so they wouldn't get burned. They also had regular fire dancing. The PCC show (Breath of Life) was great.

Sat, Apr 24th: In the morning we went to the International Market - a lot of little tiny shops. We then went to our cruise ship - the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL): Pride Of America. Just a little bit of a comparison from our Carnival cruise - NCL seemed to be a bit older crowd (and some of the activities were targeted to that generation). There were a few younger people, but nothing like our Carnival cruise (would have been nice to have some more people our age). On Carnival there were a few juices that were free anytime (juices and lemonade). NCL only had a couple juices for breakfast, the rest of the time I had to stick with water (not as tasty). Our stateroom was really tiny (it was an inside room), I think our Carnival balcony room was bigger. Overall, I think they are fairly comparable, but I think I liked Carnival just a little bit better.



Sun, Apr 25th: Today we ported at Hilo, Big Island. We went on a tour that started with the a waterfall called Rainbow Falls. We were only able to take pictures, no swimming there.


We then went to the Volcano National Park. There wasn't any flowing lava to see there, and all we could see there was a crater with some smoke coming out of it.

We did go to some old lava flows that we got to walk on. The roads all have curbs made of lava rock, and someone actually hit the curb with their car and popped their tire while we were there :-P. We also got to walk through a lava tube - where lava flowed at one time.
We went to Mauna Loa Macadamian Nut Plantation. Not a lot going on there, but we did get a bag of Hershey's Kisses with macadamians, they were really good - we ate the whole bag that day. We also went to the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens, there were a ton of really cool looking flowers.


Mon, Apr 26th: Normally the ship spends 2 days in Maui, but the ship had originally been scheduled for drydock during this time, but the drydock got pushed back. When NCL decided to cruise this week, their Maui dock space for today had been taken. So instead, we got to cruise off the coast of Molokai. The sea cliffs on Molokai are supposed to be the tallest in the world. While we were on the ship Liz took hula dancing and sarape tying classes. We also went to a kukui nut lei making class. Today was Liz's birthday, so we dressed up and went to the Liberty restaurant onboard. We had some awesome banana cheesecake. Yum.


Tues, Apr 27th: The port was Kahului, Maui. We took another tour. This one took us to a place called Ioa Valley, though there was no valley - just a kind of canyon with big mountains on either side.

They then took us to the Maui Tropical Plantation. They took us on a little tram tour, where they had little patches of different crops (pineapple, coconut, sugarcane, coffee, et cetera). Overall, not that impressive.
After the tour, we took a shuttle to Walmart (looked inside at some souvenirs) and had lunch at Panda Express. Really authentic, eh?

Weds, Apr 28th: Instead of docking at a pier, the ship had to anchor and send us ashore in tenders (actually the ship's life boats) at Kona, Big Island.We went on Captian Zodiak's raft and snorkel. Basically they take us on this inflatable 20 person raft to a place called Kealakekua Bay. On the way we saw some wild dolphins swimming in the ocean.

At the bay we got to snorkel for an hour or so. It was really cool how the ocean floor sloped pretty steeply away. There was a good amount of fish and coral. There were even some sword looking fishes. I really liked this one, one of the best things we did in Hawaii.
On the way back, the guides pointed out a black sand beach where there was supposed to be turtles. There was also supposed to be a free shuttle to the beach. We started out trying to find the shuttle, which we never found. We just kept walking. After about 2 miles in thongs, we decided to give up (big blisters on our feet). So we were able to catch a ride back to the pier.

Thurs, Apr 29th: This was the first of 2 days at Nawiliwili, Kauai. We went on the Jungle Mountain Trek at Kipu Ranch. They took us on this covered trailer pulled by a tractor up into the jungle area. We then took a hike through the jungle. For lunch we stopped at this pool that had steep sides and a wooden platform built on one side. You could jump off it into the pool, or hold onto a stick on a zipline and zip/fall into the pool. It was really fun.

They then took us on 2 regular ziplines. I only wish we had more time and more runs on the zipline.
When we got back to the pier, we shopped a little, then went to a beach in front of the Marriott hotel where there was a sheltered cove. There I tried to do some body surfing. Was a little hard as the waves were right near the beach, didn't have a lot of room to do it, but I had some success.


Fri, Apr 30th: We went on another snorkeling excursion - Sea Fun Beach Snorkel. This time they actually hooked us up with wetsuits (though i didn't like the mask/air tube as much as Captain Zodiak's). They took us to 2 spots right next to each other. The guides had us stick together, but it made it so we kept running into each other. It was also quite a bit rougher sea then normal, but it was still fun. At the second area, we saw a bunch of sea turtles. A baby one even swam underneath me. We couldn't touch them though (against Hawaiian law).
We only had half a day on shore, so we went back to the boat, where Liz had her Hula class graduation.


For the afternoon the ship cruised off the coast of Na Pali, Kauai. The wettest place on Earth is there, a mountain that gets 450~500" of rain a year. We saw a double rainbow.


Sat, May 1st: Disembarked the boat back at Honolulu. We got a shuttle back to Waikiki and stored our bags back at our original hotel - Waikiki Resort Hotel. We went to a shopping area called the King's Village, but most of the shops weren't open yet. We went to a store in Honolulu called Hilo Hattie - a Hawaiian clothing and souvenir store.

When we got back to Waikiki, we went to a little park where they were celebrating May Day - Lei Day. They had some performers who hula'd and sang. At the end they gave some flower leis to a few people in the crowd, Liz being one of them. We went back to the International Market. Then had dinner at the Cheeseburger in Paradise again. Then we went out on a rocky jetti at the beach before heading to the airport for the very long trip home.

Synopsis: We really enjoyed Hawaii. I wish we had more time to go swimming (like at Waikiki beach). We liked having the cruise where we were able to visit a bunch of different places. Our favorite things were the snorkeling and the jungle pool / zipline. It had snowed back home, so it was nice that we missed out - being in 82 degree weather. We were very glad that we were able to go.

Now in video!

Southern California Vacation

Sunday, May 24th: Just before Memorial Day, Liz and I (Stephen) went on a 2 week vacation to Southern California. At the last minute Liz's mother (Brenda) decided she wanted to go on vacation as well. We picked her up in Nephi on the drive down to California. The plan was that she was going to stay with some relatives that live in Huntington Beach, while we stay with a friend of mine from college. When we went to drop Brenda off, no one was home. So we took her with us.
My friend Jenny, her husband Mike and 9 month old baby Andy live with her parents, JoAnn and Larry in Huntington Beach. Their friend JP also lives there (he has 2 kids, Adrianna and Luke). Jenny and Mike came with us for a lot of the stuff we did, so did JP, and Brenda did for some stuff as well. Brenda ended up staying with us for a couple days until she was able to get ahold of her relatives. She flew back to Utah after week a week. Staying at Jenny's house was nice (except they had a cat, and my allergies occasionally gave me grief).
Monday, May 25th: On Memorial Day there was a big picnic in a nearby park. Then that night we went to Medieval Nights. Basically you sit in this oval theater and eat dinner, while performers put on a show with horses and jousting and fighting in the center area. For dinner they served roasted turkey, soup, baked potato and garlic bread. The thing was, they served it 'medieval style' - i.e. no utensils. The show was cool. We got to sit on the front row. The knight that represented our section was the Black & White knight. He was the best actor, though the was the first one to get killed off.
Tuesday, May 26th: Brenda went with us to the Newport Beach temple. Then afterwards we went to the beach. I went body boarding for a little while. But then I got caught in a riptide (again) and the lifeguard tower on the pier told me to swim away from the pier to get out of it. I don't know why riptides are so attracted to me. Then we went to a street fair on Main Street in Huntington Beach. One vendor sold some pretty good caramel popcorn that had been created in such a way as to not have any husks or shells.
Wednesday, May 27th: I hate LA traffic. We had to drive through it to go to Universal Studios. It was kind of neat seeing how they did some of their special effects. They had a 'Mummy' ride that was a roller coaster in the dark. I didn't like that you had no indication of where you are going at all. The ride we liked best was the Jurassic Park ride (kind of like Splash Mountain at Disneyland). The backlot tour was also kind of neat.
Thursday, May 28th: We went to the Longbeach Aquarium of the Pacific. It was a pretty big place (2 levels, outdoors and indoors). One of the really cool things I liked was that in the main hall, it's a big ceiling. They have windows, but occasionally all the windows would have shutters that would close on them and make the inside dark and they would show movies on the inside walls. There were all sorts of cool sea animals. Even sea lions and stingrays. Nearby the aquarium, the Queen Mary (an old cruise ship) is docked. It is now a permanent hotel. There is also a Russian submarine docked next to it. We then visited with some relatives of Liz that live in Huntington Beach. Ammon actually works on a sea launch platform that they take to the equator and launch satallites for DirectTV.
Friday, May 29th: Knott's Berry Farm was next on the list. Though I did not see any berry farms anywhere around there. There were some pretty fun rollercoasters - like one that uses electromagnets to shoot you up a really tall vertical track. For dinner, JoAnn and Larry met us there and we ate a restaruant there that serves some pretty good chicken dinners.
Saturday, May 30th: California Adventure had some fun things. They have the Tower of Terror where you sit in an elevator and it drops you a couple of times from a height. The Xcelerator was another electro-magnetic rollercoaster, but both Liz and I really enjoyed it.
Sunday, May 31st: We took it easy. We went to Jenny's church. Then we relaxed for the rest of the day as our feet were pretty sore from all the walking.
Monday, June 1st: Jenny and Mike went with us to Disneyland. Though before that we met with one of their friends who works at Disneyland. We ate at IHOP in exchange for him getting them into Disneyland for free. Our first ride that we tried to go on was Space Mountain. We got to the front of the line and it broke down. We came back later and did it though. Space Mountain was one of my favorite rides. We also tried to go to Indiana Jones - it broke twice when we went, but the third time was the charm. Matterhorn and Splash Mountain were also classics, but we waited forever in line to go on them. Liz found some soft-serve pinapple flavored ice cream that she fell in love with. We went on the Jungle Cruise (a boat ride around where the operator shows you different animals). Everything he said was a pun.
Tuesday, June 2nd: Jenny's family owns a condo closer to the beach (even though her house is only a mile from the beach). We went there and swam in their swimming pool. We went to the street fair for a second time.
Wednesday, June 3rd: Sea World was great. The Shamu and dolphin shows were neat. In the Shamu show they had these 4 huge TV screens that rotated and moved accross the stage. The animals would splash the crowds and do jumps and flips. During lunch there were 2 downpours that lasted for a few minutes a piece. It was weird. There was a ride called Atlantis that was like Splash Mountain. But after the first splash, there is an elevator that lifts the ride car up to a height to continue the ride. I thought it was a really cool idea. We watched Any while Jenny and Mike went on it. But after the first splash, it broke down and they had to get out. Liz and I went on another ride where you ride a raft down a river. Liz got drenched by a waterfall. For dinner we went to In-N-Out. It was the first time Liz had gone there, but she liked it.
Thursday, June 4th: Back to Disneyland for a 2nd day. Liz loved the Finding Nemo ride. You get in this yellow submarine, that takes you around and shows you different parts of the movie. Pirates of the Carribean was also neat. In the dark drifting along, seeing all the pirates. I could have sworn that I had gone to a Pirates of the Carribean ride before. I thought it was a theater type thing in California Adventure. But I hadn't gone on that one before. We went on the 'Small World' ride. I had remembered it as being very short. That song get's a bit annoying after a bit. But Liz liked it. On the way back from Disneyland, Liz conference called her family while her brother David opened his mission call. He is going to Arcadia, CA, Spanish speaking. We then went with Jenny and JP to see the new Star Trek in a movie theater. Jenny hadn't gone to a movie theater since she had her baby.
Friday, June 5th: The San Diego Zoo was exhausting. It's like it's built on one big hill. More then that, it never when down, it was always up. I never thought those 'uphill - both way' stories older people talk about were real, but the zoo proved me wrong.Most of the animals were sleeping. The Koolas were fun. The one panda bear was asleep.
Saturday, June 6th: Saturday was supposed to be a relaxing day where we would pack and get ready to go home. But we ended up going with trying to go with Jenny, Mikeand JP to a car show. Unfortunatly it was mroe then what we wanted to spend to get in. So we walked around the library it was next to. We also went down to the beach again, where we waded into the water and played some frisbee on the beach. JoAnn and Larry treated us to a restaurant called Claim Jumper. It was pretty good, though more then we could eat. We went to watch / support JP as he went to a coffee shop called the Lost Bean where he played guitar and sing. He is a pretty good performer. I then made my famous Orange Julius drinks.
Sunday, May 7th: Did the 11 hour drive back to Utah.

Overall, I think we liked Disneyland the best of all the things we did. We were extremely worn-out after all that walking. I actually had blisters on my feet. I did check my email a couple times to make sure my work hadn't imploded without me. But it was a very fun vacation.

Check out more pics from our vacation: http://picasaweb.google.com/seymor42/SouthernCaliforniaVacation

Two Weeks In Guatemala

Here's the report of how our trip to Guatemala went. Beware – it is a bit on the long side. To see our pictures, please go to http://picasaweb.google.com/seymor42/Guatamala.

Liz served her mission in Guatemala. Before I married her, she and her family had planned on taking a trip to Guatemala to visit some of her acquaintances there and to tour the areas that some LDS scholars believe to be locations from the Book of Mormon. There were a total of 10 of us (including the spouse of one of her sisters). Out of the 10, there were 3 (Liz, her sister Michelle who served a mission in Argentina, and I) who spoke Spanish. Also during our trip we were in bedrooms with anywhere between 3 and 6 people.

We left May 1^st. Liz, her Mom and a couple others decided to take an earlier flight so that they could find the gate at the next airport, where the rest of us worked that day and left later that night. As it turned out, their flight was delayed, so that they were boarding when I was getting my ticket at the airport. We flew to LAX, and from there to Mexico City and then on to Guatemala City. One thing I thought was silly was that in Mexico City we had to go through immigration even though we were just getting on another airplane to leave the country.

We arrived in Guatemala City in the afternoon. We checked into the place where we would be staying that night. It's actually a church sponsored location next to the G.C. temple designed for those natives that had to travel long distances to attend the temple. We ended up staying there for 5 nights of our trip.

Liz wanted to go visit a couple families that she knew, so we started walking. We eventually caught some buses to the area where her acquaintances lived. They were very poor. Liz's parents' ward had created packets with soap, towels, toothbrushes and toothpaste to give out to the people there. They had brought along what had to be at least 60 packets. We handed them out to lots of people. We hopped on a bus to go back. Liz thought the bus stop we needed was coming up so she stood up. In response, some of the group got off the bus through the back door. It didn't end up being where we needed to get off, but we didn't know that the rest of the group got off until the bus was already going again. We had to have the bus stop for us to get off so we could get the rest of the group. As an upside, we did get to visit another family that Liz knew. The downside of it was that it got dark and the buses stopped running. The family that we visited tried to find neighbors that could take us back and then tried to find us a taxi. It took about 2 ½ hours before they were able to find us transportation. The taxi they found was a hatchback car. Somehow we stuffed everyone into the car. It was like one of those clown cars that everyone piles out of. The car's tires were pretty much flat with all the weight.

The next day we went to the city of Antigua. This is a unique place where all the buildings are built up to the sidewalk. So it as like walking in a canyon. Their houses are not ones like here in the States – grass, angled roof, et cetera… No, here it was just one long wall, with the different colored paint distinguishing one house / building from another. We walked up a hill to where you could see out over the city. During this time, the son of Sergio (Sergio Jr.) was our tour guide. His dad was finishing up another tour. We also attended church in Antigua.

We then went to Lake Atitlan which to most of the group translates into 'shopping'. There was one road that our hotel was on that went down to the lake that had lots of small stalls where people sold trinkets, shirts… Tourist stuff. We had quite a bit of time there to shop. There was a zipline near there so Liz and I went on it. The rest of the group decided they couldn't spare the time from their shopping. I had never been on a zipline, but it sounded like fun. Basically we had to suit up in rock climbing gear. Then we had about a 15 minute climb to the first cable (or links). We went on 9 different links that were strung between to mountains. Liz, being a little afraid of heights, was a little afraid on the first link. But the rest of the links she was just fine. She enjoyed it. For me, it was the best part of the vacation.

The next morning before we left for our next local, we went to the lake where some of us did paddle boats where others did kayaks. Then a little more shopping before heading for Mexico. We stayed in Chiapas, Mexico overnight. The next morning before we went back to Guatemala, we stopped by Izapa. Izapa has some ruins called Stelas. One in particular (Stela #5) has some carvings on it that some LDS scholars believe to be a representation of Lehi's vision of the 'Tree of Life' in the Book of Mormon. We then headed back to Guatemala City. When we were getting close to G.C. our guide got a call from his wife saying that the gas stations were not selling gas anymore. We stopped at the next gas station and got some gas. But every gas station after that had huge lines of cars trying to get gas, and some stations were closed because they had no gas. We also ran into a huge line of semi's that were parked on all but the left lane of the freeway. I later found out that it was the third day of a trucker strike protesting the hours in which they were allowed to enter the city.

We went to some museums in the city. We also went to a huge cement topo map of Guatemala. It had to be a couple hundred yards across.

On the way to our next location (Copán, Honduras) , we stopped in Jutiapa to visit someone Liz knew. The ruins at Copán had the ball courts where they played their ritualistic ball game. Our guide says that the goal of the game was to see which player was the best. That person was voluntarily sacrificed so that he could become a messenger between the people and the Gods.

We once again returned to Guatemala where we visited the Quirigua ruins. Then we went to the fort of San Felipe. This fort was on the Rio Dulce between Lake Isabel and the Caribbean. The fort was built to protect from pirates. It was very much hot and I was sweating like a pig. We then tried to go to some ruins that our guide had never been to before. We had to go down this steep dirt road that later started having big mud puddles. Big enough that our guide had some of the people get out so we wouldn't get stuck. Eventually it got so bad that we couldn't go any further. So we turned around.

The next day we went to Tikal. Our guide cautioned us to take lots of water. So Liz and I took a 1.5 liter bottled water and 2 Gatorades for each of us. Even so, I was rationing the water to last me 2 hours and each Gatorade 1 ½ hours, and I was still in need of more liquid. While the other ruins we had been to had flat groomed grass, with all the ruins next to each other – Tikal was different. Tikal was in the middle of a jungle with jeep style paths connecting groups of ruins. It would take us a half hour to walk from one group to another. It was insanely hot and humid. Sergio took us to the pyramids that had the most shade during the earlier part of the day so that when we went to the more open places the sun would not be as bad. I thought that we would be able to go up the pyramid steps, but we had to go on more modern wood steps. We climbed 2 high pyramid, with the second one having a very steep staircase. Only I, a couple of Liz's sisters and Liz climbed it. Liz took some prodding because of her fear of heights. At the top we could hear some Jaguars roar from up there. It got a little unnerving when we walked from there to the main plaza, and on the way it sounded like the Jaguars where only 50 feet away.

We then returned once again to G.C. Sergio took some of the group to a place called the Mercado Central. It was a huge building with a lot of the little stalls like there were in Antigua.

We left Guatemala on May 15th. I flew home because I had to work. The rest of the group stayed in Mexico City for a few days. Liz will have to write about that. But I can tell you that there was some of the group were pick-pocketed and Liz had an unexplained medical problem while she was at the ruins there.

Some other items of interest:

Food. I have never had such a hard time with the waiters then in Guatemala. I had a few hamburgers while I was there (it was on their menu I promise). I like my hamburgers with cheese and ketchup only and every time I ordered I told them so. Without fail it would not come as I had ordered. One place it took them a couple of tries to get it right. There was this KFC style of restaurant called Pollo Campero that served a pretty good plate of chicken nuggets. Every time I ordered it, I told them to not put on the cole's slaw, but every time they brought it with my food. I admit I do not speak Spanish as fluently as a native, but I can order a hamburger clearly. One place did not half of what they had on the menu. Also, a lot of the waiters couldn't add the bill correctly.

I also do not like their bus system. One of the days Liz and I went walking in search of a person she knew. It took us a couple of hours to get to where we wanted to go, and so we decided to take the bus back. But the problem was that there are no bus stops marked anywhere. We tried waving down buses. We saw a bus pick someone up just a little ways up the street. We went there and tried to wave down a couple of buses there. We finally walked until we found some other people there. A bus finally stopped for them, so we were able to get on. There were about 10 buses that passed before they stopped for us.