Cabo San Lucas, Mexico- Riding ATV's

After a 45 minute shuttle ride out to the boonies of Mexico, we are all geared up and ready to ride!

Here is an action shot of us riding on the smooth sandy beach. Jason was all about getting action shots so there are plenty of them on our ATV journey.

This is a gorgeous beach that we rode alongside of. The waves were huge and came crashing in spraying us with a little mist as we drove by. It was very welcome considering how stinking hot it was out there. It was such beautiful scenery though and well worth all the sweat to enjoy it.

Elvis, John Travolta, Corky...I don't know.

You can't tell so much in the picture, but we were high up on a cliff and this pole just happened to be sticking up out of the very edge with nothing supporting it on the other side. So, what does my monkey husband do?
He hangs off of it on the cliff side. See below.

This picture speaks for itself...wild and crazy water, but so amazing to watch!!!

action shot.

and another.

and one last one while we were heading back. The funny thing is we still smiled when posing for the pictures even though you could never see our mouths.

This was my first time experiencing ATV's. We were filthy dirty by the time the 4 hours were over, but it was much more fun than I thought it would be. I would highly recommend it. I felt like I was doing extremely well with my ATV and decided to go up a steep, sandy hill and stalled right in verticle position up the hill. That was scary, but I held on and kept the engine running until my tour guide could come save me. Whew!

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico- Tipping:)

After riding the ATV's, a group of us were waiting for our bus to come pick us up. This nice man came up to me and asked, "Senorita, come sit on horse for picture?" to which I replied, "I'd love to!" and so I got on the horse the man started walking away, pulling me behind him saying "Bye everybody, adios". Okay, so he's going to walk me around on the horse too. He walked me for a second, brought me back, and beckoned for Jason to get on. "You come," He demanded. Trying to be polite, Jason got on after I did. He walked him for literally 30 seconds, had him get off, then said while holding out his hand, "Tip?"
We have never given out so much money just for tips in our entirely lives. Everything had to have a tip involved- EVERYTHING! You don't just pay to do an activity, you also tip everyone involved from getting you to the activity, guiding you through the activity, and sending you home from the activity. Then you tip those who walk you to your room, maid service, your greeter, and anyone who walks by and smiles at you...well almost.

The swim-up bar was one of my favorite things. you could just swim up and order a smoothie, give a tip of course, then fall back into the pool and swim again. I felt so lazy, but I totally enjoyed it.

This is the view from our porch. We woke up one morning to see a cruise ship parked out in the bay.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico- The Pirate Ship

We decided to try out the 3-hour pirate ship ride around the Pacific Ocean. It was entertaining and worth our while- a little weird at some points, but overall very fun!

We were passing our Resort, Club Cascadas- so, this is the view of where we stayed from the Pacific Ocean. Ours is the last building with all the Palm trees. The top of it was actually our suite.

This is historic "Lover's Beach" or as our Hispanic tour guide put it... "Lubbers Beach". :)

This is me oohing and ahhhhing about the arch rock formation. They say that every four years the water is down enough to walk under the arch...that's what they say anyway.

Jason was picked to go up and dance with the crew and some other people. He was totally out of his comfort zone and did not want to go up. I told him he can't refuse a pirate and that I would cheer for him- convincing, I know. He was a good sport and went up anyway.

He was in the final three to earn a prize I really wanted- the pirate headbands...so I gave him the evil eye to stay up there and win!!! He knew at that moment that he could not come down until he won- and he did! Woo-hoo.

Here we are with our pirate headbands. He also won tickets to go snorkeling and ATVing but we didn't need them at this point so we gave them away to some family on the ship with us.

They put on a little show where they swung down from the top of the ship with ropes and put on a comical act including the audience. Then, one crew member who had no other purpose other than this, swung from a rope into the Pacific Ocean when it was pitch black and dark outside. I was literally scared for him- especially because earlier that day some friends we made at the resort said they went jet skiing and came across a swarm of hammer head sharks! That's why I can't spend a lot of time in the ocean :)

I had already been swallowed up by the ocean earlier in the week that renewed my sense of fear for the ocean. It yanked by bathing suit almost completely off my body, so not only was I fighting for my life, but fighting for my swimsuit so that when the waved washed away and left me grasping for air in the sand I wouldn't be sitting there in my birthday suit. But at that point I was surrendering - "take the bathing suit, but spare my life!"

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico- Final Days

Jason devouring a peanut butter roll- every morning our breakfast was served with a new type of bread in the basket. This one was Jason's favorite. Most of their breads are really dry but still tasted amazingly good.

He never failed to order his freshly squeezed orange juice with breakfast- in fact, the waiters just knew that's what he wanted and started bringing it for him without having to ask for it.

The birds on the beach would linger, unafraid to eat food that dropped from the tables. Jason just started throwing a bunch of crumbs to them. So, naturally they always came back!

Lunch- bon appetite! Once I finally discovered their french toast I had it for two meals in a row. I was sad to discover this amazing meal on the second to last day we were there. You wouldn't think french toast would be a highlight on the menu, but it was to me! It was so different- their whipped cream had fresh peels of coconut in it straight from the tree. YUMMY!

This was one of the swimsuit cover ups I bought from the vendors on the beach. Once again...the view over our balcony was beautiful to say the least.

At the restaurant...the umbrella shade you see at the top of the picture was the balcony of our suite and where we usually ate our breakfast every morning. You can see one of our oh-so-funny waiters in the background making a face.

We couldn't leave without a picture of the waiters at the restaurant. It didn't take long before they became our friends and buddies. They gave service you would never see in the States. If you were cold, they brought you a blanket; if you asked for something special, they made it grand; if you got up, they helped you back into your chair; if you even appeared to have a question, they asked what you needed; and you never had to ask for a refill, it was just automatically done...and they did it with a smile on their faces as if it made them happy to make other people happy.
Our greatest compliments to the chef's and crew who served!!! AMAZING.

This was our favorite time of day in Cabo, right before the sun went down! The sky would turn purple and you could feel the mist of the ocean cool you off from the sweltering heat of the sun. "Ahhhhhhh," is all we could say.

This was a bitter-sweet night for us because it was our last dinner there on the beach, yet one day closer to getting to see our kids again.
We ordered dessert, but when I asked for chocolate topping I got something ten times more...an entirely new creation from our waiter made especially for me. He turned my little brownie sundae into some sort of chocolate a' la mode layered brownie pie! And Jason's little 3 scoop ice cream dish turned into a 5 scoop cookies and cream phenomena! We ate it with much enjoyment and satisfaction...even if we did already eat quadruple the calorie intake than on any normal day :)

The water from the ocean came right up onto our beach. People had to grab their towels and umbrellas and scatter like mice.

At the Cabo Aeropuerte going home!
It was a dreamy vacation free from distractions, totally relaxing, and completely rejuvenating.
Thanks to Jason for surprising me with one of the most memorable vacations anyone could ever have!!! Happy 6 years honey-buns :)

Little Monkeys

This is Brooklyn and a friend and their very red faces! They had just come in from outside riding their bikes in the middle of the hot day. I just think they looked cute and had to take their picture :)

On the scooter...they just kept yelling "faster daddy- go faster!"