Mexico Review and Justus is NOT a Deadbeat

First things first. Justus has paid up. In my book at least, he is no longer a deadbeat.
Now on to my Mexican vacation. I went there with, my friend, Chris, and his wife, Rebecca. I met Chris when I was in high school. We worked together doing construction on boat piers. Rebecca's younger sister, Vanessa also made the trip as well as another couple that Chris and Rebecca know, Jen and Joe (but just for the last 4 days). It was a week in Mexico staying at a resort called the Palladium. I really liked the resort. The weather was great. Mostly sunny every day with highs between 85 and 90 degrees. It was one of better vacations I can recall being on, with only one complaint and one fairly major moment of lack of proper judgement. First the complaint. On the last night in Mexico we all went out for dinner which was fine, and then went to one of the lobby bars to see a band. Later in the evening as we were leaving to head back to the rooms, we went by the main theater and they were having a karyoke contest. I got into the contest late so I only saw two or three of the other performers. I did an Elvis song, but I didn't just sing the song, I performed it. They had a cordless microphone so I was jumping off the stage and singing in the crowd. From what I was told from Chris and Rebecca, it was quite the sight. Not to mention performing a couple of the karate moves that Elvis was famous for, when I was back up on stage. And I lost to a girl who just stood on the stage and read the words off of the monitor without even making any real eye contact to the crowd. In fact I didn't even make it to the final 4 or 5. Now I know I can't sing, never said I could, but stage presence has to count for something. I got screwed.
Before I get into the pictures, I would like to warn you that I am shirtless in a number of these pictures. I know that Tree would rather me not post pictures of myself without a shirt. He never gave me a reason, I am assuming that they either get him worked up, or jealous. Either way here are some of the picture.
This was at the airport, Vanessa and I were in the last row of the plane, so when we went to get on the bus that takes you from the plane to the terminal, there wasn't any room and we got to sit up front with the driver.
Here is Chris, Rebecca, Vanessa and I waiting for our luggage. More or an ordeal than it should have been.This is Vanessa and I after dinner one of the first nights. We are only a good looking couple because she is in the picture.
Here are our cabanas. Mine was the closest one.
Chris passed out on one of the sun chairs pool side.A couple of us took salsa lessons pool side. Chris ended up being the instructor's partner. But unfortunately for her, Chris can't dance to anything but Bluegrass music. But she was a good sport about it.
Here are Chris and Rebecca at the beach.
Me and Rebecca on our way to dinner.
Chris and Rebecca with our cabanas in the back ground.
The only shower in our cabanas was outside. Across the waterway from our cabana's was a larger 3 story complex. The upper story had a pretty good view of everything going on in the shower. One night I busted a girl sneaking a peak of me across the way not once but twice. She must have been impressed with what she saw. Anyhow, here I am with Vanessa in the shower. I know, some pretty hot stuff. Vanessa thinks this should merit Christmas card consideration. I am not so sure.
Me, Vanessa, Rebecca and Chris at one of the swim up bars.
The four of us in the bed in one of the cabanas. I actually had a very difficult time sleeping down there. The first three nights, I don't think I got more than an hour or two of sleep on any night. By the end of the trip I was finally sleeping about 4 hours a night. Still not enough, but beggars can't be choosers.
This trip has made me become more of a metrosexual. Before the trip I was tanning, and that then caused me to start using body lotion because my skin was drying out. After Vanessa and Rebecca went to the Spa for massages and mentioned how great they were, Chris and I decided to each go and get our own massages. It was fantastic. So much so, that I might need to start budgeting for a massage every 2 weeks. Here I am with my masseuse, I don't think she is much more than an inch over 4 feet tall. None the less, she gave a great massage, no happy ending however.

Here is the one mistake that I made while in Mexico and it is kind of a big one. One night Chris, Rebecca, Vanessa and I took a taxi into Playa Del Carmen for the evening. I was drinking a little too much. I am going to blame this on the Tequila. I ended up getting a tattoo. And not a very good one either, maybe that is why I only had to pay $50 for it. I guess the best way to describe it is a naked mermaid with wings. Chris told me the next day that he did everything he could to talk me out of it but I was highly persistent to the point where I pushed him down in the street. I don't remember any of that. But now I do have a big tattoo on my right bicep. Wow, what a bad tattoo. I have decided to call her, Lupe.
Here I am one day at the pool sending out the vibe. Our group had a drinking game where every time I was flexing, everyone had to drink. So there was a lot of drinking going on.
Vanessa and I in one of the love seats in the pool. You might not be able to tell that I am flexing but Vanessa sure is.
Here is one of my favorite things to do. This group asked me to take a picture of them. So I did. Then I asked them if I could get a picture with them. They said sure. In fact look at these guys, I have never seen a happier group of people. I have no idea who any of them are, or where they are from. But they sure thought I was something else.
One day Chris, Joe and I went snorkeling. This was actually a lot of fun. The key is to wear the life jackets. It makes it so much easier. Plus if you take a crushed hot dog bun out into the water, the fish just swarm you. Pretty cool. But you look like a group of dorks out of the water.

At the Spa they have an infinity pool, where it looks like the pool doesn't end. I call this my Jesus picture because it looks like I am walking on water. This picture was a lot hard to get than you think. It was right after my massage and my feet were all oily. And there wasn't much of a wall to stand on at the end. I fell in a number of times before getting this picture.
Here is something that I couldn't figure out. How come they made the water fountain in the bathroom so low? I have no idea, plus the water that came out tasted a little funky.

Half way through the trip while I was having such a problem sleeping, I realized that if I couldn't sleep that I should run down to the beach and get some sunrise pictures. I was down there the last 4 mornings. It is always cool to see a sunrise or set over the ocean. So here I am, this picture was taken with a timer and was the only one I took with me in it that turned out. At least on this day.
As you may have seen from the pictures of the cabanas, there was a waterway, and whenever possible we would catch a pontoon boat from the lobby to the restaurants. This is one of the trips to dinner. I was told before the trip that we would only be dressing up once or twice. I brought one pair of pants and two shirts. As it turned out, we were somehow upgraded and were able to book reservations every night for dinner at one 8 or 9 restaurants within the resort, rather than eating at the buffet. But there was a dress code at the restaurants for men, pants and dress shirts required. So I pretty much wore the same thing every night.
I had some bad luck with the resort sponsored events. I lost in ping pong. I lost at karyoke, which I already complained about. I still think I got hosed. There was an iron man competition that I lost. (No way the timer did that right either) And a beer slamming contest that I also lost. The resort had two main pools where the games were and kids were welcome there. Then there were 5 or 6 more adult only pools which were smaller but also had bars. Normally we would end the afternoon at the adult pool by our cabanas. On 2 or 3 of the nights I started a beer slamming contest of our own, every hour on the hour from about 3 until 6 in the evening. Chris and I were always finishing in first or second. Here are links to some video of the events. Beer Slam. (I won) Shot slamming. (Vanessa won).
This is Vanessa and I dancing. This was on the last night. I know Vanessa is going to read this, so I don't want her head to get too big here. But it will anyhow. Vanessa is a good dancer. In the past we have practiced and messed around with attempting to do a flip on the dance floor but never did it. Well on this night we actually accomplished it. Here is the video. Don't bother watching the whole video, just the first 20 or 30 seconds. But it is still pretty cool.

Here is a group picture on the last night. Chris, Rebecca, Jen, Joe, Vanessa and me.
It was just a great vacation. And now that I am back in snowy Minnesota, I am ready to head right back down to Mexico again. I would definitely go back again.