(Edited by Cynthia)

Cancun is hot and humid. It condenses in drops and rivulets on our air conditioned windows. This should not be a surprise since it’s 85 degrees. It’s the perfect temperature for Cynthia.

We are not buying a timeshare, but I see why people like it. The view from the room we have is amazing.

(click for more pics)

Playing in the breaking waves is amazing. The pool with swim up bar is amazing.

We went to the orientation this morning and welcome party this afternoon and drank free beer and rum ‘n coke. Our personal concierge gave us insider info for our tours here. We’re gonna get less ripped off than most..

We’ve been to two restaurants for dinner so far, the first good, the second better, both Mexican. We tried to go to a Chinese restaurant tonight, but it was no longer in existence. I expected things to be cheaper here – prices are the same as they are at home. The only good deal at the resort is when drinks are half price at happy hour (which thankfully starts at 3). Also, apparently couples in their late 20’s do not buy timeshares, because we are the only ones who aren’t teenagers or baby boomers here.

Yesterday we braved the bus and went to Walmart – just like Walmart in Folsom, but everything is in pesos. They still use the dollar sign, so a bag of chips looks like it’s $24. We got some stuff for “Mediterranean lunch” – salami, prosciutto, cheese, bread.

They have free sailing for a hour per day on the resort’s Sunfishes, and went for a short cruise today. Cynthia took the tiller for a while and dumped me into the lagoon on an inadvertent tack. We will go sailing again. There is a regatta on Friday, and we will try to win it. I will drill Cynthia hard. I’m not sure she has the strength to hold the main sheet though, and there’s not enough time for the proper conditioning. (Cynthia thinks Pat is an arrogant jerk).

Tomorrow we’ll chill at the Isle Mujeras and maybe do some snorkeling (we practiced in the pool today and learned it was comically easy). Tuesday is Tulum and more snorkeling. I’m also strongly considering paying an obnoxious amount of money to fly fish for bonefish as well.

Dance lessons, boogie boarding, and tennis also on the docket..

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I’m sad to say we’ve made it to our last full day in Michigan.  Sabbatical is not yet halfway over, but the first phase of it is, arguably the one I was looking forward to the most.  Unlike most trips here where I frantically try to pack everything in, this version featured the down time and the diversity to make it truly decompressing.  I should be writing that it was a good time, a great time even, but other undiscussed factors erupted and hung over, casting a net of doubt and uncertainty over every minute and every place.  The curse is stronger and more malignant than it at first seemed.

We drove home from Caseville and AML lamented there no Amish farmers out working 1890′s style.  Then we left with Louis for the Tiger game.  We saved by eating before the game at a Coney Island attached to the stadium, and then went to our seat and met friends there.  Remember the curse?  It started raining after an inning, followed by what ended up being a 2.5 hour delay after they stopped the game in the middle of the fourth.  With babysitters and jobs calling, the group gave up on waiting at about 10:30 and headed back.  I watched some of the game at home after it eventually restarted at 11:05, but was dozing off and so went to bed missing their eventual win.

Thursday morning we went to the airport to pick up Sean and then took a small detour to pick up some pina colada slushy mix for Dave’s graduation party on Saturday (which we will miss flying to Mexico).  Then, back to the Cera’s for spaghetti lunch (click for all the pictures from this entry):

We left at about 4:30 and stopped at the cemetery, and then proceeded on our way to the Vani Castle.  After a long drive to the north, no one answered the door,  it ended up they were all in the shower.  Eventually, Tony let us in and gave us a tour of endless travertine.   We watched Arianna (who we met for the first time) their tour (a 7000 sq ft house takes a while to tour) when later arrivals got their tour.  Arianna is a prodigious puker, and twice dispensed what seemed like an unnatural volume for a two month old – on both Cynthia and I.   I especially got a kick out of the her managing to get some all the way down Cynthia’s shirt.  At dusk Marissa wanted to see some deer,  so Dave an I headed out to the porch, pointed two out within 15 seconds, and then came back in.  The others were amazed by the raw power of our forestsense, and immediately built a grand shrine in our honor.

Today I shipped some  gear that I don’t need for the rest of the trip back to Cali – fishing stuff mostly.  I also sent my broken rod back to Sage with some pictures and am hoping for liberal interpretation of the lifetime guarantee.  Then G&G Jacques arrived to set up their tent for the graduation party, and I helped.  During the process, AML arrived to go out to lunch downtown, and so once the tent was in reasonable shape, we left for the Ren Cen with Sean and had a nice late lunch at Seldom Blues (I had yankee pot roast).  Of course, it rained on us as we strolled the riverwalk and we had to scramble back to the car.  Precipitation has been the theme of this trip.

Now the rain is coming down torrentially, and my mom is stuggling to keep the tarp-tent from collapsing from the weight of the water.   We’ll have a family dinner tonight, finish packing, and leave to catch our flight early in the morning.  I assume I’ll continue to have wi-fi access, but if not, posting will obviously be more sporadic.  Until next time, from Cancun . . .

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(Click to view pics)

On Tuesday, left Grandma and Grandpa Cera’s at 8:30am with my Aunt.  Corn was plentiful during the drive.  When my Aunt would take us up to the thumb as a kid, we would always have smoked whitefish as a pre-dinner appetizer, so before arriving at the cottage we stopped at the authentic Bayport Fish Market to pick up a hunk along with more whitefish for dinner.  I should have bought more.

My Aunt has done a lot to make the place her own since I was last here years ago.  At noon we had lunch mediterranean style (olives, cheese, bread, meat and uh, beer).  Killed the afternoon walking the beach and I even had a chance to jet-ski (woot) when one of the neighbors offered me their key.  It was out of gas in 20 minutes and the water was flat, but that was just about all the time I needed.  The lake was warm and temps in the mid 70′s . . . basically perfect.  I’ve now hit 3 Great Lakes in just a couple weeks – Erie (sailing), Michigan (Spring Lake), and Huron today.

Double whitefish (smoked and grilled) with salad and rice-a-roni was our simple dinner out on the screened porch, then Bailey’s on the beach deck for sunset.  As darkness set in, we played pouce, a group solitaire game that I’ve always played with my Aunt.  Cynthia complained that she didn’t know how to play and was confused, but she ended up beating me so I had little sympathy.

I took a couple naps on Tuesday (once on the drive and once after the beach), but I still managed to sleep till 9:30 on Wednesday morning.  The trend of laziness comtinued, as we just hung out on the porch basically (I did fix a hole in the side door weatherstrip).  Now, it’s time to clean things off to head back to the D for the Tiger game.

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I uploaded my grandpa’s pictures from boat salvage and integrated them into my own.  It makes the photostory more complete, and adds the picture of all the stuff I managed to hand lasso.

This morning, we cleaned up and drove back from the cottage, and Cynthia and I used the leftovers to make some fajitas for the fam for dinner.  Cynthia expressed her awe at the automatic can depost return machine at CVS pharmacy, and deeply regretted the labels she’d peeled off that made them unreturnable (not really).

After dinner, I dragged Louis along to Best Buy to picked up a camera for the rest of the trip – a Canon SD 870 IS.  Tomorrow, Caseville.

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Cuidado! Extra long post to document a long weekend of fun! (logged by pat, edited by cyn).  I exposed everyone to all the western Michigan experiences that I had as a kid, plus some extras.

Everybody had arrived by 9pm Saturday, and we commenced setting up tents, drinking beer and exchanging conversation into the night. The sun didn’t set until 9:27. Summer solstice and being in the extreme west of the time zone makes for very late twilight. Down the street from our humble cottage a man added ambiance with his prodigious karaoke skills. He serenaded us with everything from George Michael’s Faith to Nate Dog and Warren G’s Regulate. The next morning Dave and I renewed our "big breakfast" ritual (bacon, sausage, hash browns, pancakes, cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs coffee, and OJ).  A delicious and gluttonous tradition. Then we went to P.J. Hoffmaster State park for dune climbing and lounging on the beach – the finest sands in the world IMO, but that title will be put to the test over the next weeks in our world travels.  The temperature was just right, at least when the sun was out.

We returned back to the cottage for showers and lasagna, only to head back to Grand Haven to walk the pier, get ice cream and witness the performance of the World’s Largest Musical Fountain.  The best laid plans. Of course, Michigan weather being capricious and schizophrenic, we had to wait out a brief shower (or downpour, if you ask Cynthia) before venturing to the Pier Peddler ice cream shop which was uncharacteristically (or characteristically, if you ask Cynthia) closed before sunset.  Did I mention the double rainbow?

Frustrated by the lack of summer sugar in our veins, or just desperate to feel more alive after surviving diabetic coma, we continued to forage for frozen treats. The group, pretty lukewarm about the idea of the musical fountain in general, suddenly discovered great enthusiasm(or was it well-disguised sarcasm?) upon spotting it in the distance.   Nothing says "Grand Haven, Michigan" like Margaritaville and Wipeout to frantic, spastic dancing children doing that peace-sign-finger-in-front-of-the-eye move made famous by Pulp Fiction against the backdrop of swaying spouts of water and mediocre spotlight color-change technology.  Subsequently, we found an open ice-cream shop.  They had five sizes of flurry, the largest requiring drop shipment delivery.  Cynthia and I split a small Heath mashup, but lacked the insulin fortitude to see it to the end.

Back at the cottage, most of the women faded early (Cynthia was the lone trooper), and my eyelids were feeling heavy.  Ross came to the rescue with a pile of dry wood and the manly idea to burn it on the cottage’s micro-beach.  The fire was warm on a cool night, and we were up till 3AM leching, laughing and reminiscing.

Today, another breakfast, a game of trivial pursuit, and then we said our goodbyes (not to worry, most will be back together on Wednesday for the Tiger game).  Then a change of gear at my cousin’s graduation party just a few blocks away. I got to see some Casslemans I hadn’t since our wedding. Another of my cousins is flying out to Cancun the same day and flight we are, crazy.

Cynthia and I watched the sunset on the porch, some much needed alone time.

All in all, a great weekend . . . meeting my intrinsic need for ritual, friends and family.  Work is a distant memory as endless possibility looms in the foreground.

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