Mexico January 2009

Rich and I spent 6 days in Mexico on the Mayan Riviera in a all inclusive hotel called the Barcelo. This first picture is where we practiced swimming our 300 yards in preparation for the Ice Breaker Tri.

Yes it is true. I went parasailing with Rich. It did not help that he said things like: "That's not a double locking carabeener, or that rope isn't big enough, where is one of Dave Gutzman's good ropes?" But we made it safely and we even had smiles on our faces when we were done.

We spent most of our time snorkeling. Thanks to my swim lessons that I am currently taking I am now not afraid to put my face in the water and actually enjoyed the beauties that lie beneath the ocean. I found a whole new garden world. There were equisite plants just lying at the bottom of the ocean, waving with the pulse of the water. There were rock formations that made you think you were a deep sea explorer. There were several sting rays in the area in front of our motel and we had great fun watching them try to hide from us. I didn't realize that was what killed Steve Irwin until after I had spent quite a bit of time following these guys. It was fun to watch several people come up to see what we were looking at, realize it was a sting ray and immediately turn around and go somewhere else.

The splash you see in the ocean is a pelican going in for some fish. We had to laugh because they would just dive bomb right next to you. They were big, clumsy and akward, but it was fun watching them. I did an ocean swim and it was great fun.

We went to Xel-Ha and snorkeled, but we also went for a bike ride. I'm not sure a one speed would count for the tri training, but it was beautiful. Someone tried to tell us that it would be better to ride the shuttle to the other end of the bike ride and ride back because there was a big hill. Rich and I kept looking for a big hill, but we never found one. Those people must have been from the flatlands, because there wasn't even a gentle slope on the bike ride.