Waiting at the Milwaukee Airport at 3:30am. Rise and Shine!
Tired passengers and the trip hasn't started yet.
Our room the first night. We crashed from 4pm to 7pm then ordered room service.
Getting ready for the first morning at the beach on the Caribbean Sea!
First night.
Our place was 2nd from the left on the bottom.
Our 6am view from our room, anxious to start the new day!
View of the outdoor beds called cabanas. They provided some wonderful comfort for Debbie and I from time to time.
Our porch!
The path to breakfast.
Our first day on the beach. Yeah!
The dock where we renewed our wedding vows(20 years). This was such a wonderful experience and perhaps our most romantic moment as a couple besides our wedding.
The lifeguard station. Those guys had a very easy job!
A view of our place and the beach at El Cid Marina Resort.
The big guy attempts relaxation in the hammock.
Deb talking with her new friend Donna from Ohio.
Pina Coladas from Alma on the beach. Alma was our favorite waitress there. She had the most kind heart and great positive attitude about life ;)
You've got to be kidding. How can life be this good??
Yes, life can be this good!
Great to have a beach bag. A nice Xmas present from Mom(Jane).
Our favorite beach bar.
This is a huge catamaran that held 100 people. People went out snorkeling twice a day on the nearby corral reef.
A view of day two at the pool from our place.
Perhaps what was most gratifying to me was that people no matter their age, and some in their 70's and 80's were having so much fun and expressed the great spirit they had about life. Maybe that's what this place does to everyone who visits. It enlarges their spirit for life and their appreciate for this life's journey. :)
Ah, paradise!
The ageless couple at Riviera Maya.
This was moments after renewing our vows on the picturesque dock near the Caribbean Sea. Many of the workers noticed us hand in hand at the end of the dock and waved to us as we were walking to the beach bar afterwards, tears in their eyes.
Our building was 2nd from the left 2nd floor.
More of the beautiful El Cid Marina Resort at Riviera Maya, Mexico.
Two pina coladas after the vows.
Alma took this picture after the vows.
Happy 20 years! Wishing for 20 good summers to come, at least.
Caribbean cruise ships were a daily occurrence at least.
The best breakfast buffet, at the Italian restaurant 100 feet from our place :)
Coffee and Baileys Irish Cream! Oh yeah.
More of the beautiful beach at El Cid
A beautiful woman on the beach
A hunk on the beach, hah!
Yes this is only 9am so it is cola, trust me!
One of our favorite spots!
The book I finished on vacation, yea! Mp3 player was loaded with all of my favorite songs!
The view from the back of the place.
New flowers and trees :)
Flowers
More new flowers!
A most interesting plant that Debbie wanted a picture of.
The family area. This was a bit noisy. At first they wanted to put us in this area, but we opted for the ocean area, because of the view, the peace and the quiet. The family area was more like an environment of a water park which would not have been as good.
Entrance to the main building.
Fountain in front
Beautiful plants along the way.
My personal escort to lunch. Nice.
Look at that!!
Something about the this Mayan land and its artifacts changes one's soul forever.
Back entrance to the hotel's main building.
"Wow, there are no prices on this menu Jeff!"
The Mediterranean Restaurant was our very favorite, and Daniel was the best waiter!
Our favorite dish.
This was the house band called "Gravity Sound". They were excellent, and very nice people also!
Performing an Elvis song.
There were these mini-salamanders who appeared from time to time, but on inside the rooms.
Entertainment just outside our place that occurred each night.
The front entrance to El Cid Marina Hotel.
Waiting for the Tulum tour van.
The shops and culture at Tulum, Mexico.
Juan Carlos was a fabulous tour guide and we made it a spectacular time even though the bus broke down on the way there. JC is a very spiritual man with a great sense of humor. He has studied the Mayan culture extensively and he was great at imparting the sacred message of its value. It's clear that were very respectful of God and our precious Earth.
Deeper into the forest.
Stopping for the rest, during the one mile hike to the ruins site.
A quick selfie along the path to the Tulum archaeological site.
Looking at the Tulum map.
The story of the Mayan tree of heaven and hell, well articulated by Juan Carlos. A tour combined with moral lessons, excellent!
Iguanas, who were common along the path to the archaeological site and at the ancient site itself.
Deeper into the jungle.
The jungle was a deeply spiritual experience for me and for sure many on the tour.
John, one of the people on our tour, looking out onto the Caribbean Sea.
Beautiful blue sky day!
The entrance to Tulum
Juan Carlos told us that it was common to give thanks for life after passing through this small tunnel to Tulum. I did a hearty Namaste on the way in and the way out, an almost overpowering spiritual feeling, that one cannot describe.
The ruins
This iguana thought he was on display with the ruins.
Temps in the low 90's, the true jungle heat.
A great opportunity for wide-angle shots!
An hour of exploring as Juan Carlos let us do some wandering about on our own before the bus trip back.
Tulum is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan city, serving as a major port for Coba, The ruins are situated on 12-meter (39 ft) tall cliffs, along the east coast of the Yucatan Pennisula on the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintanna, Tulum was one of the last cities inhabited and built by the Mayas; it was at its height between the 13th and 15th centuries and managed to survive about 70 years after the Spanish began occupying Mexico.
One last history lesson from the marvelous Juan Carlos.
Some ruins just had foundations, and the rest had been torn down many years ago.
These pictures speak for themselves.
Bob, the iguana.
What stories there are about this place!
Most likely, these ruins will be here for the next thousands of years after we are gone, fascinating.
Great education along the way.
The cool breezes by the Tulum beach on a 90-degree day, a welcome relief from the heat!
Oh wow!
The happy people at Tulum beach.
Life is a beach
A great ocean view from Tulum.
Back to the bus in one hour!
One of the many fishing tours off the coastline of Riviera Maya, Mexico
A nice young couple from Germany took our picture near the beach.
It's warm here dude!
My Canon SX-120 ran out of batteries after this picture, but luckily I had a couple extras to put in to last the rest of the trip!
The path along the beach at Tulum
Perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures taken on the trip.
Another great shot! This one is nice too.
The dude at the ruins.
Beautiful woman
The love of my life!
More than a feeling
Why can't these good times last forever?
Exiting the main Mayan ruin site
The 1/2 mile walk back to the tour bus.
3rd morning, waking up to this slice of heaven, 80 degrees!
Our favorite pool
After getting too much sun the first few days, this was a shady, inviting and comfortable place to be.
The massage beds outside.
On the other side of the walking path.
A man on the beach selling hats.
Shade.
One mango drink in the morning keeps the doctor away.
The beautiful woman delivering two Miami Vice's. It's a grand mixture of a pina colada and strawberry daiquiri.
What a time we had together!
Embracing the beach and the awesome beauty.
The Vows Pier
A wade into the water. Don't go too deep!
Coming back to shore.
Another grand beach view
A better beach view!
Jeff made a funny joke, and Debbie with a sassy reply.
Too much exposure to the sun, time to head back.
The seemingly endless ocean
Our friend Joe with his quite unique sculpture.
Our friends from Michigan Joe and Susan. Both are nurses at a hospital near Detroit. Joe says vacation was such a respite from his tough job as an ER nurse. According to Joe, "I've seen everything, including gang member fights in the hospital. Sometimes they shoot somebody and want to finish them off in the ER."
Suddenly my job in customer service doesn't seem so stressful at all.
Pretty cool people on day 5 of the vacation. ;)
Another great shot of Joe and Susan
Deb here is talking with our new vacation friends Mark and Judy. Judy is a retired music teacher and had many great stories to share with us. Very pleasant people!
Our friend Jim, whose wife went to Ripon College in Wisconsin. They live in Racine. What an incredibly small world!
Jim was perhaps the beach's more voracious reader.
Mark and Judy, super people from Toledo, Ohio.
Last night in Mexico, at our favorite restaurant.
The JeffDeb team :)
A toast to all of the wonderful times we had!
Our final dessert in Mexico
Love
Happiness
