Disneyland on 6/14/12

In March, my friend best Heather came back from Australia where she was living for a couple years. I picked her up from LAX and we immediately went to Disneyland.  We have that kind of special Disney connection. Shortly after we were able to drive (I think we were 18 & 19?) we got annual passes and would go to Disneyland on a regular basis. at least once a month. Now ten years later, we a annual pass carrying members and are starting to go quite a bit. Here are pictures from the trip we made on June 14 (the day before Cars Land opened, so we couldn't go to California Adventure). 

Kissing Mr. Toad. Some pictures you just have to get every time you're there...This is one of them.

On the Buzz Lightyear Ride

Heather is obsessed with Star Wars

We found Snow Wite

Mary Poppins told us that we reminded her of two of her friends, Belle and Merida...

See the resemblance???

After that, we decided to go try to meet the real Merida. Heather auditioned for the part and to every one's dismay, they hired a brunette and stuck a wig on her. We have a theory that Disneyland is anti-gingers because Heather never gets hired and they always hire non-red heads to play the red-headed princesses. (anyway, that is a tangent, but a conversation that Heather and I have often...)

Also, when we were meeting Merida, our friend Chris finally showed up (three hours late!) He also has an annual pass and is obsessed with Disneyland. We have been friends since 10th grade (which Heather has him beat by one year). 

We are Brave!

So, we had fun around the park and went out to Downtown Disney for lunch. We caught the monorail Downtown to take us back into the park. 

It was on this ride that I had a"Disney First" (which is pretty magical when you've gone as many times as I have). Chris and I got to sit in the VERY FRONT of the monorail with the conductor. there wasn't enough room for Heather so she took one for the team and sat in the car. It was so cool. 

So then we went on a bunch of rides and posed with a lot of characters (which aren't usually out in abundance, but probably because there were so many media types around, they wanted to make the park EXTRA magical). 

First attempt at the cell phone picture. 

See no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. 

With Brear Bear

With Goofy and Max

With a Penguin

Lastly, a couple years ago, I looked up the locations of the closest Cafe Rio and knew that there was one in Orange County. On one of my trips back to San Diego, we pulled off the freeway at El Toro and were looking for a place to grab breakfast, and we drove past Cafe Rio. Unfortunately they were closed for Breakfast, but I knew where it was whenever I needed a fix. So, because we left the park a little early (probably around 7:30), we decided to swing by Cafe Rio on our way home. Heather was hooked and said she would wake up in the mornings and crave Pork Salad. So, we now have a new Disneyland tradition of Cafe Rio!

Vacation in Paradise

From June 2-9, Jeff and I went to Puerto Aventuras in Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is just an hour South of Cancun, so it is on the East Coast. Our hotel was right on the beautiful Caribbean Sea with the clear warm water and baby powder beach. The beaches in Cancun are very sandy and go on forever, but the beach at Puerto Aventuras was rocky and had many varieties of fish swimming about. There were SO MANY activities to do at our hotel and nearby. We definitely couldn't say we were bored this trip. We got to go kayaking in the ocean and ride on a catamaran. Puerto Aventuras is a small fishing town, so there was a marina next to our hotel that had dolphins, sea otter, manatees, etc. It was really fun to walk around the marina and see all the wild life and go shopping. They had a coffee shop with WiFi, so we went over there to use our computer a couple times.

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort again. It is SO NICE to not have to cook, clean or pay for food for an entire week. I think that is really the selling point for me!!

Here are a couple shots of our room, and the view looking out the balcony. The last picture was the view from the other side/entrance to the room. It is so beautiful - A lush jungle with rooftops peeking out.

We decided to go on a tour with Almas LDS Tours again. Because we were repeat customers, we got a break on the price (which was really nice!). We decided to go to Tulum again (see above) and Coba. There was so much to learn at Tulum and Jeff and I wanted a chance to hear it again. 

Sarah, Me and Sylvia in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum

Me and Jeff in Tulum 

The next stop on our tour was lunch at a traditional Mayan restaurant and then go to Coba, which is a vast archaeological site that you have to tour on bikes. I really wanted to go visit Coba because we would get to actually climb the ruins. 

This is what we were able to climb. It was SO STEEP and TALL, this picture doesn't really do it justice. Sarah started to climb, but then decided she couldn't do it and came down halfway. I thought I was not going to make it because I was getting really scared, but we made it to the top!

Me and Sylvia at the top

Jeff and I at the top. This is the tallest ruins  (and perhaps the tallest point?) in the Yucatan Peninsula!

The way back down. This is a little bit better representation of the steepness. At least the steps were large enough for us to sit on and scoot our way down. 

Sylvia, Sarah and me at the bottom.

Jeff and me after the big climb.

Another set of ruins on the archaeological site of Coba.

After going to Coba, we went and swam in a cenote then visited a traditional Mayan family. That might have been the coolest  part of the trip. They had so many wild animals on their farm. There was even a spider monkey there to welcome us (which just made my day!).

We then went and met the family. This (below) is the mother who is making dinner for the family in the kitchen area. It looked like it would be a really fun lifestyle - almost like camping and making crafts all day! All (8?) of her daughters were named Maria Something (like Maria Lupita, Maria Christina, Maria...) and so I kept thinking that would be cool if they adopted me and named me Maria Amanda ;-)

Like I said, they had so many wild animals living on their property. Below is a Ocelot (which was really cute!) They also had a deer, wolverine looking thing, a bunch of wild dogs and havlinas (pigs).

Other than the tour, we hung out around the resort a lot. Jeff and I had a date night, where we ate a lobster dinner on the beach. It was pretty amazing!! 

Here are some random pictures from around the hotel and the Marina next door. 

The fridge in our room was stocked daily with diet coke and water, which made me happy. 

I also tried a Coke Zero in Mexico, and to my dismay, the Diet Coke (or, coca cola light) tastes better than the Coke Zero. That wouldn't happen in America!

Jeff playing Volleyball. They had a game every day at 4. I played one day, but it was also at the same time as Zumba...

Jeff found a store selling "Local Quickies" (...)

Another view of the resort from our room. 

There were giant iguanas everywhere, which is pretty cool. 

The dolphins in the Marina next door. 

Sarah and Sylvia paid to go swim with the dolphins!

All in all it was a really fun trip. Getting back to the US was a different story though...At around 5pm, we found out that our flight was delayed until 2am the next morning. We had to go through customs and immigration again, get on a bus and was shuttled over to a nearby hotel. We checked in and got to eat and sleep for a couple hours and then at 10pm we all met at the lobby of the hotel and they told us our flight was delayed until 5am, so meet at the hotel lobby at 3am. So Jeff and I put in an order for room service at 2:30 am (which was a lot of fun!) and then we got back to the airport and had to go through security/check in again. It was a hassle, but in retrospect, wasn't that bad. It just created some more memories ;-) 

Now that we got to go to Cancun/Cancun Area twice, we likely will go somewhere else on our next vacation, but this is always such a good deal, it is very tempting!!