Hola Mexico!

We just got back from a vacation to Mazatlan with my family. Between work, midterms, and life in general, it was awesome to escape for a while. I was in much need of a little rest and relaxation... plus, it was great to spend time with my family for a week!

We used my parents' timeshares for the week which was very nice. Since we had two rooms they gave us a Penthouse Suite... I could live with that for the week! =) I could also live with waking up to the panoramic view of the ocean every morning off our balcony. How I love vacations! We stayed at the Pueblo Bonito in Emerald Bay. It is located in the "New Mazatlan" on a secluded part of the Pacific Coast, which made our daily walks on the beach very peaceful and calming. The resort was really nice. It had sort of a Roman thing going on with the architecture and statues. I enjoyed exploring the resort area and taking pictures all week. We had a ton of iguana sightings at the resort... they were everywhere! The pool area was beautiful with its sparkling blue water and palm trees galore. We spent most of our time lounging in the sun by the pool all day. Give me a good book and a bucket of beers and I am content! I had three books packed in my beach bag and managed to get through two of them... "Rachel's Holiday" by Marian Keyes and "The Art of Racing in the Rain" by Garth Stein (I recommend both if you need a good read!). Adam was a bit more restless wanting to surf, body board, go for walks, basically anything not involving sitting on a pool chair. Maybe we can do more of that on our next vacation!

































We made the adventure into town every night for dinner. My all time favorite places are still Gus Gus, Panchos, and the Ristorante Villa Italia. Gus Gus has a great bar with karaoke to entertain you through the night outside after dinner. Panchos is right on the ocean. There I ordered the Molcajete... we had seen it on menus all week, so I figured I better try it. I had no idea what I was in for! It was a cast iron bowl filled with meat, chunks of cheese, peppers, onions, and a red sauce heated to the temperature of molten lava! It was piping hot, but very good.





Also, we had to get the Senor Frogs experience in before we left. There is nothing that screams vacation more than Miami Vices by the yard and balloon hats! We had a bit of fun with our balloon hats this year. I combined all 5 hats to make one SUPER hat. It was quite the hit with our neighboring tables. And hey, at least I know I can always fall back on making balloon hats in Mexico! Travis decided to wear the SUPER hat all the way back to our hotel. The funny thing was, no one even looked twice about it. That night we had beers on the patio when we got back. I curled up with the comforter and was out within minutes. Do you think they wake me up, tuck me in, etc.? Nope! Just put the balloon hat back on me and call it a night.























We ventured to the Pueblo Bonito in town one day to walk on the beach there and have a little more action. The beaches in town have a lot more going on... Especially Easter weekend! Who knew Easter was such a big party... it was like a Mexican Mardi Gras! Apparently, they all give up alcohol for lent and then figure Friday is close enough. They celebrate all day on the beach and then move the party to the streets at night. There were bands - like tubas, trombones, saxaphones, trumpets - at street corners on every block. People were drinking in the streets... Adam made friends and scored two Tecates. They would drive their cars up and down the strip, pulling over in the middle of traffic to mix another drink in the trunk, and then get back on the road. There were bands in the back of pickup trucks... there were also plenty of M16 toting policemen in the back of police trucks as well. It was quite the experience!



















Needless to say we had a lot of fun and good times with my family. I was sad to leave at the end of the week. It was Adios Mexico and back to reality... and one things for sure - reality bites!