Juan Familia en Mexico

Daniel and I can no longer fully relate to James Taylor's "Mexico" with the deep feeling we used to. We have really been, but we would sure like to go (again). The whole John family flew into Cancun for what I will boldly name the first ever John Family Reunion.

The House
We stayed in a gorgeous house in Playa del Carmen. It was about a mile from downtown "Playa" and lived up to all its hype. It had plenty of room, great AC, comfortable beds, and lots of things to do.
The front
The pool after a day of playing "don't hit the beach ball down into the cenote with the turtles". Daniel kept picking up the turtles and saying he was going to put them on me. Oh, so scary.
The semi-circle shaped window is the room we slept in. It had great vaulted ceilings, a walk-in closet, and a huge bathroom.
The view from the roof deck. The beach is between the trees, just below the clouds.
The living room with the kitchen in the background.
The walk to the beach from the back of the house. There were some houses right on the beach, but we didn't mind the 100 yard walk.

TULUM
Tulum was about an hour away from the house. The setting was amazing with the ruins overlooking the beach. Even the Mayans knew prime real estate when they saw it.
Breathtaking
Look closely to see all the detail carved into the building
The beach below the ruins
The waves were great.
So great that everyone just had to wave their arms.
Juan Familia- 2008- Anthony & Carrie, Hillary, Matt, Alicia, Meredith & Steven, Dad & Mom, us

XEL-HA
This is an eco water park. We snorkeled, floated on tubes, cliff jumped, swam, ate (a lot!), and generally had a good time. We had an encounter with what I am convinced was a huge mean fish who wanted to eat me. He was swimming at the surface of the water right by us and he did not move when we got close. This was probably our favorite day but we don't have any pictures yet because we only used the underwater disposable camera. If there are any good ones you can be sure we'll share.

CHICHEN ITZA
These ruins were about 3 hours away from the house so we left early one morning to beat the heat and the tourists.
Seriously, how did they do it? Four square miles of amazing stone structures.Just to give you an idea how big they are. And no, we didn't climb up the stairs. Tourists are not allowed on the ruins anymore.
The group walking to the next site.
One of my favorite pictures from the day. Click on it to enlarge
Oh wait, no maybe this one is my favorite.
Nope, this might be the best. Thanks for the trip Mom!
The wall of skulls.
Matthew really enjoyed the day. Probably thinking about Arrested Development here.
The observatory where they studied the stars.

DOWNTOWN PLAYA DEL CARMEN
We had a great dinner right on the beach. The setting, the food, and the company were awesome.


OUR BEACH
There was a beach resort we thought we would go to, but this small beach right by the house was perfect for our needs. The white sand was the softest ever. I love swimming in Caribbean water! Though it was a bit salty so we were sticky when we got out. We would walk back home and jump in the pool the rinse off.

We dragged chairs, boogie boards, noodles, and a floating chair from the house and had a great time.

THE VAN
We rented this awesome 12 passenger van. Perhaps the most exciting news of the trip is that my dad did not get pulled over!

As you can see, it was probably the best trip we can ever hope to go on. Believe it or not, I DO have more pictures if you want to see them.
Much thanks to the John parents for for making it all possible.

To see more pictures look at Meredith's blog