Wow, I’ve been a complete and utter slacker here for the past little bit. Time for a long overdue update to let you all know what’s going on and what you’ve missed since my last post. I’m going to start with a Dog update, because it should be shorter and easier to fill you in on. Side note, if you have only been following on Facebook and are wondering why all of Dragon’s pictures show up on Dog’s feed its because we share the Dog and Dragon Adventures Instagram account. That account auto-posts over to Bob’s FB account. If you’ve been reading along so far you know we are in different parts of the world and you’ll just have to be able to sort it out who is where. I’m fairly confident most of you will be ok. If you haven’t yet, go follow that Instagram account and follow Bob Talks In His Sleep too. On to the quick recap and long overdue update…
Two Weeks in Playa del Carmen
If you’ve been keeping up you know that Dog spent a couple weeks in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico. He flew in and out of Cancun, but really only slept there each time. There isn’t a lot to update you on with Cancun other than to confirm he totally got swindled for a taxi ride on his first day there. Gasp! Lesson learned though because he avoided the taxi swindle on the return leg. FYI – Cancun taxis charge $40 US to get you from the airport to any hotel, even the ones that are right at the airport. Try to plan your ride to and from the airport using either a resort shuttle or the ADO bus line. ADO buses have assigned reclining seats, air conditioning, and a bathroom onboard. You can use the ADO app, book your bus ticket using some airline and hotel sites, or the very user friendly Busbud app for a small fee.
The bulk of the trip was in Playa del Carmen where Dog stayed in the Centro neighborhood for two weeks mostly wandering the streets on foot, taking pictures of street art, cooling off at the beach, relaxing in the roof-top pool at his hotel, and discovering one awesome dining experience after another. While he talks incessantly about the tacos, there was so much good food to enjoy in Playa del Carmen. His experience included everything from super cool trees that look like giant versions of Colorado house plants to iguanas wandering the streets like he was. There was a powerful downpour of rain that flooded the streets from seemingly out of nowhere and later an exploding power transformer in the street outside his hotel that took multiple visits from utility workers staring up at it before a crew came around to fix it.
Some notable highlights that don’t involve food or street art would be a ferry ride to Cozumel, a bus trip to Tulum, and hikes around multiple distinct Mayan ruins. Cozumel has a very weathered, older, been dealing with tourists a long time type of feel to it. Cozumel is known for its scuba diving and snorkeling. It was much more quiet and relaxed in the summer than Playa del Carmen. A walk down Playa del Carmen’s famed Quinta Avenida (or 5th Avenue in English) has street vendors hawking their wares all day and an up-beat party nightlife after dark. Meanwhile, Tulum’s style is frequently described as a relaxing bohemian oasis, with a more chill, laid back, meditate at the spa vibe in an adorable, quirky jungle-beach environment. There are numerous little beach towns, stunning cenotes, and mind blowing amusement parks all up and down the Riviera Maya. There is literally something for everyone and plenty to keep you busy no matter what your speed is.
Mayan ruins are found all over the Yucatan peninsula. There are historical sites to be visited at each of the locations mentioned: Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, and Tulum; as well as many other locations like the world famous Chichen Itza. Dog was able to do a walking tour of the Xaman Ha Mayan ruins in the Playacar neighborhood, an easy walk from the Centro area of Playa del Carmen. He also visited the Parque Nacional Tulum, which is home to the stunning Tulum Archaeological Zone, a well preserved ruins of a walled Mayan city overlooking the ocean. The Mayan ruins were an amazing experience and highly recommended.
Back in Colorado
After spending two weeks in Mexico, Dog had to fly back to Colorado for some follow up appointments with radiation oncology related to his recent diagnosis. If you aren’t in the loop on that you can find out more here. Can I just switch back to first person at this point? This seems like a great place to do that. I had a lengthy consultation with an external beam radiation specialist on Monday the 31st of July. I have another appointment next Wednesday, August 9th with a brachytherapy specialist. Decisions will be made following that meeting. Hopefully I’ll be able to formulate a plan for further adventures at that point.
In the meantime, being back in Colorado has been refreshing, relaxing, and a great chance to visit with friends and family. There has already been an outing to the Westminster Beer Festival, a Pokemon Go day at Denver Beer Co in Arvada, crushing balls at the driving range, lunch meetups at not one but two Mexican places (yeah baby!), crushing balls at Top Golf, family dinner, and a disc golf outing. Let’s go! We have amazing friends!
That’s it for this post. The Long Overdue Update: Dragon Edition will be next on the list followed by something about tacos.
That woman in the picture with the pink flamingo is adorable.
She’s a catch for sure!