Cabo San Lucas 2014

Guess who came to visit?!!

GRAMMY!

Guess what Matt and I did to her a week after she got here?!

We left her with the kids and got out of dodge.

And by "dodge" I mean "the country."

RIU Palace

Cabo San Lucas, BCS, Mexico

 It was an all inclusive resort so of course I have a drink in my hand.

Friends of ours were getting married and although they ended up eloping before the wedding but after we bought our tickets we decided to still make a go of it.

Then Hurricane Odile slammed into the Baja Peninsula on September 14th.

But we had our tickets and we were going to vacation no matter what!

The resort had only been reopened for 30 days since the hurricane.  The resort was absolutely beautiful and completely back to normal but hoo boy outside the resort was a different story.  Trees, buildings, houses, shredded by the winds and a lot of places were still without power.

I should have taken some pictures to contrast with the resort.
(Matt and I tipped even though it was all inclusive so hopefully we helped the employees a little bit.)

We stayed at the RIU Palace right on the Sea of Cortez.

It was beautiful and the weather was perfect.

80 degrees during the day and 70s at night.

The resort included 2 infinity pools, 5 restaurants, and 5 bars. 

There was pretty much food and booze all over the place...but in a classy sort of way.

I thought we got a photo of the main buffet but I can't find it.  I'm normally not a fan of buffets but the one here was the best and cleanest and prettiest I've ever seen.  And I've been to Reno y'all so I know my buffets.  (wink)

Panorama of the resort

The famous rock formation.

Full Moon

Along with a mini fridge full of water, soda, and Tecate beer, we also had this beverage dispenser in our room.

Tequila, Rum, Vodka and Brandy

(Brandy?...alrighty then)

 Wedding Day

Matt's best friend from childhood was getting married and Matt was in the wedding.

(I took pictures for one of the bridesmaids so I didn't get any on my own camera except for this one.  Boo!)

Brad & Ashlie,

sons Truxton & Jasper,and Brad's parents

The wedding was gorgeous.  I don't think there is a more photogenic family.  You should see all of the beautiful pictures on the bride's facebook account. 

Matt and I after the ceremony.

I'm not a selfie type of person but I really thought I nailed it with my dress.

(from Zulily)

I'm pretty sure it was mostly because of the hurricane but the beach was not sandy at all.  It was actually full of teeny tiny pebbles.

Matt and I walked for a lot longer than it looked like it was going to be to reach some rocks we could see from the resort.

It was great exercise but the soles of my feet were buffed raw.

Beautiful view though!

I brought my exercise gear so I could work off some (just a tiny bit) of all that all-inclusive food and booze.

Most of the time I wore my workout clothes to just sit on the beach...

but I actually hit the gym ONE time.

I hate the treadmill but with this view I was loving it.

One day we ventured away from the resort for a trip to Downtown Cabo which included a boat ride to Lover's/Divorce Beach.

Lover's Beach is on the Sea of Cortez side with smoother waters and Divorce Beach is a short walk to the other side on the Pacific Ocean with rougher waters and major waves.

a nifty looking rock behind us

Lover's Beach

(I would have worn my bikini too but I didn't want to make the bride look bad.)

(omg...just kidding)

LOVE

Every night the resort had some scheduled entertainment.

While we were there we saw a Michael Jackson tribute show and a Grease show among others.

Grease was awesome but we enjoyed every show.  It was a fun way to end our evenings.

The food was surprisingly good.

Here is Matt and I at the fanciest restaurant in the resort.

Krystal

(no, not that Krystal)

By the last day I was so full of food and drinks and I could not wait to get home, to see the kiddos and Mom, and get back on a schedule.  I'm pretty sure I gained about 10 pounds from that vacation...and Thanksgiving...and I guess I'll just include Christmas because it's in a couple weeks.  It's time to get back on track!!

The day after we got home Grammy had to go back to Oregon.

My brother and sis-in-law were days away from having their baby.  I'm glad she made it back in time.

Big thanks to Grammy for watching the kiddos.  We will all have memories for life.

PS.  Next post will be some pics of the Grammy Adventures the she and the kids enjoyed while we were away.