Finalmente Unas Vacaciones

 

Finally, after a year plus of COVID paranoia, we felt that we could travel to Mexico.  We had planned on going in December, but the National Health organization said, "Don't travel to Mexico."  So, we stayed home and both of us got COVID (I have to say it was better to get it in the states than in Mexico--we might have gotten stuck there).  We scheduled another trip for the end of March, beginning of April--then we remembered we had a new grandbaby coming, so we rescheduled one week earlier.  We were excited to get out of dodge.

We planned on being a bit early to the airport so that we could buy lunch to eat on the airplane and also avoid the stress of rushing.  Of course, that meant our flight would inevitably be delayed--as it was, by an hour or so.  We purchased our Cobb salads from Market Street then proceeded to wait.  I had also stashed one orange for me and Roy to share, and some grapes.  

While waiting, I heard some lady talking to me and I looked up and saw Charlotte.  It turns out they were on the same flight heading to the same place.  Charlotte hadn't had breakfast, they didn't buy lunch, and they thought their stash of almonds would be enough for a three hour flight (they didn't know it would be about 9 hours before they could eat.  Phil said Charlotte is good at fasting.  I think he just meant she has to do it often because of her celiac.

Soon we were underway.  The flight was completely uneventful, until...When we neared our landing site, we were told that the plane was unable to land in Porta Vallarta--on a previous flight attempting to take off from the Porta Vallarta airport, the nose gear malfunctioned and it took a dive into the runway:

 Not only was the plane in the way, but you can see in the third picture that the tarmac was damaged.   The  pilot of our plane was told it would be an hour or two before we could land, so we were diverted to Guadalajara.

Phil, waiting for a taxi at the Guadalajara airport

(Char is in the background--the one with the glasses)

It was nice that we could share taxi vouchers so we

could use them both directions.  We still gave a nice tip 

but divided among four couples it was negligible.

Still smiling.  Phil took this picture

Roy in guadalajara

About the time we were supposed to land, Roy and I ate the grapes and the orange, knowing that we couldn't take fruit into Mexico.  I wish we'd held off on eating it for just a bit longer.  We waited patiently in the airplane for two hours, and then were told we needed to get off the plane.  The idea was that we'd get something to eat and turn around and reboard the aircraft to go to Puerta Vallarta.  When we were told to retrieve our luggage we knew it was a bad sign.  After being herded like cattle with a bad ranch hand, we ended up in another terminal waiting to board the plane.  It never happened.  Pretty soon there were a bunch of angry people yelling at the poor Delta employees.  One of these unhappy people even suggested to me and Charlotte and her friends that if we just sat there being patient and nice, we were just going to be left in the airport all night--he thought we needed to get up and start yelling along with the rest of them.  I thought about the "entitlement" that was being exhibited.  Here we are, a group of people blessed with enough money to travel to another country to have a beach vacation, and because of a relatively minor inconvenience, people were angry--yelling at employees who had absolutely zero control over the situation.  Yes, we were inconvenienced, yes, we were exhausted, yes, we were expecting a different outcome, but how many people in the world don't have even the daily comforts of life that we expect to enjoy.

Because of our  patience, one of Phil and Charlotte's traveling companions was able to get vouchers for a hotel, taxi and dinner, more quickly than many of the others (with loud angry voices).  We also had a voucher for dinner, but while we were waiting, we had eaten a Carl's Junior sandwich.  It was terrible, but we were full and tired, so we went to bed as soon as we got to the hotel.  I have to say that the hotel was very nice, with a king-size bed.

The next morning we had to be at the airport by 5:00 am, which meant getting up at 4:00.  The lines were terrible at the airport, and there were computer problems (because everyone's ticket information brought up "already boarded.") However, we were on the plane and leaving Guadalajara at 8:00 am.  We got to our resort by around 10, and our vacation began.  We were blessed to have a great 8 days full of lots of food, beach activities, whale watching, massages, and rest--unlike Phil and his group--almost all of them got sick for at least a portion of their trip.

Speaking of whale watching, we caught a few great pictures and videos.  The tour guide said not to worry about taking pictures because we might miss the whales (which I agreed with as it's happened to me before, but Roy was able to do both).

This baby well was right next to our boat.  Our boat driver was very 
careful to give the whales space, so we were all surprised to look out and see 
the entire baby well right off the side of the boat.  He stayed for a couple of minutes 
before he went off to find mama (or she).

This is a juvenile whale.  He would flip his flipper down
over and over to get rid of parasites.  He was also playing.  He laid on his
back and clapped his fins together.  He put on quite a show for us.
In the video below, a mother and baby.  We saw several like this.

 

Whale watching on the boat was great, but we also saw whales right from the beach one day.  The mama breached, and then the baby proceeded to breach over and over.  We watched until they disappeared from view.

Our room had a large mirror on the wall.  I scared myself twice walking into a dark room, turning towards the wall as if to enter the bathroom area, and seeing a person.  There wasn't supposed to be anyone in my room.  It even made me scream.  Of course, it was just me, and you'd think I'd have learned the first time, but no...

We also took a walk down memory lane (from our trip in 2019) and walked the Malacon.  We found a great massage place that charged $35 per couple--and the therepists were fabulous.  We went for a beach massage first, and they did all right, but Roy accidentally tipped 60%.  I didn't want to go back because I thought maybe they'd expect that kind of tip again, so we found this other place which was much better and a much better deal.  We had three more massages throughout the week.  

There was a beautiful orchid tree just before we 
entered our building in the resort

Roy and some of the delicious food

We don't know the people in this picture, but look at that sunset!

On the Malacon

This is the life

Paddleboard yoga in the pool.  I'm in the black 
suit.  I had saved a board for Roy, but the instructor
popped it when he tried to jump onto the platform 
so he wouldn't get wet. 

On the whale watching boat

The resort had paddle boards and kayaks.  I went paddleboarding several times.  The last time I was finally able to stay up for the whole 25 minutes.  Roy rode along in the kayak, he doesn't really like paddleboards.  Maybe after we start using the one I got for Christmas he will get more comfortable.

We loved the food at the resort--unfortunately, I'm sure both of us gained a few pounds.  They had the most delicious ceviche, and mahi mahi (and chocolate cake...)  We didn't like the noise level in the evenings.  There was loud music until about 11:00.  We were always too tired to watch the entertainment because it didn't start until 9:30.  I had earplugs, but they didn't mask the beat.  I was always so exhausted from playing all day that we went to bed early.  Roy went and watched one of the shows by himself one night.

This last picture is out of place.  I'm in the middle--on my knees.
paddle boarding in the ocean was a little more difficult than it
is on a lake.  I tried to delete this picture, but for some reason it's
connected with some of the other pictures, so I decided to leave it in rather 
than go back and fix the deleted pictures.

On the way to the airport we stopped and got Marlin Tacons (burritos with Marlin). 
 We discovered this place last time we were in Porto Vallarta--the Marlin is delicious.

Hopefully I haven't bored you with our travelogue.  While we were having a great time, some of our family were having struggles.  Little Effie got very sick--a bad virus with a high fever and throwing up.  We felt so badly for her--and her parents!  

One late afternoon Greta came in and said to her mom, "I have something in my ear."  "Crista kind of rubbed her ear for a minute and said, "Is that better?"  Greta: "No--I have a bead in my ear."  Crista, now a little concerned: "Greta, please tell me you didn't put a bead in your ear." At this point Greta started crying and said that she had.  Crista called the doctor and he told her to bring her in.  If the bead got too deep it could require surgery.  She told the girls to get in the car.  Still talking to the doctor on the phone she picked up Bridget and headed to the car.  She took a step and rolled her ankle, causing her to fall on her back.  Of course, she protected Bridget, but now she was worried about the baby.  She called her own doctor and he wanted to see her.  So, Matt came home to take Greta, so Crista could see her own doctor.  The bead was located and removed, and the baby and Crista were all right, but they had a scare.  

We also thought that we might miss tending the Vance children while Crista had her baby.  She called Friday night and said they were going to the hospital, the Vances were on their way up to help.  I was happy for Crista but sad for myself as I wasn't able to help her when Bridget was born because I was in the hospital with Caitlyn.  It turned out to be false labor, and they sent her home.  Now we are home and waiting for word so we can head up and watch the girls.  

I didn't mention it last week, but Matt was put in as first counselor in their bishopric.  

Other pictures for the week:

Camden and Yuli (Sara said they started crying immediately
after the picture was taken)

Harvey, climbing before competent walking

Below:  Jennie and Jordan tended for Nick and Sara--luckily before Effie got sick

Yuli is as interested in the phone as grandpa is.

 I had a Stake Council meeting this morning.  Our stake president is awesome.  He says the meeting should be a meeting on ministering, not on administration.  He is a genuine and good man.  We talked about loving the individual--about doing away with shame and manipulation.  When people repent, they need to be able to leave the sin behind and move forward.  He used the story of Christ with the woman taken in adultery as an example.  The stake primary president sent us this following our meeting.

"Throughout our meeting, I kept thinking of the recent talk by Joy Jones in 2017, Value Beyond Measure  Here are a few things that applied to our discussion about sin, repentance, and specifically the question, 'Am I worthy?'" Then she quoted President Monson.

President Thomas S. Monson said it perfectly when he quoted these words: “The worth of a soul is its capacity to become as God.”

"Let me point out the need to differentiate between two critical words: worth and worthiness. They are not the same. Spiritual worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us. Our worth was determined before we ever came to this earth. “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever.”

On the other hand, worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin, we are less worthy, but we are never worth less! We continue to repent and strive to be like Jesus with our worth intact. As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.” No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.

Despite this marvelous truth, how many of us struggle, from time to time, with negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves? I do. It’s an easy trap. Satan is the father of all lies, especially when it comes to misrepresentations about our own divine nature and purpose. Thinking small about ourselves does not serve us well. Instead it holds us back. As we’ve often been taught, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” We can stop comparing our worst to someone else’s best. “Comparison is the thief of joy.”"

All of you are of infinite worth, to dad and me, and to our Savior and Heavenly Father.  Remember that as you make efforts to love and teach your children.  We are all doing the best we can, and we can make little changes as we repent daily.