SFO to Cancun to Tulum, Mexico – 1/16/2017 – http://fulltimetimeshare.com/blog

January 16, 2017 (Monday)

EXPLANATION: We decided last Christmas that we were done with giving a lot of frivolous gifts to our kids as they have pretty much everything and don’t want or need more “stuff.” We opted to do living gifts of trips and time together. Aaron and Arla wanted to take us to Cancun, as they had been there the year before and loved it. They talked about all the things to see and do, and we especially were intrigued by the cenotes they raved about. We started planning and preparing for Mexico back in March of 2016. We decided to stay for two weeks and go to Tulum, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres and Cancun. We couldn’t get resorts as most in this area are all inclusive (mandatory) and would cost way too much. We opted to do hotels, AirBnb, and the Worldmark on Isla Mujeres.

Alexis (our daughter) stayed home to take care of Aaron and Arla’s dogs, as well as the house. She had personal matters she had to take care of and was not able to go.

We spent the night at the Doubletree by Hilton near the San Francisco Airport. All four of us in a small little room. Poor Arla. She didn’t get much sleep between Michael and my snoring. I wish she had worn some ear plugs. The room was very comfortable and the reason we chose it was we could park our car there for the full two weeks. (The cost was something like $250 for the room and the parking.)

We left the room early to take the shuttle to the airport. Our plane left at 8:30 AM, a direct flight. We wanted the direct flight as all the others took about 8 hours more and we were anxious to get the party started. Flight was smooth but Michael and I decided we packed way too much stuff (and even had to check in a bag, which cost $25 more). The kids just had backpacks. The one thing we were surprised about on United was that, even though it was an international flight, no food or drinks were served – just the complimentary soft drinks and juice during the flight. You could purchase food and alcohol but at American prices. Aaron and Arla are vegans and need to eat every two or three hours or they can get quite ugly (we call it hangry).

SFO International airport, too early in the morning.

It was an uneventful flight, our favorite kind.

The new planes don’t have screens. Everyone is using their phones or tablets.

Hiking through the airport in Cancun, delighted to have cheated death one more time.

We got into Cancun and made our way to the car rental place.

We are happy to be in Cancun even though we are headed immediately to Tulum.

Our name was on their board as VIP members, kinda neat. We followed the guy out to the shuttle and they took us to the actual car rental place. After talking to the people at Dollar, I got a little upset because I had purposely paid for the insurance ahead of time, as well as the car. When we got there the lady said we HAD to buy their insurance, which was something like $30 a day more. We canceled all of it and went to Hertz and got a car for quite a bit less than what Dollar wanted us to pay.

The kids were hungry (as were we) and we headed out to Vegan Planet.

Aaron and Arla’s favorite restaurant in Mexico.

The prices are shocking until you remember they are in pesos.

The kids were starving by the time we got to this place.

I pity the poor fruit or vegetable that appears in front of these two locust.

They had discovered it last time they were here and said it was the best. They were very excited to be going back. We got there and everything was really good and reasonably priced. Prices in Mexico are great – 20 pesos equal $1 US dollar. We ended up getting some food to take with us to Tulum and spent something like $2000 pesos ($100). After eating huge amounts of food, we took with us seven pizzas and a bunch of other things. GREAT PRICES!

We got to our hotel (about a two hour drive from Cancun) and checked in. We were surprised that we had to pay in cash (I forgot to read all the stuff, my bad). We got into our room and it was quite different. Tulum itself is quite different and quite rough. The area around our hotel was full of trash. I felt like it wasn’t a very safe area. The hotel itself was lovely once you entered the courtyard. The room was just two rooms and a bathroom but the bathroom had a huge step up into the bathroom. I was really worried that Michael would trip on it because of his back and his drop foot. We kept a light on.

I really didn’t think we’d have a rental car when we got up in the morning.

We were on the second floor at the end of the walk way. We didn’t get any pictures inside our room.

That was our long day. Hope yours was great!