A Utah Family Travel Writer's Adventures with Altitude
Hadley spent half of spring break with the stomach flu, cutting into our ski trip to Beaver Creek. We wavered on what to do and Jamie ultimately volunteered to stay behind with her and work while she recovered. Bode and I would meet up them them at the resort a day later.
As Bode and I were leaving, she weakly called out. “I think I can go tomorrow…I just need to find a place to rest.”
Bode: “More like Rest In Peace (RIP).”
Livin’ the Only Child life with mocktails at the Westin’s Apres Ski
I’ve mentioned in the past how Humans of New York is one of my favorite social media feeds. This photoblog features street portraits and interviews collected in New York City by Brandon Stanton. I have an innate curiosity about what makes people tick and I’ve caught a glimpse at the good and the bad through HONY.
Last week, I commented for the first time on one of the photographs. I forgot about it until I started getting Facebook notifications. And then my feed completely blew up. I logged on to see what happened. My comment had practically gone viral!
Apparently 11,5000+ people hate dieting as much as I do. 
I’m spending the week in Canada. I was thrilled to be invited by Travel Alberta to visit my childhood ski resorts and then tack on a trip to visit my family at the end.
I was not-so thrilled when I realized the 7:50 a.m. flight I intentionally booked on Sunday was also Daylight Savings Time. Because nothing is more fun than waking up at 4 a.m.
Last week was stressful trying to crank out several major deadlines prior to my departure and get the house in order for Jamie. Though he works from home, he works a lot and I realize what a sacrifice it is for him to juggle work and kids whenever I’m gone.
I needed a sanity break so took to the snow. I was just getting over my cold but as usual, I pushed myself beyond what I was ready for and paid for it later. I was about an hour into my walk and I plopped down on the bench, only to find this dude. He was the perfect stress relief and we started chatting.
I was exhausted and really didn’t want to walk all the way home but wanted to call Jamie to pick me up even less so I sucked it up and barely limped back to the house. Upon seeing Jamie, I divulged how I’d met the perfect man because I was able to babble like an incoherent fool and he didn’t judge me at all.
Jamie listened intently and then said, “Hmm, sounds kind of like Nick’s bench therapy on ‘New Girl.’”
That husband of mine totally gets me. Maybe he really is the perfect man after all.
A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by a local movie company about helping with a pre-screening promotion. This company has been on my blacklist for years due to some repeated screw-ups on their part. You know, little things like them giving me the wrong date for a pre-screening I had advertised and refusing to apologize because it should have been my responsibility to double-confirm the date that THEY had sent me.
I was done with them until they offered me 150 tickets to give away for the new Disney movie, “Cinderella.” That was my favorite Disney fairytale as a kid and I’ve been counting down the days until it is released. I was all-in (albeit with baited breath that there wouldn’t be another major mess-up).
I invited everyone I knew in the area and posted it to Mile High Mamas. Within three hours, the tickets were gone, gone, gone, and I was so so so stoked!
The movie exceeded my expectations and made sense of several areas in the storyline. I already loved the Cinderella lead Lily James who stars in Downton Abbey, and Prince Charming was perfectly cast.
But what I enjoyed the most was it presented Cinderella as a strong strong and empowered woman who was not a martyr who needed a man to save her from a terrible life, but instead chose kindness and courage despite her adversities. “Where there is kindness, there is goodness. And where there is goodness, there is magic.” What a great message!
My college roommate Dori drove an hour with her daughter
I felt so grateful to be surrounded by so many wonderful friends who universally loved the film as much as I did. My friend Sam brought her preschooler and kindergartner and she said loved watching her daughters enraptured by the film, bringing back her own memories of seeing it for the first time. Another friend posted on Facebook that “it is the best movie I’ve seen in years.” Quite predictably, Jamie raved about the giant pumpkin-turning-into-a-coach scene.
Even the boys liked it, though my friend Lisa’s teenager Keith observed they didn’t use any of the traditional songs (he’s apparently a big fan?) while one of Bode’s friends reluctantly said it was good but “it needed more action.”
I’m sure he meant more kissing scenes. I couldn’t agree more.
Since Jamie and I agreed to help our rockstar friend Karla Call launch her invention the Shower Shimmy on Kickstarter last month, it has been one wild ride. From media coverage to blogger campaigns to wading through the deluge of potential distributors to meeting her fundraising goal on day 1, it is apparent people are ready for the world’s first 3-in-1 shower cleaning tool with environmentally-friendly cleaning solution.
And why wouldn’t they be? When I look at all the inventions out there, the Shower Shimmy is such a no-brainer, why has this not been invented before? I absolutely love mine and that is really saying something because I normally despise cleaning my shower.
Good Morning America contacted Karla last month about potentially appearing on their segment “Shark Tank Your Life” to pitch her product to one of Shark Tank’s investors. It was a frenzied few days as she submitted a video, which the producer loved but she was ultimately not chosen.
On Monday, she received the news from Good Morning America that they want her to appear on Friday morning! I’m crazy nervous for her but regardless of how the segment turns out, she is receiving millions of dollars worth of free exposure.
Ever the good friend, my best advice I gleaned from my own national TV experience with Jamie on NBC’s “The Marriage Ref?”
Don’t go up against the Great Pumpkin. You will always lose.
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This morning, Bode and I were snuggling up in bed and conversation turned to the beautiful bluebird day. We’ve had a glorious dump of snow this week, which is torturous because I’ve had an annoying cold and haven’t been out to enjoy it. We commented on the sun’s critical role in warming the earth and I remembered a video that NASA released last week that is a 5-year time lapse of the sun.
I’m not one to get emotional about space but seeing explosions of fire brought tears to my eyes. 200 million images were spliced together into an unbelievable display of color and power. “A constant ballet of solar material moving through the sun’s atmosphere,” wrote NASA. Light, in every metaphorical sense, surrounds us, warms us, heals us.
Fascinated, this led Bode to study the black hole and watch a fascinating video showcasing solar flares and an additional ejection of solar material called a coronal mass ejection (CME), and some with complex moving structures in association with changes in magnetic field lines that loop up into the sun’s atmosphere, the corona. 
When I was his age, my Saturday mornings were spent watching Bugs Bunny.
Just tuning in? Be sure to first read:
Southwest Vacations: When Getting There is Half the Fun (Cancun Day 1)
Southwest Vacations: The Flowrider’s Hilarity and Beach Bumming (Cancun Day 2)
Southwest Vacations: A Snorkeling Adventure Within a Misadventure (Cancun Day 3)
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Biking Explorations
A three-night trip with Southwest Vacations wasn’t nearly enough time to explore the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort. But thankfully our direct Southwest Airlines flight home didn’t leave until 2 p.m. so we had an entire morning to explore. Since our previous three days had been dedicated to the beach, we opted to check-out some bikes and explore the property’s 55 acres of lush tropical foliage.
Moon Palace implements a wildlife monitoring system that has classified 29 reptile species, 112 bird species and 15 mammal species that live and breed in the resort’s natural areas. We were ecstatic when we spotted a white-nosed coati lurking in the jungle and my daughter almost ran over an iguana (chalk those up to things that never happen in Colorado.)
While at the resort, we spent every moment together but my kids were counting down the years until they’d be old enough for the state-of-the-art Wired Teens Lounge. That is, until we stumbled upon the Playroom during our bike ride, a veritable kid’s wonderland geared to potty-trained kids up to age 12.
From various game rooms, an American Ninja-warrior-style play area, outdoor playground, mini-spa, fashion runway to practice the catwalk, a movie theater, arcade, toddler area, Xbox room…the Playroom had it all. What we had intended to be a 5-minute stop turned into an hour and we had to practically drag them out.
For once in their lives, the kids were begging for us to ditch them and we were frustrated we didn’t have enough time before our flight home for them to be ditched.
That is what I call a lose-lose situation.
Our Sad Farewells
Twenty-four hours prior to departure, Lomas Travel called our room to confirm our pick-up time for the airport (usually I’m the one trying to track them down tour operators confirmation). They were right on schedule, we easily navigated Cancun International Airport and boarded our Southwest Airlines flight to Denver. As we were taking off, I turned around to see this girl of mine. 
Sun-kissed. Hair braided. Personalized bracelet. In just four days, she had turned into a Mexican Senorita as she marveled at the wonderland below she had been fortunate to experience. 
And so had we all.
It’s a Wrap
Southwest Vacations Shuttle Bus Friends
We arrived in Denver to a cold, snowy night. We collected our luggage, bundled up and loaded the shuttle bus to our car in long-term parking. There were two other couples sitting near us and we started talking.
“I’m so bummed to be home.”
“Me, too. We just got back from Cancun.”
“So did we!”
“Us, three!”
Coincidentally, we had all booked our trips through Southwest Vacations and had been on the same return flight. When I asked about their experience, the younger couple replied, “We had some problems with our hotel the first night. We called Southwest Vacations and they switched us to a different resort with no problems at all.”
The other couple echoed their approval, raving what a smooth trip they’d experienced.
I chuckled. Sure, we’d had some minor bumps in the road due to our own ignorance but it was one of our least stressful vacations ever thanks to being able to pre-book our flights, excursion, resort and transportation.
And finding ourselves in the back of that shuttle bus with those couples was just a reminder of what a small world it is with Southwest Vacations, and that they truly bring the world to you.
Just tuning in? Be sure to first read:
Southwest Vacations: When Getting There is Half the Fun (Cancun Day 1)
Southwest Vacations: The Flowrider’s Hilarity and Beach Bumming (Cancun Day 2)
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Booking our direct flight, ground transportation to and from the airport and our hotel was simple on SouthwestVacations.com. Tougher was narrowing down their excursions because Cancun has a plethora of options such as these:
Camel Safari & Reef Snorkeling Adventure * Selvatica Extreme Canopy Adventure * Chichen Itza Plus Cancun * Xcaret eco-archaeological park full-day tour of ruins and activities * Xel-Ha All Inclusive Eco-Aquatic Park Tour (the Zip Bike looks amazing) *Swim with the Dolphins at Wet ‘N Wild.
The Adventure Before the Adventure
We ultimately decided since we were only in Cancun three days, less was more and we would spend as much time in the sand and surf as possible with the Snorkeling Tour and Lunch. Little did we know our adventure would start before we even left the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort.
Our Southwest Vacations confirmation told us we needed to meet our Lomas Travel transportation outside of the Grand section at the resort. Ever the planners, we decided since that was about a 15 minute walk, we would take the shuttle and leisurely eat breakfast there before leaving. All was going according to plan when, just 5 minutes before we were supposed to meet our guide, I had a sinking feeling something was wrong. I approached the concierge.
“Is this the Grand?”
“No, this is the Sunrise section. Grand is on the other side of the resort.”
The other side, meaning where our room was located. We had erroneously assumed that since Sunrise was the “grandest” of the buildings with the most activities, that was the Grand. Turns out Sunrise is Grand. Are you as confused as we were?
We panicked, knowing there was no way we could make it back in time to meet our transport and we had just missed the resort shuttle bus. We would occasionally see golf carts weaving in-and-out of people on the ocean-side trail and I wondered what one needed to do to hitch a ride. Turns out you need to be an idiot.
“Get in the golf cart and we’ll take you!” the bellhop generously offered.
Golf ride for idiots
The Official Adventure
He raced us back just in time to meet our transport and we cruised down the coast on a saltwater breeze to Playa Maroma in the Riviera Maya, just 10 minutes north of Playa del Carmen.
Playa Maroma
Following a brief introduction from our snorkeling guide, we boarded our catamaran, were fitted with snorkeling gear and sailed away on waters so blue they can’t be found on any color chart.
My cerulean reverie was interrupted by my daughter.
“Mom, you look like a dork,” referring to my snorkeling mask, to which I responded to her mirror image as “the pot calling the kettle a dork.”
There was nothing geeky about our two different stops at reefs teaming with marine life. Though the coral wasn’t overly colorful, the iridescent schools of fish were. We squealed as we swam through a jelly fish field, feeling tiny pin-pricks on our skin, and lazily floated above the reef to the slow-motion balletic pulse of the water.
When we weren’t snorkeling, we were munching on chips and water provided by the friendly staff and diving off the back of the boat.
“Hey, Mom. Check-out my pencil dive,” Bode called out.
I’m not sure what happened but his pencil looked more like an ink blot when he unceremoniously plopped into the water.
“Hey Bode,” I joked back. “Why don’t we just call that one an ‘eraser dive’ so we can forget about it?”
Once back on shore, an open-air buffet lunch was included in our incursion where we were serenaded by a mariachi band.
Bode brought down the house with the very unforgettable Mexican “Chicken Dance.”
We spent our final hour frolicking on Maroma Beach’s wide open transparent water, convinced we had landed in a world of movie-set perfection.
Unintended Adventure No. 2
Though my husband and I hadn’t had an optimal first experience along the hotel strip years ago, we wanted the kids to experience at least a taste of Cancun so we had our driver drop us off downtown. However, something got lost in translation and instead of delivering us to an outdoor, touristy market like we requested, he left us at a mall–something I despise in the U.S. and appreciate even less in a foreign country. We realized this just as he was driving away with all our snorkeling gear, and the instructions to return in 1.5 hours.
I tracked down an older American couple and they pointed us in the correct direction, several miles down the road. Then we had our second misadventure of the day: We hopped on a Cancun public bus, prayed for the best (it turned out to be perfectly fine) and we eventually found a gloriously tacky tourist market.
The moment we stopped off the bus, I kid you not, an overzealous man almost crossed the street in an attempt to lure us into his store. “What is he doing?” Hadley asked, ready to get back on the bus. “Don’t worry, it’s just the way it’s done here,” I soothed, which was the only calming moment of the experience.
But our extra effort was worth it. I loved watching my kids haggle with the locals. Hadley got her hair braided and a personalized bracelet while Bode got a fair price for a shark T-shirt.
We were ecstatic when we arrived back at the resort and I asked Hadley, “So, what did you think of the market?”
She thought long and hard and then equated it to our favorite card game: “It was just like the chaos of playing Pit.”
Welcome to Cancun.
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Stay tuned tomorrow for Southwest Vacations: An iguana bike ride, a too-late discovery and farewell (Cancun Day 4).
Shortly before Christmas, I was perusing through my spam folder when I happened upon an email entitled “Southwest Vacations – Mexico Vacation Opportunity.”
I don’t know about you but I’m regularly “winning” the lottery and dream vacations so I almost automatically deleted it but I’m so glad I didn’t. The email explained that Southwest Vacations® recently launched service to Mexico and the Caribbean and they were wondering if my entire family would consider taking a trip from Denver (one of their top departure cities) to Cancun.
View from the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort
Though I was obviously familiar with Southwest Airlines®, I had never heard of Southwest Vacations and a bit of research revealed they are directly affiliated with the affordable airline and offer complete vacation packages to Las Vegas, Disney World, Disneyland, Florida, California, New Orleans, Phoenix and other top US destinations.
Low-cost vacation packages that you do not have to plan yourself? Sign me up!
The process was embarrassingly easy, given the amount of research that usually goes into planning a trip and it was a comfort to know that all the services had already been vetted. At SouthwestVacations.com, I booked our direct flights, transfer information to-and-from the airport, hotel, excursions and paid my international taxes…all with a few simple clicks.
We surprised the kids with the news of our Cancun vacation on Christmas and they were thrilled. I usually spend the final weeks leading up to a major vacation stressing and planning but I literally had nothing to do because everything had already been confirmed. I started stressing over my lack of stress, which made me realize that maybe I have a problem with needing to feel stressed.
And then I got over it really quickly and decided for once, I would find out what it was like to have a stress-free Southwest Vacation.
The Flight
I checked our family into Southwest Airlines 24 hours before our flight to ensure an optimal boarding assignment. We have flown a number of times but have never had an international direct flight and it was a game-changer. Instead of wasting essentially two days to get there with our usual layovers, we gained an entire day to enjoy Cancun during our quick 3-night trip.
Say “yes” to Southwest’s direct flight from Denver to Cancun!
Our 3.5-hour flight went smoothly and upon arriving at the Cancun International Airport, we were greeted with a madhouse (apparently we weren’t the only ones who had opted for a long-weekend getaway during Martin Luther King Jr. Day). We eventually made it through Customs without a hitch…until we were randomly selected to have our bags searched. Seeing the wad of small bills for tips in my purse, the officer queried, “Ma’am, does this exceed $10,000?” I tried to stifle a laugh–it was like he totally knew me.
The instructions on our Southwest Vacations confirmation were to walk directly from Customs and not stop to talk to the multitude who was trying to sell timeshares. We quickly spotted our Lomas Travel representative and were mercifully whisked away in an air-conditioned shuttle.
The Resort
I had only been to Cancun once before on a brief stopover during a cruise and my first impression was not favorable. Though the Caribbean waters were undeniably beautiful, the hotel zone seemed like non-stop revelries and for a non-partier who craves outdoor adventure, I couldn’t figure out the allure.
When my family pulled up to the Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort–a short drive from the airport but seemingly worlds away (40 minutes) from Cancun’s populous hotel zone–I caught a glimpse. A doting staff presented us with flowers, cool washcloths and we gratefully devoured a spread of snacks in the lobby during while singing, “I think I’m gonna like it here.”
Moon Palace is a sprawling all-inclusive resort, boasting 2,446 luxurious marble décor rooms and private balconies with three distinctive sections. We stayed at the more secluded and quiet Grand section, the expansive Sunrise is replete with activities and pools while the Nizuc section has exclusive concierge service with shuttles connecting them all. I love that despite the size (which seemed overwhelming at times), each area had its own personality and the cozy feel of the Grand perfectly suited us. We had one of their most basic rooms and it was anything but basic.
Our room’s private balcony overlooking the jungle
A double jacuzzi for one fully-clothed boy
A helpful concierge helped us narrow down their 13 restaurant choices and made us dinner reservations at the Brazillian steakhouse, Arrecifes. As we were walking the ocean-side path to dinner, we caught our first view of the water. My daughter begged, “The ocean is calling and I must go” (or something like unto it) but her killjoy parents’ stomachs were calling even louder so we forced dinner upon her. As she stuffed her face with delectable Bolinhos de arroz, acaraje, and empadinhas de palmito, we learned two things about the Moon Palace: 1) We were going to eat well and 2) We were going to eat a lot.
Following dinner, we hit the abandoned beach. Still in our dinner clothes, my husband and I initially cautioned them to merely walk in the sand. But of course, the kids needed to at least touch the water! And then you can’t expect them to merely wade! Before long, they were vacillating between being fully submerged and building sandcastles.
Jamie and I settled back on the beach and watched as the full moon burned down and Cancun glistened with silver lights like a galaxy of fallen stars.
Hadley looked at the horizon, that long line that cuts the world in two, and flung some sand toward it.
“Did you see that?” she squealed as she launched another handful. When it hit the dark ocean, the moon’s reflection lit up each grain of sand like a bioluminescent bay, a befitting touch of lunar magic in the hauntingly beautiful Moon Palace.
Just when we thought our trip to Southwest Vacations couldn’t get any better, it did just that.
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Stay tuned for tomorrow for Southwest Vacations: The Flowrider’s Hilarity and Beach Bumming (Cancun Day 2).
Jamie and I were recently talking in bed and he casually mentioned my mid-life crisis.
“My mid-life crisis? What are you talking about? I’m not having a mid-life crisis. I’m perfectly happy and grateful!”
“Really? Because a couple of weeks ago, you wrote about feeling at a crossroads in your life and were frustrated over your lack of direction.”
“So, that’s normal. Everyone feels that way sometimes.”
“And then last week, you were talking about how bummed you are that your body is falling apart and how it’s all downhill from here.”
“I’m having a mid-life crisis!”
“Yup.”
“Well, have you had your mid-life crisis?”
“Yes. I was 28, got cancer and lost my job.”
If you’re going to have a mid-life crisis, I wouldn’t recommend his.
Now, excuse me while I go buy a Ferrari and get a face lift.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. Learn More