A Death in the Family Takes Us to Seattle

My favorite photo of all of us!

With Christmas approaching, Keith and I had planned to spend a very low key holiday in Mexico with friends. WE didn't even decorate... Sadly, we were called on the 20th and notified of the passing of Keith's mother, Carole. She hadn't been doing very well for the last month but Keith had been checking in on her often and even flew up to see her in November. With this news, we decided to fly to Seattle for the holidays and take care of anything/everything needed. 

We flew to Seattle on the 22nd and didn't leave until the 29th. For the first two nights we had the pleasure of staying at the Cedarbrook Lodge, which was amazing and cozy. After that we moved to more affordable  accommodations since it was the holidays and we were just there to sleep... We packed up Carole's belongings and donated a lot of items to friends who needed them. Keith did really well but I know it was hard on him having to say goodbye to his mother. She will be greatly missed.

Friends in Seattle at Din Tai Fung

We were very thankful for friends who were able to make time to spend with us while we were there. So many reached out but sadly we were very limited on free time. It really helped seeing them to not lose our Christmas spirit - thank you Andrew and Shelby for feeding us on Christmas and opening your home to us.

It was a quick trip, but thankfully we were able to wrap up everything for Carole and we are hoping to have a little ceremony for her in Lake Havasu in April of 2020. Keith wants to make sure her ashes are scattered with her late husband, Ron (Keith's father). We know she wanted that.

Rest in Peace Carole, we love you and will miss you tremendously!

Finally Visiting Vallodolid & Casa de Los Venados

Keith & I have been wanting to go visit Vallodolid for awhile now but never seem to be able to successfully schedule a time to go. Our friends, Randi & Dave, have also been wanting to go so we finally were able to schedule an outing.

The drive from Akumal is only about 1.5 hours and you drive through a few small towns filled with local art stores (and lots of street dogs).

I had read about an American couple who bought a home in 2000 and remodeled it while filling it with Mexican folk art. They now own the largest collection of Mexican folk art, which I am a huge fan of, so I had to see it. They open their home up to the public at 10am for a few hours everyday and you can take a guided tour, for free.

When we arrived it wasn't quite 10am so we wandered around a bit looking at shops. Then at 10am we went back to Casa de Los Venados to join the tour. The tour was about 1.5 hours and we were walked through the house and given lots of information on the art, the owners and the home. They wouldn't tell me what the house was purchased for and I was kind of scolded for asking... at-least I felt like I was. The guide made a comment about how he had been told it was impolite to ask about how much people make, etc... Well yeah, that is. I'd never ask that question. Asking how much a home was purchased for, especially when it had been in rubble for about 80 years seems like a fair question. The house was fully restored and they put a ton of work into it to bring it back to it's glory. If only they had redfin or zillow here...

Cathedral in Vallodolid

Anyways, I loved the tour and all of the art. I was so inspired I had to find a few pieces for our own little collection we have here in Mexico and Lake Ozark. 

After the tour we had lunch at a local restaurant suggested by Linda, El Atrio. We had hoped to have some al pastor tacos but they didn't have any. I opted for melted cheese with mushrooms and chorizo and chicken panuchos. So good!

The rest of our day was filled with touring the cathedral, shopping and walking around the main square. It's a cute town and an overnight stay would be really fun. Maybe when we get back from our 15 month hiatus... 

Day of Relaxation at an All-Inclusive Resort

Photo courtesy of Linda

Every now and then it's nice to escape the ever day priorities and head to a local all-inclusive resort. With high season just now starting you can get good deals on hotels before it begins, so we did just that... Our friends, Paul & Linda, invited us to join them for a night at El Dorado Seaside Suites for a day of relaxing with great food and drinks.

After dropping Kevin & Jessica off at the ferry in Playa Del Carmen, we headed to the resort and checked in. The resort is BEAUTIFUL and they have some of the best food in the area. 

We were able to get a beach Bali bed as our room wasn't ready - all that means is laying in the warm sun while sipping cocktails to the relaxing beach sounds. Honestly, it's pure joy!

Keith taking a nap

We get laughed at when we post photos from resorts as people say we already live a vacation life, why do we need another vacation. Living in Mexico is nice but just like anyone we have errands to run, bills to pay, laundry to fold... So yeah. sometimes it's nice to get away from the norm and just do nothing.

Our little vacay consisted of eating, drinking, lounging, eating and then drinking more... It was delightful and not keto at all. Totally worth it!

Thanks Paul and Linda for the invite - as always, it was fabulous hanging out with you two! I am still dreaming about that dinner... #delish

Our 2nd Set of Seattle Visitors to Mexico

We were thrilled when our Seattle friends, Kevin & Jessica, reached out to come and visit for a few days. We hadn't seen them since we left Seattle over a year ago so it was exciting to welcome them to our new home.

After picking them up in Cancun we took them to one of our favorite local hangouts, Jungle Fish Beach Club, for dinner. We had our first (and only) "are you Keith and Tarah from House Hunters International?" moment. We all got a good laugh at that as it made us feel like celebs, for just a moment.

On Monday we went on a float through the Mayan canals, which was a first for Keith & I. We had no idea they were even there. We drove past Tulum about 15 minutes and met up with a guide who had us follow him on his scooter down the road a bit more and then down a dirt road heading towards the water. Once we parked we walked down the road another 10 minutes to a lagoon with some of the bluest water I have ever seen. We all hopped in a boat with Felix, our boat driver, and he drove us about 45 minutes into the lagoon to a dock. We all hopped out and were directed to check out the old Mayan trading post ruins. It was amazing to see how small the doorways were - we asked about that and Felix told us Mayans were very small and the doors show you just how small they typically were. Think 8 year old height... small.

The canal had a nice current so we all popped our life jackets on as diapers and jumped in. The water was a wee bit chilly but we adjusted quickly. I kept asking about snakes and alligators but was told they don't live there... OK, I'll go with that. I wasn't able to take any photos as I left my phone in the car to stay dry but these folks have a great write up about the float with amazing photos. 

The next day we all decided to go the Xcaret for a day of swimming and eating. We had never been there either and it was more fun than I had thought. Once we arrived we had a little wait to work on getting our local discount on our tickets but surprisingly we were able to get it and our tickets were 1/2 off the normal price.

The park contains a lot of birds and animals but the flamingos were my favorite as I had never seen them in real life. They are beautiful and weird birds. Xcaret was similar to our float but their canals don't have a current. You do wear a life jacket but if you just float on your back it's less effort of swimming through all the caves. The 4 of us had a great time. 

Kevin & Jessica were off to Cozumel the next day so we drove them to Playa Del Carmen to catch the ferry. Next up for us, El Dorado Seaside Suites for a night.

Our Big 2019-2020 Adventure

Soooo, it's official. Keith & I are the owners of a new travel trailer for our big 2019-2020 road trip. We realized some of our most enjoyable times together have been in a car traveling somewhere... So, we found a very light 21' travel trailer to tow up and down the East Coast. My Dad was a huge help in helping us figure out what to buy and making sure the process was very smooth!

We have been in Mexico for over a year now and decided we wanted to head to the US to explore more of the Old Country, all the while, renting out our condo in Mexico. Then we plan to spend the holidays in our new Lake Ozark condo. We will miss our friends but we are excited for a big year of travel and seeing several friends in the US.

If you're wondering about our US itinerary, here is the first draft:

Ocala, FL

Savannah, GA (3 nights)

Hilton Head, SC (3 nights)

Cape Hatteras, NC (1 nights)

Williamsburgh, Virginia (7 nights)

Washington, D.C. (3 nights)

Philadelphia, PA (3 nights)

The Hampton's, NY (1 night)

New Haven, CT (3 nights)

Rochester/Plymouth, RH (3 nights)

Martha's Vineyard, Mass. (day trip)

Boston, Mass. (3 nights)

Portland, ME (3 nights)

Boothbay Harbor, ME (2 nights)

Bar Harbor, ME (3 nights)

Woodstock, Vermont (3 nights)

Niagara Falls, NY (3 nights)

Charleston, WV (1 night)

Charlotte, NC (3 nights)

Jekyll Island, GA (3 nights)

St. Augustine, FL (1 week)

Ocala, FL

We do have two cruises on our agenda as well - it's going to be a jam packed year! Our Mexico adventures aren't over yet... We are just adding in more travel!

#nowearentcrazy #welovetotravel #yesthedogswillbewithus

Our House Hunters International Viewing Party

Many of our friends who came but sadly not all are pictured.

When we found out the air date of our HHI episode, we just planned to watch it alone at home. But after much nudging and many requests, we decided to have our friends over to watch it together on our upper deck. 

Luis made us promise not to watch it before the party, which was very difficult as we managed to get our hand on the episode about a week before it aired. We lived up to our promise and didn't watch it until it aired on the 4th. (That was REALLY hard to do!)

I'm actually glad we didn't watch it as it made it all the more humorous to watch and laugh together with everyone. 

"Dream Killer" is now Keith's nickname and I can't tell you how many times people have said to me "does it come with the bar?". This might be in our top 10 of things we've done together.

Thank you to all who have been supportive of this adventure and didn't laugh at us too much for the show. ;)

Spoiler alert.... For those who don't know us and are wondering why we picked TAO, it was the community. Just look at all those smiling faces - who wouldn't want to live here?!

If You Missed House Hunters International...

House Hunters International - Adios to the Daily Grind

House Hunters International filmed us at La Buena Vida

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY - our episode of House Hunters International, "Adios to the Daily Grind", airs at 10:30pm EST on HGTV. 
We have 20+ friends coming over to watch it with us tomorrow night. Check back for pictures, our commentary/thoughts and I'll share the video a few days after it airs.

They wouldn't let me wear my t-shirts so I hope I get a few shout outs to my business, The Sweetest Tee. Fingers crossed!

Let us know what you think of the show :)