Mi Mexican Casa
March 23, 2010
There’s times I think I work to support my vacation habit. I come about it honestly, my parents were great travelers, and my mom still is- just returning from a cruise through the Panama Canal. As a child we traveled a lot – cross country to California, toured most of the west, the southeast. I am nearly always dreaming of my next trip. I keep a count up of last time I was at Disney, or snorkeled/scuba-ed, and countdowns to next trips on my facebook page. Friends comment on how often we take trips. My timeshare weeks and points allow us to go to some incredible paces – this trip was no exception.
The latest trip was to one of my favorite beach destinations, Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on the Yucatan Peninsula about 45 miles south of Cancun. This time we didn’t trade a timeshare week, but instead purchased a $200 “Extra Vacation” from RCI for a 2 bedroom unit at Hacienda Tres Rios. Of course, we still had to pay the all-inclusive fees, but overall for considerably less than it would cost to book this resort through a travel agent.
Loved Tres Rios. Highly recommend. Wish we could have spent more time. If you go, try to do the bike tour and the coati (snorkel) tours early in the week, just to give you a good feel for the resort. After that you can check out bikes, grab kayaks, and swim the cenotes at your leisure.
The Resort:
Hacienda Tres Rios bills themselves as a luxury, all-inclusive, eco-friendly, “green” resort, spa and nature park. As stated on their website, they are “at the forefront of sustainable tourism development, creating amazing guest experiences while protecting the region’s natural beauty and culture”. Loved the nature park and all the included activities. We biked through the jungle to the cenotes,
Snorkeled from a cenote down the river to the sea.
Kayaked up a river from the sea to another cenote
Sailed on a hobie cat in the Caribbean sea
Played volleyball on the beach, chilled where the river meets the sea, toured their nursery where they are working to restore the vegetation lost in Hurricane Rita, and skipped countless rocks into the cenote or the ocean.
Of course, we also relaxed on the beach. Oh, those beach beds. Nothing could be better than a mid-afternoon siesta on a bed on the beach, feeling the sun, hearing the sounds of the ocean.
Resort also has two pools and three hot tubs. My son and his new BFF loved what they called the cliff area of the upper pool – which conveniently placed them close to the pizzeria.
The Food and Drinks:
The resort has a buffet style restaurant open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. A dinner-only restaurant that rotates 3 nights a week with an Asian theme, 3 with an Italian theme. A fine dining Mexican dinner restaurant. An outdoor grill open for lunch and dinner, and an outdoor pizzeria open from noon-7pm. They also offered two theme style dinner parties, a Mexican fiesta on Sunday evening and a Caribbean party on the beach mid-week. Finally, there’s a coffee/pastry restaurant. Son loved the pastries, I loved the mid-afternoon pick me up of a perfectly foamed cappuccino. Oh yeah, also 24 hour room service.
We mainly used the buffet restaurant for breakfast – nice fruit selection, really good granola with a wide selection of yogurts. Interesting selections on the buffet, son loved the pastry, chef making eggs/omelets’ or quesadilla to order. Never ate lunch there, dinner was ok, chef doing pasta.
Spent a lot of time at Hacienda Grill – the outdoor restaurant /bar. Lunch there was very good, dinner even better. But our favorite was grabbing a table w/ friends around 4pm for some chips and guacamole, or shrimp and having happy hour. Close to the pool to watch the boys. Fresh, yummy guac. Nice steak at dinner.
The boys couldn’t get enough of the pizzas. Lunch, dinner. Gotta admit I loved the European pizza – a white pizza with guyere and gargonzola. Oh my. One thing we did find odd was the “Italian sausage”. Probably better described as hot dog.
The most interesting meal was the adults only “chef’s table”. This one required the purchase of a bottle of wine. Was a five course meal in the kitchen just outside head Chef Oscar’s office. Oscar helped present most every course. Started with a summer roll, then a coconut shrimp with a great mango, peach and sundried tomato sauce, a duo of cream soups, salmon with saffron sauce and vegetable risotto, beef with miso sauce (sorry, Chef, I’m not such as fan of the sweet, clingy miso sauce which you seem to love to use, and I think overpowers everything), and a chocolate dessert. 
There’s a tradition for Chef’s table guest to sign the chef’s apron. I choose to sign next to the Prince and Princess of Denmark (who were also guests of the resort while we were there).
Italian concept was very nice. From appetizers through dessert. I had a well done risotto with sausage, hubby had a veal dish which he loved, and others at our table enjoyed their meals. We all agreed on enjoying this restaurant. The first time we ate at the Asian restaurant, did not enjoy it. Sushi was three pieces of rolls with minimal fish. I had something with the words sashimi tuna, tempura and miso in the description. To me sashimi tuna implies something other than heavily battered fried fish with a sweet clingy miso sauce. I admit to not noticing the word tempura first time through.
For our last dinner, we’d originally planned to go back to the grill. However, ran into Chef Oscar and made a comment about the coconut shrimp. He said if we came to the Asian restaurant, he would make us a plate of them as an appetizer. We decided to give the Asian restaurant another try. Noticed though some folks were eating lobster. Hmmm, that’s not on the menu. Talked to our server who arranged a special menu. Quite good. Choice was just lobster, surf and turf or surf and surf. Between the six of us we had all of them. Plus the coconut shrimp. And a mixed dessert platter to share. Highlight of the evening was tableside preparation of Mexican coffee.
As to the bars at Tres Rios; 
I think bars are the one big miss here. Granted there is a very good selection of premium/top shelf products. No skimping there. However, with all-inclusive comes the expectation of pool bars (the swim up kind), no such thing here. In fact outdoor drinks are a bit tough. There are servers on the beach and pool side, but service is slow (like 20-30 minutes to get a drink, hour or more to get food). While we enjoyed “happy hour” at Hacienda Grill, if you weren’t there by 5pm, you were out of luck as they closed from 5-6:30 to prep for dinner. Which means the only outdoor bar is closed. There is spotty bar wait service at the outdoor tea/martini bar – but on a couple of nights servers were not present. With all the lovely scenery and beautiful weather more options for outdoor drinks with friends (esp. casual, post beach time) are sorely needed.
This is not a big night life resort. Yes, there are shows and events at night – but all fairly low key.
The Room:
Magnificent, huge, well equipped. We basically had a one bedroom suite with a connecting hotel room. Fridges in the rooms stocked with sodas, water and beer. 
Overall an incredible vacation. Made even more special by meeting some new friends. Tom, Stephanie and their son Spencer. The boys hit it off as fast friends. The parents also. From the time we all meet, we were pretty much inseparable. Hope to travel with them in the future, enjoy more meals, more wine, and games of find Stephanie a new drink. Great, great family. And huge thanks to Tom both for taking me out on the Hobie Cat not once but twice, and even more importantly, the really good pictures on the blog are his – thanks so much for allowing me to use them.
Tis the season….
March 20, 2010
Great week here in southeastern Wisconsin. The first hints of spring. I’d left for Mexico with the yard covered in snow. In fact, don’t think we’d seen the ground since around the 1st of December. I’d hoped the snow would melt while we were gone – and that prayer was answered. Even better was the bonus week of sunny days, temps in the 50’s. Gave me an opportunity for my first outdoor ride of 2010. Well, not exactly the first, I had a fun ride down in Mexico through the jungles, er, nature park at Tres Rios.
But this week, the bike came out of the basement. It felt great to take off on a ride. I did one of my favorite routes which takes me through two local parks. Fox Brook which has a nice mile long loop around a pond. Did two spins, enjoying the laughter of a little girl on a bike with training wheels riding the opposite direction. She seemed to find me passing by and saying hello quite funny. From there I head over through Mitchell Park and its boardwalk over the Fox River. First lesson of the trip – in the spring be mindful of the water level of the river. At first I considered turning around, but then decided to go for it, and ride on. (thanks to the mom and daughters, I knew the depth. I’m not sure I’d have been brave- or stupid- enough to ride through if I hadn’t)
The second lesson of the ride. Sporadic rides on the trainer over the winter are no substitute for actual riding. Esp. when those trainer rides were few and far between the last few weeks, and not exactly at maximum effort. The hills around here killed me. It will take a few more rides before I tackle my first goal hill (the section of Brookfield Rd driving north from Bluemound to Gephardt).
And as a bonus I got to rock my colorful, spring-y, new Terry bike jersey.
Meanwhile, back at home, it’s also the start of the gardening season. This will be the year I start to tackle this garden. I’m starting to get a vision. Feeling more settled in this house thanks to some changes at work. Ready to move forward, start the heavy and not so fun work of clearing some of the overgrown mess and making my own stamp on the place. There’s signs of spring here too. Daffodils foliage growing through the leaves I’d piled on the beds. Teeny little hosta noses just peeking out of the earth.
On my walk Thursday, I’d taken this picture of the still ice and snow covered pond at Rolling Meadows park to remind me that we weren’t quite at spring yet.
This morning, on the 1st official day of spring, awoke to a reminder from Spring herself, that we still have a way to go before the real outdoor season. But it sure feels good to know we are marching towards just that! 
Meeting Objectives
March 6, 2010
When I first joined Twitter, my profile said “Making lifestyle & fitness changes for my health, to scuba with the fishies and keep up w/ my 9yo son”. Lots of changes have occurred since that post, not the least of which is the 9yo is now a 10 1/2 year old. This last week along with the future week have caused me to re-visit that statement.
For so long, I have let my weight influence or limit what could I do. Look closely at the picture of the skiing tickets. One from this past Sunday, and on the same coat is one from 14 years ago, the last time I’d skied. So not only could no longer fit this coat; which I am happy to say is now too big for me, I hadn’t skied for 14 years.
Last Sunday I took my son on his first ski/snowboard trip. For a brief second I considered also trying snowboarding, but realized that sport requires far too many attempts to get up from the ground, and maybe I should stick to what I know, skiing. I mean really, what is it about snowboarders and sitting on their asses at the top of the slopes? I’m hoping this is a beginner trait, but c’mon.
We headed to Sunburst, a local MKE ski “resort” for their family fun day. Fun, we had!!!!! Each of us took lessons. Son to learn for his first time, and Mom to get her legs under her.
Best part was the ski instructor commenting about my great balance. For those of you who know me or follow my daily mile training, I struggle, really struggle with balance. While my twitter profile didn’t call out balance, what a great feeling for someone to comment on my nemesis. How far I have come!
Family fun day was a huge success – both for the resort which drew a HUGE crowd, and for my son, who loved snowboarding. Being able to experience this with my son, awhile re-connecting with an old passion of mine was PRICELESS!
Day was a huge success…and for those of you with kids, you know this is one of the best signs of a successful outing with your child.
I’ve made huge progress on those other two objectives also. The health one almost goes without saying but if you haven’t already read – I’ve gone from borderline high blood pressure to 120/76 without med, no longer take drugs for GERD (and have NO symptoms), and my cholesterol has dropped from 243 to 168 without meds. All accomplished through diet and exercise. Not to mention as I sit 12 days from a milestone birthday, I feel the best I have of my adult life.
Lastly, that scuba thing. Finally got up the nerve to take the class. Sailed through the pool/classroom portion. In the morning we leave for Mexico. Next time you hear from me, I will be a certified diver. Something I’ve wanted to do as long as I can remember. In my 20’s I couldn’t afford it, in my 30’s I was too out of shape. And now as I close my 40’s, I will accomplish that objective. Sweet!
Newborn, Natchez, Noshing, Nashville, November
December 6, 2009
Our family had a little something extra to be thankful for this year – my new nephew Jack Stephen. Jack is the first child of my brother. He’s named in memory of my Dad, Jack, and in honor of his maternal grandfather, Stephen. My brother was a confirmed bachelor who hit the jackpot in his mid-40’s when he met his wife, Gina. Smart, fun, beautiful with an incredible family to boot. Really none of us could have asked for more. So, this year for Thanksgiving, we loaded up the car, put the bikes on the rack and set out on the 10 hour drive to celebrate with Jeff and Gina’s family and new son down in Nashville. And celebrate we did.
Gina’s Aunt is a great hostess and great cook. As with many great cooks, they have friends who are equally good cooks adding to the fun. What a feast we had – a foodie’s heaven! Two turkeys, one oven roasted, one smoked, two kinds of stuffing – including Gina’s family recipe of an italian sausage and bread stuffing that was almost addicting. 
More and more food kept appearing on the tables….a couple of different sweet potatoes, the most amazing layered jello salad, several versions of cranberries, I loved the cranberry ginger chutney. Wines of the day were Pine Ridge Chenin/Vognier, Edna Valley Chardonnay, and Ponzi Pinot Noir. Blue Moon Honey Moon was available for the beer lovers. A bottle of Woodford Reserve was around. (any guesses what hubby and I were responsible for bringing). I forgot to get a picture of the dessert table – but it was equally impressive – two kinds of pumpkin pie, pecan pies. All so yummy.
Thank goodness with all that eating, we’d brought the bikes. Got in several good rides. A couple around Nashville in the Oak Hill/Belmont areas. But the most memorable was a ride along the Natchez Trace. Beautiful and challenging with the continual rolling hills.
Discovered that I’m a bit of a wimp riding over this famous bridge over Hwy 96. Heading out I stayed a decent distance from the edge. Coming back, a crosswind had blown up, and I was scared to death. Rode at almost the center of the road. Even once we got across and I got off the bike to take these pictures I never was able to stand next to the rail. Just a bit too freaked out.
The nice weather also provided an opportunity for a walk around Radner Lake.
Ended the weekend with a celebration of Mom’s birthday. A great trip, wonderful meeting Jack and spending time with family. Enough to wear a guy out!
What happens in the Dells……..a trip report
November 16, 2009
Another quick trip down to Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. If you haven’t figured out by now, I like to play. Be it trips to Disney, riding my bike or heading to the waterpark, I find I’m a much saner, calmer and happier person with frequent doses of playful fun. Luckily my ten your old son is still at an age that he enjoys time spent goofing around with Mom, even if this trip did include him bringing a friend for part of the trip.
The Wilderness resort is a mega complex with three large indoor waterparks, three equally large or larger outdoor ones, not to mention the upscale adults only Sundara Spa complex, a couple of golf courses and another lodge area on the shores of Lake Delton. Obviously, a trip to the Wisconsin Dells in mid-November means sticking to the indoor parks. All three have giant water slides – body slides, tube slides and specialized slides with names like “Fantastic Voyage”, “black Hole” or the “Hurricane’, there’s a large indoor wave pool, lazy river and interactive water fun play areas. Be prepared for lots of stair climbing. Of all the slides, “Black Hole” is my favorite with “Fantastic Voyage” a close second.
Usually I also enjoy their lazy river, but felt like this trip it just wasn’t heated to an enjoyable temperature. In fact, I would say the same for the various hot tubs – really should have been hotter. Not sure what the issue was, but hope they solve. I’ve been to Wilderness on other winter weekends, and hope this isn’t a new cost cutting measure – as it would make me question spending my playtime there in the future. While I’m criticizing this otherwise great resort, I’d also suggest making one of the hot tubs adult only or at the very least enforcing those large “No one under 6 allowed in hot tubs” signs. The hot tub picture below was taken on Friday afternoon before the weekend crowds, when the hot tubs were literally shoulder to shoulder (both around edges and in the middle) with people.
Sunday brought a sunny, unseasonably warm day, so while my Mom supervised my son and his friend in the waterpark, hubby and I went for a 7 mile walk around the Wilderness grounds and surrounding area. We hadn’t brought the bikes, but still had a little chuckle around this set of signs. 
Here’s some outdoor shots from the walk. The outdoor parks had sad, lonely feel with their empty pools. The new, but closed Zipline tours were taunting me. I’ve been dying to try them. In the past when I had opportunities to zip in Hawaii or Mexico or wherever, I weighed more than the max allowed weight. Now that I comfortably make the weight limits, I still wasn’t able to go. We’d been to Wilderness last July, the weekend before these zips opened, and now here we were back the weekend after they closed. Sigh. I’ll have to get that bit of fun and excitement on another trip (and Hawaii and Mexico zip lines are still on the to-do list!)
Decided we must plan a grown up weekend at Sundara some day (maybe next anniversary?), I’m a spa addict and that looked awfully nice – not to mention based on all the steam rising from the surface of the water, their outdoor pool is very well heated – no cost cutting over there! As golfers (he’s avid, I’m a duffer), we enjoyed walking the cart path of one of the courses shut down for the season. Lake Delton looked gorgeous – some of you may remember this as the lake that broke about a year ago, washing away a couple of huge houses. Lake has been fixed and re-filled. Loved this carved tree trunk at one of the lakeside houses 
Last few pics are from our unit at Wyndham’s Vacation Resort at Glacier Canyon. As I’ve mentioned before, I own a decent amount of points (all purchased via ebay) in Wyndham’s timeshare system – as does my Mom. For this trip we had a three bedroom unit. Very, very nice. Master bedroom with the tub for two, king bed, walk in shower, second bedroom with another king, third with two queens. Nice shared bath for those two rooms. Sleeps 10 (via a hide a bed in living room). We had my son & his friend, my Mom, hubby and I. Kitchen very well equipped with service for 12, plus all the typical small and large appliances. Though honestly we ate out much of the time. Kept the fireplace going in the evening which was a cozy touch. And naturally, one section of the closed zip lines passed right by our balcony – taunting me further! 
The Dells are a bit kitchy. Son finally got his trip to a Ripley’s Believe it or Not on this trip and was unfortunately more fascinated and interested in reading all the signs and exhibits than I hoped would happen. We found the “resort” my parents had honeymooned at 54 years ago – a bit worse for wear. Have to say, kitchy, touristy or not, for a fun filled weekend, close to home they fit the bill. (Which is a good thing, because in late January we’ll be back for one of my son’s gymnastics meets – though after 4 trips to Wilderness we will be trying a new resort that trip. Not to mention hoping to get some skiing in at Cascade Mountain).