When we planned our trip to Australia and New Zealand, we simultaneously booked a flight to Los Cabos, Mexico for my friend Erin's birthday. It was really nice to get back from our extended trip in January and have another vacation to look forward to. Since we used some frequent flyer miles (finally!) and Colin used up all his vacation time for Australia/NZ, we decided we would go for 6 days/5 nights.
Our morning today started off really early at 5am, taking the subway from Queens to Penn Station and then catching the train to Newark Airport to arrive by 6:45am. Not only did we get to use frequent flyer miles for this trip, but we finally were able to use the "Continental President's Club" passes we frequently get in the mail as cardholders. The pass entitled us entry into a very fancy room, with a breakfast buffet and nice, comfy lounge chairs. We enjoyed some bagels, muffins, and fruit before resting our eyes on the lounge chairs. We were so comfortable, we lost track of time and were the last ones to board the plan, 20 mins before departure.
The flights was mostly smooth - thankfully - with just a few bumps along the way and on the landing. It was amazing to fly most of the way with no clouds in sight after leaving a freezing rain in NYC. Since Cabo San Lucas is on the western side of Mexico, the flight was about 5.5 hours. I thought it would be easy after our Auzzie/NZ adventure, but I did get a little stir crazy 3-4 hours into the flight. I was entertained for the first 2 hours watching "The Blind Side." Colin got to take a decent nap.
Traveling is an exhausting experience. It's nice we had a direct flight, but a 5.5 hour flight ends up being much longer with travel to and from the airport, having to check in early and all finally checking into the hotel. So, we left at 5am to arrive at our hotel at 5pm (NYC time). It was a 12 hour adventure between the 1.5 hour commute to the airport, 2 hour check in time window, 5.5 hour flight, 1 hr customs/airport process, 1 hr shuttle ride, and 0.5 hour check in process.
Our first impression of Cabo is that we are in the desert!
Even on the beach, it looks like desert all around. The green grass on the golf courses seem out of place. From the plane and on the shuttle ride we could see there are mountains in the area, but we don't see them at the resort. We are staying at the Sheraton Hacienda del Mar, which is where the entire wedding is staying. The hotel and property is beautiful!! The rooms are spacious, we have a "garden view" but can see the ocean from our location. There is a stand up shower and very large jacuzzi tub in the bathroom, the bed is a HUGE kind with down blankets and mattress. The pools are cute, the beach is nice, I'll let you know about the food after we have a few meals. So far, so good.
We caught up with my friend Erin and her husband Paul (they had to do the civil ceremony in the states 1st) and got to meet both sides of the family. Once the sun set around 6pm, we decided to do a light work out at the gym to loosen up our muscles and get a good stretch from all the sitting and traveling today. We feel good, but tired. It's been an exhausting few days for me, having spent 12 hours out on Saturday with a snowboarding adventure, packing and attending a NYC nutrition conference on Sunday, driving to Albany on Monday, having a nutrition conference and driving back to NYC on Tuesday. I am looking forward to some rest and relaxation for the next 6 days. Too bad the spa is so expensive - maybe we can make some money off timeshare sales pitches. We have one lined up for 75 minutes tomorrow morning at our hotel. We couldn't pass up $150 credit to the hotel - which will cover most of our meals here!!
Weather today was so wonderful - 80 degrees and sunny. Evenings are cool in the low 60's. I'll have to keep the sweater handy.
