Leaving for Cancun at 5:30 a.m on October 18th........look at those excited faces:)

from the plane- nothing but blue skies......

we could even see out hotel from the plane. we were on the 7th floor of the tower that you see at the end of the point......
this is the "welcome to Cancun picture" right before my sister's camera was stolen. yup, our driver took it out of her hand luggage. no worries, the blondies spoke to the resort and got the camera back the next morning!!! was the driver fired?mmmmm.....and we even tipped him really well.

We were brought up to our suite quite frustrated about the camera incident......

but the champagne that was given to us made up for it.......

some views from out suite......

some strawberry daiquiris on the beach that evening....

woops, i posted the foto twice.....sorry.... dinner at the resorts steakhouse on the beach.......
and we crashed early that evening......not knowing that this would be our first and last restful evening for the next 7 days.......

we woke up the next morning and had breakfast downstairs in our section of the resort....my favorite breakfast fruit---the cactus flower:)
went exploring for shells and little sea creatures.....

the lighthouse on the resort........
does it look like a hurricane would hit within a day????
after playing in the rocks for a good hour, we were told to read the sign.....woops!




had a wonderful seafood lunch.....
and i got some good beach volleyball time in......
then we went to the spa area and spent an afternoon relaxing in the sun.....
and drinking mimosas.......

and more mimosas......
and getting massages right here over the water......
then after the wonderful day, we found that dreaded piece of paper under our door....and we decided to go to the sushi restaurant on property.....and watch the sunset.....
and drink some margaritas.......


and that was our last night at the resort......

Evacuating our resort and getting ready for the Hurricane.......
after our first and only beautiful day at the resort we decided to go to our room and freshen up for our sushi dinner right on the beach. However, as we walked into our room we found a piece of paper that stated Hurricane Wilma has taken a sudden and unexpected change:code red; it was to hit Cancun at a level 5 by Friday at 12 and we were all being evacuated to a highschool in town tomorrow at 11 am. My sister and I freaked out of course and were frightened at the thought of going to a refuge. We decided we would still go eat sushi and we ended up drinking about 5 margs as well.....that night we did not sleep-the wind was already blowing hard and we could hear the waves below us. We were awakened by a phone call from my father at 5:30 am telling us that we need to get out of there as soon as possible and we can not go to a refuge. He had called my cousin in Mexico City and she had told him that her best friend lives in Cancun. I went downstairs to a Lobby filled with water and called her friend Patty. She told me she would pick us up in the next 5 minutes at the front of the resort.....we grabbed our bags and took off........this was thursday morning at 7:30am.....


All stores were boarding up their windows with wood.....

we arrived to their home so nervous that they decided to make our staple diet beer and tequila.....we drank....
and laughed....and drank some more......it was the only way for us to get through it.....

as we realized our "house" had been cemented shut.....and that the hurricane would hit in 24 hours.....

we drank some more......

no, the little kids did not drink the bottle of tequila........:0)it was not that bad....

this is the room that 10 people stayed in for a good 18 hours.....and their was no running water, no fresh air....a little crying 8 mnth old baby...dirty diapers....no light......and the noise of breaking glass and windows shaking went on for 3 whole days.....

before the hurricane hit we discovered a new game with the kids---lets see who can hit the most coconuts down....because the hurricane would knock all the trees down anyhow later......

don't we look great after not showering for 5 days.....

this is their backyard.....or was their backyard....

getting all the fresh air possible before the hurricane hits.....

in the eye of the storm, which lasted around 9 hours, we were able to explore on their street and take a couple pictures.....

downtown Cancun was destroyed....

almost every tree uprooted....

driving through the city, thinking how lucky we are to be leaving and feeling such sadness for those who must stay and rebuild homes and lives......