Exciting Trip to Mexico (or should it be called "The Day Julia Got Even!").

Julia and I have just returned from a week in Mexico. Not a bad place to be during a snowy week in February. If I do a certain level of mortgages in the year we get to go on an all expense paid trip with my boss and the others who reached the goal. We had a total of 8 couples this year. They are all fun people and we have a great time with them. We went to a resort called the El Dorado Royale. It is about 45 minutes south of Cancun near the fishing village of Puerto Morales. It is an all inclusive resort with amazing food, pools, beaches, activities, etc.

The travel day on Saturday was pretty uneventful. It was nice to get off the plane to a warm sunny day. It didn't take long to get the shorts on. Sunday we went to church in the LDS Branch in Puerto Morales. It is a small branch that is held in two adjoining apartments. I didn't understand much they said but the Spirit is amazingly strong. After we just hung around at the resort. Monday we did about the same, riding bikes, walking on the beach, playing chess with a giant chess set, etc. Tuesday we went with 2 other couples over to Cozumel. It is about a 45 minute ferry ride to the island. We drove Jeeps around the island to go snorkeling and site seeing. We did a little shopping. One store owner was trying to sell Julia a ring with a total of 1.75 carats worth of diamonds.

Come to Tuesday. I found a trip on the Internet where you ride 4 wheelers about 45 -60 minutes into the jungle. You then go on 3 zip lines and swim in a Cenote that is about 40 feet under ground. The 4 wheeler ride was fun and Julia did great. We have went on zip lines before but these were a little rickety which added to the adventure. Julia was first up and climbed a 18 foot ladder strapped to a tree. She got on the platform on top and away she went. I followed. The next zip line was about the same. Then comes the big one. About 30 feet in the air and 75-100 feet long. I went first so I can get some photos of Julia coming down. I make it to the platform at the bottom that is about 8 feel off the ground. I went 2 steps down the ladder and stopped to take a couple photos of Julia. I watched her through the camera and next thing I know I am flying through the air. I hit the ground stunned, dazed, and bleeding from my chin and a couple other spots. It felt like I got hit by a truck. My little wife can really move! She says she realized that she was going to hit me and tried to avoid but I think maybe she stretched to take out the frustrations with me. :-) Actually there was nothing she could have done to avoid hitting me. I thought she would go over my head but was wrong. I got up to my hands and knees and stayed that way for a few minutes. I was finally able to sit on a stump and fully access the damage. A split chin that would require stitches, torn muscles in my right ride, and various bruises, bumps and scrapes. There were a couple of the guides and 3 couples that stayed to help us. One of the couples came with us, another we had met from Virginia, and one that spoke French and no English. I asked the friend that came with me to give me a blessing. After that we started working me towards the 4 wheelers. I would go for a little bit and then sit and rest. I had a guy under each arm helping. I was still pretty dizzy and hurt to move at all. Once we made it to the 4 wheelers I got on behind one on the guides and we started out to where they could get a Jeep to me. I had to have him stop a couple times because the pain got to be too much. After the Jeep ride we made it to the shop where we started. The owner checked me out and said he had a friend down the road that could stitch up my chin. I decided to get back to our resort first and see the EMT there. I was a little worried about getting stitched up in the middle of Mexico. The EMT used strips and taped my chin. I then took it real easy around the room and resort until we came home Saturday.

We got to our house around 6:00 PM. We then ate, changed and ran over to the church. They had asked me to DJ the Stake Sweetheart Ball. I didn't dance much as it still hurts to use the muscles in my side at all or just to move. I spoke Sunday morning and then went to our meetings. After church we went to InstaCare to get me checked out. Everything looks good. Chin is staying closed, tore and strained muscle will take a while to heal, but no breaks or major internal damage. I will just be moving tenderly for a couple weeks.

Julia did get to go shopping and hang out on the beach for the last few days of our vacation so everything worked out good. If she would have just asked though I would have let her hang out on the beach with out taking me out first. :-)

And no, I did not get the picture!