Hell’s Half Acre

We have a love hate relationship with the Maya Riviera. When we arrived this year we were aghast at the multitudes of RV’s here at PaaMul and were SO GLAD that we hadn’t purchased a lot here. In 2005 we had very seriously considered 3 specific lots but at the very end decided we’d wait for a jungle lot to come available. When we came back this year, the place was STUFFED with trailers and 5th wheels and Class A’s and even the odd Class C or two. And the palapas! Each one of the lots we’d considered had been built upon. We were SO VERY HAPPY we’d decided not to build…until a few days passed. And the elixr of PaaMul began to weave its way into our souls and once again, we started looking at lots and palapas already built and musing…

We got here Just In Time as Papa and Tata arrived a few days after we did. It was quite exciting to watch their flight land on Continental’s website and the day they arrived was The Longest Morning in the childrens’ short little lives. But arrive they did, presents were distributed, items we’d purchased and sent to my sister in CA (who runs an unofficial post office in her home) were greedily scooped up and we basked in the glow of the Papa and the Tata.

The kids really didn’t want to do anything the first few days after their arrival but finally I HAD to get them out and show the folks the Riviera. You can see by their website all the places we went but honestly, we really only slightly scratched the surface. We’ve had such an amazing time simply hanging out with them that hanging is simply perfect. Jamie and I took one day to do a timeshare presentation and shared one (of two) litre of tequila and some t-shirts with P&T and used the $150 USD we got for 3 hours of our time to pay our rent. Was it worth it? It was SO worth it. We’re planning to do some more when P&T leave; right now, missing their company is so NOT worth it, so we’ll do the money making when they leave. It is astounding the money that can be made by simply saying, “no” to timeshare folks.

You’d think I’d have so much more to say, but honestly, we wake, make coffee, sometimes make breakfast, allow the girls to head off to P&T’s room and then Jamie and I head off to the military shack for a fast walk. We started exercising on the Emerald Coast by jogging in pools but the pool here is too deep and we’ve found a much better workout by walking in fierce sun with tourquoise seas, coconut trees and constant breeze to our side. So we add 5 minutes each week and while I haven’t seen much of a physical difference, it is really nice to workout WITH him instead of carving out my time and allowing for his time. Yoga, however, has bit the dust. Not sure how I’ll fit that in any time soon…