Mr. Sancho's and Sunburn

Friday, September 16, 2016

Mr. Sancho's Aquatic Park

Today we rented a car and hit the road! Our first stop was Mr. Sancho's, where we bought wristbands for the Aquatic Park. The Aquatic Park is a buoyed off section of ocean filled with blow-up water fun and obstacles! Water trampolines, log roll, Rock-It, climbing towers, and slides! Of course I put sunscreen on as soon as we got there, and waited for it to soak in. We swam for about an hour before Jayme and Andy headed back into town for Jayme's Team USA picture. Once they left, Sue, Dave, and I swam for a bit longer then found a place in the shade (obviously) and ordered lunch - right on the beach! After lunch I reapplied sunscreen, and again waited in the shade. I headed back out to tackle some obstacles! I climbed the giant "iceberg" twice and slid down Level 1 and 2. When Jayme and Andy came back we climbed it to the top and Jayme and I went down Level 3 once together, then Andy joined us in going down. We moved to the log roll, determined to make it to the opposite end trampoline. After countless failed attempts, I made it! What a sense of accomplishment! I've worked at Camp Luther, which has a Rock-It in the lake, for two summers, but never went on one until Mexico!

The Iceberg

It took until Mexico, but I went on the Rock-It!

When we left Mr. Sancho's I could tell I was a bit sunburned. It was probably a lot worse than I thought it was, but I hoped for the best. Hoped that if I kept my long sleeve cover-up on the rest of the day, the pain would be minimal. 

If you are not familiar with Cozumel, it's a small island off Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. The populated side (where we stayed) is the West Coast, facing mainland Mexico. The ocean is fairly calm here, making it beautifully clear to swim in, with no big ocean waves. If you want the waves you picture when you think of the ocean, you need to head to the other side of the island. There's one road the circles the island, and the Eastern Coast is almost entirely unpopulated, except for the few beach hangouts. After Mr. Sancho's, we drove around the island, looking for a nice beach with waves. We stopped at one beach, but quickly decided to move on. By the second beach, I was spent. I now realized my sunburn was worse than I originally thought, and all the sun and activity had me physically and mentally exhausted. Sue and Dave played in the waves, while the rest of us sat - you guessed it - in the shade.

A few pictures before retreating to the shade

Before going back to the resort, we stopped at a few shops downtown and stocked up on more water at Mega. When we got back, out of the sun, I could see just how bad I'd been burned, and lathered on the aloe. I've definitely been burned worse, but it really hurt nonetheless!

So much sunburn!

Saturday, September 17, 2016
With Jayme's race the next morning, Saturday was a complete lazy day at the resort. Sue and I washed some clothes in the tub, and hoped they would dry (with the humidity so high, even the air conditioner didn't take the moisture out of the air!). The rest of the day was spent reading, sitting in the lobby, lounging in hammocks, and cooling off in the pool. Jayme dropped her bike off at the race site that afternoon, and we went to bed early because we had a big - and early - day the next morning!

A pretty accurate depiction of our Saturday