Monday, November 24: Tulum

 We made it to Tulum! Our travel plans went smoothly--Pittsburgh to Newark to Tulum--with no issues. Andrew brought us all into the United Club in Newark so we could relax and enjoy too many lattes (me) from the fancy coffee machine. At the Tulum airport, we picked up our rental car. Andrew is always game to drive us around in unfamiliar vehicles in new countries, and we wanted the flexibility to explore Tulum on our own schedule. 

On our way into Tulum, we saw yellow crossing signs along the highway showing not the usual deer or even moose but sinister silhouettes of jaguars and monkeys. I seriously hope we have a jaguar sighting--there were a lot of these signs so it seems they might make frequent appearances. A quick google search tells me that the animal crossing signs along this particular road are meant to protect spider monkeys, coatis, and more. Looking forward to sightings of all kinds as we explore this week.

Our resort--the Hilton All-Inclusive Riviera Maya Tulum--is beautiful. The check-in area is open to the ocean, with a view that looks like a painting. We have ocean-view rooms as well. After we checked in, we had just enough time to check out a couple of the pools and beach and take a quick swim. We were all starving at that point, but the beach restaurant was closed; however, one of the servers surprised us by having the kitchen "make what they could"--tacos and guacamole and two burgers with fries. Lucia inhaled one and a half of the burgers in about thirty seconds.

Dinner was at Mediterranean, a lovely outdoor space. We had salads and pasta, and Andrew had a steak. 

We are excited for the week ahead. I'm so happy we made this trip happen. Molly and Luca arrive tomorrow. 

These pics are the view from our room.