Mexico

Buenos dias from Playa del Carmen, Mexico!
My sister, mother and I decided to take a short, 4-day break together to spend some time on the beach.  I was looking forward to a relaxing, renewing vacation after all that moving.  For my Mom, some time away from work and perhaps a chance to clear her head in order to make some future plans.  I didn't think we'd need to worry about making good choices once we hit the resort, except maybe which beach chairs to claim or where to eat dinner.  I figured if we could safely maneuver through the tourist corridor, out of the airport, and find trustworthy transportation to the resort, we'd be home free.  Unfortunately though, on our first morning, we were wrangled into a sales presentation falsely advertised as breakfast in the VIP area in exchange for $200 in vouchers for the resort.   Our concierge, Victor, even told us that he'd get $60 in commission for getting us to the "tour", so he made sure that he picked us up himself that morning.   What a nightmare! 
I knew what this was - a timeshare presentation - but I went along with it because Mom seemed intent on exchanging 90 minutes for the chance to do an excursion or go to the spa.  But I was a little leery of this Victor guy.   After 3 hours of our precious vacation time, during which the professional jerk of a sales guy made my mother cry, I'd had enough.  I only wish I'd used any of the choice words going through my head at the time.  They knew they had messed up and thankfully got us out of there without any further delay, probably so the other potential buyers wouldn't notice our obvious discontent. We decided to hit the pool and try to pretend that we didn't just waste half of our first day.   All in all, the trip was fun, just the right amount of time, and all three of us got a spa treatment!  Too bad neither my sister nor I could indulge in any of the colorful, tropical alcoholic beverages at our all-inclusive resort.   Yes, that's right!  My sister, Cristina, is the other prego I alluded to earlier.  She is 3 weeks behind me and due January 17th!  Surprise Mom!  And Happy Birthday, Dad!  We know how much you loved Mexico!