[vike57]

Playa Surprise-Trip Report

Just to fill in the blanks for some….Gina(redirish) and I went to Playa last March for PeepStock and had the best week of our lives. This year rolled around and we are building a new home in Colorado….. so vacation time and money was all going west. We started to see a gathering was planned for May in Playa. Some of the Peeps that we became good friends with were returning to party again. A few contacted us about going….but we told them we just can’t make it this year. Then George W. stepped in and decided we needed a stimulus check to make our economy go……go it did…..lol…..to Playa. We kept this a secret for weeks……not telling a sole. We decided to see the look on some of our peeps faces when they just see us standing there. So….now you know the game …..so on with the report.

DAY 1 Started out like any other trip to Playa…the wee hours of the morning…3am to be exact. Usually flying ATA out of Midway nonstop…well,we all know that isn’t happening anymore. To O’hare we head to catch Northwest..connecting in Memphis. Never have connected before…..so of coarse, all I can think about is missing our connecting. We land on time …so I begin to relax. Feeling pretty good about this trip….so I decided to bump up to first class to Cancun. What a wise move…..free drinks….great lunch(sweet n sour chicken) and plenty of room to move around(not content on just sitting when I fly..like to roam).
Here is a pic of our lunch:




Landed on time….got thru customs….headed for the ado….bought tics…waited 15 min …..we are off to Playa. Did I mention it was 45F when we left Chicago….well..a few hours later and Bam….we are in a 95F oven……wow…I forgot how hot it is. We are staying at All Riviera Hotel at the bottom of Calle 2 on the beach. Check in was a breeze and into the room to crank on the AC for later. Couple of pics from our room to the beach….





We strip off the traveling clothes and whip on the swim suits and sun block…..time to get a beer and hit the beach. We decide to take a walk up the beach and see if things have changed much. As we make our way up the beach we pass the Allhambra Hotel. We knew that Karen and David were staying there. We looked …but didn’t see any familiar faces…..so we just kept strolling along. Went up a ways and decided to make the return trip. As we were heading back Gina noticed David sitting up on the balcony….he must have said something to Karen that he thought he saw us…..of coarse,she didn’t believe him because we weren’t suppose to be there……Well,in her excitement to verify….she comes out to check things out….Now this part I think I will leave to Karen to report on. All I know is that she had been in the shower……Lets put it this way…..I’m glad the sun was sitting behind the hotel at the time…..it was shinning so bright that it covered the fact that Karen forgot to get dressed before coming out to yell at us. Was the most interesting Playa welcome we had ever received. We yelled at each other for a bit….then told them we would see them at Pesca for dinner. Wow…..what a start. Grabbed a shower and off to Pesca. Didn’t really know where we were going…..had a general idea….so we just started walking. Didn’t take long to see peeps….ran into Stewie just up the road and he told us how to get to Pesca. Showed up to find Rick pacing outside. Said no one was here yet…..Hmmmm after 6 already….but hey…we are in Mexico. Saw a couple looking at us….figured we just looked strange…but it was Paul(catalyst) and his wife mindy also waiting for peeps. Glad he had those damn yellow bug eyes to put on,or I would have never recognized him. Peeps started showing up and we definitely surprised a few. Here are some pics of the evening……
Paul(catalyst) n Mindy

Mike(stonecold) n Barb.....I'm always #1 to them..makes me special

More peeps..met so many

Vanessa(feeling no pain)..Heather..Michael


Trish,,Karen..David...Jimmy

It was a good time.....they all headed to PG's after dinner....but,it was a travel day for us.....and it was now after 11pm and I was fading fast. long walk back to the hotel and into our now very cold cave to sleep off the travel and beer and get ready for Day 2.