Kaki's GPR Trip Report - With Some Classic Playa Mixed In

kaki321 · 06-14-2011

I simply cannot concentrate today, so I thought I might as well get this thing going.

I start this trip report with a bit of a heavy heart because the reality for us is that I have no idea when we will get back to Playa...or anywhere else for that matter. Miles starts student teaching in the fall and employment after that is unknown. I am so grateful for having the means to be able to take this trip, it had been over 4 years since we had a family vacation, but I also feel kinda sad that I have no idea when we will be able to do so again.

Ok, pity party for me over...let's go...

I planned like crazy for this trip. We booked in March and nothing but this trip consumed my thoughts for the next 2 months. Somewhere along the way, I think I even agreed that Miles could get a dog when we get back!

(I like dogs, but it just wasn't in the plan right now).

So, June 3rd comes, we are packed and ready to go. Cab picks us up at 7am for our 10:30am flight and we are off to the airport.

Waiting to board...

Our plane!

The boys keeping busy on the 3.5 hour flight from Chicago...

We arrived right on time, 2pm and I pulled out my Playa.Info airport transfer documentation. WHAT THE HELL?

I am so stupid. I put the arrival time as 10:30am (which is the time we left Chicago) instead of 2pm. Panicking, I try to call Heather. What the hell is the area code/country code? The directions are right on this piece of paper. I can't get through. At this time I am convinced there will be no smiling face waiting for us in a pale green button down shirt with a parrot in the corner of it...there is no way...

After collecting our 7 pieces of luggage (don't judge! we brought down donations, OK?

), we move quickly through and get a "green light" but my mind is squarely on what kind of alternate transportation we will likely need.

We get to the ATM, collect some pesos and drop off the ever-so-handy luggage cart and it's up to the 4 of us to get all of these fricken bags out the door and find a ride. Not that there weren't a million people approaching us for rides, there were, but still...

I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked outside.

THERE HE WAS! Our Playa.Info driver holding our sign welcoming us.

We were so happy. I thought that they probably checked the flight number and realized my mistake. Thank you Playa.Info!

We were on our way. I kept telling Miles and the boys "I can't believe we are here!". We stopped at 7-Eleven for a six pack of Sol, some cheetos and Fanta and were really, really on our way now...

About to have the best 8 days ever!

kaki321 · 06-14-2011

Hey, can someone help me understand why my pics are so small? Want to try and adjust before posting more. Thanks!!

EDIT: I think I figured it out. I need to load my pics into Photobucket at 640 x 480.

Will be back to edit and another installment tomorrow. Tball tonight!

Cocotel · 06-14-2011

Great start to what I'm sure will be a great and fun report! Dontcha just love the Cheeto's in MX?? Looking forward to more of this TR!

kaki321 · 06-14-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cocotel

Great start to what I'm sure will be a great and fun report! Dontcha just love the Cheeto's in MX?? Looking forward to more of this TR!

$5 a bag at the cancun airport!

kaki321 · 06-14-2011

Day 1 continued...(changing back to regular font too!)

It's cruel to start a trip report and stop with airport pictures so one more quick installment before I turn my attention back to this work-related report I am working on and head off to Jackson's tball game after that!

We get to the Gran Porto Real and are greeted promptly by the bell captain...I can see on his clipboard that our names are highlighted as Shammy has designated us her VIP guests

. Thanks Shammy.

Check in is quick and easy, complete with a complimentary apple martini of some sorts and we are on our way to our room.

We booked an ocean front walk-out suite which gives us "Royal Service" (more on that later), and also access to 3 restaurants at The Royal (more on that later too). There are only 18 of these rooms at the GPR and only 3 of these 18 rooms have double beds. The odds we would get one of those doubled-bedded rooms right away was slim, and sure enough they put us in a room with a King bed for the first night. I was prepared for this though, and had a plan with the concierge to switch rooms at 11:30 the next morning.

For the time being they brought in one twin size roll away bed, but we quickly realized that there was no way both boys would fit on that one bed, so we had them bring another. I will say they were very prompt with the requests and I was happy we would have our 2 double-bedded room in the morning.

After quickly changing into our bathing suits the next order of business was food and drinks.

There is a palapa on the beach called the Parillada grill that is open from 11:30 - 6:00. It's self serve lunch and snack-type food with Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Nachos and cheese, Guacamole, Chips, Jalepenos, Fries, etc...I gotta admit that something about food sitting in chafing dishes for hours kinda turns me off (I am very picky about stuff like that!), but they were switching the trays out constantly. I don't think anything sat there very long, and didn't ever get the sense that anything wasn't fresh or good. A hard feat to accomplish! But they seem to have a great system.

This is where we had our first meal. The Hamburgers became a staple for the boys. I never tried one, but found the Hot Dogs, Nachos and Guac. tasty.

Here is Miles sitting under an awning at the Parillada grill. About 30 minutes after we checked in

And a shot of the Parillada grill...

My first shot of Playa from where we were sitting, looking south from the GPR...

Jackson wanted to get the "feel" for the beach...whaz up buoy?? (pics taken right next to the Parrilla grill, heading north on the beach part of the GPR)...

Wait till daddy sees you with his hat, glasses and phone! Boy you are in gunna be in trouble!!

Daddy isn't going to bust Jackson, he and Grant are way too far out in the ocean to see what's going on...

It's about 5pm by now and after many dips in the pool (many pool pics to come!) we decide to get cleaned up to head over to PG's for the Fundraiser.

I will have to continue tomorrow with Day 1 which includes the Fundraiser, a stroll down 5th, and dinner at Il Pescatore!

**Shammy** · 06-14-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaki321

We get to the Gran Porto Real and are greeted promptly by the bell captain...I can see on his clipboard that our names are highlighted as Shammy has designated us her VIP guests

. Thanks Shammy.

Of course you're my VIP peeps! Who else would be? Oh, my Dallas peeps too, right (one of whom felt it necesssary to text me at 5:30am just to say hola!

).

I hope you have some pictures of them for me?

Sorry I didn't get into town to meet you all. That was the biggest bummer of my trip.

But traveling with a ghostly white person who burned within the first 5 minutes of seeing the sun, well, ya know.......

kaki321 · 06-14-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shammy

Of course you're my VIP peeps! Who else would be? Oh, my Dallas peeps too, right (one of whom felt it necesssary to text me at 5:30am just to say hola!

).

I hope you have some pictures of them for me?

Sorry I didn't get into town to meet you all. That was the biggest bummer of my trip.

But traveling with a ghostly white person who burned within the first 5 minutes of seeing the sun, well, ya know.......

Oh no

I didn't get pics of the Dallas peeps. But they were fun! The Day's...do they post on the forum? I got a sense they didn't, but I think John would be hip to it. I bet he is the one who texted you, right?!

Shoot him an email and tell him to get his butt on here.

I am sorry we didn't hook up too. Sorry for texting/teasing you while were at the Luna Blue but it was my hail mary to try and get you to town!

Like I posted in my first post, I don't know when we will ever get back.

Right now I almost feel like we will never have another vacation again.

. And Miles is already hinting about wanting to go someone new next time...NOT PLAYA!

Tbonita · 06-14-2011

Great start to the report. Looking forward to more!!

Y2YTraveller · 06-14-2011

I'm hooked; keep it coming! I've got 4 months to make it through before our next Mexican vacation (the one with all 6 kids........

)

Rissask · 06-14-2011

I have been waiting for this one!! Finally!

cb1 · 06-14-2011

I can't believe how much your boys have grown since your last trip report!

**Shammy** · 06-14-2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaki321

Oh no

I didn't get pics of the Dallas peeps. But they were fun! The Day's...do they post on the forum? I got a sense they didn't, but I think John would be hip to it. I bet he is the one who texted you, right?!

Shoot him an email and tell him to get his butt on here.

I am sorry we didn't hook up too. Sorry for texting/teasing you while were at the Luna Blue but it was my hail mary to try and get you to town!

Like I posted in my first post, I don't know when we will ever get back.

Right now I almost feel like we will never have another vacation again.

. And Miles is already hinting about wanting to go someone new next time...NOT PLAYA!

No photos of the Dallas people? OMG, the horrors!

John doesn't post here, not to my knowledge anyway, and he wasn't the one who texted me, it was Paul!

He said he was getting ready for a dive trip to Coz so he was up early, I told him how wonderful - but I didn't need to be up at 5:30am just because he did!

He didn't realize my cell would be on, I had to tell him it's ALWAYS on, never know when someone might have an emergency - or a dive trip

- and just wants to say hello.

And I love that you texted me, keeps me in touch with my peopleeeeeeeee. Es no problemo!

Your boys are adorable. Can I have them and trade you back a 16 and 19 year old?

Nerak936 · 06-15-2011

Miles' t-shirt, combined with the look on his face, just cracked me up!!!

Looking forward to the rest of your report!! Great beginning!!

Cocotel · 06-15-2011

That picture of Jackson with Miles' hat, glasses and phone is great! I'm guessing you were texting Shammy the night we were at the Luna Blue with you? That would have been great if she had been there as well. That was a fun night. Keep the report coming!

policegirl · 06-15-2011

so glad to see your trip report but so sad to see it to!! lol... I read many of your posts on the counting down page and it's hard to believe you guys have been and are back already!! Makes me realize just how fast vacation goes!! hate that!! Can't wait to see more though!!

06-14-2011	#1 (permalink)
kaki321 añejo Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chicago, Il Posts: 1,502	Kaki's GPR Trip Report - With Some Classic Playa Mixed In I simply cannot concentrate today, so I thought I might as well get this thing going. I start this trip report with a bit of a heavy heart because the reality for us is that I have no idea when we will get back to Playa...or anywhere else for that matter. Miles starts student teaching in the fall and employment after that is unknown. I am so grateful for having the means to be able to take this trip, it had been over 4 years since we had a family vacation, but I also feel kinda sad that I have no idea when we will be able to do so again. Ok, pity party for me over...let's go... I planned like crazy for this trip. We booked in March and nothing but this trip consumed my thoughts for the next 2 months. Somewhere along the way, I think I even agreed that Miles could get a dog when we get back! (I like dogs, but it just wasn't in the plan right now). So, June 3rd comes, we are packed and ready to go. Cab picks us up at 7am for our 10:30am flight and we are off to the airport. Waiting to board... Our plane! The boys keeping busy on the 3.5 hour flight from Chicago... We arrived right on time, 2pm and I pulled out my Playa.Info airport transfer documentation. WHAT THE HELL? I am so stupid. I put the arrival time as 10:30am (which is the time we left Chicago) instead of 2pm. Panicking, I try to call Heather. What the hell is the area code/country code? The directions are right on this piece of paper. I can't get through. At this time I am convinced there will be no smiling face waiting for us in a pale green button down shirt with a parrot in the corner of it...there is no way... After collecting our 7 pieces of luggage (don't judge! we brought down donations, OK? ), we move quickly through and get a "green light" but my mind is squarely on what kind of alternate transportation we will likely need. We get to the ATM, collect some pesos and drop off the ever-so-handy luggage cart and it's up to the 4 of us to get all of these fricken bags out the door and find a ride. Not that there weren't a million people approaching us for rides, there were, but still... I couldn't believe my eyes when we walked outside. THERE HE WAS! Our Playa.Info driver holding our sign welcoming us. We were so happy. I thought that they probably checked the flight number and realized my mistake. Thank you Playa.Info! We were on our way. I kept telling Miles and the boys "I can't believe we are here!". We stopped at 7-Eleven for a six pack of Sol, some cheetos and Fanta and were really, really on our way now... About to have the best 8 days ever! __________________ Trip Report - NOW Jade + Isla Mujeres Day Trip 2012 Trip Report - GPR - With Some Classic Playa Mixed In 2011 Trip Report - Kaki and Family Do Playa 2006 Last edited by kaki321; 06-14-2011 at 03:45 PM.. Reason: picture resizing

06-14-2011	#2 (permalink)
kaki321 añejo Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chicago, Il Posts: 1,502	Hey, can someone help me understand why my pics are so small? Want to try and adjust before posting more. Thanks!! EDIT: I think I figured it out. I need to load my pics into Photobucket at 640 x 480. Will be back to edit and another installment tomorrow. Tball tonight! Last edited by kaki321; 06-14-2011 at 03:23 PM..

06-14-2011	#5 (permalink)
kaki321 añejo Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Chicago, Il Posts: 1,502	Day 1 continued...(changing back to regular font too!) It's cruel to start a trip report and stop with airport pictures so one more quick installment before I turn my attention back to this work-related report I am working on and head off to Jackson's tball game after that! We get to the Gran Porto Real and are greeted promptly by the bell captain...I can see on his clipboard that our names are highlighted as Shammy has designated us her VIP guests . Thanks Shammy. Check in is quick and easy, complete with a complimentary apple martini of some sorts and we are on our way to our room. We booked an ocean front walk-out suite which gives us "Royal Service" (more on that later), and also access to 3 restaurants at The Royal (more on that later too). There are only 18 of these rooms at the GPR and only 3 of these 18 rooms have double beds. The odds we would get one of those doubled-bedded rooms right away was slim, and sure enough they put us in a room with a King bed for the first night. I was prepared for this though, and had a plan with the concierge to switch rooms at 11:30 the next morning. For the time being they brought in one twin size roll away bed, but we quickly realized that there was no way both boys would fit on that one bed, so we had them bring another. I will say they were very prompt with the requests and I was happy we would have our 2 double-bedded room in the morning. After quickly changing into our bathing suits the next order of business was food and drinks. There is a palapa on the beach called the Parillada grill that is open from 11:30 - 6:00. It's self serve lunch and snack-type food with Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Nachos and cheese, Guacamole, Chips, Jalepenos, Fries, etc...I gotta admit that something about food sitting in chafing dishes for hours kinda turns me off (I am very picky about stuff like that!), but they were switching the trays out constantly. I don't think anything sat there very long, and didn't ever get the sense that anything wasn't fresh or good. A hard feat to accomplish! But they seem to have a great system. This is where we had our first meal. The Hamburgers became a staple for the boys. I never tried one, but found the Hot Dogs, Nachos and Guac. tasty. Here is Miles sitting under an awning at the Parillada grill. About 30 minutes after we checked in And a shot of the Parillada grill... My first shot of Playa from where we were sitting, looking south from the GPR... Jackson wanted to get the "feel" for the beach...whaz up buoy?? (pics taken right next to the Parrilla grill, heading north on the beach part of the GPR)... Wait till daddy sees you with his hat, glasses and phone! Boy you are in gunna be in trouble!! Daddy isn't going to bust Jackson, he and Grant are way too far out in the ocean to see what's going on... It's about 5pm by now and after many dips in the pool (many pool pics to come!) we decide to get cleaned up to head over to PG's for the Fundraiser. I will have to continue tomorrow with Day 1 which includes the Fundraiser, a stroll down 5th, and dinner at Il Pescatore! Last edited by kaki321; 06-14-2011 at 04:39 PM..

06-14-2011	#9 (permalink)
Y2YTraveller life=playa Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 594	Great Start! I'm hooked; keep it coming! I've got 4 months to make it through before our next Mexican vacation (the one with all 6 kids........)

06-14-2011	#3 (permalink)
Cocotel reposado Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Utah! Posts: 1,061	Great start to what I'm sure will be a great and fun report! Dontcha just love the Cheeto's in MX?? Looking forward to more of this TR!

06-14-2011	#8 (permalink)
Tbonita life=playa Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Youngstown, Ohio Posts: 624	Great start to the report. Looking forward to more!!

06-14-2011	#10 (permalink)
Rissask Canada Dry Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Saskatchewan, Canada Posts: 49,559	I have been waiting for this one!! Finally!

06-14-2011	#11 (permalink)
cb1 beachaholic Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Montpelier,Vermont Posts: 279	I can't believe how much your boys have grown since your last trip report!

06-15-2011	#13 (permalink)
Nerak936 añejo Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: South Shore of Baahhstun, Massachusetts Posts: 23,227	Miles' t-shirt, combined with the look on his face, just cracked me up!!! Looking forward to the rest of your report!! Great beginning!!

06-15-2011	#14 (permalink)
Cocotel reposado Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Utah! Posts: 1,061	That picture of Jackson with Miles' hat, glasses and phone is great! I'm guessing you were texting Shammy the night we were at the Luna Blue with you? That would have been great if she had been there as well. That was a fun night. Keep the report coming!

06-15-2011	#15 (permalink)
policegirl life=playa Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 547	so glad to see your trip report but so sad to see it to!! lol... I read many of your posts on the counting down page and it's hard to believe you guys have been and are back already!! Makes me realize just how fast vacation goes!! hate that!! Can't wait to see more though!!

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