13. La Famille Hefti
Mexico for 4-0
The plan was to do something a little out-of-the-box (for us) for my fortieth birthday. January 30th this year just so happened to fall on Stéphane’s week off, and so we were exploring options further afield and different from the norm to ring in the big 4-0. Options were Copper Canyon, Mexico and Cochese, AZ for a longer-than-normal climbing trip. After discovering that Copper Canyon might not be the safest and Cochese is a pretty long drive and pretty similar experience to what we do every other week, we decided on an all-inclusive resort down in Mexico because … why not?
Met up with Jess and Bradley at Bombs Away Beer Co. in Albuquerque the night before our departure. Good beer, free old-school arcade games (that’s Hugo playing Centipede in the background there), funky decor, lots of green plants hanging from the rafters, and cool people. This is a great local brewery with a chill vibe – highly recommend! Albuquerque > Houston > Cancun. Easy flights and Hugo’s a seasoned traveler now, so he carries his own pack 🙂 After landing in Cancun and a crazy monsoon downpour, we grabbed our rental car and made the hour drive south to Playa del Carmen and our home away from home on the beach, The Reef at Cocoa Beach. First pic with palm trees! Hugo’s exhausted. Birthday morning! Stéphane had arranged for lots of special things on my birthday, starting with breakfast “in bed”. Excited to get in the water and really excited about his “shark shirt”. Toes in the sand Another birthday surprise! Coming back to our room in the afternoon to discover festive decorations, cake, and champagne! Stéphane even thought to pack my special birthday card #2 from 20817 Lange Headquarters 🙂 At The Reef, you have four choices for dinner: the excellent and ever-changing buffet downstairs, or one of three “speciality” restaurants upstairs featuring: Mexican, Italian, or Japanese. Tonight we dined in Italy. The next day, time for a little water aerobics! Drinks at the poolside bar. Fun with Miss Maya at the “Kids Club”. We borrowed some bikes from the resort and cruised around the local area. A very different vibe outside of the gated resort. The first few blocks featured lush, tree-lined streets and posh little bars and restaurants. And an ATM with a $20 ATM fee! Definitely for the tourists. Back poolside. There was one afternoon where Hugo ran and jumped in about fifty (not kidding) times. Run, jump, surface, swim back to the ledge, climb out, repeat. He slept particularly well night. Hugo enjoying a “grenadine” drink. Relaxing on the fancy poolside couches. The boys get a little putt-putt action while I got a massage. Checking out the sand art on the beach at twilight. Other piece included a ziggurat and turtle. Date Night! Just the two of us (Miss Maya watched Hugo) @ the Japanese Restaurant. This was a completely out-in-left-field, a-typical Hefti-style vacation but it was so much fun! What a wonderful way to ring in my 40th birthday with my two sweet boys.
Looks like a FABULOUS time was had by all — complete with great pix! xoxo