Mexico 2

Alcohol. Like a baby emperor penguin, alcohol can drive you crazy. When I went to Mexico with Clark a few years ago, the first thing his mom said was "You have to be at the house by five for happy hour." Some things never change. After hitting up both the duty-free store and the grocery store before arriving at the house, we had accumulated this:

Don't worry, the beer and white wine is in the fridge for safekeeping. Is this a responsible amount of alcohol for seven days with only four guests under the age of 50? I hope not.

Luckily the alcohol that the Chaney parents forced upon us did not prevent us from hitting up La Buena Vida, the chillest outdoor beach bar south of the Arctic Circle. La Buena Vida is home to a signature drink of the same name - voted "best drink not served by Evan Davies" in 2005 and 2008. Some pictures from La Buena Vida:

Swingers.

Brent, Clark, and C.J... after a few drinks

There were also hanging plastic skeletons which shocked us when we touched them. Naturally, this led to longest-squeeze contests. Perhaps the most entertaining moments came on Karaoke Night, when dozens of cougars descended upon the bar to drunkenly make fools of themselves, more dancing than singing. If you have ever seen the movie Rudy, this had nothing to do with that. A post with more significant subject matter to come...

Mexico 1

When I checked the forecast before leaving for Mexico - without even knowing I was going - the internet predicted rain every single day in Akumal. When we got there, the area newspaper said the same thing. Each day, the same picture:

If the picture of the lighting wasn't scary enough, the adjacent sun covered in deadly spikes causes chills to run down one's spine. Well, I'm really not sure how strong the meteorology discplines are at universities in Mexico because every day looked like this:


Look - thunderstorms! I'll admit: there are clouds in the distance. But this false weather forecasting made me suspicious, especially because it happened literally every day. Does this sign have anything to do with Evan Davies? I'll have to dig deeper to find out..