Tuesday, August 31, 2010

S-I-C-K, B.O.O.B.S., and misc other stuff...

Yep, I had not been on a vacation (a real one) for pretty much 5 years. Not something to be proud of, but I was really looking forward to going on vacation. About 3 days in, SICK. Not the expected tummy sickness when visiting a resort outside the US, but just plain ol' sick sick which progressively got worse. When I couldn't make it to bootcamp Monday morning, I knew it was time to go to the doctor (It was also kinda funny that when I didn't get up and go that my hubby became very concerned at that point. NOW I was really sick. It kinda makes me giggle...

Vacation bullets...
  • Trip from Texas to Miami was uneventful.
  • Miami to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (PCDR from here on) - plane issues. Thankfully we used some upgrades and were able to fly this leg in first class. I've never flown in first class. You can't miss what you don't know, right? Well, yep. It's definitely first class and a MUCH better way to travel. I asked my hubby to travel more so we can get more upgrades. ; )
  • PCDR - had purchased a travel voucher to get from the airport to the resort. 10 mins for the escort to find the empty vehicle. 30 more minutes for a driver to show up. Then find out he's taking us to the WRONG resort. Got that worked out - and we are both trying to remain positive.
  • Resort - Arrive. Seems OK. Supposed to be one of the "best". We were invited to go with some other couples after they had already selected the resort, etc. It seemed like it was going to be OK and that there were as many negative as positive reviews on one of the advisor sites. And, DANG IT, I wanted to go on a vacation! So, we decided to risk it.
  • We had requested a room on the upper floor, which we did get, and hoped that "musty" smell was minimal. The room did have a bit of a smell, but was clean and the AC was working well, so we decided to keep it.
  • We went to the pool/beach area and it really is beautiful.
  • The food was OK overall. Just OK.
  • The alcoholic beverages (it's all inclusive) were HORRIBLE. Seriously horrible, I just couldn't drink them and I KNOW they were doing something to the alcohol because when we got drinks from the pool bar they were tolerable - everywhere else - YUCK!
  • Mold was an issue depending on where you went. I'm not going to call it musty or make excuses because of the climate. Bottom line - this was an expensive trip and resort. They could do something about the MOLD. You could see it and you could definitely smell it. (OH and get this, one morning there is this huge chandelier over a fountain, and yep - IT FELL! Not kidding you. Luckily no one was hurt, but let's just say never going back!)
I keep reading about the B.O.O.B.S. Chicago event and all the various people that are going as I think I read everyone's blog at a minimum through reader. Anyway, I want to go, but because of my desire to remain anonymous, I decided it just wasn't a good idea. It really kinda makes me sad though.

I didn't weigh when I got back from vacation. I didn't eat out of control and really didn't drink much either. I did water aerobics at the pool as I was there anyway and it was actually pretty fun and some of the other days I also did yoga on the beach. Flying makes me gain "fake" weight. Always has and always will, so I figured why bother and freak out. I'll just get back to my normal way of living and weigh in a couple weeks. I need to do a maintenance approach post that I've been doing for about 3 months, but too much for now. I have a zillion items to read and looking forward to catching up!

    2 comments:

    Island Bandit said...

    that sucks that you got sick on the first vacation you've taken in 5 years!!!! Hope you're all better now.
    And it sucks that the hotel sucked. i live in the tropics and you're right, you can't blame that smell and mold on the location. no way.
    Hope you're back to normal now and thinking about where you're going to go next!

    Jody V said...

    Oh Fluffy!

    I'm so sorry! I hope you are feeling better. Next vacation will rock your socks off. Did you wear the outfit from Venus?

    Jody