I got to it faster than I thought... :) Here are some of my favorites.
A stray dog crossing Juarez Avenue, which cuts across the island of Cozumel. We took a scooter out and this is looking back towards the West. The East coast of Cozumel has these unbelievable breaks that lend themselves to some dramatic photos, especially with the clouds looming on the horizon.
Cancun's long stretch of shallow water.
The Castle at Chichen Itza, about a 3-hour drive from where we were staying.
A family shot at the beach, Playa del Carmen.
Love this shot! We took this on our first full day. We are silly geezers.
We're back from Mexico today, and let me tell you.. I look exactly like a bright red tomato! Yesterday was the only completely-sunny day the entire week we spent in the Mayan Riviera and that sun beat down extremely hard. It probably didn't help that we spent a good five hours in the beach and the pool. And man, sunburns hurt!
On the bright side, getting some away time was much-needed. I've always been the restless type, and traveling calms me. Maybe it's being in the middle of all the external activity that reminds me that there's little use in fussing over life. Only I know how much of a stickler I am for feeling in-control. So I'm probably the only person that knows how much I need to let go.
:)
Anyway, enough introspection. Pictures will come soon from the trip. We did a ton! Some highlights: seeing Chichen Itza and Tulum, the aquamarine waters of Playa del Carmen and Cancun (which, by the way, reminded me of a water-surrounded Vegas), scootering aimlessly through Cozumel before finding our way to the windswept breakers of the island's east coast, stopping by a roadside stand for fresh coconut, floating under mangroves in Xel-Ha before getting caught in a tropical downpour - and still managing a rather difficult rope bridge, seeing the largest school of fish I've ever seen in my life while snorkeling in Cozumel (I am not exaggerating. Will link that video soon!), and all the food and sunbathing in between. :) It was a good week.
And now it's back to life. There's lots to get to, including a show on Tuesday at American Express in the city. I'm also working out the details for the Music Video Screening/Release Party, which I hope to do by the 2nd week in June. Cross fingers for me! Coordinating always seems to be an anxiety-ridden ordeal, but I am hoping we can get it all locked down very soon. :) I've already seen a rough version of the video and I'm over the moon about it! I can't wait until it's actually out there for the world to see...
The conclusion we came to was that Jon, Zach (the new guy on drums) and I had spent maybe just under 20 hours in transit for a 45-minute set, but that it was all worth it! The folks at Grinnell were awesome, band sounded great and playing for the first time with Zach turned out to be marvelous. Jon and I topped off our one evening in Iowa with some classy wine and cheese, and we all had a chance to check out the town a bit. Not that there was too much to see... but it was fun no less.
One hiccup though.. I've learned that I'm not a fan of too much flat land. It's a North Jersey thing, ya know? We like our tree cover and small mountains in the distance.
There was an immense and cold wind sweeping across the town while we were there. Sad to report, the wind seems to have followed us to Jersey. The plane landing last night was a doozy, as you can probably imagine. Oh well!
Oh, Jon came up with a pretty funny Iowa joke.
It goes, "Iowa-nna come back next year!!!" :) Actually, that's slightly modified. Jon likes to say, "Iowa wanna come back next year!" but I think that's slightly redundant. Don't you?
Here's some evidence. :) Oh, and I have footage of the gig as well! I just have to kit-kat it... (you know, break it off into pieces) so it's not one big gig file. Though if I could, I totally would. :P
We stayed at a quaint spot, Grinnell House. Here's a view I snapped.
After the gig, we hit up a bar called Lonnski's where they had a shot-ski (look carefully). Basically, they glued 3 shot glasses onto a little ski and we all drank together. This is the Before picture.
...and the after picture... Yick.
It's us in front of Grinnell House, where we stayed. And look! I'm tall! :)
Flat flat flat...
Cornheads!
Finally, here's the closer for the evening. An off-the-cuff uke tune about our short trip:
A stray dog crossing Juarez Avenue, which cuts across the island of Cozumel. We took a scooter out and this is looking back towards the West.
The East coast of Cozumel has these unbelievable breaks that lend themselves to some dramatic photos, especially with the clouds looming on the horizon.
The Castle at Chichen Itza, about a 3-hour drive from where we were staying.
A family shot at the beach, Playa del Carmen.
