Christmas in BeautifulPlaya del Carmen, Mexico

(click on above title for slideshow)

Talk about an amazing Christmas! I have a new travel buddy at work, and her name is Emily. Not only is Emily a cute little chica -- she also treated me to the most fabulous Christmas I've ever had. There's a picture they took of me as a momento in front of the Christmas Tree at the hotel we stayed at, and you can see it by clicking on the title above this post for a great slide show.

Unfortunately, her boyfriend just had to go, but he liked me too, so it was cool. We stayed in Playa del Carmen at this very "chi-chi" resort called the Hotel LaTortuga. She said LaTortuga means turtle, but I looked and looked and didn't see a single turtle staying there.

Everyone knows what a party animal I am, so man, was this ever the perfect trip for me! I got to ride on a plane too, and I haven't done that in a while, so that was pretty awesome, too. I almost got a plane ride to St.Louis a few months ago with another cute young girl named Korina, but she actually left me sitting in her car at the airport the WHOLE time. The nerve! She's not my friend anymore (unless she takes me on another trip, that is). :)

Once we landed at the airport, we didn't waste any time gettin' to the partying. We went for a whole night of partying in the Mexican discos. Yeah, buddy! Those people really know how to get down.

As always, I had a few tee many martoonies (Emily called them cocktails), and I got a little crazy and dived head-first into my last drink (look at my slide show by clicking the title of this entry into my blog and you can see me do that). We left after that because I think Em was afraid I'd get us kicked out. Before that though, they let me try some of the really tasty Mexican beers -- Sol, Dos Equis and Sol Light. Yummmm.

We hung around the hotel and beach the next day, because everybody (especially ME) were just a tad hung over. heeeeheeee! They took several pics of me at the beach and that was a really fun day. I got a little over-excited on the way there and started shrieking and jumped on Emily's head for the rest of the stroll down to la playa. There's another pic of me in the slide show doing that, and Emily's laughing hysterically.

I walked in the sand a lot that day with her and we did a little beach-combing while her boyfriend was scuba diving. I brought back some really cute and tiny shells - just my size. Some were light brown and white, others were black and white polka dots! Em put 'em in the little straw hat I had put in my bag for the trip. Later that day, they went on what's called a "zip-line" over the tropical jungle. I really wanted to go, but the people running it were afraid I'd drop down and visit my monkey friends or something, and wouldn't let me.

They made the mistake of taking me a little too close to some coconut trees, and I was just bound and determined to climb one of them and get a coconut. I had seen drinks in those things, so I thought I'd get one and see if maybe I could get another little buzz going. But I got up there, and they were WAY heavier than bananas, so I had to leave em up there. Blah.

Then we went for dinner later at the hotel, and the waiters (like everyone) just loved me. I got a picture made with one of them holding me, and anytime I didn't go for a meal with my friends, the waiters asked where I was.

The next morning I went with them to breakfast, and sat at a pool-side table. See the pics again for that, and also one of me deciding what to wear that day (I brought two pairs of swim trunks, some shades, some flipflops and a sombrero). After we got dressed, we went again to the beach. WhooooHooooo! I told Em I'd never been buried in the sand, so they made my dreams come true and did that. I had sand in my fur for weeks! Later that evening, we went to a place called Carlos and Charlie's in Cozumel. They got a pic of me lounging poolside there and another of me making another attempt at climbing a coconut tree. I just wouldn't give it up! There's another pic of me and Em with the little yellow VW bug they rented in the background.

Before we left Cozumel, me and Em lounged around on some hammocks and soaked up some rays on the beach. That was really nice. There's a pic of me taking a snooze right on her legs. That was even nicer. BAD Minkey. lol Then there's another pic of us looking out over the ocean on a very windy day and one preparing to ride the wave runner. Em said, "Hang on Minkey!", and the rest was a blur.

Our last day, we took one final siesta on the beach back in Playa del Carmen and then went to the Mamitas Beach Club there for the grand finale. It took me a week to recover from that trip, and another week to get all the sand out of my fur! We had such a fantastic time, Em said she'll take me on another trip soon to New Mexico with a whole bunch of new friends to go SNOW BOARDING! WhoooooooHooooooo!

See you guys later!
The Minkster