Much Needed Vitamin D

Last week, Richard and I took a much needed and very relaxing trip to Mexico. It was a great opportunity to add to my understanding of the Spanish language (although if you ask Richard, he will tell you that I need to speak it more) and to just get away and forget about day-to-day tasks for awhile. It takes about 3 days to really unwind - Richard looks pretty relaxed here, doesn't he? It was definitely a nice respite.

One of the things we enjoy doing in Mexico is visiting ruin sites. This time we went to Coba - a site we have not previously visited. Coba has the distinction of having the tallest ancient temple in Southeast Mexico. This photo doesn't do justice to the height.

Climbing to the top of these temples is great - once you get to the top - because you really have a birdseye view of the surrounding "wilderness". the jungle is extremely thick. I always have a greater appreciation for reading the Book of Mormon after seeing these sites.

Climbing up a temple is not nearly as difficult for me as climbing down - I have eased my fear of edges somewhat, but it's still difficult for me. Ancient feet were definitely smaller than mine and the footing is not terribly sure on these decaying stones. But I do love it and I'm always glad to have made the journey.

As we drove through the jungle back toward Cancun we came into a clearing - a small town about 45 miles east of Cancun. The markets and buildings are still very simple and usually quite dirty, but we were surprised to see this building in the middle of town - clearly the nicest building. Look closely at the sign and you'll see why we were so surprised.

And to remember this great time of rest, I took this picture of my feet in the white sand. I can still feel the cool sand as I sit here at my desk.