The D.R. July 2011

So, I have some time to post a little bit more about our trip to the Dominican Republic. We went there last minute in place of going to Turks and Caicos in August. I was completely bummed when we realized that we had to cancel the trip in August due to Ryan's program, so we decided to go somewhere over the week of the 4th since he had that week off anyway. Well, I had my heart set on going somewhere in the Caribbean, so after hours and hours of internet searching, some tears, and even a prayer, I was able put together the trip to the Dominican Republic. I managed to keep it within our budget by using mileage points for the flights from LAX to Miami and a cheap all inclusive deal for the flights from Miami to the D.R .and the resort.

Everything about it was perfect! The resort we stayed at, The Melia Caribe Topical, was an all inclusive resort that was massive and had beautiful grounds, several free form pools, right on the beach, and lots of different restaurants for food options. The weather was the definition of paradise. It was never too hot or too cold. The water temperature was refreshing yet never gave you the chills. There was a constant warm sea breeze that allowed for optimal tanning conditions because you could just stay on your chair for hours! We loved the all inclusive option and not having to worry about how much anything cost. Our room was beautiful with a private back yard palapa and just a couple minutes walk from one of the main pools and the beach. We only left the resort 1 day to go on a dune buggy excursion. It was a lot of fun. As part of the day's activities, we went to a local beach to swim for about 30 minutes. OK- it was one of the most beautiful if not THE most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. Crystal clear water, fine, white sand, no sea weed, it was just completely picturesque.

Honestly, to say it was a great week is an understatement. No alarm clock in the morning, no diapers to change, no schedule to think about, no real decisions to make besides which bathing suit to wear! The best was just getting to spend time with just Ryan. We made a deal before we left that we weren't going to talk about his ortho research or the job search or anything of that nature for the entire time. I was a little bit worried that we might not have anything to talk about since it seems those things have permeated life for what seems like forever, but we did it, and it was so nice to get to re-connect like that. We went sea kayaking one day and took a catamaran out another day. We ended up having to get rescued when we took the catamaran out because we went pretty far and out around the bend and found that there wasn't much wind on the other side. Ooops!

Justin was an absolute angel for my parents. He took his naps, went to bed fine, slept through the night, and was a joy to go anywhere and do anything with. My Mom was kind of sad when the week was over! I was relieved to hear that he was doing so well. The first 24 hours without him were kind of hard since I hadn't ever been without him for more than a few hours at a time, but once I knew he was doing fine, I was able to just relax and enjoy a true vacation.

The only down fall of the vacation was the trip back to the States. Long story short, we were stuck in the Punta Cana airport from 4:45 a.m until 11:30 p.m. That's right, about 18 hours!!! When we finally got out, American Airlines put us up in a hotel, so we slept for about 3 hours before heading to the Miami airport to catch our connecting flight to LAX. To add insult to injury, so to speak, we were told in Punta Cana that we were upgraded to 1st class for that connecting flight and were given a printed itinerary that said so, and then they wouldn't honor that upgrade in Miami. We were told a manager had to do it and the manager was conveniently in a meeting. So frustrating to say the least. I wrote a novel to American Airlines when we got back with a list of demands for the inconvenience we were put through, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Definitely not flying with them again. You shouldn't either!