Paradise Found- Part 1

Lauren, Kalon, and I just got back from the best girls trip ever. We left Memphis one early, early morning to head to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. You may wonder why we went there? JoAnne and Brittany have been there several times and raved about it. JoAnne insisted that we go there if we ever got the chance. We got the chance, so we took the opportunity to go check out Punta Cana.

Flight one to Atlanta.

Flight two to Punta Cana. 

Our arrival flights were awesome. The landings were perfect, the scenery was amazing, but the flight attendants were no fun. We had some pretty crappy assistance on the flights. They were thoroughly ticked off to be accommodating us on those flights. We made the best of it, and turned their rudeness into a joke. They couldn't ruin our day! As we were flying into Punta Cana these were some of the views that I captured on my trusty iPhone!

When we arrived in Punta Cana we were blown away by the airport. We stepped off the plane and walked across the landing strips into the airport, which was a HUGE straw hut/building. 

The airport situation in the DR was less than perfect. We got off the plane excited to get to the resort. We were extremely disappointed to see the looooong lines formed to get a tourist pass. We were in lines over an hour in a straw hut with zero air conditioning. The only air that was flowing in the building was from some large fans called "Big Ass Fans" with a picture of a donkey on the blades.We finally got through all the annoying lines, and made our way to claim our luggage. We grabbed our bags, and headed to find our transportation. Wow, we were extremely overwhelmed with all the people trying to con us into riding with them. We had specific instructions on who to ride with, and we couldn't find him. We were anxious, nervous, and had no cell phone reception at all. After almost resorting to illegal calming drugs, our driver found us. We loaded the bus, and headed to our resort. We were beyond ready to get settled. We were tired from traveling and holding/dragging bags everywhere.

We rolled into the resort surprised that the front of the buildings weren't very pretty. The landscaping was amazing, but the buildings were less than stellar. Well, when we walked into the front doors we knew that the front of the buildings didn't need to be beautiful. The inside, the property behind the front walls, and the surroundings were absolutely breathtaking. We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort, so everything was super cool and edgy. We checked in, and a sweet guy named Moises took all our bags to our room for us. He gave us the "low down" on the resort while we were walking. He was a huge asset to us that day!

This caught my attention, of course. I knew that Dad would think it was cool. This was in the main building where all the restaurants and shopping were. The car looked like a miniature version compared to the huge interior.  

After taking the tour of our "suite" we started unloading all our goods. Needless to say.... we went to the main building and got a buffet supper, came back, and crashed AFTER we got dessert via room service. Fudge brownies and diet coke was on the menu before we could rest.

While I was away I had Suzy's schedule worked out to the "T", so I thought.... I didn't expect to see this little pesky picture come through to my phone shortly after we were settled..

Suzy had been complaining for a couple days about her toe, but I never could find any sores or cuts on it. I put peroxide on it and doctored a toe that I didn't see any problems with. It festered up so quickly that Mimi knew she needed to see the doctor. It was very sensitive and it hurt extremely bad. I hated that I was away from her and everyone else was having to take care of her while she was in so much pain. The doctor never could figure out why her toe did that. There were no sores or cuts, so it is still a mystery. They gave her strong antibiotics that she had to take for 3 weeks! I am proud to announce that her toenail fell off, and she is as good as new!

Kalon, Lauren, and I have terrible sleeping patterns/habits. Lauren snores very loudly, I girt my teeth very loudly, and Kalon snuggles very closely. We were quite the trio. Our neighbors probably hated Lauren and I, and I hated Kalon because she was snuggled so close that I had like a cm of bed to myself. She and I started out sleeping normally. By the end of the night, so was almost on top of me. She has no idea she is doing it in her sleep. We like to pick at her about it.

We woke up pretty early to enjoy our day to the fullest. We caught the buffet on the way out to the beach, and went to claim some chairs. Our first day was pretty overcast, so there were plenty of open chairs. We didn't mind the cloudy skies. We were in Paradise. We were staying out there regardless. Would you stay inside if you had this to look at?

Day 1 on the beach! 

We had to drink Tecate while we were there. We had two choices: Tecate or Dos Equis. We choise Tecate Light as our beer of choice. We had to take this photo with the Five Star huggie. It was a just a little piece of home in the DR with us! 

We were in the DR for seven nights, so this blog will take a few entries to be completed. There are too many pictures to add to just one blog post! Stay tuned.....