#puntacasanova

I'm back! I know you were all just counting the minutes till my return home. No doubt I was counting the minutes till I had cell service...which you may have noticed with my 100 consecutive Instagram posts upon landing in St. Louis. So, here's how it went:

With bags packed, I kissed the boyfriend good bye and headed to St. Louis on Saturday night. A little outside of St. Louis, I discovered the greatest radio station 103.3, which played the ultimate sing along songs: "Night Moves", "Landslide", "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", "Amie", "Already Gone", "Don't Stop Believin'" ...all in a row. It's my new favorite.

: Missouri, I love thee. And I will miss thee while I'm on the beaches of #puntacana this week.

We stayed the night with Nana and Bob and woke up bright and early to hit the airport on Sunday morning.

: Haven't gotten these three in the same seat in a while. Headed to the airport! #earlybird #puntacasanova

: Just getting all my Instagram'ing out before I'm without phone service... #puntacasanova

At this point in real life, we lost phone service. But I'll tell the story as if these were actually posted at the time of the events... There were lots of forms to fill out in order to enter the Dominican Republic, some with spelling errors and unusual questions.

: Officer, I swear I didn't bring those foot products...? #puntacasanova

: This airport has no walls...and the roof is made of grass. Very professional? #puntacasanova

 The airport was like a tree house...sans-tree. We hopped off the plane and WALKED (what are we, animals??) to the open-air building where we stood in a crowd that they called "Customs". Here we waited in crowd (not line) and were charged $10 per person just to wait in another crowd to be approved and sent on to our luggage. After a short wait, we took our shuttle to the Dreams Palm Beach resort. Where we entered the lobby...another open-air space with a front desk, seating and a bar. We hit the bar first. Once we were "hydrated" we went to our rooms to unpack. 

: Soooooo. Robes... #puntacasanova

: The minibar is part of the all-inclusive. And it's awesome #puntacasanova

: View from out balcony *palm tree* #puntacasanova

Our days were spent lounging by the pool and beach. Occasionally playing some sand volleyball or swimming up to the bar for a drink. My general week itinerary went like this...

Day 1: Burn the heck out of the front of my body.

Day 2: Recover in shade.

Day 3: Off-site for Zip Lining.

Day 4: Burn the heck out of the back of my body.

Day 5: Recover in the shade.

...You get the picture. I'm a ginger #redhairdontcare.

We ate breakfast and lunch at the World Cafe buffet and dinners were done at the restaurants. One night we did Asian where mom was recruited to help run the grill.

: Mom picked up some skills at the Asian restaurant #puntacasanova

We shuttled into town one day to check out some museums and shops. As will every new venture, we took a drink for the road. I bought souvenirs here including some Bob-approved cigars for Aaron and some local treats for Ab and Linds (these must remain undisclosed until I've given them).

: Yeaaaaah those beers were FREE #allinclusive #puntacasanova

: Happy 50th Anniversary to Nana and Bob! #puntacasanova

Another day we walked to the shopping market for the cheap, negotiable goodies of the local "salesmen".

I bought a simple bracelet made of laramir, the official gem of the Dominican Republic.

: Pretty smart comparison advertising in the shopping market downtown. They know what we want... #allinclusive #puntacasanova

I woke up Wednesday feeling a little queasy, but I was still determined not to miss out Zip Lining excursion. So, I took some Tums and climbed aboard the shuttle...the ride was hell. Curvy roads turned into an unpaved, uphill, terrifying ride into the mountains. But we survived and it was worth the trip! 

: Ready for #zipline Adventures! #puntacasanova

#zipline #puntacasanova

Later that night we took family pictures. I'll post some of those later. It's our first trip having family shirts, which I designed. I should've gotten the back. They say: Nana & Bob's 50th Anniversary, Casanova Vacation. If you can imagine that looking super super cute.

: Family pictures in our vacation shirts! We're a strange bunch... #puntacasanova 

Friday night, Nana & Bob renewed their vows. It was so precious. Before the ceremony began, Nana had the tissue out and ready so her and Bob could get through the event. It was very sweet and all the daughters made toasts to their parents marriage and blah blah love whatever.

: 50 years, 3 children and 7 grandchildren later...Nana & Bob renew their vows #puntacasanova

This was one of those "Recover in the shade" days...

It was great to just lounge by the ocean while being offered drinks. I tried just about one of everything: strawberry daiquiri, lemon daiquiri, pina colada, Bahama mama, cosmopolitan, pink lady martini, grass hopper martini, etc, etc.

: #beachside #puntacasanova

Sunday afternoon, we headed home. I took plenty of plane pictures as I anticipated the Instagram posts I would send a mere 3.5 hours later. I slept the entire flight to pass the time.

: Punta Cana from the sky #puntacasanova

: And this is my last post. A little sympathy for a week without phone service, please... #puntacasanova

When the plane landed and "Airplane Mode" finally switched off, I was overwhelmed with 96 texts...90 of which were from Aaron and consisted of a daily update of what he had for lunch and how many stoplights he hit on the way there. Some messages were just: xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo and others a quick reminder that he missed me (with emojis...I *heart* emojis). I was thrilled to be reminded and even more thrilled to be back in Columbia and to see him again...awh, love...or whatever.

: *hear* The best part of being home... @ A. A. Ron's House

The trip was a blast! As our Casanova Vacations always are. The #allinclusive was an awesome experience and I'm happy to say that I when we left on Sunday, I weighed the same as when we arrived. (There were scales in the rooms...just MEAN.) It was good as always to see the cousins and aunts and uncles from California and Texas and we're all so grateful to Nana & Bob for getting together those 50 years ago and keeping us together for vacations like these!