Meheeko: Last Day

Yes, it's been like 19 weeks since I first began this series of posts, but this really is the last one, so there. 

The last real day of our trip (because the next day we pretty much just got on a plane and went home) we went on the mother of all tours: The Outdoor Adventure.

Still rocking from the boat ride the night before, we boarded a much smaller and faster boat for Boca de Tomatlan, a beach on the southern edge of Banderas Bay. This t-shirt turned motor cover really instills a feeling of confidence, don't you think:

No idea why we are both making such lame faces. 

We arrived at this beautiful little beach after about a half an hour:

See that tall couple right in the middle of the picture? (The girl is in purple.) Turned out they were a little newlywed Mormon couple from Logan, Utah. What are the chances?

All picture taking pretty much ceased at this point as we boarded yet another off road vehicle and went banging up the mountain 2000 ft. above sea level. From there, we rode mules on an even bumpier road until we were deep in the jungle of the Sierra Madres at the company's base camp where everyone got suited up for the days adventures. (Because the boat ride, off roading, and mule ride were mere transportation . . . )

I did get this one picture of me getting my gear on:

And that's when the serious zip lining began. It was the longest, and coolest, series of zip lines either of us has ever done, in addition to rappelling down a couple of waterfalls (one was 90 ft.), and going down some pretty crazy (and cold) water slides. (The waterfalls and pools at the bottom of them were pretty darn cold, too.) In case you're wondering (Mom and Dad), this company is very highly rated and I felt completely and totally safe 100% of the time. The people working for this company were absolutely top notch and reiterated numerous times how many hours of training were required to do their job and how fantastic their safety records were. I really can't say enough about Vallarta Adventures.

This is the only other picture I have to show from the day's activities, and I paid a gazillion dollars for it. That's the rub, of course. No one is going to take a camera on a tour like this, so if you want photographic memories of everything you did, you have to pay for it. This is a picture of a picture, and it's of the last--and longest--zip line of the day. (Turn away Mom and Dad.) If you're brave enough to try it, you do this one upside down:

It was pretty wild. Exhausted as I was from the day before, adrenaline kept me going on this tour all day long. It really was a highlight of our trip. Once we changed into dry clothes, they gave us a little lunch before we headed back down the mountain. I took this opportunity to get one last picture of us:

(In my stylin' boys x-large sweatshirt . . .)

I snapped a bunch of pictures from the Unimog on the drive back down, and was totally surprised by how nice they turned out considering how much I was moving. Again, way to go Apple!

This little person from Missouri was the coolest guy ever. He's a freshmen in a college and wrestles for his school. Isn't that house on the hill just cool?

Here's that cool panoramic feature again:

Time to go:

We saw a whale breaching on the boat ride back:

One last dinner out, and our 4 short (but wonderful) days in paradise came to an end. Some pretty shots around the resort grounds as we made our way to dinner:

We shared this dessert that was all about corn:

The lobby of the resort where we ate dinner. I loved the lights and artwork:

Taking in every last second of our time there with a few more shots on our way out:

I really do love our high desert scenery and mountains in Utah, but there's just something about this kind of lushness that is so appealing:

And that, my friends, is the end of our photographic journey through Brandon and Allyson's 18th Anniversary trip to Mexico. (About a month and a half before our real anniversary--whatever works, right?) I will conclude by thanking my mother-in-law for not only taking care of our kids, but also the dog who was supposed to be elsewhere all week long until she got sick with diarrhea and required daily medication. You went from no dog, to a dog with diarrhea. If there were a medal to award you with, I would have. But know there is lots and lots of gratitude . . .