The Dunns

Sunday, February 25, 2007

The (second) Honeymoon

Well our friends left yesterday and Julie is already missing all of the sports talk...truly, it was a great time and it was a perfect dose of friends and a taste of home. By the way, I should mention, that by the last day, Julie asked me, "Hey Ry, let's go play Smashball on the beach." This came as somewhat of a shock to me, since I didn't know Julie liked Smashball or had ever played, but she assured me it was "just like tennis and would be easy." So off we ran down the beach, with two paddles and a small rubber ball. Let's just say it wasn't long before we realized that we weren't going to be Smashball champions or go down in the Guiness Book of World Records, and despite our best efforts to get a "rally" going, Julie took the SMASH in Smashball quite literally.

Ko Phan Ngan was a beautiful, less developed island that offered the basics, a beautiful beach, a few eateries, a lot of bars, and sparse accommodations. The beach was filled with young people looking for a party. Julie and I thought we could hang with the partiers (and our buddies), although despite our noble efforts we were wiped out after the first night and spent the next day napping on the beach! [Insert Julie's comment: please note that napping on the beach includes full sunscreen toe to wrist clothes and my wide brim hat, no sunburn for this girlie!] That day, I seemed to have lost our hotel key, which I am certain was due to the fatigue, not any personal traits. (Don't worry, Julie found it by the end of the day!) [Insert Julie's comment: I was trying to figure out how to explain to the guesthouse owner, in Thai, that my husband lost the key. . . I should have asked our Thai language teacher that phrase in advance knowing my love's history with keys.]

Julie and I are now back in Ko Samui. I asked her if she wanted to stay in the beautiful 2 star hotel we stayed at with the guys :), but she chose option B, the nice, quiet honeymoon-like resort on the other side of the island. Our room has a DVD player, so yesterday Julie went and inquired as to the resort's video library. She came back and told me there were no movies that we would want to see...so, today when I was walking by another guest perusing the video library and saw some great action/adventure movies, I was curious what Julie meant when she said there were no movies WE would like. [Insert Julie's comment: I guess after several days of 'guys' I was ready for some romantic comedies and they didn't have any, oh well.]

We spoke to our families today, which was wonderful. It is always great to hear every one's voices and to find out what is happening back home.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

The guys + Jules

the guys + Jules
Originally uploaded by juliebriggsdunn.

The Beach

the beach
Originally uploaded by juliebriggsdunn.

Ahhh, we finally arrived in Ko Samui after 2 planes (Phomn Pehn to Bangkok, Bangkok to Surat Thani), 1 bus, 1 ferry, and 2 cars. . . we arrived at the hotel and met up with the boys. . . Jack Grimes, Matt Guidice, Dan Romanski, Keith Marshall, and Brian Murphy had made the 16 hour trip to visit us and Thailand. We have been having a great time catching up with all of them, gathering news from home while relaxing on the beach. Coming from a family of all girls where many of our vacations included deep talks, beach walks, laying on beach or by the pool and relaxing. . . this is a little different speed for me. It seems as though there is always some type of game to play. . . a card game, a volleyball game, a frisbee game or just simply tossing a ball around. Let's just say it's a little more activity but being the only girl it is very entertaining to just watch. The first day we rented motor scooters (don't worry I was insistent on helmets all around and at least a test drive before we set out on the open road!) and then went and played football golf. A game where you kick a soccer ball into a hole in the grass, something I didn't think would take more than a few hours (thinking then I would be back at the pool or beach) well, we finished up in just under 3 hours (in about 90 degree heat and 90% humidity) and then decided to hit every hotel pool (of course, creating a pool game at each one) along the road back to our hotel. There have been many, many funny moments along the way and I am consistently amazed at the appetites of this young gentlemen. . . I mean they can eat anything at anytime!!!

After three days in Samui we decided to check out one of the other islands in the area. . . so this morning we took the speedboat to Ko Phangan, a smaller island just north of Ko Samui. It is a little more of a party scene here for Europeans and the like and the host to the infamous "full moon parties" which we will miss by just a week! It is absolutely beautiful and the water is so warm and blue. we are having a great time with the boys, our first visitors! We are just relaxing now and I think the pace might have slowed. . . just a bit!

Thought you all might enjoy a photo from the beach!