Into the Ocean: Blue October in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!

October 2-6, 2025

Less than six years after starting this blog, and wondering if I would ever even leave the state of New Mexico, Brandy and I found ourselves leaving the country for a four day all inclusive trip to Mexico to hang out with Blue October!

After putting our deposit on the getaway down in April, we had a long time to wait for the actual trip. During that time, we went on MANY adventures, including Spartanburg, SC, a couple of camping trips in our briefly-owned fifth wheel RV, a trip to Henry Doorly zoo in Omaha, an Iowa Cubs game, a trip to LA (granted, this was for a memorial service for my grandma, but I still got to check out a Dodger game while I was there), a trip to Kansas City, also for a Dodger game, and also saw me visit the Negro Leagues Museum, the American Jazz Museum, and the Toys and Miniatures Museum, and our extensive Escaping the Corn Sweat Summer 2025 Tour (including a THIRD Dodger game!).

We were originally supposed to be back in Iowa on September 21 but Brandy’s medical emergency at the end of our Summer trip got us back a week late meaning that once we got back, we would have four days at home before departing for our trip to Mexico.

Last Minute Rush

With a nearly two-month-long trip to unpack from, then an international trip to prepare for, all within less than a week, we were under a major time crunch before taking off on October 2. We did manage though and after giving Hilary a quick tutorial on how to take care of Ash while we were gone, we were out the door on October 1.

We stayed the night at the Days Inn near the Des Moines airport and danced through the TSA pre-check just after 4:00 am. We took our first class seats at 6:00 and flew comfortably for 2 and a half hours to Houston. We had a nice, long layover there where we decided to start celebrating the event and had some tequila sunrises at 10:00 am.

Hey, it was 5:00 somewhere, right?

We boarded our second flight for another 3 hours landing in Cabo just before 1:00 local time.

Having never traveled internationally before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. We landed were then pushed through immigration where we were greeted by a super long line snaking through a large, industrial-looking room. Concrete and steel dominated the aesthetic with little visual interest to keep us occupied as we followed the queue through the switchbacks to the immigration officers.

As we waited, we saw plenty of other people with Blue October shirts so there were quite a few that would be joining us at the event.

We finally made it to the checkpoint and we were pushed through an automated station where a scanner electronically scanned our passports and gates opened allowing us through once it was determined we were not a threat.

Once through immigration, we were then herded to baggage claim where we picked up our full-sized suitcases, on top of the carry on bags, backpacks and my CPAP that I was carrying. We were completely loaded down for a short 4 day trip, but that was to be expected. I mean, I WAS traveling with Brandy, after all.

Once we collected our checked bags, we then got in the even longer line for customs. Brandy was confused, not quite understanding that customs is different than immigration. I explained to her, immigration is to let US in, customs is to let OUR STUFF in.

The line for customs was even longer than immigration and seemed to be moving even slower but not long after we got in the line, we were taken to a second line that by and large bypassed the snaking switchbacks of the main queue. Our line simply skirted around the outside of the main line and we were at the customs counter in perhaps a quarter of the time we would have been in the primary line.

Brandy’s frustration was mounting. All the waiting and now dealing with the insane heat and humidity we’d sought to escape did not make for a good time for her.

We finally got through customs and bypassed the timeshare “sharks” and went out to the ground transportation area where we were directed to a large tour bus that was waiting for us. The bus was completely full, save for two seat specifically waiting for us. Our checked bags and carry-ons were stowed in the belly of the bus and we carried our backpacks onto the coach and settled in for the 45-ish minute drive to the resort.

Pueblo Bonito Pacifica

We disembarked at the Pueblo Bonito Pacifica resort just before 3:00 and again were greeted with an insane amount of people waiting to check in. We walked in through the first set of doors and were immediately greeted by Justin, who was greeting each and every person that walked in. He noted that Brandy and I were wearing matching shirts and even commented on how we were “twinning”.

After taking some pics with us, he moved on, I got in line to check us in, and Brandy found somewhere to sit while she recovered from her recent surgery.

The line to check in moved at a ridiculously slow pace. I stood in the same spot for what seemed like an hour before we slowly crept along.

As I waited, Matt, the bassist for the band came up, asking how we were doing, striking up conversations with us as we waited. I asked if this was something they were considering doing every year. He told us that the next one was going to be “in the spring” in Portugal then another getaway in Cabo the following fall. Intriguing. More on that later.

Finally, I got to the desk and started the check-in process. There were a million questions, passport checks, forms to sign, and finally, we were each given a bracelet with what turned out to be an NFC chip that acted as a room key and a tracker to use for any purchase made on the resort. We were given the directions to our room and we headed down the hallway to the suite.

The room was lovely, exactly what I expected. A ceiling fan spun lazily on the ceiling creating a nice little breeze to help combat the heat. Straight ahead was a sliding glass door beyond which was a small balcony overlooking a stunningly landscaped garden/courtyard. The pools and a large restaurant dominated the scenery and just beyond that was the beach, the waves of the Pacific Ocean crashing on the sand.

Friday

Aside from the getaway at the resort, there was plenty of us to do while we were there.

Blue October put on three shows, that Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Friday and Sunday shows were full band shows, and the Saturday show was just Justin and Ryan in a slower-paced acoustic set.

Friday morning, before the show, we had scheduled a full, 2 hour spa experience that included time in a sauna, a warm bath, a cold plunge and an 80 minute massage.

Before heading down to that, we stopped at the centrally located buffet restaurant for breakfast. We were seated and made our way up to the buffet. As I waited on a made-to-order dish, I struck up a conversation with Jeremy, the band’s drummer, who was also waiting for food. We had a nice conversation about the hot sauces on offer. I elected the one he claimed to be the hottest.

After breakfast, we were off to our spa treatments. We showed up just before our appointment and Brandy, having just had surgery, was prohibited from experiencing the baths, and she doesn’t tolerate heat very well so the sauna was a no-go fer her as well, so she only was blessed with the massage.

After the massage, I was ushered to the men’s area where I stripped down and took advantage of each of the other amenities available to me.

Normally, I am not comfortable with being nude, really anywhere, but something about this experience gave me the confidence, or, rather, stripped away the inhibition and was fully satisfied with being completely nude throughout the experience. Now, the fact that I was utterly alone likely helped but I realized part way through that even if anyone else had come in, I wouldn’t have cared and would have continued on anyway.

Once my time was up, I got dressed, met Brandy in the lobby of the spa and we headed back to the room. We changed into our swimsuits and made our way down to the pools that were already packed with fans. We found a place to lounge and did just that. A server came by and took drink orders and we imbibed gleefully. We spent some time in the pool, some time in our lounge chairs and back and forth we went.

Our reservation time for dinner approached so we headed back to our room and showered and changed and caught a shuttle to the Quivira Steakhouse, which is actually located at the golf club at the resort.

We were seated outside, not far from the shore, and we ordered entirely too much food. As we were being served our dinners, we were assaulted by flies that were a common plight the entire time we were on this adventure. We asked if we could be moved inside and we were graciously obliged. We were also given a table-top fly fan, neither of these remedies did anything to quell the onslaught.

We finished what we could and hopped on the shuttle back to the resort-proper, took a quick nap, changed and headed down to the Friday night show.

There was a stage set up on the beach with a large, kind of “general admission” style open area right in front, followed by a few rows of chairs, all of which were on the sand. There were bar-top tables and some full bars scattered about as well, and some servers taking orders here and there as well. The crashing waves behind us provided a serene backdrop as we waited for the show to start. Then, the band took the stage.

The setlist Friday was about an hour and a half and was laden with older songs, from, like, Consent to Treatment, Any Man In America, Argue With a Tree, and so on, much of the music I was only listening to since I discovered what the setlists would be.

We drank a bunch at the show and after, we headed back to our room for the night.

Saturday

I had booked an ATV ride for us to take part in for Saturday but Brandy was advised against going after her recent surgery so I went alone.

I woke up Saturday and met the shuttle in the lobby of the resort at about 8:00 am. Just under an hour later, we pulled up at Wild Canyon Adventures, a company that offers not only ATV rides, but zip lining, horseback rides, camel rides and more.

After another long wait in line, and more forms to fill out, we were taken to a rack of helmets where we were all fitted. Finding a helmet to fit my fat head was a challenge but the last helmet they had was the one that fit. We were given goggles and a bandana, and I was placed on a two-person ATV due to my size. After a quick run-down on how to ride the machines, we headed out.

We were guided through a dry river bed and were boogying along at a pretty good clip. I looked down and saw we were cruising along at 50! …kilometers per hour. It took me a quick second to remember Mexico uses logical measurements, not like the US. Still, at over 30 MPH, it was pretty thrilling.

I was initially stuck behind someone that was VERY apprehensive. They were going pretty slow and many times, the rest of the group got ahead of us before they would slow and we were able to catch up. Finally, he was taken off of his machine and he was paired with a woman that was clearly more comfortable with riding than he was.

We continued on and suddenly, my machine just up and died. I didn’t know what happened, but when I stopped and tried to restart, I could not get the transmission to shift back to neutral. Soon, the rest of the group had passed me and disappeared around a bend. I finally got the machine in neutral and started it and took off like a bat out of hell. The rest of the group, however, was nowhere in sight. There didn’t seem to be any prescribed path or anything for me to follow to find them so I drove, hoping for the best. Finally, I rounded a bend and there the group sat. Our guide swung by asking what happened. I told him I didn’t know, that it just died and I had trouble getting it started again. He had me switch machines with him, so I was now riding a puny one-person ATV.

We continued along to the shore and took a brief 15 minute water break, strolling down on the beach. After our break, we mounted back up and made our way back to the base.

We parked and were given the rundown on the last adventure we were about to go on. We were then guided down a 1,000 foot long bridge, suspended 200 feet over a deep canyon running right through the park.

The approach down then back up was impressively steep and as I drove up, was a little trepidatious, but once on the bridge, it was not nearly as nerve-wracking as I though it’d be. I made it down and back across with no issues at all.

Once back at base, we parked our machines, were given air showers and were free to go. I caught the next shuttle back to the resort, arriving back just after 1:15. I took a shower and we headed back down to the pool for more drinking and lounging before a quick room service dinner before the show.

The show was a slower-paced, more intimate setting with just Justin with an acoustic guitar and Ryan with his keyboard and violin. Justin had taken requests during his greetings on Thursday and he tried to play as many of these requests as he could.

After the set, we went back to our room and, bushed, fell asleep.

Sunday

Sunday, we decided to try taking a trip into town to see what Cabo San Lucas had to offer. We grabbed a taxi from the lobby of the hotel and were whisked away to the nearby marina.

We got to town at 9:00 and the heat and humidity struck us immediately upon our exit from the taxi. We wandered around a little, did a little shopping, picking up plenty of souvenirs to bring back to the states. One of the items I picked up along the way was a 4-pack of hot sauce that as of yet, I still have not opened (I really should though, throw it on some scrambled eggs or something.)

It wasn’t long before the climate got to us and we decided to head back to the resort to cool off by the pool again. We hailed another cab and made our way back, changed into our swimsuits and headed down to the pool where we enjoyed a few more drinks before heading back up to the room to change for the pre-show photo session with the band.

We made our way down and as we approached to lobby of the resort, we happened upon Ryan, the band’s multi-instrumentalist as he made his way to the lobby. We had a nice little discussion about what we were watching on Netflix these days before we got in line for our turn at photos.

After our shoot, we headed to the on-site sushi bar for a quick bite before heading out to the sand for the last band show of the trip.

The boys put on a hell of a show, playing more of there current songs than the first night’s set, then finished up the weekend with “I Hope You’re Happy” which has become their kind of de facto closer these days.

There was an after-show mingling (as was the same the previous two nights) but we skipped it in favor of heading back to the room for some rest before our travel back home.

The Return

The next morning, we had some time to kill before heading back to the airport so we had some breakfast and loitered around the lobby, Brandy finishing up some work before we were beckoned for our ride to the airport. We boarded the van and were whisked away, arriving in plenty of time to sit for lunch before boarding.

We, of course, ran into delays in getting home and didn’t land until much later than we were expecting to. We debated whether we would stay in Des Moines for the night and head home early the next morning, which we did. We were up and on the road just after 7:00 am the next morning, pulling in to home just in time for both of us to return to our normal routine on Tuesday, the 7th.

Conclusion

I don’t think I could have imagined a better first trip out of the country than by spending four days with our favorite band. Having unparalleled access to them as they mingled about with only a few hundred of their biggest fans was a dream come true.

I took a LOT of pictures over the weekend, a selection of which can be found in the ol’ Photo Diary, broken up into sections for easier digestion.

This was pretty far from the end of our year though, as we were home a mere week before my next adventure: The Evil Dead In Concert!

Watch for that, coming right up!

-Phil