061215
It seems like no matter how many times I make this trek it's always an adventure. I can plan on things to be the same and worry about things going wrong and inevitably nothing lives up to my expectations.
My lift out to Sun Country's Terminal called the day before to apologize that they had to unexpectedly attend to their aging Dad, out of town. My Pal John P., our local Apple Computer Users Group Newsletter Editor, offered to stand in and got to make the 3 AM trip. Good Man John. Actually there were several friends wanting to make a vicarious escape by offering to take me but John lives nearby and seemed the least inconvenienced. As usual it's easier for me to just stay up all night to finish packing and tidying up than to try to get any sleep.
The rule of thumb is to arrive at the airport a couple hours before an international flight and mine was scheduled for 6 AM. As it turned out the gates didn't open until 4:15 so I was plenty early.
That does look like quite a pile of 'stuff' but it's the least I've taken down so far. I only had to pay for one extra bag this trip ($40). Sun Country is starting to pass along the increased fuel costs by reducing the bag weight from 70 to 50 lbs each. You still get two checked items plus a 'carry-on' and a computer bag. My extra bag is pictured on top and contained a microwave oven and my 'George Foreman' grill. For what it is worth and your mileage may vary but they never weighed my bags this trip.
Once aloft there was a nice pre-dawn view of the southern metro before we entered a cloud layer.
Yes I got to sit by an engine this trip but I was sleepy enough for it to not matter. Later on we got a glimpse of dawn breaking long before they did down on the ground.
And the same was true of the sunrise itself.
Sun Country got $183 this year, one way, from Minneapolis to Cancun with an hour layover in Dallas. On Saturdays they offer a direct flight for $20 extra. This year it was ~$60 extra because I left after Thanksgiving.
From Dallas we head for Huston and then South across the Gulf to the Yucatan Peninsula. The Cancun airport is about 15 miles SSW of downtown and because of the wind speed and direction we got to arrive after a swing out over the city. Note the unusual surf. . . more about that later.
Our final approach brought us in over the coast well South of the city.
Last year I had a heated discussion at Immigration before I got a 180 day visa, this year there was no concern whatsoever. Customs still uses the 'stop and go' light to determine who's bags get inspected and not many actually get looked at. While waiting for the 'Rivera' bus I noticed this lovely gal making one full roll of TP out of several partial rolls. You gotta' admire the local respect of thrift.
Several years ago a Pal of mine had been buying, restoring and selling houses while he worked as a line mechanic for a high end foreign car dealership. In time he found he was doing so much kitchen and bathroom remodeling on the side that he had to quit his day job and get a contractors license. He came to mind, awhile back, when I saw this aluminum toolbox topper for sale in a guys side yard in St Paul. I gave him the phone number and he ended up buying it.
Since then I've gotten a hold of a PU myself and let it be known that if the time ever came to replace his truck that I'd like a shot at that topper. A week before my departure he called to say he'd just gotten a new Dodge Sprinter Van that he is going to use as an on-site cabinet shop and was selling the truck to his son who didn't have any interest in the topper. All the forgoing is to explain my interest in this Mexican Sprinter van's entrance when used as a bus:
They simply removed the front passenger seat and everyone enters as they would a bus, which explains the full standing headroom above the driver. Using this technique would permit my pal to avoid accommodating the sliding side door in his mobile cabinet shop.
The 65 peso Rivera bus ride from Cancun airport to Playa Del Carmen is now 80 pesos and still a good deal. ($1 = 10.75 pesos) The 4 lane road is smooth and fast, plus the bus has a big TV that was showing the current Cirque Du Soleil tent show video.
There was a baby across the isle from me with a bad cold and needing a change but refused to cry about it.
Most English Spanish dictionaries show the phonetic spelling for the English words but not the Spanish. After many stops I finally looked in at Magers & Quinn bookstore in the Uptown district of Minneapolis and found this:
I picked up an extra copy for my Pal Richard who went down to PDC early this year but I never connected with him this trip. He's living at a compound on Calle 6. Here is photo from last year when I stayed there myself.
During the layover between the bus and the boat I banged on that gate for quite a while but no one responded so I left the book in the glove box of the compound's truck with no steering wheel, parked out front, and headed for the ferry dock.
On the way I stopped at a bakery I know of with the greatest bread pudding slices. (I got the first slice of the day, hot off the pan)
When I saw the white caps on the Gulf of Mexico from aloft I should have been warned. The wind was up and the Cozumel strait was a crazy mess. Small craft warnings all day. The cabin attendants on the ferry were handing out biliously colored plastic bags for those inclined to flash.
I'm staying at Blanquita's again this year and at last years rate of 3300 pesos per mo. My place has the little silver fence around it's patio on the third floor, front.
While I was on my way to the Hotel from the ferry dock I passed this wheelchair motorcycle:
Next morning on my way to the Mission restaurant on 30th for breakfast I noticed this Triciclo hitched up to a PU as a trailer.
Last year I'd left my Triciclo chained up to a fence in Blanquita's courtyard and a couple tires ended up flat so I walked it up to the gas station near the Mission for some air.
Also along the way is a library I'd not visited before.
I stopped in and they have a collection of English language novels and welcome any and all book donations. I'm planning to get a library card and also look into their Computer/Internet lab. They keep better hours than most of the Minneapolis Library branches.
It's been raining all day today, Sunday, and if it were freezing now we'd have maybe a 100 inches of snow on the ground. It's not even close to freezing, and with the temps in the 80's it's not all that bad getting caught in a shower.
There is a classroom wing off the library that looks out onto 30th which is a main drag, N/S. Last year I saw a huge Iguana at the entrance of it's burrow, under the wing's slab:
I noticed that it was missing a good part of it's tail. Now that I've discovered that the schoolroom is part of the Library I've gotten to look at the beast from indoors. (yes there is now grass in the yard)
If the military science industry wants to study rapid 'regeneration' they would do well to invite this guy around some afternoon.
Check out that tail
Yup, a magnificent beast
Across the street and kitty-corner from the Library is the supermarket 'Super MAS' and here is a Coke display I've not seen State-Side:
The other super market on 30th is 'San Francisco', a few blocks South at Juarez. Across the street from them is the first Used Moto lot I've seen:
Did I mention that the Mission restaurant on 30th offers a swell $3.00 lunch?
Here is the Queen Mary II and a sunset to end with.
-Home-