Back in the USSA!

All our travel today was uneventful and went very smoothly. We were up at 5 am and driving to the Cabo airport. We dropped the rental car and checked in and took care of all the airline paperwork without incident. The flight left on time and we had some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains.

We weren't able to get any pictures of the plane or airport because there is very tight security (actually the same held true in each airport all day), and we were told "no camera!" repeatedly. Not sure why. The kids got nice shots as we departed and landed at Cabo airport and in Mexico City.

We exchanged our remaining pesos and had a nice brunch meal in M.C.
Sam got a fancy brownie after brunch.


            
Sam says the M. C. airport terminal looks like Swiss Cheese.



Giant hotdogs are for sale in a cafe in the M.C. airport!



approaching M.C. airport. Our hotel from last week is in there somewhere

We eventually boarded our 2nd plane for Orlando. Routine flight and Customs etc. and then we found the shuttle to the hotel where the van has been parked for 2 weeks. Again, all uneventful.

We are all a little jet lagged and sleepy. We are staying overnight in Orlando and plan to be back to Savannah by 3pm Friday.  I'll end this here and close out the Mexico experience for the Povies.
We'll never forget it!

Parting Shots

Our final day didn't turn out as planned, but we had fun anyway. Sarah woke up with an earache, which had begun the day before. Since we have to fly Thursday we figured we should see about it, since flying with ear trouble is never a good idea. Glad we did!
We went to a hospital with an emergency care facility in town, and were seen by a nice young Mexican doctor. He looked in the sore ear and declared an inner ear inflammation. We had given Sarah ear drops for outer ear problems since yesterday, but the problem was irritated tissue inside, that needs an anti-inflammatory to heal. He also gave us a pain medicine, since flying will be a little difficult with this condition.

We initially had gone to a walk-in clinic earlier, but were told the doctor would not be in for an hour (This at 11am). So we decided to check out the Cabo museum in the meantime, passing an elementary school on the way.


The museum is in the Town Center, not far from the medical area.
Pretty interesting exhibits of the history of the area from prehistoric times, which dovetailed nicely with all the history we learned about in Mexico City. They have a partial whale skeleton in front,
and lots of historical memorabilia from the time of Cortes (who came here at one point) through the present day. Reasonably informative exhibits, photos, maps, and videos (most in English) were included.
(this man is very unhappy about something)


photos of the are over 150 years


a native american catching our sea bass dinner


We visited a few shops
 

and had some refreshments (just smoothies- not giant sandwiches with questionable ingredients)

 

on the way to the car, and then returned to the Clinic. Apparently the doctor is not too reliable, as the receptionist then told us he had no office hours scheduled that day at all. (???)

So our only option was the hospital emergency care facility down the street, which ended up best anyway. Very professional and pretty fast attention, and no paperwork hassles. We went across the street from the hospital and filled the 2 prescriptions for less than the co-pays would have been at home, and got Sarah right on the medicine. She feels better already (pain meds kicking in, no doubt).

It was time for lunch when we got done with all that, so we went to the pool and swim up bar and ordered tacos and salads and some beverages. Sam ate 4 chicken tacos! Sarah's ear trouble didn't affect her appetite, as she ate a giant Caesar Salad with grilled chicken on it. We all agreed the chicken here has a lot more flavor, since it is produced without steroids or hormones, and all the farms are just a few miles away from the markets. Mmmm good!


The kids swam a while (Sarah has to keep her head above water for a week), but it was too late to return to the beach as planned. We rested up a little (94 degrees today) and then got ready for dinner.

Adjacent to our condo development is a restaurant billed as world-class. People reserve a year in advance for the busy season of November to April to eat at the Sunset da Mona Lisa. The tables are arranged on a plaza on an outcrop of rocks that seem to reach down and into the ocean. The view has been listed in a lot of "Best restaurant view" articles in food magazines. It is an open vista of the whole downtown Cabo area, including the Arch, marina, and the long, unused beach stretching back east from downtown. The sun sets just to the right of all this, with the last rays falling on the rock faces. It is an inspiring view indeed!





Well, we didn't eat there. Upstairs is a much more casual adjunct restaurant, Sunset pizza and wine bar, specializing in hearth baked pizza, Italian salads and fancy wine. We had a reservation for 7pm, which fit the sundown schedule perfectly. We enjoyed 2 different pizza types, a shrimp en brochette plate, and a ciabatta bread with cheese and tomato plate. I had a nice Malbec wine from Argentina.

The kids took lots of pictures,





and we watched the sun set on our last evening in Mexico. It was sad and beautiful all at the same time.



Tomorrow (Thursday ) we'll be up very early to get on our first plane at 7:10am MDT. Then a layover in Mexico City for lunch and to exchange our leftover pesos, and another plane to Orlando, arriving about 6:30 EDT. I'll post a final page to close out our trip tomorrow night. We'll see everyone soon! Adios to Mexico!

Chillin' at Chileno

The storm that was south of Baja has passed, and that means the beaches are back open with a yellow flag. .
We loaded up some supplies and headed east about 10 miles to Chileno Beach. In contrast with yesterday, when a lone lifeguard was keeping everyone away from the water, today the beach was packed with folks enjoying this great spot.

It's located at one of the few modern interchanges on the highway, so you can actually get off going either way, and don't have to go to the next exit and circle back, like along most of the rest of the road. There is also a big development being built adjacent to the public beach, with access roads from all directions.

This beach has lots of services like showers, bathrooms, vendors for beach needs (chairs, umbrellas, etc.), and a lifeguard station and surf advisory shack with info on tides, waves, swells and the like. The huge parking lot is a short walk from the water. Strings of floats and buoys mark off the allowed swim area, which is huge.

Plenty of wildlife and flowers abound. 




There's even folks from Baywatch here!
 
Lots of tour operators bring boatloads of snorkelers here, and there is a separate area for them, as well as an area to launch kayaks, canoes and outriggers.

 This beach has some of the best and easiest snorkel areas on the peninsula. The fish come right up to you and swim by and around you in groups and small schools. They are mostly a foot or more in length, and range from yellow to silver to gray and black. It's not quite as colorful a parade as you see in the Caribbean or in Florida, but the numbers and size of the fish make up for it. Just standing in waist deep water, we saw hundreds of fish swim right by us, even in the crashing waves.

Tomorrow we plan to bring some more equipment and see if we can spot even more fish at the beach.

We headed back to the condo, hoping to have lunch at the swim up bar at the pool, but found out Tuesday is the day the staff doesn't open it in the off season. So that was out on hold, and we put together a quick lunch at the condo with the last of our supplies.

After a rest, and some maintenance on the wi-fi which mysteriously went out, we got ready and drove in to Medano Beach, in the middle of downtown. This is where we swam a few days ago, and also where we ate dinner our first night in town. The Office restaurant see here is an institution here. All the beachside restaurants are allowed to use the space in front of their buildings up to a certain distance from the high tide line, to set up chairs, umbrellas, tables, etc. and serve food and drinks. This goes on all day, with beachgoers settling in for refreshments, and using  the area for shade. Then, as the dinner crowd arrives, the umbrellas are removed, entertainment starts, and eventually tiki torches are lit all around the dining area. Vendors are not allowed in the confines of the restaurant space, but hawk their wares from the edge of the beach. It's quite a scene.

When we came here Thursday, it was Mexican Fiesta night, and their was a big show going on with dancers, mariachis, wrestlers, sing alongs, chants, and contests. Tonight was more subdued, with a substandard 3-piece jazz group playing, but the crowd was very similar. Mostly American tourists, mostly families, and dozens of waiters, busboys and other staff running drinks (and they do run!) and food.

We enjoyed a nice meal of shrimp, sea bass, and fish tacos. The kids and I decide to splurge on dessert and had flan
,

carrot cake,

and chocolate ice cream.
 
We enjoyed our meal immensely. When we left we took a few pictures with the beautiful full moon, poked around in some shops and at the mall before returning home.

One last day of vacation remains, and we plan to spend it visiting Chileno again, having lunch in the pool, and visiting an upscale (very upscale) pizza place that is adjacent to our condo.It's supposed to have an incredible sunset view, and have great Italian specialties and hearth baked pizza.We figure it will be a fitting end to this trip.

Adios for now!