i made it safe and sound to Mazatlan and i’m staying at the El Cid Marina Beach Resort.  El Cid is a big vacation/time share community, so i guess i will have to sit through a presentation tomorrow. i suppose one hour of my time in exchange for breakfast, a city tour and a taxi ride back to the airport on Tuesday make it worthwhile.

i do love a good tour, so Monday i will take the “complimentary” city tour.  i had wanted to go on the cultural tour to Copala, but sadly since this is off season they only run 2 days a week, and i’m not here either day. i will check back tomorrow to see if something has changed and if not, maybe i can find a driver to take me there.

i feel a little bit like i’m in Vegas, as everything appears closer than it is…….i mentioned walking downtown and everyone looked at me like i was a little crazy.  then i realized that it is about 8 miles away and it was pretty hot out, so perhaps i will take the shuttle part way, and walk the rest.  that is a nice thing about a resort community, they have shuttles to take you to each place. don’t like the lunch menu at your hotel, you can go to another.

personally, i think this hotel will be just fine for me, but i will go and investigate the others at some point, just to see what’s out there.

my passport arrived at 7 AM and i caught the 7:30 AM shuttle to the airport.  the security line moved quicky and i made it to the gate with plenty of time to spare.

i’ve had my documents stamped and i’m ready to go!

how do i even start?

i now have a beer in hand, so lets just start from the beginning, shall we?

i live about an hour 10 from SFO, with no traffic, which meant i had to get up at 3 AM for my 6AM flight.  no sweat, i get up early anyway, what’s 2 hours earlier?

i make it in time, rolling in to the airport around 5 AM, only to be greeted with a really long line at security.  it’s been awhile since i flew domestic from SFO, so i wasn’t prepared for the Disneyland like line.  to TSAs credit, they moved us along quickly and i boarded my flight to Phoenix no problem.

in Phoenix i had plenty of time to catch my next flight so i grabbed a coffee and breakfast sandwich and settled in for a bit.  i hear the desk attendant make an announcement about having your boarding pass and passport checked or you could be denied for the flight.  i go up to the counter and make a joke about being denied, and have them look over my documents…..and boom, DENIED. no soup for you.

in my brilliance i didn’t read the fine print on the passport card that said , “for land and sea travel only.”  land and sea, not air. oh f’ me this can’t be happening.

what is the best solution to this really crap situation that is no ones fault but my own?  how could i have been so completely stupid?!

first i called my Mom.  not that she could fix anything, but because who else do you call when it all goes to hell?!  after chatting with my Mom,  i called the hotel to see if i could change my reservation.   yes, not a problem.  while i’m on the phone with the hotel the agent at the airline tells me she’s issued my return ticket to SFO, because that is what i thought i would do…..go back home, get the passport and start over tomorrow, or cancel the whole thing.  but then i thought, i’m already in Phoenix, it’s warm and sunny here, why not try and make this all work.

hotel dates changed, done. return trip to SFO cancelled. call made to a friend with  key to my house asking if they could Fed Ex my passport, done.  down to the airport “hotel wall” calls made to multiple places playing the who has the best rate game, and ding ding, Best Western is the winner! check into the hotel, arrange the Fed Ex shipment, verify it will be here no later than 8:30 AM tomorrow and then start on the airline cancellation/refund/reissue situation. 45 minutes and a change fee later, done.

tomorrow, barring any Fed Ex delays i will be on my way to Mazatlan. again. if they don’t arrive on time, i just may cry and spend the weekend poolside at the Phoenix Best Western.

i love the way i actually believe i will keep this blog up to date……. again, not that it really matters, i’m pretty sure that nobody reads it any longer.

it was originally started so people could check in on what i was doing while i was in Argentina a couple of years ago.  now i just post things here and there when i’ve done a little travel.

Argentina was a fun trip, i wish i could do that again.  maybe not for a month, but three weeks would be fun.  i was considering going back to Cuzco, Peru with a work-study organization.  i found a one that has a two week education program and then you work for two weeks at a local hospital, school or orphanage.  that sounded like a cool thing to do, but i haven’t been able to figure out the timing of it all.

i haven’t done much travel since my trip to Florida, but once you’ve hung out with manatees do you really need to do anything else?  ok, silly question, of course you do!

i did go to NY, which was fun but cold.  that was a work trip so i don’t have too much to report, as there wasn’t a lot of extra time.  although i did stay at a pretty decent little hotel in Midtown called the GEM.  super convenient and comfortable if you need/want to be in that area.  i had a tasty veggie burger and salad at Burgers & Cupcakes  and saw a really clever play called Mr. Burns A Post-Electric Play.

i also went to London for work.  the shortest UK trip ever.  i arrived on a Wednesday and flew out on Saturday.  it was a whirlwind, but it’s always fun to go to London, so i’m not complaining.  i stayed at the Radisson Blu on Bloomsbury.  it’s a hotel, like many others but has this cool reindeer in the lobby.  it’s there year round, not just holiday time.

no plays this trip, just a a couple of wanders around the city, in the cold, taking in all of the holiday decorations.  check it out, they created a giant snow globe around a statue.

sorry to say, that’s it for that month or so.  i don’t think i’m going to have any travel for the remainder of the year, but if i do, i will be sure to jot down some notes here.

happy holidays!

snow globe image courtesy of marthafied.com (which by the way is a very cool website)

ever since i was a little kid i’ve been fascinated with manatees.  my mom and i used to go to the
aquarium in SF and i’d make a dash to that large corner tank in the back that had one lone manatee swimming around.  occasionally it would be feeding time and some really lucky employee got to get in the tank and feed the manatee a head of lettuce.  i used to think that was the coolest thing ever, feeding a head of lettuce to a manatee. i was five.

my love for the manatee stayed with me throughout my life and whenever i went to a aquarium or sea life park i’d always look for one.  not a popular attraction the manatee.  it’s not like they do anything except roll over and wave their little flipper at you.

someone once gave me a gift of a manatee adoption through the Save the Manatee Club.  i am the adoptive parent of a manatee named Brutus and he lives in Florida at Blue Spring State Park.  i thought that was an awesome gift and i in turn adopted a couple of manatees for friends of mine as a wedding gift.  yes, they were fond of manatees as well, it wasn’t just some random gift.

last week i went to visit Florida for the first time and the #1 item on my sightseeing list, see a manatee.  although it would be great to swim with one, i decided i would be happy just to see one in the wild.   my goal was met during a kayak trip to Manatee Cove on Merritt Island.

there were five of us on the trip and there were about a dozen manatees in this little cove, just hanging out.  from a distance they look like rocks in the water, until they move.  they were super curious and playful and wanted to get close to the kayaks.  although they are big, they aren’t scary at all, and really you just want to reach out and scratch their bellies which they constantly put on display for you.

manatees, still one of my all time favorite creatures, and i’m so happy that i was able to see so many of them.  maybe one day i will get to Blue Spring Park and meet Brutus in person.

i hadn’t planned to travel until my Florida/NY in October, but then i was given the chance to visit Team Colorado and couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

one of my friends was working in the Vail area so i flew into the Vail/Eagle airport for a change of pace.  since it wasn’t ski season the airport wasn’t crowded at all.  it was really kind of eerie.  i walked inside and everything was closed, i mean everything….the cafe, the news stand the airline counter and it was only 2 PM.  there were three security officers by the entrance and that was it.  rumor has it the place is packed in the winter, which makes sense, but still i felt a little bit like there had been an evacuation and i was going to be guided to safety.

my friend picked me up and we cruised around the little town to see what there was to see.  the highlights included the most amazing drug store, the Eagle Pharmacy (aka the Nearly Everything Store) and $2 beer at a local saloon.

after $2 beers and nachos (the perfect snack) we made our way to Summit County, home of Team Colorado.  once there it was a whirlwind of activity including dinner at the Dillon Dam Brewery (one of my favs), a NFL Sunday BBQ, and volunteering at the Breckenridge Oktoberfest.

a  spontaneous weekend away doesn’t get much better than that.

image courtesy of gobreck.com

i know, i know.  i said i was going to post something about the Mexico trip sooner rather than later,

and now it’s later.  much later.

the trip did happen, and it was a lot of fun.  i have been to a couple of different places in Mexico before, but not over to the Cancun area.  i wasn’t really in Cancun, but that’s where we flew into.  we then took and hour shuttle ride south( i think) to Akumal Beach which is 30 minutes from Playa del Carmen and 20 minutes from Tulum.

we stayed at an all inclusive resort called the Akumal Beach Resort and it was great.  i’m not a fancy hotel person, so the word resort always makes me a little nervous.  this was just the kind of resort i was looking for.  small, casual, clean, decent food and right on the beach.  the people that work there were great and the other guests were a combination of young, old, families, couples, and singles.  the resort had something for everyone.

we took a day trip to Chichen Itza; Chichen Itza is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, an honor bestowed upon the location last year.  you might remember when i was visiting Iguazu Falls in 2011 they were also in the running to become one of the new seven. 

the trip also included a stop at a cenote (underground swimming hole) and a colonial town.  and what tour isn’t complete with a buffet lunch and traditional dance performance.

we also took the bus to Tulum so we could see the ruins there as well.  similar dwellings, but different materials since Chichen Itza is inland and Tulum is right on the coast.  the beach by the ruins has been named one of the most beautiful beaches by National Geographic.  it was very picturesque.

ruins, beaches, resting, relaxing, cold beer on tap…….it was pretty much a perfect vacation and i would go back without question.  i wonder if they’re booked this weekend?

first, let me just say that despite my active application of bug repellent yesterday, those damn mosquitoes still managed to dine on my leg. i sit here typing with toothpaste spots on my calf. i am a firm believer in the toothpaste on mosquito bite remedy by the way, it always works for me.

when i first came to Oahu with my Mom a million years ago we went and saw the Pearl Harbor Memorial. since it had been awhile, this seemed like a good time to see it again. things have changed since my first visit, and now the USS Arizona Memorial is part of a much bigger site called the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument.

the site has a fantastic visitors center and surrounding grounds. there are two museums, a film, and the USS Arizona tour you can see for free and then for a fee you can also see the USS Bowfin submarine, the Battleship Missouri, and the Pacific Aviation Museum. you can purchase a passport for $56 which covers all of the sites and includes the self-guided audio tour at each place. totally worth every penny.

the whole tour was great, although is does make for a long day. after close to five hours of military history i had to call it quits and i didn’t even make it to the Aviation Museum. next time.

there was a quick afternoon poolside rest, a shower, and then a short walk to the Royal Hawaiian in time for a sunset cocktail.

dinner with friends at Uncle Bo’s, followed by the bestest sweet treat, a malasada (think Portuguese doughnut) from Leonard’s. the perfect way to end the evening.

i live by a freeway and every night as i’m going to sleep i can hear the traffic. i try and tell myself it’s the ocean. waves crashing into shore and rolling back out again. the sirens, motorcycles, and honking tends to quickly shatter my seaside illusion.

napping at the beach listening to real waves is fantastic, and that is how i started my day. i then enjoyed a tasty lunch at Duke’s and wandered back to the hotel so i could clean up before my hike to Manoa Falls. had i known i was going to be on a muddy trail slathered in bug spray i might have bypassed the cleaning up.

it was a fairly easy 90 minute hike, although slick in some spots. i managed to stay upright the whole time, but i’m pretty sure a new pair of sneaks is in my future. it was really picturesque, lots of lush greenery and beautiful flowers including the African Tulip.
 there hasn’t been a lot of rainfall this year, so the falls aren’t very full, but it was still a nice way to spend the afternoon.

goodbye Sydney, hello Honolulu. arriving early at a hotel is never a fun thing,
especially when you may have four hours to wait, but thankfully i wasn’t waiting in the lobby!

i’m enjoying a stay at the Wyndham Royal Gardens during this visit, it’s a little bit further from the beach than their other property, but it’s really nice. and the best thing (at least this morning), is that they have a media lounge where you can hang out until your room is ready. a media lounge with a comfy couch. thanks to my friends with a time share i could use!

the weather was cool and slightly windy when i got in this morning, but it ended up being nice and sunny at the beach! i had a nice walk, lunch at the Shorebird, and then proceeded to have a little nap in the sun.

i’m back at the hotel now for a quick shower before i head out to meet some friends for drinks.