Back to Normal

Well, as all good things do, the vacation came to an end. The trip from Orlando to Mexico City (DF) went smoothly. When Mexicana went BK, we found tickets on Aeromexico and were able to book a non-stop flight between Orlando and DF. It may have been an extra flight Aeromexico scheduled when Mexicana found themselves in trouble, but there were maybe 30 people, total, on the plane. Plenty of room to stretch out and that nice couple with the three young children in the row ahead of us decided to move their family to the rear of the plane!

Aeromexico is one of those carriers that believes in feeding you and has complimentary bar service in addition to sodas. Even between normal lunch and dinner hours there was a hot snack served. Tasty!

The AM flight got to DF earlier than the Mexicana flight would have (Mexicana stopped somewhere in Texas, as I recall), but we had a hotel booked near the airport and so we took the free shuttle to the Ramada and checked in. Although the hotel was near the airport, it was well insulated and we couldn't hear a single plane taking off or landing. Breakfast was included in the room rate, so after a pretty good buffet, we again took the free shuttle back to the airport and caught the Primera Plus bus (first class) to Queretero. From there we usually take a taxi to SMA, but decided to take an economy bus (50 pesos each) instead of the taxi (about 400 pesos plus tip). And my new INAPAM card earned me a 50% discount on my fare, so $75 pesos for both of us. Booking those new cruises while on board the Magic has made us more budget-conscious than before....

The second bus wasn't quite as posh as the first and we had to stow our own luggage, but they did have a movie to distract us and the bus station in SMA is at the foot of our hill, so a quick taxi ride from there delivered us home. We had arranged for our housekeeper to clean house that morning, so everything was fresh and neat.

On Sunday we collected the dogs, who had been bathed and brushed for pick up on Saturday. They had a good time until we arrived Sunday afternoon, so still need a second brush out. They also took care of the fresh-and-neat house!

We've unpacked, read the mail (a lot accumulates during a month's absence; we had to take a taxi home from the mail service office because of the number of packages - my bad), and made a grocery run.

Today there was a question/answer period at the Biblioteca by the customs office staff. The recent changes in visas has produced several burning questions about car ownership. For a while it sounded as if we needed to go back to Texas and sell the van, then buy a Mexican vehicle. This would be costly for us. Towards the end of the session - which was largely in Spanish - they pointed out that a certain type of visa (Inmigrante Rentista - ours) still qualifies the holder to retain their US-plated car. Whew!

We'll need to change vehicles when we become Immigrado in about 5 years, but by that time we should need a smaller car and our present van will be nearly 10 years old. We can budget for the changeover. And, with the IR visa, we will stop paying the annual fees once the 5 years is over and our status changes. If we were required to change to the old FM3 style visa to keep the car, the annual visa fee would be less but we would be required to pay it every year, forever.

So we're back to 'normal' whatever that is. Perhaps I'll write about our time in WDW tomorrow.