Rain and Stuff

Are you tired of these weather reports?  I promise to talk about something else today, but first -- the weather!

It really rained again yesterday - most of the afternoon until late into the night (well, early morning).  You'd think I'd spent a great deal of my life in southern California the way I get enthused about rain.  Oh, I did!

Most of the thunder and lightning was off in the distance last night, so I suppose another area got even more rain, but it was fine here.  Rain in our little town tends to simply fall from the sky.  No big winds to force the rain to strike at an angle - just straight down.  And down it came last night.  It does make it handy for leaving your windows open - without the winds to drive it into the house, we can enjoy the sound of the rain falling and the cool temperatures that accompany it.

We're only up to a little over an inch this month, but there's more predicted for the next few days - if the BBC Weather site is to be believed.  We sure can use the water; our main presa is way low.  It's going to take a lot of rain to raise it up to something approximating normal.  We've heard that there has been some water rationing in other parts of town. Luckily, the section in which we live - La Lejona - has its own water supply wells, so we've not had a problem thus far.  And all our houses have tinacos on their roofs, which hold a supply of water and provide water pressure to the house.  Once the water comes back on, they automatically refill, using a float valve like that in a toilet tank.  Our house also has a big cistern under the parking area - full of water - but without a functioning pump and valve to haul it up to the tinaco.  I suppose we should look into that some day.  Just in case....

But on to other things.  Cruising, for instance.  What else do we do?  And a suitable subject from a place many miles from the nearest ocean and about a mile-and-a-quarter above it, eh?

We had a Panama Canal cruise preceded by a short Caribbean cruise that included a stop in Key West scheduled for next May on Disney, of course.  As we looked at just how much money we needed to amass by the due date we began to reconsider.

So there was a deal on Norwegian on a ship we had previously sailed, the Star.  Not one of their newest, hugest ships, but one that we liked when we sailed on her back in 2005.    We're waiting to hear back from our travel agent re: what cabin she's managed to reserve for us and the total cost.  We're hoping for an aft balcony (always wanted to sail looking at where we've been) or a mini-suite (that aft balcony cabin is still no larger than any other balcony cabin; the mini-suite is about 60 square feet larger and it's less expensive than the aft balcony.)  It would be nice to see both sides of the Panama Canal at the same time from the aft balcony, but I won't complain if we are 'forced' to take the mini-suite.  It's a tough call, but I'm sure we'll be happy with whatever she can come up with.  And it doesn't sail until January 2014, so there's more time to afford it!

In the meanwhile, we've just booked a flight to San Diego (well, actually Tijuana) at a greatly reduced rate for next May, so we'll still be traveling somewhere.  We think Billy Elliot will be playing in San Diego and hope to get tickets for that show.  We were just in San Diego via Tijuana a couple of weeks ago for a performance of Wicked!  Love that show.  And on the trip we discovered that instead of crossing into San Diego at San Ysidro - where we waited for hours on our last trip - we could go to nearby Otay Mesa and cross almost immediately.  There were agents waiting for customers.  Now, the Red Car Trolley doesn't go as far as Otay Mesa, but Paula and Tim now know how to get there to pick us up.

We did a lot of shopping while we were in town: Target, Ross, and of course, IKEA!  However, we did leave some things un-purchased, and we tend to order items on line and have them delivered to Paula and Tim's, figuring that we'll eventually pick them up.  They're very kind to accommodate us.  So we booked some extra baggage weight for the return trip to accommodate all the possible 'stuff' with which we may return.

Otherwise, life continues apace here in San Miguel.  We'll be in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the opera season mid-August and there's still the Disney Hawai'ian cruise in mid-October (how could we ever give up on Disney???).  So travel we must.  We've just finished booking our shore excursions for the islands and have prepared a packing list, so I think we're doing fine.  I suppose we should turn our attention to what we need for Santa Fe next.

We've just received some disappointing news about friends here in San Miguel, but I'll write about that later.  They're having a party tonight and we've made Mexican Chocolate ice cream (with espresso and a bit of spice) as well as a Southwestern Coleslaw to contribute to the feast.  There will probably be a large turn out, but I've promised Michael I won't try to bring enough to feed the whole group.  You know potlucks - there's always lots to go around!

More on Rain!

I know I've already posted on the rainy season, but just wanted to say that it's really raining right now! Lots of thunder and lightning. Oh, boy!!!

We'll soon be leaving for San Diego 3:30 am tomorrow night) to see our 7th (or is it 8th?) production of Wicked.  We hope it will continue to rain while we are gone and continue through at least July if not August.  Not sure how much longer we'll have electricity - those last two bolts were really close!  Set the dogs a-barkin', for sure. Make that the last 3 bolts!!!

Time to take the kids upstairs to bed and snuggle down under the duvet.  And it's pouring down - not just lights and noise.

A note from the next morning - it finally let up around 4 am, so we got a good soaking, much needed.  It's still overcast this morning, though.

Talk to you all soon....

Rainy Season at Last?

It's probably too early to announce the beginning of our annual rainy season, but there have been signs:

• Last week it poured down one night; not too heavily, but rain with thunder and lightning for about half-an-hour;
• Sprinkles after the Day of the Locos parade on Sunday;
• Last night it rained again, arriving late in the evening but it was rain leaving us with thunder and lightning on it's way out of town, followed by brief showers early this morning.

We often have glorious clouds - and even threatening-appearing dark rain clouds overhead, but it doesn't rain often.  More often the clouds blow away leaving us with glorious sunshine instead.

Rain is cool; rain is sorely needed (the Presa is woefully low); rain brings cooling breezes and a freshness that is missing at times during the rest of the year.  Rain means summer has arrived.

To paraphrase Oliver!  'Rain, glorious rain: showers, storms, and just sprinkles...'

How Did You Spend Your Summer Vacation?

Just returned from eight weeks in the Midwest, where I'd helped my sister and brother-in-law refresh a home from pre-1898 (some accounts say it began life as a Civil War farmhouse, but that seems questionable).  Many of the supplies that were determined to be needed had to be procured in Terre Haute - about 30 miles away - and innumerable trips were made when local suppliers could not provide our needs.  Our tasks involved painting, patching, staining, tiling 2 bathrooms and a kitchen floor, installing kitchen cabinets and appliances, light fixtures, window coverings, carpeting, buffing up the wooden floors, a laundry, re-constructing a back deck, painting the porch, replacing part of the porch ceiling, installing doors and a bit of door-bling.  Nothing quite like 10-foot ceilings and huge windows, eh?

So I returned to San Miguel on Tuesday, the 12th - after driving like the wind across the United States from Indiana - to the sound of aerial bombs!  It was Corpus Christi and that called for hourly explosions, as expected here in Mexico.

But they didn't stop.  The next day, while enjoying margaritas at the rooftop bar of La Azotea, the hourly bombs turned into fireworks as the sun dropped behind the hills to the west of town.  What a way to celebrate the return of normalcy!

And, speaking of normalcy, tomorrow is the parade of the Locos - a chance for folks to dress crazily and parade through town.  We're hoping to snag a viewing spot near the Instituto (which is near the beginning of the parade) and avoid the crowds at the Jardin.  We've at least one  friend in the parade so we'll be looking out for him and cheering him on.

How could this be compared to life in a little burg in the midWest???

In the Air

[Herewith a rather abbreviated finish to the trip report.]

So here we are in the air between Miami and DF.  We got ready a bit early this morning so caught an earlier bus from the resort to the airport.  Check-in was simple though busy.  Got our boarding passes, checked our luggage, and headed for TSA Security screening - notorious at MCO for slow-moving lines. 

Surprisingly, our line moved pretty well and we were on our way to the AA module pretty quickly.  Found a bit to eat and waited for our flight to be called.

The first flight of the day was rather short - about 25 minutes, but the total time was about an hour what with loading the passengers, taxi-ing to the runway, et cetera.

Miami International is much nicer to navigate when you’re flying domestically!  No long treks to Customs/Immigration.  What we thought would be a long layover between flights turn into 45 minutes before our announced loading time.  However, it turned out to be the normal half-hour before takeoff, so it wasn’t too hurried and we had time to pick up a sandwich for the flight.

The flight was marred by a screaming child - in the row ahead of us!  I felt really sorry for the family, who were trying to figure out a way to quiet their son.  The other part of the family group (in the row behind us) made suggestions, but nothing seemed to work for long.  At least I think they were suggestions - it was all in some foreign tongue.  He quieted down once we landed, so methinks it may have been inner-ear related.

Once we got through customs and immigracion, we collected our luggage and headed out to find our shuttle pick-up.  They offered us a choice: the bus/car combination that we'd paid for or share a shuttle van directly to our home for the same price.  There was just one more party to show up.  Guess which one we picked?

So five hours later we eventually arrived in San Miguel, tagged our beds, and fell asleep.  Dogs to be delivered tomorrow....

Crusing on the Fantasy Maiden Voyage

[Herein a summary of our week-long Western Caribbean cruise.]

Our last morning began with breakfast at Olivia’s after leaving our packed suitcases in the room, tagged for the ship, for transportation to the Fantasy.  We had four luggage tags with our room number and cruise confirmation on them, so our previously checked and carry-on luggage was transported for us to the ship.  The limo (a gift from our travel agency) picked us up early and had us at the cruise terminal just as their doors opened.  After a brief wait in the check-in line, we walked on to the ship.

Once checked in and onboard, we headed to Remy/Palo to secure reservations for dinners.  This is our last cruise as Gold members of the Castaway Club (a previous-guest club), and since it’s the Maiden Voyage of Disney’s latest ship, all the Platinum members had scooped up the ressies before the Gold members had a chance! 

We were able to secure a dinner at Palo, a wait-list slot for brunch (only served twice during the week-long cruise on sea days), and eventually scored a dinner reservation at Remy for that night!  Hope those tuxedos show up and aren’t too wrinkled!

At Sea Day

Today we’re recovering from our meal at Remy’s and trying to remember what we were served and what we drank.  They serve a five-course dinner (two main menus - earth/sky or sweet/savory) with matching wine flights in addition to the a la carte menu and very extensive wine list.  They do things very much as in the movie Ratatouille - very posh, wonderful food, well-matched wines, gracious service.  And there was a thank-you card and box of chocolates waiting for us in our cabin when we finished our three-hour meal.

[I’ll think on this and try to remember some of the dishes we were served.]

And now it’s time to close the computer and adjourn to the deck as we sail south into the Caribbean.  I understand we should be near Cuba by evening.

This was a great day and what we most enjoy about longer cruises: days at sea.  No hurry to make port excursion times; no reason to worry about anything, just relaxation.  We met our travel agency friends for The Art of the Theme Show tour of the Fantasy to learn about creating the special Disneyesque- style cruising experience. CM Philippe-Luc from Quebec City led the tour and was very well informed on the precepts followed by the Imagineers who designed the ship.

Drinks in the Skyline Lounge, where the ‘windows’ reveal scenes of seven different cities around the world.  Dinner was in Enchanted Garden, a restaurant patterned after a large conservatory.  Excellent food and service by the team that will follow us from restaurant to restaurant through our rotations.

Grand Cayman Day

Today we decided to remain on board rather than take any port excursions.  So a day to explore the ship further, read, lounge, nap, do laundry, and generally loaf!

Chatted with friends we’d met on board while in the Cove Café.  And we had to listen to a cast member go on about working aboard ship, prompted by an inquisitive couple at the coffee bar.  We finally abandoned the coffee bar for a ride on the AquaDuck (where we got drenched) and a laundry run (there’s a launderette here on Deck Two!  Very convenient, but also rather busy.)

Breakfast was at the Royal Table restaurant - one of the rotational venues at which we had not yet dined.  I think it’s scheduled for dinner tonight, so we’ll be able to see it in its night time finery, too.

It’s a bit after 4 pm as I write this, and I see out our port hole that we’ve left Grand Cayman, so in a few hours it will be a show with Larry, the Cable Guy and then dinner in the Royal Court.  RC takes pride of place like Triton’s (on the Wonder) or Lumiere’s (on the Magic), adjacent to the main atrium on the Fantasy.  The atrium on the smaller ships featured a Y-shaped staircase up to the second level.  On the Fantasy it’s an asymmetrical, curving staircase the reaches the third level.  Very grand with a statue of Minnie Mouse a la 1930 and a grand piano at its base.  Both the main chandelier and other ceiling fixtures on the individual levels surrounding the atrium feature crystal beading, creating a really special ambiance with faceted light rays illuminating the areas.

While today the serving staff were dressed in a more usual vest and shirt costume, tonight they will be wearing an interpretation of a royal frock coat with lots of gold all over it.  A really special look for dinner.

In re: Larry the Cable Guy, there are three production shows on the Fantasy: Aladdin, Wishes, and Believe.  Acts such as LCG fill in the schedule.  We skipped the first night’s non-Disney show, but have decided to see Larry.  At least he’s a known-quantity.

I hear Buffalo wings have just been ordered from room service…guess I need to sign off!

Cozumel

Although we canceled today’s port excursion to the Mayan ruins at Tulum, we decided to leave the ship and walk about Cozumel this morning. The excursion, it turned out, involved a 45-minute ferry ride to the mainland ‘through rough seas’ and then a 90-minute bus ride before reaching the ruins which, in turn, involved strenuous walking and climbing to view the site - and then the return bus and ferry rides for a total of  a seven-and-a-half hour day, supported only by a sandwich and bevvie around 3 pm.

After a late awakening and breakfast at Cabanas, we grabbed our camera and headed off the ship.  One of our first encounters was with a Starbucks, which provided a wi-fi connection for Michael to check emails.  They used the same user name and passwords that the San Miguel Starbucks used (it’s printed on the receipts), but when it didn’t work, we figured out that they probably had changed the password on the first of the month and not re-programmed their cash register yet! Things were fairly peaceful in the world at large. 

So at that point we headed over to the local Mega.  What a large enterprise!  Two-stories tall with interior escalators, it was spaciously laid out and held a lot more inventory than our local SMA Mega does.  There was even a CFE office (the national electric company) with automated kiosks from which we could determine that our home CFE bill had been paid by our local bank in our absence.

Continuing down the thoroughfare toward the resorts and the three cruise ships anchored near them on foot, it was interesting to see the remains of their hurricane of a few years back.  There were some shops that had been re-opened, a dauphin experience place that was up and running (we could watch from the street what was happening in their pools, with people and dauphins cavorting together!), and some other businesses, homes, and hotels that had reopened.

We turned around before reaching the resorts/ships as the wind was intermittent, and without the wind the humidity was rather oppressive.  We decided that we’d not move to Quintana Roo (the state in which Cozumel is located) as we couldn’t imagine what the hot months would be like!

Once back at the ship (the Magic was moored right next to us!) we headed to the adult section (Cove Café, pool, et cetera) to recharge our inner batteries and grab a quick bite for lunch.

Afterwards I headed to the cabin for a nap, only to awake to news of the severe storms centered around Dallas.  American Airlines had cancelled flights into and out of their airport and released all their staff in nearby Arlington.  Hail had been reported in golf-ball to softball sizes; semi-trailers had been flipped over onto their backs; and word was that the storm had touched down around the area (five was the reported number - later amended to twelve).

So we’re watching the news on Fox (we’re sort of like non-resident Texans, having a mail-drop address in Texas and having Texas as the nearest part of the US) to see what will happen.  Not that we like being considered Texans - their present governor is an idiot; their former governor having proved his lack of brains.  But it’s the most ‘happening’ thing on TV at present!  And we flew to the US on American Airlines and will return to Mexico the same way.

We’re hoping we’re on for dinner at Palo tonight.  Michael just walked up to the restaurant to check on our reservation, but couldn’t find anyone with which to verify it.  At least we believe it’s at an early hour, so if it’s not tonight, we can appear at our assigned restaurant for dinner and no one will be the wiser!

It’s also Pirate Night onboard, so there’s the pirate party on deck and fireworks afterwards.  Woo-hoo!!!

Michael brings news that our ressie is for tomorrow night at 6 pm, not tonight.  So it’s dinner tonight in Royal Court with friends, then a bit of the pirate party (we got there just in time to see the fireworks), and then to bed.  Not even sure if they have a ‘midnight’ buffet on this ship - and couldn’t care!

And the evening outfit for the servers in Royal Court are sort of reminiscent of a military tunic with lots of gold braid - a la Prince Someone.  The tunic works better for some than for others.  Perhaps with a bit more tailoring….

Costa Maya

This morning is the port adventure exploring Mayan ruins which we did not cancel.  An early breakfast and meet-up in the Buena Vista Theater, then off to the bus that would carry us to the Checcohoban ruins.  Very, very neat with several pyramids unburied and restored; others in various stages of overgrowth.  Other than the weather, which was a bit warm and sticky, a very enjoyable experience.  We switched to the adults-only version of the tour to be with two pairs of friends who had had the foresight to initially sign up for the adult version.  There was a total of about 99 people, broken into two groups.  Great guide, interesting venue, and only an hour’s ride, not a 45 minute ferry ride followed by a 90-minute bus ride.

Before the tour happened, Michael went to guest services and added gratuities and transfers to our account.  The adding of the transfers required that our cards be re-printed and there was a problem with their printer.  So he came back to the cabin with the new cards and we thought we were set until we tried to leave the ship for the tour.  Buzzzzzzz!  Managed to talk our way off the ship, and back on when we returned (the departure officer had made an entry about the difficulties with our cards), then headed to Guest Services again, where they managed to print new cards with the additional information and that worked, too!

At lunch we found two of the friends who we had joined for the tour and promptly joined their table.  Just can’t get enough of good friends, eh?

Now for a quick nap before our 6 o’clock Palo ressie.  We hope to be finished before the 8:30 show of Wishes, the new show written for the Fantasy and Dream.

Where We've Been, Lately

Monday (this was three weeks ago) we arose at the usual time - about 4 am - and spent the day doing some more unpacking from our recent move.  That afternoon we took the kids out to the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm for their vacation and returned home to figure out dinner.  ‘Out’ seemed to be the best answer, so it was off to Hecho en Mexico for a last Tex-Mex dinner.

Once home again it seemed silly to go to sleep.  Our shuttle was to pick us up at 1 am, and we’d probably sleep through wake-up time!  So we stayed up, doing some last minute stuff on the computer, checking the packing, and waiting….

Took all our stuff outside and waited on the sidewalk from about ten of one until 1:30 when the shuttle finally arrived.  And we weren’t alone - there were 3 others already in the van.

During our time on the sidewalk we were questioned by two Federales ‘walking the beat.’  Didn’t know they did that sort of thing in San Miguel.  Guess we had the correct answers as our interchange was cordial.

So after a long ride to the Mexico City airport through the dark of night and some rain, we were deposited with our luggage curbside and we did the check-in business.  Lines were short and service quick.  Found our way to the gate and eventually loaded onto the plane.  Luckily the flight wasn’t full and we moved to an exit row, so there was plenty of leg space for our three-hour flight to Miami, where we needed to clear customs and immigration, recheck our luggage, and go through security again for the quickie flight to Orlando.

Well, Miami immigration was a huge mass of non-moving humanity!  O.M.G.!!!  A gazillion lines, people standing in each one, nothing moving.  They moved a bunch of us from the Citizens and Residents line to a Visitor line, where nothing moved either.  And we had walked nearly the length of the airport to reach immigration.  What a trek!

We eventually noticed that the last Citizen line seemed to be the only line moving and switched to that line.  Turned out that there was another set of lines for Citizens only (no Residents) that moved right along - particularly when additional agents returned from lunch!

Finally made it through the line and moved on to Customs, which was a quick process, re-checked our bags, and headed through security - missing all the delicious-sounding food venues.  Finally found a Wendy’s near the boarding gate for some fast food.  I can’t believe that Wendy’s has bumped Burger King from second place; my sandwich was horrid - but it was food.

When we reached Orlando we found the Magical Express desk, gave them our luggage tags so they could retrieve our bags (we never got the luggage tags for our bags they told us they mailed in February), and jumped on the ME bus to Disney World!

After checking in, we went - via boat - to Downtown Disney Guest Services to arrange our park passes and Tables in Wonderland card.  As an Annual Pass holder TIW gave us a 20% discount at most restaurants, including alcoholic beverages, and added an 18% tip - our usual.  So since we would have added the tip anyway, it was a 20% discount; didn’t take long to earn back the cost of the TIW card.  In fact, the meal at California Grill probably covered the entire cost of the card with that one meal! 

The TIW card was a snap once we got our passes, but the passes proved problematic.  We’d arranged the passes through the Club (we got credit for the price of a Disneyland annual pass) and left the confirmation number in our room at Old Key West.  Rob, the cast member assisting us, couldn’t find Michael in their computer system (except for old things) but called the Club in California for the number.  Once he had that the rest of the process was simple and we were soon back on the boats to OKW.

So we ended our 40+ hour day with dinner at Olivia’s, our resort’s restaurant.  By the time we arrived they weren’t very busy so it wasn’t a long wait for a table.  The service as good (yeah, Annie!) and the food was wonderful - and not just because we were so hungry.  It was really good - baby string beans sautéed in olive oil, melt-in-your-mouth pot roast, et cetera.

Finally to bed.

The next morning dawned sometime before we awoke.  Still up early-ish as we needed to meet friends for breakfast at Kouzzina on the Boardwalk by 7:20.  WDW transportation is great - and free, but is limited to resort-to-parks.  There is no resort-to-resort service.  But we were on an early bus (Hollywood Studios because they were having Early Hours for a character breakfast that morning) and when the driver asked if we had a breakfast somewhere we sheepishly admitted that we were trying to get to Boardwalk to meet friends for breakfast.  Lo and behold, she stopped at Boardwalk and dropped us off!  A little pixie dust for the day.

Breakfast was good!  Love their savory breakfast stack with sweet potato hash, rye bread spread with an artichoke tapenade, and eggs and chicken sausage.  Yum!

Then it was off to EPCOT for us: Soarin’, the Flower and Garden Show, and lunch at the Mexico pavilion.  Our waitress was a bit taken aback when we responded to her ‘Buenas Dias’ in Spanish, until we explained that we now lived in Mexico.  As it turns out, she was headed back to Mexico for her sister’s wedding in two-week’s time in Guanajuato - the capital of the state in which we live! 

After lunch it was time for a nap and then back to Downtown Disney to satisfy my craving for fried chicken.  One might think that a staple at Disneyland would be easily found in Disney World, but it is not.  There is a counter-service restaurant in DTD which serves a Latin American version that was really quite good.  Better than what we find in San Miguel!  Then back for sleep.

The next day it was off to the take-away service counter for a fast breakfast overlooking the dock to the accompaniment of a family having a meltdown -  so early in the day, too!  I must say we saw many of these meltdowns, especially later in the day when tempers were frayed and children were tired.  Why do so many people take the family on vacation with small children?  Is it really for the kids?  ‘A chance to see WDW through their child’s eyes’?  Or is it for them and the kids happen to be along?

After another turn at EPCOT (Test Track, Ellen’s Energy University, and fish-and-chips for lunch), a quick nap and then off to the Magic Kingdom.  There we only rode the Pirates in the Caribbean attraction before walking over to Fantasyland to check out the expansion of the Land.  One of the Dumbo rides was in full swing and the Barnstormer (a roller coaster) was operating, but the lines were long for the new attractions, so we walked back to the entry gate, found our ‘brick’ in the Walk Around the World pavement, then strolled over to the Contemporary Resort for dinner at the California Grill on the top floor.  Great table next to the windows provided a view of Magic Kingdom.  Once again the food was great, service attentive, and our waiter was the staff sommelier.  Of course we joined our fellow diners on the outside observation platform when it was time for the Wishes fireworks show!  I think our friends from California were suitably impressed.  We decided to skip a visit to the Top of the Tower (the lounge on the top floor of the DVC building adjoining the Contemporary) and opted for bed!

Our last full day at the World was parks and eating and drinking ending with a trip to Animal Kingdom and dinner at the AK Lodge’s Boma.  My, their food is good, too.  I could dine there every day except AK Lodge is on the outskirts of the World - and travel to/from is long.  Our friends missed out on dinner here.