Gawd I am tired. Couldn't get sleepy earlier even tho I'd tried that, did get over an hour of sleep before the alarm went off at midnight, got to my bud's at 2am, and - he was all ready?!
What's with that? Surprises never cease. Driving an empty interstate in the dark is pretty boring but I kept awake and on watch for varmits & livestock and we were soon in Amarillo for a pit stop, then on to the airport on the other side of town much earlier than needed. Surplus flex time is always nice when one absolutely must be on the plane on time.
I'd wanted to upgrade to First Class online for $100 each the day before if possible since we were going to pay for extra bags anyway, but that seems to be an old deal gone away. They wanted $320
per segment - absurd, but then on check in the agent asked
"Would you like to upgrade to first for $59?" Jer is wondering what that meant even tho he's flow FC with me a few times for free, but I am like
"YES!" 
So she scanned him and his Visa card and he was in, but then she ran out of FC seats. I handled all the plans & details and he gets the reward while I get to pay half that much just to check my second bag.
And they were so picky on weights, finding one of my bags 2# over so I pulled that much out and stuck it in one of his. We could have used his FC boarding pass to go to the Presidents lounge in Houston but it was much too early for alcohol so we stepped outside for a smoke instead, then used his FC BP for the priority security lane. It
would have been unbearable if he'd ended up next to a gorgeous lady traveling alone, but he didn't - so he got the free drinks, leg room, and nice snack while I slept in Coach, something I can't do in FC because I like to use the benefits. We were clearing Customs in Cozumel by noon.
I've said that I like local style in hotels, but that's a sliding thing that can go too far of course - like a stay we did in Playa del Carmen once, but Villablanca is nice without being going overboard. The check-in lobby may give a bad first impression but we moved on beyond that quickly enough. I haven't seen a Standard room but our connecting Superior rooms are spiffy, one with a couch, the other with a dining table with a wet bar & microwave, both with full size apartment fridges, and both huge with strong ACs and strong WiFi signal! The bathrooms are huge too, but the sunken bathtubs have no stoppers and no faucets - just showers, so they're really huge shower stalls. It would take an hour or two to fill if we found a stopper and the water would lose its heat to the shower spray anyway. I guess they decided they didn't want to pay for filling large bubble baths or worse - divers rinsing sandy gear. No signs requesting toilet paper in trash cans so we'll see how good their plumbing holds up.
We then went next door to check-in with Scuba Mau and leave my pony for overnight filling - really nice folks! The dive shop at my old hotel is fine, but there is something special about a shop whose people all act like they are glad to see you. Went back later with our BCs, regs, and fins for them to handle and to lighten our loads in the morning.
Next stop was Mega for a $10 coffee maker, Don Pacho coffee liqueur and other goodies too heavy to pack. They did have a one cup maker for less than $10, but the cheapest 12 cup was like $16, same brand I buy for $12 at home. Christi offered to get me prices & brands on $10 makers and she is surely a better shopper than I, so I guess I should have accepted her nice offer - but this is close enough. In room coffee all week for $16 plus coffee and at the end we'll give it to someone.
With all my intense planning, then being unable to sleep worrying about what I forgot, I did grab the overlooked mainland maps at the last minute - but still failed. It's always something! With all of the just-in-case and probably-good-ideas meds I did bring, I forgot the one I had to have! Grrr. Mega didn't know what it was by brand name so I looked it up online and went to Dori's (go to the one on Juarez, not the small one) and found it[-] - for more than twice what it costs in the states[/-]. Edit:
I was wrong - Doris was not twice as high as US - just about the same. I usually buy these overseas for so much less that I had to rethink US prices. Got 'em tho so good deal. Oh well. I'd heard that Mexico was getting tighter on what the US requires doc prescriptions but that was no problem - just the cruise port prices. Cipro hydrocortizone ear drops are up to $16-20 now vs the $7 last time I bought some years ago. Nice to have in case of Swimmers Ear, but we'll be diligent about our alcohol-vinegar rinses and if that fails us - DAN will pay for the doc & drugs if we can get all of the claims in okay.
I do need to get to a safe ATM and get some Pesos. The bar above Scuba Mau is giving 13:1 on Dollars but other places are running 12 to as little as 10, and the taxis are trying to charge more than ever for simple runs into town - as much as 70 Peso/$6 with one.
We did work a two hour siesta in along the way, had to have it, and still made Parillo's for a nice supper before 9pm. Hey we came a long ways and got a lot done in one long day. :cool2: I still need to get setup for the morning and my birthday dives; looking forward to good diving, a nicer siesta, then the gathering dinner. I'll try to make tomorrow's update more interesting, short of having another CESA event or some other dumb mistake.
DandyDon:
I wish you a great trip. You are a great example of the "rational man", taking into account all relevant information to come up with a wise decision. In my MBA teaching, I just might use your example.
Regarding the scuba operator, I think it is more how you tolerate, deal with, and lead them. I am sure you will be fine.
I am looking forward to November when I fly from LAX to CUN nonstop (hopefully getting upgraded again), do the bag-drag (or stay in PDC for another cenote dive), Casa Mexicana, and Blue XT Sea for six days. Life is good.
Best wishes,
Selo
Haha you're too kind. I've done this enough times that I've learned some things, learned some shopping tips helping others here on SB, but also got into some habits that needed to be explored. New approaches can go either way but it's all part of adventure travel.
Now let's see if I have any more ridiculous typos here...
