Heading Home!

Coda written by Robert (and edited by m, as I went to bed at 7:30 pm but back up by 11:15 pm!)

Up early to a rainy morning in Veracruz.  The temperature in our room got up to 72 degrees.  A little checking on line revealed some interesting cultural facts about the Veracruz area.  First, the hotels here do not provide heating because the average temperature is warm enough, even in January, their coldest month.  Second, apparently many restaurants do not serve wine because the local residents prefer other forms of alcoholic beverages: beer, tequila, etc. and wine carries a high tax!  Wine is just not popular here, as it is not grown locally.

Even though our flight to Tijuana is scheduled for 1:25, we left the hotel at about 8:30, getting to the airport just about 9 am.  Among other things, we needed to return the rental car, which involved settling the issue of the damaged tire and (as it turned out) the damaged wheel as well.  By the time we were done, it was already past 9:30, so we stopped for some coffee, bacon and toast (for R) and hot chocolate (for M) while we waited for the Viva Air check-in to open at 11.

We checked our two suitcases (eventually), picked up our boarding passes, cleared security and arrived at the gate.  Boarding went quickly (fairly full plane) and off on schedule.  Flight time to Tijuana was just short of 4 hours, landing at 3 pm Tijuana/California time.  We picked up our luggage and headed for CBX (Cross Border Xpress) for a quick passage through U.S. customs; we were through everything and out the door by 4 pm.  Then to our car and off to the Hampton Inn in El Cajon, our stopping point for the night as it was too late to drive all the way to Tucson.

For dinner, we went to the California Fish Grill, a small restaurant about two minutes walk from the hotel. M had two lobster rolls (French fries on the side); R had grilled shrimp (teriyaki) with roasted asparagus and French fries – and, finally, wine!  Excellent! And the only difficulty we had was having to dodge the In and Out Burger traffic in the parking lot!

 




Back to the hotel for a much needed rest.  Travel days may sound simple but they are, in fact, a bit arduous.

Tomorrow – Drive to Tucson to end a wonderful trip.  The final score: We found 15 of the 17 known Colossal Olmec heads.  One we couldn’t get to because of the monumental traffic jams and one was missing from a museum collection (out on loan?).  Plus two cooking classes.  All in all, a very memorable way to celebrate Robert’s 85th birthday!

Thank you all for coming with us and all your wonderful and funny comments along the way!

Much love,

m

xxx

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