Cozumel and "Home" (Cozumel, Mexico)

Hola Amigos

We wrapped up our week in Cozumel.  We had a really wonderful, laid back time.  Most days we walked into town, 2 miles each way, for a meal, cruised the back streets soaking up the local vibe (we always felt very safe-not a single scary moment), moseyed around and then hoofed it back to the condo.  We snorkeled several times right from the shore line adjacent to the condo. One day we went out on snorkeling excursion with a company that we've joined a couple times in the past from cruise ships.  The snorkeling nor the service was as good as in the past but we spent about 7 hours on the water which is always fun.

Loved seeing a turtle!!

The rest of our week was just spent reading, exercising the brain with Sudoku, chalking up more miles, enjoying the beautiful views, whining about the humidity, hanging out and going to bed early.  One of the many great pleasures of being retired and full timing is that most everyday feels like vacation.  Consequently, we didn't feel driven to maximize every hour of every day.  It was just a very nice pace. 

We departed Cozumel Saturday morning.  In the interest of simplifying our return to Cancun we decided to skip the bus and ferry routine.  Instead we splurged on a 20 minute flight via Maya Air. These small airlines can be "interesting" and sometimes frightening but the flight was smooth and picturesque.

After working our way through Customs/Immigrations we settled in at our gate with about a 3 hour wait.  I don't mind sitting around airports.  I read, watch people and snack.  Debbie likes it less.  But lets talk about snacks.  Now I understand "mark up."  Capitalism is a great thing.  But folks, a 12 ounce Diet Coke in the Cancun airport  was about $6.50.  That's nearly $40 a six pack!!!!  I passed.   Food items required a second mortgage!  Eventually we settled on an individual pizza for Debbie and I went for the burger and onion rings.  About $20.  For a sweet treat we did find a "reasonable" deal on a mammoth candy bar for about $5.50.  Two bottles of water were $7.00.  So do the math.  I'm thinking mighty pricey for a little junk food.  The flight was good.  There was some uncertainty about our seat assignment so we upgraded our seats. United has something they call Economy Plus.  For about $30 a head you get seats that have maybe 6 inches of additional leg room.  If you're 6'5" like me that sounds like heaven. We arrived in Denver, stumbled through Customs/Immigration with a little confusion and boarded our flight to Tucson.  Our good fortune continues.  We easily hooked up with the shuttle to economy parking, found our car without incident, it started, and we remembered the code for getting back into the campground after 10pm!

The last task to complete prior to fully settling back into our little full timing lifestyle was to go pick up the dogs at the kennel.  We missed them terribly and felt bad about their confinement.  They're SOOOO spoiled.  We picked them up at about 1:30 on Sunday.  They were jubilant!  We were pleased.  Bo growled but that's just his way?!  He's also hoarse.  I'm sure from commanding the entire universe which of course is his!  So we're back in our comfy little space.  Our trip was great but it's always nice to come home..