Category Archives: travelin’ moon

vacation that went too fast, part II

family & friends, travelin' moon

Days 2 through 7 in Mexico were so wonderful! They were filled with sun, rest, beach naps, bocce ball, fajitas, chi chis, beach football, apples to apples, sunscreen and aloe, yoga, margaritas, chips and salsa, funny faces, LOST, teenage behavior observation, beach volleyball and a bus ride to a surfing destination where there were no waves.

In Mexico it is always my goal not to do much of anything. These family vacations are not for exploring Mexico and learning more about their culture. No, instead these visits to Puerto Vallarta are simply a Gringo getaway.
Continue reading vacation that went too fast, part II →

vacation that went too fast, part I

family & friends, travelin' moon

We arrived at LAX on Sunday morning and rushed ourselves through some breakfast before going through the security line (or hadn’t you heard that you may no longer carry beverages into the boarding area?). We scurried our way down the long corridor of gates only to find ours announcing it’s destination as ‘Mexico City’. There were no airline employees in sight to question, so we walked half way back down the long corridor of gates to check the departure monitors. We had been at the right gate, so we headed back, remaining confused, bordering on worried. We were all more than ready to board our flight to Puerto Vallarta where we anticipated a week full of rest, sun, palapas and just a few too many quesadillas, so we were feeling anxious about the unclear gate signage. Finally a Mexicana airline employee showed up and she assured us we were in the right place, so we plopped down and waited to board…apparently, our flight was on it’s way to Mexico City after it dropped us off in Puerto Vallarta. Ah! Confusion explained, heart rates slowed.

Shortly after the indicated time, the flight began to board. I heard the woman announce the order of boarding and glanced down to find that our seats were 1A & B and 2E & F. In that moment I thought our seat assignments odd. We happily handed over our boarding passes and walked outside to climb the ramp. I again glanced down at my boarding pass and noticed it said ‘Clase Ejuctiva’ ~ ‘Business Class’. I pointed this out to R and we both agreed that must be what they call ‘Coach’. We then entered the door of the smaller than usual plane and found that we were indeed seated in what is otherwise known as ‘First Class’. We were altogether thrilled, confused and wary and my brother and I both agreed that my Dad couldn’t possibly have purchased first class tickets. I, for one, have never flown first class. But it turned out not to be a mistake, but a rather exciting accident. We did indeed fly first class to Puerto Vallarta, my brother and nephew and R and I. To this day nobody, including my dad, can explain this happy surprise. If you have never flown first class, I wish you this fabulous experience at least once in your life. It’s kind of fabulous…

squat plane first ever first class first class drink service

~~~

Upon arrival to PV and the short cab ride to our vacation place we found that the rest of the family, my mom, dad and grandma, did not have quite the extravagant and comfortable flight that we had. They were very delayed at LAX and would not arrive until 9pm. Guilty? Admittedly, only a tad.
After dinner that first night we were all pretty tired so we zonked out kind of early. The next day, the real vacation began and continued deliciously for the next 6 days.

*for the complete set of pictures, click here. Part II coming soon…

beached…

travelin' moon

I am going to Mexico tomorrow for my yearly family vacation! I promise to share photos when I return, but in the meantime, this is where I’ll be…

palapa for blog
It’ll be me & RJ, my parents, my brother, my nephew and my grandma. Aaah…yes!

Have a great week!

i’m in Chi-town

travelin' moon

I have been in Chicago since Tuesday. I was scared to come here for fear my Los Angeles body would freeze to death, but it has actually been beautiful! No snow storms, but still very crisp and cold. Although I did wear my sunglasses today, so it’s awesomely perfect.

Two things have been bugging me since arriving.

The first is that I left my camera battery at home (I think – or it’s lost). It sucks because I’ve been seeing some very interesting things to photograph, but alas the picture remain in my head and I cannot share them.

The second thing that has been bugging me is that I keep getting bloody noses. Yes. Just call me ‘Bloody Nose Baker’. It’s because it’s so dry here and I keep sniffing. It’s kind of funny and then, kind of not.

Funny thing, in my frequent cab rides around town, I have been privy to a variety of taxi cab odors, from the delicious, to the one that makes you hungry, to the one that made you want to throw up. And they all listen to NPR radio, which rocks.

One more day here and then off to Houston for the weekend…for work…

Ah the busy life of women’s fitness.
~

stuck in Texas

travelin' moon

TXflag

I’ve been missing in action, I know. And if I thought I needed a massage before, I need one even more now…

Things are amiss at work in our Houston location, so back to Texas I came. I’ve been here for 6 days working my little tushy off and was desperate to get home. I was supposed to be landing back in LA right about now. Sadly…I missed my flight. I have never missed a flight before just because I was late. I’ve missed due to plane delays and weather, but never because I just didn’t make it.

I was all set to go. I had plenty of time. I called the cab 30 minutes before I needed it. 4:30 came and went. 4:35 came and went. I wondered what might be happening when 4:40 came and went. So we called the cab company and they said “We couldn’t find a driver.”

What? You’re a cab company. What do you mean you couldn’t find a driver? Isn’t that your business?

So, now it is about 4:45 and I am still hoping the cab might arrive. No such luck, so at 4:50 a coworker put me in her car and we drove out at 4:55. We had 35 minutes to drive 16 miles (normally a 30 minute drive in rush hour). We quickly learned that we weren’t going anywhere fast. There was a big old accident in our way and we were in a sea of cars on 610 South. There was very little moving. And so I watched the time tick away on the digital clock of my coworker’s Pathfinder and slowly came to the realization that I was not going to make it. But I kept hoping that I would make it in the nick of time to be that girl running through the terminal with my shoes in my hands to be the last person on the plane. (I’ve been that girl once before).

Nope. It took an hour and a half to get there. And it was the last flight out. Damn!

Slightly stunned, I had my coworker, Jen, drop me at the Quality Inn across the street from the airport.

I am sitting in the hotel room, with my delivered pizza from Pizza Hut, my 2 liter bottle of Pepsi (yes, soda, shut up) which is all they had. I’m also watching a re-run of David Letterman, because the writers, of course, are still on strike. I have both laughed and cried more than once about this situation.

I will wake up very early and fly standby on the first flight out. And I am arriving 1.5 hours early, even if I can open my window and see the terminal.

Sigh.