Yesterday started off so promising! I found a really good airfare for my nephew's October wedding in Chicago. I also managed to snag a Southwest awards ticket for a trip back to Kansas a little later this summer. So I was feeling pretty good!
After my morning walk, bike ride, and swim, I headed to Kohl's to buy some beach towels on sale. I found the beach towels, but decided to take a look around at what else was on sale. Big mistake. I tried on some clothes in a dressing room and then stopped at the jewelry counter to look at earrings. A little bit of mindless wandering. Mindless being the key word. Long story short -- I managed to lose my expensive prescription sunglasses. I think I laid them on the jewelry counter when I tried on a pair of earrings. I walked a few steps to look at the silly baubles in the mirror and when I returned, no sunglasses! What the heck! I searched through the store for at least an hour retracing my steps, checking the lost and found, asking clerks around the store, and even going through all the dressing rooms. Gone! A clerk said someone probably snatched them thinking they were designer glasses, but actually, they're just cheap Kirkland Costco frames with very expensive prescription lenses. Ugh!
So, that was the start of my bad day. I realized soon after there's no way to replace them before I leave for Isla next Tuesday since it takes at least a week to order and get them. Fortunately, I found my older pair with the progressive lenses, so I will be able to see on my trip!
My luck continued down the same path. Later in the afternoon, the doorbell rang and it was the pool man. Some of the fittings on the pool have been leaking and Craig had no success over the weekend trying to fix the problem, so he called the experts to take a look. I was expecting Mr. Fixit to slap some caulk or an O-ring on and hand me a bill for $100 labor. But it wasn't my lucky day.
Shortly after he went in the backyard, there was a knock knock at the back door. Who's there? Pool man. The salt cell, a very expensive piece of equipment, is cracked and leaking. Of course it is! We tried to get it replaced last year when it was under warranty, but they insisted it was fine. Now that the warranty has expired, it's a goner. Cha ching, cha ching, cha ching! Not only that, our poolbuilder no longer distributes that particular brand of salt cell, so if we can't find it elsewhere, we'll have to start over with a completely new system. Where's that hair standing on end emoticon when I need it!
I guess some days are diamonds, and some days are definitely NOT! Later today, I'll head to Costco with my older prescription sunglasses to have them adjusted and tightened up.
Forget the Calgon! I am so ready for Isla to take me away! Ommmmmmmmm.
Sometimes airline food is damn good! This was a beef fajita salad with creamy cilantro dressing.
And yum! A warm crispy chocolate chip cookie. Of course the punchline is that I flew on an awards First Class ticket.
And folks, if you'll look to your right, you'll see the outer bands of Alex!
Watch out at the Ultramar ticket counter! The woman charged me 150 pesos for one way! And gave me a one way ticket, so it was't a roundtrip misunderstanding. When I called her on it in a nice manner, she sheepishly returned the rest of my change. Times are hard, but come on!
Once on the ferry, the incident at the ticket counter evaporated. I ran into my friend Joaquin who owns the Moto rental by Ricardo's. We rode up top listening to Jorge sing. And Joaquin helped me with my bags at the ferry dock. What a gentleman!
The view from my window as sun set on Playa Norte. After I got to the room, I immediately donned my swimsuit, jumped in the pool, took a swim in the Caribe, and back to the pool! The water was wonderful!
My lovely room at Ixchel. What's not to like! : )
And last of all, dinner at Mocambo. The grilled garlic pescado!
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Gwen pulled a Goldilocks and found a chair that was juuuust right!
