Arrow slides to snorkel-free Ixtapa Thanksgiving sunsets
For Thanksgiving Melika and Tom invited us and Tom’s Dad’s family to join them at Club Med in Mexico. In preparation for our (very) early flight to Ixtapa via Mexico City, Nazy and I booked a hotel near LAX. We drove down the day before, leaving early enough to ..
“ … stop in the Premium Outlets in Camarillo,” Nazy exclaimed.
“Stop?” I asked.
“Yes! Stop!” Nazy replied. “And shop,” Nazy thought.
“Shop?” I replied, presciently.
“That way we’ll miss the traffic into LA.”
“We could also leave Santa Barbara later.”
“You have no imagination, Dan.” Nazy retorted.
Fortunately, I had remembered to clear extraneous ‘stuff’ from the car - making it possible for Christmas purchases to fit. We stopped at Darband (Persian) restaurant before heading to LAX. I chose the Sheraton because the cost of the room was essentially cancelled by the low cost of the associated parking. Because we had an early flight, we began pumping the ‘Z’s’ early. Our sleep was uninterrupted except for a 3:15AM text from Melika announcing that the Adams Family was on the way.
Interestingly, neither Tom’s Dad nor Tom spent the night in LA. They both drove from Santa Barbara — starting very early in the morning. More interestingly, they arrived at check-in before us. The flights were smooth, but there was a long delay in Mexico City as we waited for a gate. Increasing the challenge, we faced a short connection, had to clear immigration and begin our attack from the last row of the airplane.
“Fortunately,” I thought, “I know what i’m doing.” I had filled out all the forms, including forms fro Arrow and Tiger. When we landed, I stuffed all the passports and landing cards in my jacket pocket, grabbed Arrow and began marching through the airport — leaving everyone else in my wake. Ironically, I failed to notice that Tiger didn’t want to go through the formalities with me, he preferred to go with his Mom.
I knew the time was tight, so I pushed my way to the front of the queue. Nazy, huffing, eventually joined me. I handed the agent four passports and..
“… three landing cards.” The agent noted. “I need a landing card for…”
He paused.
“ … ah, yes, for Daniel.”
“Where’s the card, Dan?” Nazy asked helpfully.
I put Arrow on the counter and began fumbling through my pockets. Nazy, a bit miffed because of from the time spent chasing me through the airport, was now glaring. Arrow, in distress, slid off the counter and fell to the floor. Nazy reacted with the calm patience you’d expect…
“What did you say to me?” I asked.
“Here’s another landing card,” the agent interjected. “Fill this one out and try not to lose it.”
We made our connection and arrived at the Zihuatanejo Airport that serves Ixtapa. (Not so easy for a gringo to pronounce.) It was hot.
It was also nice to see that the boys understood Thanksgiving. The school sent a note recording what each child found to be thankful about.
“I’m thankful for Tiger,” Arrow said.
“I’m thankful for Mama,” Tiger said. “You should be thankful for the things you love the most.”
Mature observations from children were, of course, not matched by the fragile, frightened, capitulator that occupies, like an unwanted infestation of fire ants, the office of president. This hubristic mistake was thankful for all the great work he had done.
By the way: People in Mexico were very nice. They may even consider building their own wall just to keep our ‘president’ out of Mexico.
There were several adventures in Ixtapa. We went snorkeling… well, most of us went snorkeling. Arrow was too little and Tiger was not impressed with his mobility in a life jacket and flippers. I assured everyone that I was a natural, but…
“I would have been a bit more graceful if my mask hadn’t leaked around my mustache,” I claimed later. “That’s also the reason I didn’t win the hearts game,” I thought.
It was a holiday with too many events to fit in a single issue of The Weekly Letter. The next letter will highlight dolphins and cruises, dinners and trapeze artists, elevators and sirens, immigration and traffic. In the meantime, a few photos follow.
“ … stop in the Premium Outlets in Camarillo,” Nazy exclaimed.
“Stop?” I asked.
“Yes! Stop!” Nazy replied. “And shop,” Nazy thought.
“Shop?” I replied, presciently.
“That way we’ll miss the traffic into LA.”
“We could also leave Santa Barbara later.”
“You have no imagination, Dan.” Nazy retorted.
Fortunately, I had remembered to clear extraneous ‘stuff’ from the car - making it possible for Christmas purchases to fit. We stopped at Darband (Persian) restaurant before heading to LAX. I chose the Sheraton because the cost of the room was essentially cancelled by the low cost of the associated parking. Because we had an early flight, we began pumping the ‘Z’s’ early. Our sleep was uninterrupted except for a 3:15AM text from Melika announcing that the Adams Family was on the way.
Interestingly, neither Tom’s Dad nor Tom spent the night in LA. They both drove from Santa Barbara — starting very early in the morning. More interestingly, they arrived at check-in before us. The flights were smooth, but there was a long delay in Mexico City as we waited for a gate. Increasing the challenge, we faced a short connection, had to clear immigration and begin our attack from the last row of the airplane.
“Fortunately,” I thought, “I know what i’m doing.” I had filled out all the forms, including forms fro Arrow and Tiger. When we landed, I stuffed all the passports and landing cards in my jacket pocket, grabbed Arrow and began marching through the airport — leaving everyone else in my wake. Ironically, I failed to notice that Tiger didn’t want to go through the formalities with me, he preferred to go with his Mom.
I knew the time was tight, so I pushed my way to the front of the queue. Nazy, huffing, eventually joined me. I handed the agent four passports and..
“… three landing cards.” The agent noted. “I need a landing card for…”
He paused.
“ … ah, yes, for Daniel.”
“Where’s the card, Dan?” Nazy asked helpfully.
I put Arrow on the counter and began fumbling through my pockets. Nazy, a bit miffed because of from the time spent chasing me through the airport, was now glaring. Arrow, in distress, slid off the counter and fell to the floor. Nazy reacted with the calm patience you’d expect…
“What did you say to me?” I asked.
“Here’s another landing card,” the agent interjected. “Fill this one out and try not to lose it.”
We made our connection and arrived at the Zihuatanejo Airport that serves Ixtapa. (Not so easy for a gringo to pronounce.) It was hot.
All of us on a sunset cruise near Ixtapa, Mexico
Club Med met us at the airport with a minivan..
“There were 11 of us Dan,” Nazy interrupts,”there was nothing ‘mini’ about our group.”
We had a spectacular room overlooking the ocean — which cooperated with both relaxing ocean sounds and gorgeous sunsets. It turned out that neither Tiger nor Arrow were particularly fond of actually swimming in the ocean. There was a lot of sand and the water was ‘bumpy’.
But they had a lot of fun in the pool. There was a child pool about 28” deep that Arrow loved.
“I’m thankful for Tiger,” Arrow said.
“I’m thankful for Mama,” Tiger said. “You should be thankful for the things you love the most.”
Mature observations from children were, of course, not matched by the fragile, frightened, capitulator that occupies, like an unwanted infestation of fire ants, the office of president. This hubristic mistake was thankful for all the great work he had done.
By the way: People in Mexico were very nice. They may even consider building their own wall just to keep our ‘president’ out of Mexico.
There were several adventures in Ixtapa. We went snorkeling… well, most of us went snorkeling. Arrow was too little and Tiger was not impressed with his mobility in a life jacket and flippers. I assured everyone that I was a natural, but…
“I would have been a bit more graceful if my mask hadn’t leaked around my mustache,” I claimed later. “That’s also the reason I didn’t win the hearts game,” I thought.
It was a holiday with too many events to fit in a single issue of The Weekly Letter. The next letter will highlight dolphins and cruises, dinners and trapeze artists, elevators and sirens, immigration and traffic. In the meantime, a few photos follow.
For last week's letter, please click here
Melika and the grandchildren
The Adams Family
blog comments powered by Disqus