I slept good, waking up about 6:45. Started working on the blog and went to sit outside around 7:30 once it got light enough. The kitchen already had coffee ready so that was good. I eventually had them make me some scrambled eggs. And yes, writing the blog beyond photo captioning definitely takes longer! I didn’t finish until about 9:15, and I had uploaded the photos last night as has become my practice. It’s mind boggling to me to think I used to do the writing at night, too; it seems so natural to do it in the morning over coffee.

There won’t be much to today. About 9:30 I went out for a walk again but didn’t go anywhere new, so taking photos wasn’t really on my mind. I went back to the place I’d gotten a massage the first day and got a pedicure. I rarely do that, maybe once or twice a year. I have a complicated relationship with pedicures: I hate clipping my own toenails, but someone else touching my feet can be tortuous because I’m so ticklish. And the hardest part is the scraping with the sand paper thingy – you’d think it would feel good but I sit there and grimace because it’s actually ticklish to me. But I’m glad I did it, and was embarrassed to see how filthy my feet were when I first pulled them away from the towel. Oh well, I’m sure she’s seen worse.

I went back to the hotel and packed; Jon picked me up around 12:30. He’d mentioned they had a Costco when I first got here and I said – huh, might be interesting to see one in another country. It’s sort of on the way to the airport so the plan was to stop there, then get something to eat at a place he likes that’s essentially next door to the airport.

Costco was Costco. I was hoping they would at least have different things, but mostly it looked like the same kinds of things we can get in the USA, even the prepared foods looked pretty similar. The layout was almost identical to the one I go to at Cal Expo; I could practically have done my own shopping without much trouble.

From there we went to this place that has these shrimp burritos Jon likes. And he ain’t wrong.

Despite having great food, the other reason to come to this place to eat on the way to the airport is right in front of it is a bridge which takes pedestrians right to it. There were lots of taxis around for folks coming over on the bridge and catching cabs out of the airport madness and for half the fare, Jon says. So with that we said our goodbyes, and Jon didn’t have to drive into the airport.

Good thing too cuz it was madness for some reason. Departures was anyway which was where I entered. It wasn’t so bad once I got in. By the time I got to my gate I had just about 90 minutes to kill before I boarded. Not horrible; I got something to drink and sat in the food court for most of it and read my book.

My flight was on time and we landed in PHX 30 minutes early; but the previous plane hadn’t left our gate yet so we had to wait on the tarmac. So despite landing at 7:22, by the time I deplaned, went through customs (almost as bad as LAX but not quite), and went through security again, I got to the lounge about 9pm. That’s where I am now. It’s 9:45; my flight was supposed to leave at 9:40 but when I turned my phone on after landing I got a notification from American that it was delayed to 10:25. So I’ll leave in a bit to the gate.

I typically end the blog with final thoughts, but I’m not sure I have a bunch this time. I would never have come to PV probably if Jon didn’t live here. Dan and I aren’t beach/water/resort people so it just wouldn’t occur to us to make a full vacation out of it. Maybe some day.

So Jon was the impetus and that part was great. I enjoyed seeing him here and showing me things from his perspective and I see why it works for him. For me, 3 days was enough. If I ever did come back, I would want to come with Dan and do one of those trips where there’s ziplining, hiking, etc. I could have done it on my own but just wasn’t in the mood for it this time.

I was struck by some of the same things that struck me on our first trip to Mexico in 2014. It’s a 3rd world country for sure, and the separation between rich and poor are bigger than any we typically see in the US. There are a few homeless, but frankly Midtown where I live is 10x worse. And everyone I interacted with incredibly nice and friendly, even just passing on the street. I never felt unsafe or unwelcome.

And boy is it gay! I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many gay folks congregated in one place before outside of The Castro, and maybe not even then. There was something both odd and comforting about it, can’t quite explain it. Some of that is it has a very party town kind of feel to it and that’s so not my scene; I find myself watching it with disinterest and a sort of amusement. Had I taken another path, that could so easily be me. If I lived to tell the tale, which I figured a long time ago I wouldn’t have had I stayed on that route.

So in the end I’m grateful: that I went, that I spent time with Jon, that I did and saw some things I hadn’t before, and ate some great food. And that it makes me appreciate what I have in my life that much more. As always, I’m happy to be going home and ready.

With that, I better go catch my plane. Thanks again for coming along. We have no idea what the next trip will be. Maybe we’ll decide that when Dan comes to Sac later this week. Until then take care….