wendyonwillow

Hi Everyone, and Happy Labor Day weekend.  Used to be, this was the last weekend of summer before all of us kids went back to school.  Now kids are in school for 2-3 weeks by now!  Whew! At least their first holiday weekend comes quick!  I hope you all are enjoying this day, thinking of what the weekend means, and staying cool.  I think it’s hot everywhere…

I flew from La Paz to Tijuana on Volaris Airlines the first week of August, and it was a good experience.  At TJ, I caught a shuttle to the border, walked across after checking back in to the US, and walked to where another shuttle would pick us all up.  Since the driver decided to go to Otay Mesa instead of San Ysidro on account of the waiting lines, the shuttle on the US side wasn’t there.  It showed up after about an hour, an hour I had the pleasure with which to meet my fellow shuttle-mates and hear their stories.  It was alot of fun, and an adventure.  Oh yeah, the monsters got to come, too.  Now THAT part was an adventure.

It was 111 degrees at La Paz airport the day I left.  With the cats in the carriers, I wanted to stay with them as long as possible, trying to shorten the amount of time they sat in the baggage area or on the tarmac in that heat.  Being the good passenger that I am, of course I arrived 2 hours early, and boy, am I glad I did.  I checked in at the counter, and this entailed Security going through any baggage that will be checked.  That meant the monsters’ carriers.  So, the monsters came out of the carriers and leashed, just sat on the table while Security inspected the carriers. After paying their fees ($10 less than my seat, each), I went through another screening.  This one is where I get radiated to my eyeballs.  Of course, the monsters had to come out of their carriers for this, too.  They did without issue, and pretty much impressed all who were watching.  The rest of my baggage was carry-on, and now had to be inspected.  Computer, carefully packed, iPad, carefully packed, camera, carefully packed, all had to come out, as did that suspicious looking chart plotter.  No problem.  The cats were sitting calmly as I took everything out of the bag, trying not to spill my underwear and bras on the table.  Wait, I had to take my belt off, too, as I was wearing my blue jeans because they took up too much space to pack.  I slowly walked through the ‘radiator’ and of course, all the bells and whistles went off. The cats, too.  As I was scanned by the giggling female attendant, the cats sat, bored.  I was motioned forward to explain that suspicious GPS, and said it was going home for repair.  They nodded, and let me pass.  As I was trying to herd the cats back into their carriers, a supervisor arrived and said in no uncertain spanish terms that the cats could not be there. As my jeans fell down, I apologized, explaining I just went where the ticket agents directed.  He again told me to leave.  Then he softened up a bit after seeing how calmly the cats were staring at him.  My jeans continued to almost my knees, as I was afraid to move until he said I could.  Flashing all the Security team my burgundy chones, I got the cats caged and gathered up the rest of my stuff. Since I would have to do this all over again, I asked if my computer and other stuff could wait with them.  The staff, now giggling as hard as the female attendant, agreed to watch my stuff.

Escorted back to the main terminal, I put my belt back on so as not to offend anyone or cause a laughing fit.  I grabbed a wall, slid down and sat on the oh, so cool marble floor.  Soon after, the monsters begged to be let out, so I opened their carrier doors.  Makani immediately did the sprawl, extending every inch of himself on the cool floor, a look of happiness on his face.  Kai was a bit more nervous and just wanted to sit in my lap.  For the most part, dogs and cats serve a purpose in Mexico.  Dogs often guard a house or yard while cats are varmint catchers, and the skinniest creatures I’ve seen.  So to see the vieja loca gringa with not one, but two of these things, one pretty dang fat, who were going on an airplane, was an entertainment to the locals. Makani and Kai had their pictures taken, coats petted and ears pulled by Mexicans old and young, large and small. The fat red boy cat of course was in his element, but Kai could’ve done without it all.  Everyone had a smile and a kind word for the monsters.

Twenty minutes before boarding, I went through Security again, and the cats and I sailed through.  I turned them over to the baggage attendants and waited to board.  The flight was pleasant and uneventful, and I was excited to be nearer to home as we landed.  At the baggage carousel, all of my flight mates cheered when they saw the carriers come on up the track, around the corner, and made their way to me.  It was a fun time.

Mom picked me up at San Diego airport and we stopped and picked up some pizza to eat on the drive home.  Lucky for us, the cats weren’t hungry, but I was!  Mom and I talked about everything we could squeeze into the two hours time before we got home.  I drove the monsters on up to my sister’s and brother in law’s home in Laguna.  After a quick greeting, we all crashed.

I spent three weeks settling my recreational use tax issue for the boat in Ventura, got some items for friends in Mexico, got some items for Willow in Mexico, visited with friends, checked in at the doc’s, change-coached a couple of outrigger races (FUN!), SUP’d once or twice, flew with Andrew to SLO (WAY FUN!), and got to spend some quality time with family and close friends. None of that sounds too expensive, but right now I’m broke, so September will be a slim month for me.  My trip back to La Paz was pretty uneventful, except for when the drug-sniffing canine found two items in the baggage area he was very interested in.  Can anyone guess which two items???

Enjoy the weekend, Everyone, and there’ll be more posts soon. Take good care!