austxdan
13th July 2007, 06:30 AM
Day 9 - May 27, 2007 - Departure Day
"Chinellas" I’m thinking as I lay awake in bed this morning. This is our "ultima dia", which when said (or thought) in Spanish sounds a lot better than when said (or thought) in English.
It had rained overnight, and there were still quite a few clouds left around. Therefore the sunrise wasn't at its best this morning, but we still went out to the beach to grab a few last pics.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/238/528882840_57db62ab06.jpg
Figure 76 - Last Day rise
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1061/528884446_aa4add29bd.jpg
Figure 77 - Sun finally breaking through
We camped at our usual palapa for a little while, doing some more journaling, reading, just chillin'. Finally we decided to go on up and get some breakfast from Tita's restaurant. This time we both opted for the "healthy breakfast". So after scarfing down our yogurt, granola, berries, etc we were just enjoying the view, the breeze, the everything from Tita's outside deck. We watched another couple come out of their room and drop stuff off at "our palapa". No biggie, we weren't using it at the moment, an I can share as good as the next person. So we watched them spread out their bath towels on the lounge chairs that I had dragged over to the palapa this morning. Then they went back to their room! WTF!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They were playing "the towel game". Here. At Tita Tulum! That's uncalled for!! They must have come on down from some AI to the north, and brought their silly little "towel game" with them. I was quite steamed, and then I turned to my right.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/528889212_813591fb0c.jpg
Figure 78 - Pretty happy, considering we have to leave today
OK, so how could I be mad anymore. We'll just roll with it and decided to setup camp for the morning from our beachfront deck. (Our cabana was better than theirs anyhow, Nyaah!) As it turned out we only had one hour left and spent that entire hour in the water and wouldn't have even used the palapa. Either! At least WE were there! Deep breath, time to go inside and pack.
Packing was easier to go home than it was to come on down here. There's definitely a bonus to not worrying if something gets wrinkled or not. That and we were bringing less sun block, bug spray, etc home with us. Not to mention the two inflatable air mattresses that we left for our maid to take to her ninos. Our last official task was to head up to the restaurant and settle our bill. We had been running a tab all week without even leaving a credit card imprint. Again, that is just some of the beauty that is Tita Tulum Hotel Ecologico.
We sat with Ninfa, the manager/waitress/hostess/everything for our stay. She is always sporting quite the beaming smile, and it was nice to sit with her one last time and chat while we were settling up. We even had one of the waiters take our picture together, but Ninfa came out a little dark, so here's a shot of her alone first.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1023/528539720_d238802af6.jpg
Figure 79 - Ninfa rocks !!!
And then here was our last photo at Tita Tulum.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1100/528540740_34dd83965b.jpg
Figure 80 - Us and Ninfa
After this shot we said our goodbyes, and promised to be back again next year. We made Ninfa promise to be back next year too, so now we all have a date!
We loaded up our trusty little VW, and proceeded on up the Boca Paila road and then north on Hwy 307. We had already decided to stop up in Akumal for lunch to break up the trip back to the airport. Besides, our flight wasn't until 5:30, and it was just shy of noon so we had plenty of time to kill today.
Since all we had ever eaten at Turtle Bay bakery was breakfast, we decided to stop on in and give lunch a try. Chris ordered a veggie pita platter.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/528542582_c2b6568842.jpg
Figure 81 - Veggie Pita Platter
This was one of those seemingly endless meals, as the more of it she ate, the more there seemed to be. But with all the mad cow,bird/swine/fish flu, etc going around these days, Chris is the good dietician and orders the vegetarian entrée.
I opted to go for the Akumal wrap myself. I couldn't tell you what was in it right now, heck it could have been veggie too now that I look at the picture.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1206/528543508_aaaa58a0af.jpg
Figure 82 - Akumal Wrap
I do recall it was quite tasty, and did a nice job of filling my tummy for the drive back up to Cancun. For lunch Chris had the Watermelon juice, while I went for the pineapple juice. (Thought I was gonna type Sol, didn't you?) We bought a slab o' brownie from inside the bakery for the trip home. Since you don't get fed on airplanes anymore, this was going to be our in-flight meal, if it lasted that long.
Back in our trusty steed we headed out to 307 and took a right. The drive up was fairly uneventful, up until the point where I missed the relatively unmarked entrance to the express lanes. This meant that I was gonna have to stay with the slow traffic all the way up north of Playa del Carmen. The highway around Playa, from just south of Playacar to just north of Puerto Morelos is not that much fun of a drive. The cops drive back and forth with their lights flashing, and it makes you double think every muscle you move while driving your rental back north. So I played this little game of "keep the tour buses between Dan and the Policia". This was my grown-up equivalent of "close your eyes until the monsters go away". And it worked pretty well until the tour buses wanted to go faster than the speed limit, at which point it behooved me to get out of their way. All in all we did make good time getting up to the airport.
We pulled in to the parking lot at the airport terminal at a little after 2:30, and saw the Caribbean Car Rental guy motion us that he'd be right over in a little bit. Finally he came on over and began his inspection of the car. I think I was sweating profusely from the heat, yeah, that's it - the heat, and I followed the inspection process with careful eyes. When inspector guy came up to the right front tire I decided now would be a good time to "chat him up" a little bit. I talked about how good the car was, except that it was a little dirty (ha-ha, ahem) and that the birds seemed to take a liking to it. He laughed at that last comment while walking around the front of the car and handing me back my empty credit card vouchers. Amen!
Inside the terminal we stepped into the outrageously long line at the American Airlines desk at 3:00 PM. No worries mon, we've got like 2 1/2 hours until our flight. I take the tickets out of my pocket. OMG!!! Our flight is at 4:30, not 5:30 as I thought. Is this line even moving? Dang look at those bags, have all you people been down here for a year?!? Is your name Yili? Suddenly the cool terminal AC did nothing to alleviate my prior sweatiness.
Eventually we got to the front, checked our ONE bag, and got our tickets. Then it was off to the departure gate for a final Sol (there it is) and that brownie from Turtle Bay bakery. Luckily (really?) our flight was delayed a bit and we didn't really take off until about 5:10. It was sad to look out the window and say "Adios, mi amigo" to Mexico.
I know this might be hard to believe, but there was nasty weather up around DFW. Therefore we spent the better part of an hour circling over southwestern Louisiana before finally coming in for a departure. Once inside the airport for our connection, it was a zoo. We made it through immigration/security easy enough but were then directed to somewhere "just around the corner" to check back into the gate area. 30 minutes later we were finally "on the inside" and heading toward our departure gate to get down to Austin. Unfrotunately the brownie had worn off, and since it was Sunday night there was nothing open to get food at. Let's just say that brownie got quite a workout providing us with sustenance until we got to Austin.
We made it back to Austin, got our bags, and then managed to remember where we parked. Soon enough we were back in our own house eating midnight PB and J's before going to sleep in our own bed. Our trip was finally over. :(
D.
"Chinellas" I’m thinking as I lay awake in bed this morning. This is our "ultima dia", which when said (or thought) in Spanish sounds a lot better than when said (or thought) in English.
It had rained overnight, and there were still quite a few clouds left around. Therefore the sunrise wasn't at its best this morning, but we still went out to the beach to grab a few last pics.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/238/528882840_57db62ab06.jpg
Figure 76 - Last Day rise
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1061/528884446_aa4add29bd.jpg
Figure 77 - Sun finally breaking through
We camped at our usual palapa for a little while, doing some more journaling, reading, just chillin'. Finally we decided to go on up and get some breakfast from Tita's restaurant. This time we both opted for the "healthy breakfast". So after scarfing down our yogurt, granola, berries, etc we were just enjoying the view, the breeze, the everything from Tita's outside deck. We watched another couple come out of their room and drop stuff off at "our palapa". No biggie, we weren't using it at the moment, an I can share as good as the next person. So we watched them spread out their bath towels on the lounge chairs that I had dragged over to the palapa this morning. Then they went back to their room! WTF!!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing. They were playing "the towel game". Here. At Tita Tulum! That's uncalled for!! They must have come on down from some AI to the north, and brought their silly little "towel game" with them. I was quite steamed, and then I turned to my right.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/528889212_813591fb0c.jpg
Figure 78 - Pretty happy, considering we have to leave today
OK, so how could I be mad anymore. We'll just roll with it and decided to setup camp for the morning from our beachfront deck. (Our cabana was better than theirs anyhow, Nyaah!) As it turned out we only had one hour left and spent that entire hour in the water and wouldn't have even used the palapa. Either! At least WE were there! Deep breath, time to go inside and pack.
Packing was easier to go home than it was to come on down here. There's definitely a bonus to not worrying if something gets wrinkled or not. That and we were bringing less sun block, bug spray, etc home with us. Not to mention the two inflatable air mattresses that we left for our maid to take to her ninos. Our last official task was to head up to the restaurant and settle our bill. We had been running a tab all week without even leaving a credit card imprint. Again, that is just some of the beauty that is Tita Tulum Hotel Ecologico.
We sat with Ninfa, the manager/waitress/hostess/everything for our stay. She is always sporting quite the beaming smile, and it was nice to sit with her one last time and chat while we were settling up. We even had one of the waiters take our picture together, but Ninfa came out a little dark, so here's a shot of her alone first.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1023/528539720_d238802af6.jpg
Figure 79 - Ninfa rocks !!!
And then here was our last photo at Tita Tulum.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1100/528540740_34dd83965b.jpg
Figure 80 - Us and Ninfa
After this shot we said our goodbyes, and promised to be back again next year. We made Ninfa promise to be back next year too, so now we all have a date!
We loaded up our trusty little VW, and proceeded on up the Boca Paila road and then north on Hwy 307. We had already decided to stop up in Akumal for lunch to break up the trip back to the airport. Besides, our flight wasn't until 5:30, and it was just shy of noon so we had plenty of time to kill today.
Since all we had ever eaten at Turtle Bay bakery was breakfast, we decided to stop on in and give lunch a try. Chris ordered a veggie pita platter.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1158/528542582_c2b6568842.jpg
Figure 81 - Veggie Pita Platter
This was one of those seemingly endless meals, as the more of it she ate, the more there seemed to be. But with all the mad cow,bird/swine/fish flu, etc going around these days, Chris is the good dietician and orders the vegetarian entrée.
I opted to go for the Akumal wrap myself. I couldn't tell you what was in it right now, heck it could have been veggie too now that I look at the picture.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1206/528543508_aaaa58a0af.jpg
Figure 82 - Akumal Wrap
I do recall it was quite tasty, and did a nice job of filling my tummy for the drive back up to Cancun. For lunch Chris had the Watermelon juice, while I went for the pineapple juice. (Thought I was gonna type Sol, didn't you?) We bought a slab o' brownie from inside the bakery for the trip home. Since you don't get fed on airplanes anymore, this was going to be our in-flight meal, if it lasted that long.
Back in our trusty steed we headed out to 307 and took a right. The drive up was fairly uneventful, up until the point where I missed the relatively unmarked entrance to the express lanes. This meant that I was gonna have to stay with the slow traffic all the way up north of Playa del Carmen. The highway around Playa, from just south of Playacar to just north of Puerto Morelos is not that much fun of a drive. The cops drive back and forth with their lights flashing, and it makes you double think every muscle you move while driving your rental back north. So I played this little game of "keep the tour buses between Dan and the Policia". This was my grown-up equivalent of "close your eyes until the monsters go away". And it worked pretty well until the tour buses wanted to go faster than the speed limit, at which point it behooved me to get out of their way. All in all we did make good time getting up to the airport.
We pulled in to the parking lot at the airport terminal at a little after 2:30, and saw the Caribbean Car Rental guy motion us that he'd be right over in a little bit. Finally he came on over and began his inspection of the car. I think I was sweating profusely from the heat, yeah, that's it - the heat, and I followed the inspection process with careful eyes. When inspector guy came up to the right front tire I decided now would be a good time to "chat him up" a little bit. I talked about how good the car was, except that it was a little dirty (ha-ha, ahem) and that the birds seemed to take a liking to it. He laughed at that last comment while walking around the front of the car and handing me back my empty credit card vouchers. Amen!
Inside the terminal we stepped into the outrageously long line at the American Airlines desk at 3:00 PM. No worries mon, we've got like 2 1/2 hours until our flight. I take the tickets out of my pocket. OMG!!! Our flight is at 4:30, not 5:30 as I thought. Is this line even moving? Dang look at those bags, have all you people been down here for a year?!? Is your name Yili? Suddenly the cool terminal AC did nothing to alleviate my prior sweatiness.
Eventually we got to the front, checked our ONE bag, and got our tickets. Then it was off to the departure gate for a final Sol (there it is) and that brownie from Turtle Bay bakery. Luckily (really?) our flight was delayed a bit and we didn't really take off until about 5:10. It was sad to look out the window and say "Adios, mi amigo" to Mexico.
I know this might be hard to believe, but there was nasty weather up around DFW. Therefore we spent the better part of an hour circling over southwestern Louisiana before finally coming in for a departure. Once inside the airport for our connection, it was a zoo. We made it through immigration/security easy enough but were then directed to somewhere "just around the corner" to check back into the gate area. 30 minutes later we were finally "on the inside" and heading toward our departure gate to get down to Austin. Unfrotunately the brownie had worn off, and since it was Sunday night there was nothing open to get food at. Let's just say that brownie got quite a workout providing us with sustenance until we got to Austin.
We made it back to Austin, got our bags, and then managed to remember where we parked. Soon enough we were back in our own house eating midnight PB and J's before going to sleep in our own bed. Our trip was finally over. :(
D.