Bob and I had one full day ( Monday, June 19) in San Diego before flying up to Oregon. We stayed near Old Town but spent the day walking to and around Mission Bay, Mission Beach, and Pacific Beach. It was a full-day hike, and for us land-locked folks, it provided another opportunity to view the beautiful coast.
Photos below–
While our house sit in Encinitas was short, it left a big impression. We loved the beautiful community, the climate, and the walk-ability of the area. We also really bonded with “our” dog, Sadie. She is a rescue from Hawaii. There is apparently a lot of animals left homeless there when their owners leave the island. She couldn’t have been sweeter and kept us very close company in bed.
The beaches and coastline are gorgeous —
The downtown area was cute with lots of retail and dining options —
We also loved the variety of flowers and plants in the parks, gardens, and yards —
We even spent a couple of hours on Saturday on a free historical walking tour. It was interesting to learn more about the community — including the fact that Encinitas was the first town established between San Diego and LA due to its role in the development of the railroad.
Oh, and we scored Bob another Big Head photo.
Actually, we only needed one of each of the above-mentioned modes of transportation (with the exception of buses) to get us from Mexico City to Encinitas, California, for our current housesit, but then I couldn’t riff on the John Candy movie, so please excuse the poetic license.
Planes — Bob and I had a 6:55 am American Airlines flight on Wednesday, June 14, from Mexico City to LAX, which entailed a 4:00 am alarm to catch the free shuttle from our hotel. The airport must never sleep, as it was already going strong at that time of day. Our flight was uneventful, and we landed at LAX ahead of schedule. This rarely seems to be a good thing as the arrival gate is seldom ready. We stopped and started towards a gate and then were finally informed that we would be going down stairs at the back of the plane to be bussed to the terminal. After that, however, it was the most efficient airport departure ever. Customs and Immigration was super fast with our Global Entry status, and we were very close to our baggage claim carousel. Our baggage was unloaded pretty quickly, and we were off to make our way to Union Station in LA to catch a 3:00 pm Amtrak train to Solano Beach (near Encinitas).
Metros — It was barely after 10 am, so since we had lots of time we decided to take the metro to Union Station instead of the more direct (and expensive) bus. To get to the metro we had to wait in the designated area outside of the terminal for the free Airport “G” bus to take us to the airport metro station. At the airport metro station, we purchased a metro card for $1.00 each and then paid the $1.75 one-day fare. We then took the green line to the Rosa Parks Station, switched to the blue line to the Metro Center station, and then switched to the red line to Union Station. The entire trip from leaving the baggage claim area at the airport to Union Station was about 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Trains — Once at Union Station, we found the Amtrak Customer Service window and were able to exchange our 3:00 pm tickets for the 12:30 departure. We hightailed it to the platform and were soon boarding the business class! coach. We had splurged on the upgrade over general seating in economy. We thought there might be more room for our luggage in Business Class, and we had heard about the great views from this route and wanted to be sure we could take advantage. It was a difference of paying $90 for the two of us instead of $60. To our pleasant surprise (as we hadn’t eaten since very early on our flight), we were provided with a free snack box and one free drink — water, juice, soda, or alcohol.
Buses — Amtrak was the gift that kept giving. Once we arrived in Solana Beach, we walked across the street to wait for the Breeze Bus to take us back up to Encinitas (about a 15 minute ride). We were able to show our Amtrak tickets for a free ride on the bus.
NOTE: Bob is the logistics guru. He researched all of this before we left Mexico and knew the transportation options out of LAX, where we needed to catch each one, and the costs. He is also the chief chef. Not sure of my value-add on this adventure, but I picked my partner wisely!
Automobiles — After we arrived in Encinitas, we found a cafe with wifi to communicate with our homeowner. She collected us and our bags and brought us to the house where we met Sadie and settled in while she and her husband finished their work for the day. We had a lovely meal with them prior to their departure early the following morning.
Our last day in Mexico City was pretty much focused on Frida Kahlo. We both really wanted to get to her museum, locally known as La Casa Azul or the Blue House. We decided to walk there and then bus or metro it back to our hotel. It was about a two-hour walk to the museum which allowed us to see a lot of neighborhoods that we hadn’t seen before.The walk was pretty much a straight shot, with a little excitement along the way.
Once at the museum, we waited for about an hour in line to enter the museum and then had a good hour to 90 minutes inside the house and very lovely grounds. The museum provided a good overview of Frida’s life, including her childhood bout with polio that caused one leg to be shorter than the other, the traffic accident at age 18 that would create health issues for the rest of her life, her relationship/marriage to Diego Rivera, their relationship with Leon Trotsky, as well as her career. We loved it!
NOTE: In a related aside — If you have not yet seen the movie Frida with Salma Hayek and Alfred Molina, we highly recommend a viewing.
We ended up taking the metro back to our hotel. That was a very warm, crowded experience. Of course, when you are paying $.50 each, you don’t really complain too much. Once at the hotel, we got an Uber to take us to a hotel closer to the airport as we had a very early flight to the States on Wednesday.
Our second day in Mexico City was Monday — as in ALL museums are closed Monday. Not to be stymied in our efforts to see and learn more about Mexico City (or so we thought), we headed to Chapultepec Park. This is a top rated thing to do in the city as the vast park holds not only a number of museums but also has man-made lakes, walking trails, fountains, and statues. We thought it would make for a lovely half-day of walking and would also allow us to see the broad and beautiful Paseo de la Reforma, one of the main streets in the city, as we would need to walk that to get to the park.
We aren’t as smart as we thought. Unbeknownst to us, Mexico City closes the entire park to visitors on Mondays. It is twice the size of Central Park — closed! There is an iron fence surrounding the park, and on Mondays all gates are locked. We spoke with the nice security people who told us that “yes, the whole park is closed on Mondays” as if the closing of vast stretches of public park space is an obvious thing to do.
We decided that Plan B would be to pay to be driven around in a tourist bus to learn some facts about the sites we were seeing as well as to see additional sites. After about a 90 minute walk to the Zocalo Square from the park, we paid the equivalent of $8 for a 3 hour tour. The bus drivers, who are able to successfully negotiate the madness that is Mexico City traffic (including 2-way traffic around round-about some), ought perhaps to be given some gubernatorial authority as well cuz they are good.
Some photos of our day —
After leaving the Yucatan via Volaris Airlines from Merida, we arrived to beautiful weather in Mexico City. Instead of dealing with the aggressive taxi drivers, we took the Metro Bus (Line 4) into the historic center of the city — very easy, cheap, and not crowded. We were in early (still in the am) but were able to check-in to our hotel where we ended up having a great stay with beautiful views from the top two floors and free breakfast buffets.
We had a fun 3 days in this bustling, cultural metropolis, but I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.
It was also free museum Sunday so along with lots of other people we went into the Palace of Belles Arts to see the Diego Rivera murals that are there but got to take in the Picasso & Rivera exhibition that was there as well. Very, very cool!
A Diego Rivera mural in the National Palace. It is a replica of the one that he had created for Rockefeller Center in New York but which was destroyed after being determined by the Rockefellers to be too anti-capitalist
We are wrapping up our Chelem house sit today. We will spend a night in Merida before heading to Mexico City for a couple of days before heading back to the States for some house sits there. (More on that later as our plans have changed, but we will hit both coasts and the southwest before heading to our nephew’s wedding in Illinois in early September.)
Today we will have to say good-bye to two of the cutest cats ever. Purrcy, the male, is gregarious, curious and loving. He is with us in the house wherever we are either to watch, cuddle, lick our water bottles or glasses (he likes cold!), or take our seats when we get up. He has also slept with us every night.
Squeak is a bit more selective with her affections. She kept mostly to the 2nd bedroom, “her” room, but occasionally comes out to see what’s up, maybe let us pet her a bit, before heading back. However, the last few days, she has come out more — even getting up on the bed with us for a few minutes while Purrcy was there. I have also been granted some cuddle time with her which is awesome cuz she does this cute reach thing with her paw for your attention. However, she always heard Bob when he would try to get a photo so no evidence this go round.
We never did venture too far afield, but we had a great meal out in Progreso and returned to Merida for a hair appointment for me. Mostly we’ve hit doc appointments in Progreso, wandered into Chelem, or hung by the pool.
For our night out in Progreso, we tried an Uber ride which worked well. We had a patch of wet weather last week, as you’ll see from the window of our restaurant.
We got to see a little different area of Merida for my hair appointment — mostly along Calle 60 which took us from the bus station to the Avenida Paseo Montejo where the salon was located. The Paseo Montejo is a lovely, broad avenue which is lined with lovely home so/buildings as well as monuments at either end and along the meridian.
While it has been a less active than usual house sit, we have enjoyed our stay. The house and pool made it feel like we were suppose to be on vacation, and all of the locals we met were very nice.
In terms of our usual activity level, Bob and I have been pretty “chill” here in Mexico. We have gotten out a few times in Chelem and have continued to visit Progreso regularly, usually in association with doc appointments related to my dog bite. More on all of that a bit later.
Our big trip to date was back into Merida to visit the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya. To get to Merida, we walked out of the house, down the driveway, and across the street to hail a colectivo to Progreso. Once there, we walked around the corner from the final stop in Progreso to catch a large bus into Merida. We were able to get off the bus right next to the museum which is on the outer edges of Merida. The entire trip (one-way) took a little over an hour and cost about $1.45. Not a bad deal!
The Mayan Museum is beautiful and interesting. Most of the posted information is in both English and Spanish, with some in Mayan as well. There are films that are shown throughout the day but those are only in Spanish. The museum actually covers prehistoric times in general before focusing on the Mayan history and culture. I am fairly ignorant regarding ancient history, so a lot of the information was new to me including the news that a huge meteor/asteroid had crashed into Mexico, in the Yucatan, significantly changing the world, and its inhabitants, at that time.
We are headed back to Merida on Saturday for a hair appointment for me. Bob will be doing some exploring while I’m getting worked on.
In Chelem, we have often been lazing the afternoons away either inside with the cats or outside by the pool. Bob has become proficient in pool care in terms of filtering, checking the chlorine, etc. He is also in the pool more often, as I have been focused on keeping my wound dry. He enjoys watching the birds dive for fish as well as the various boats go across the water. One day when there seemed to be an inordinate level of boat activity, we learned on the local website that it was likely due to the start of sea cucumber season.
We venture into town, about a 30 minute walk, to visit one of the produce stands, hit the pharmacy, or pop into one of the local restaurants. We have been to El Bullpen twice for their weekly art and wine flight event. Last night along with our $3.50 flights of white wine, we had dinner and I traded in my used English language books for some of theirs (with the approval of the owner). It was awesome! I scored 2 unused, New York Times crossword puzzle books (my favorites) plus a Nathianel Hawthorne novel and a Norman Mailor book. Give me some books and running shoes, and I’m a happy girl (okay middle-aged woman –but the point is I’m happy).
Last Sunday, we had tried to stop into a bar/restaurant called Lizard Joes. Our homeowner had told us about it. It is known for its live music, and is co-owned by Joe King Carrasco, who we have heard of from Austin. Lizard Joes is only open from Thursday through Monday. Unfortunately, they had a sign out on Sunday that they were closed, so we stopped at another restaurant that had been recommended by the homeowners –La Terracita.
The grilled pineapple with tamarind was pretty good. Tamarind is spicy. It seems to be on everything here — savory or sweet.
As I said, we continue to get into Progreo, mostly in conjunction with doctor visits. the doctor who has treated my injury is Dr. Herrera at the Clinico Medico on the square in Progreso. He speaks English and has treated the wound, wrote the prescriptions for anti-biotics, and stitched up the hole when it wasn’t closing on its own. He sent me to the health center for the rabies shots. The health center is just across the bridge from Chelem (45-50 minutes by foot), so we generally walk to those appointments. We are charged for services at the clinic, but not for those at the health center.
One fun fact that we have learned in our short time in the Yucatan is that the Mayan word for “dog” is “pek” pronounced like our last name. While we are currently cat-sitting, this information is somewhat relevant to our current stay, as I was bitten by one of the many street dogs in Chelem on my second morning out for a run here. While I have flesh to spare, I wasn’t really looking to off-load it from my right calf. I had run on the same road the prior day and had seen two locals running there as well. Apparently, I smelled worse on Sunday. Anyway, not to prolong the sad story too much, we are getting to know the local clinics (the staff of which have been very nice and from whom we learned the aforementioned fun fact), and I am getting to try out some antibiotics and rabies shots. During my initial visit to one of the clinics in Progreso, I was one of 4 dog bite cases that day, so there is a bit of an issue. I find out Monday if they think I need to have stitches. I’ll keep you posted.
As you’ll see below, Bob and I are still getting out and about (otherwise the dog would win!), but it has made it a tad more stressful. We generally make sure we have an umbrella or stick handy just in case.
We chose to go to Progreso for the doctor visits so have been there a few times now. We opted to walk back one day (about 6 miles), but generally we have taken a colectivo– white vans that run between Chelem and Progreso. You can flag them down from the main road at the end of our driveway, and they will drop you off anywhere in Chelem or Progreso along their route. It’s not luxurious (see below), but it is very convenient as they run pretty frequently for the better part of the day. It costs 9 pesos (roughly 50 cents) a person each way.
More photos of Progreso —
Photos of Chelem —
A couple of the local “habitat” —
We have ended our brief US layover after a great stay with Bob’s sister and brother-in-law in Iowa. While there, we were also able to connect with our mothers on Mother’s Day and spend some time with Bob’s parents. After a leisurely couple of days (though we did have a bit of time in the basement as a bad storm passed through) in Glidden where we changed out our winter clothes for summer garb and met with the CPA who had helped us with our tax filing, we headed to Des Moines for a night with one of our nephews before catching an early flight to Dallas, then Mexico City, and finally Merida.
Merida is the capital of the Yucaran, the Mexican state in which we will be staying for our current house sit. It has a population of approximately 980,000. We arrived at about 6:30 pm, and it was a 104 degrees. A bit of a change from Iowa and Scotland! We had the lovely proprietress of our inn pick us up at the airport which made for a relaxing entry into the city. (Just for a bit of drama, however, after having traveled back and forth between Canada, the US, and the U.K., our bank decided that trying to withdraw money in Mexico was a no-go. Luckily, we were able to fairly quickly resolve the issue.)
We stayed one night in Merida at the Casa Catrina before our home owners picked us up on Friday. We only saw a bit of Merida before our noon pick up but hope to get back during our 3-week stay.
Our house sit is actually in the little fishing village of Chelem (population of just over 5,000) about 6 miles from Progreso. We will be caring for 2 cats –Puurcy and Squeak, as well as looking after a beachfront home with its own pool. Chelem has a number of restaurants and a couple of small stores as well as some fruit and vegetable stands. we will be drinking bottled water and disinfecting our fresh produce while we are here and trying to get use to buying things for much, much less than they would cost in the states.
More on all of that and Chelem, etc. later.
Peckish Travels 
