Friday, April 9, 2010

From Mexico Part 2 (technically from the air)

They say the key to a good tan is to have had a good base to start. I don't know who "they" are, but given the fact that Crystal is 7 different shades of boiled-lobster red, I'm starting to realize the wisdom within it. We spent the 3rd day recovering, screaming at the itchy burn at times, and napping at others. Given our skin’s response to sunlight, it was a great day to go into town.

Even though the hotel concierge told us that she thought we’d be “pretty safe… I guess,” we decided to take the bus. I’m a sucker for the local culture. I’m glad we did. No seemingly homeless man in ratty clothes with a portable boombox would have jumped in our cab and serenaded us. Honestly, Crys and I are still singing the song. That made the bus-trek worth however much change I had in my pocket… for sure.

I’ve always been kind of a business thinker of sorts. I can remember being young telling my mom ideas that I had made up, prefacing them with “I just read somewhere that…” to give them merit. I’ll even go so far as to say I’ve had a few pretty good ideas work out. My business-model-radar had gone off the charts when I saw a 1970’s VW Bug with a windshield sticker that read “The Happy Ant: Tacos and Car Audio.” I mean why not? Mom, I read somewhere…

I noticed that not only is there no helmet law where we were, but there’s not much of any street law at all. I think I saw 2 traffic lights and about 283 kids riding in the back of pickup trucks on a wooden seat. You’d think they’d at least tie down the bench with rope and tape or something… oh wait, I did see that.

We went back into town last night for dinner and haggling. There were really neat street food vendors set-up selling everything from roasted corn to fresh ceviche, shrimp on a stick to fresh crepes. Having had an alien baby trying to crawl through my sunburned belly the first night, I looked, but didn’t eat… and if you know me, you might say that was quite a feat. Great night for walking. Great night for holding hands. Great night for Machine Gun Poker… not really, we only saw four.

Getting away from everything is great. Seeing other cultures and how different we are is what’s most interesting for me, though. It hit me on this trip that, for me, vacation itself is a little overrated. I think I’ve got it pretty good without taking time off. By my measurements of hard work, I’m not even on the scale yet. My brain is good for sitting by a pool for only so long. And honestly, it’s tough to be more relaxed when you live in Southern California. We’re already on vacation… all of the time.

Added bonus to the trip: We got to see one of our families at the airport in Mexico. They're actually on the same plane with us. Glad to be headed back home. See you Monday.

Oh yeah, I need help to find a reason why Cassidy neeeeeeeds an iPad. Any thoughts?

Monday, April 5, 2010

From Mexico Part 1 (maybe)

Writing a blog does a few things to your personal life... I'm nearly sure this may vary between blog addicts (of which I'm not prepared to admit that I am one just yet). One, I've started talking to myself in blog-speak. I'll even go so far as to edit the arrangement of my words to make them more presentable, before finishing that sentence only I can hear. Two, I've become much more aware of what's interesting (and not) in my life... so much so that me telling you all is sometimes the reason for those experiences. And, let's be honest... that's a little weird. Admittedly, writing the Cassidy blog on my Spring Break isn't the model actions of a business owner who needed a break... but just in case a few of you aren't spread across a beach somewhere warmer than Santa Monica with no computer in sight, you have this.

Crys and I traveled to Mexico yesterday. It was the day after booking this trip that all hell broke loose with the problems in Mexico. If we're both adventurous and young enough to easily throw caution to the wind in hopes that it would have the delicate flying properties of a cannonball, the cab ride from the airport to the hotel was absolutely the Wright Brothers. Having bypassed the time-share cabs and the safety of Federal Property, we landed at the "other" cabs waiting across the bridge... I said we were adventurous. Within seconds of driving, he was on his phone. This is when I had wished to have paid much more attention to Ms. Harris in 6th grade Spanish. We then took a left turn away from the main road and headed up a mountain road. I noticed the cabs going in our direction had Americans, and the ones coming back had no one. Being the consummate filmmaker, I was mentally writing the story of a young American couple vacationing in Mexico, who were robbed of everything by their cab driver and his cohorts. Lucky for us, that didn't happen.

After about 40 minutes of passing hotels with high-voltage fencing and various guard-dog breeds, we arrived at what has got to be one of the nicest places I've seen. We settled in, swam a bit, and then headed into town for some snacks. We're finding that Mexico isn't the most vegetarian-friendly spot on Earth... not even at the grocery.

Crys did a good job finding our Spring Break destination. I specifically razzed her about bring the computer, but I'm glad she did. I do miss being at the school and seeing everyone. And as I mentioned before, I missed this.

Sunsets watched while being 95% submerged in water: 2

Back to vacation.