9/5/05

After I crossed the border into Mexico, where I now write from, I realized this is my sixth foreign country in 6 weeks - Hong Kong, Macau, China (different than HK), Japan (okay just the airport, but it counts), Canada, and Mexico. I know it's kinda silly to say, but I LOVE THAT!!!

I said I was going to create an adventurous life, I have measurement that I'm on track, I'd say!

Working? 9-4-05

This, as they say, does not suck. This is where I am sitting, at one of the tables to the left, the large window walls are pushed back to allow the warm, soft humidity of the ocean breeze to flow through the atrium. I have my sexy laptop in front of me creating curriculum for Anthem on-line college, and when I am done with each chapter, I can e-mail it from anywhere I happen to be that has an internet connection. When I look up casually from my laptop between paragraphs, I see palm trees swaying, the high, blue tide on the beach stretching out beyond the zero-edge lagoon waterfall and the perfect-temperature pools below. I am working, actually getting paid for this.

The atrium I am in is on the far left, just inside the patio where those people are sitting, and there's that zero edge lagoon waterfall...

And what is beyond THAT in my vision is this--there's that perfect pool and beach I referred to (except this is an older photo from low tide).

Don’t I feel sorry for myself that I am not out there right now? Actually, no, for two reasons: First, I have a work deadline, and this was not a “planned vacation.” This was a last-minute, “Hey, we could go camping this weekend” (If you are confused about the resort being camping, see the earlier entry below for enlightenment). This is one of those deals where if I didn’t have such incredible, portable work, I might have said, “Nah, I have work to do this weekend, you guys go ahead and have fun and I’ll see you on Monday.” But I don’t have a whole weekend’s worth of work to do, only about 12 hours worth, so that would have been sad to kiss off the whole experience for two runs of part-day stuff at the most.
Secondly, it is hot at mid-day in the sun out there, and I know that it is all waiting for me once I am done. I’ll be sure to be done for the day by 4:00, when happy hour at the pool offers cold beverages and fresh tortilla chips. I am free of the typical vacation mindset of hurry-up-and-relax so one can rush back to “the grind at work” –I can work a few hours, relax a few hours… In a way, I am just like anyone else sitting in their office, exchanging their time for pay, looking forward to get off work… but my cubical and my after-work destination is a step up…
(Oh, and by the way, in case the place is melting you, you can rent a week here at Mayan Palace Puerto Penasco for less than $100/day, 2 bedroom suite, sleeps up to 10. 4.5 hr drive from Phx - split up the cost and it's a screaming deal for a 5-star resort - just ask me)

Screamin' Deal Gasoline

9/2: MORE OF ALASKA IS NOW POSTED BELOW - SEE 8/19

We were going to go camping “on the rim” in the mountains in northern AZ for this long weekend, but it is storming there, and it gets very muddy and cold in those conditions. So we are heading to Rocky Point, Mexico to camp instead, somewhere on the beach. That’s about a 4.5 hour drive. It’s still fairly hot there, but not as hot as here since it’s on the ocean, and it cools down more at night. We are bringing quads for beach riding, and we figure we can ride in the mornings, then hit Mayan Palace resort for the heat of the day and swim in the pool(s), go in the ocean there, get a cool drink from the cabana boy, etc. We have visitor access anytime, even if not staying there. And we can go into the spa restrooms and shower with the luxurious soap and shampoo and big, fluffy towels they provide. Yah, we’re gonna rough it this weekend.

Ironically, the report tonight from just over the border in Mexico is that gas there is only the equivalent of $2.20/gallon.