Travel Diary

I vowed to save money. So I arose at 3:30am and left the condo at 4:25am. Yeah, I track things to the minute when flying out. I did have to drag my suitcase down the streets but the train station was only a half mile away. A nice perk was getting to photograph the streets in the early morning. They would be losing all their holiday lights soon.

I entered the link station and had about four minutes to spare. The train arrived on time and I headed to the airpot. It was the first time I would be riding the train TO SeaTac. I would be avoiding the high Uber cost and any traffic, though at 4am, it was not usually an issue. BUT the train did get delayed about 20 minutes a few stops away s from our destination. Apparently, someone tried to open the emergency door–while we were between stops and up very high. Some people are just a tad crazy.

They finally got it sorted out, but it was a reminder that there is some risk no matter which path you choose. Just have to book extra time to prevent that from being a problem.

And I had booked extra time.

That said, due to the delay, I was not able to compete my first task of visiting the top of the parking garage to see how many slots were open. There was no way I was going to leave my car there that many days, but I still wanted to know future options. I went straight in and headed for the security line. They place was already very packed, and I was glad I was not checking my bag. With SpotSaver, the line went fast and I had just enough time to use up my final lounge pass for the year. I went to the nicest Alaska lounge at the airport, the one at N-Gate.

Inside, I found a nice place near the window and went to see what food they had. Not much. It was mainly cold items with essentially no hot food. But I didn’t need to eat there as I had a plane meal coming in a while. I just grabbed a bagel and was happy with that, and a small amount of juice. It was just odd the food selection was that limited. Perhaps it was just too darn early in the morning.

I only stayed about 10 minutes, but again, I needed to use my last pass of the year. I then got to the gate and boarded my plane. Thankfully, I had been upgraded, so the flight would be comfy. Nice benefit for my last flight of 2023—the year of traveling.

I had a window seat, which was great as I wanted to photograph the terrain heading down to central America. Some of the landscapes were truly amazing with topography I had never seen before. I’m still uncertain of where exactly some of the places are, and what they are called, but there are some fascinating places to explore in Nevada I believe. I’ll have to research that more.

The scenery went from woods to desert and then to tropical—I mean when the clouds were not blocking the shots. Finally we were over the coast of Puerto Vallarta, and it was fun to see the towns and cities scattered about. Then we landed at PV airport.

I was near the front of the plane, which was great since we all had to clear immigration and that meant not being behind about 150 other people. Still, it went...slowly. I guess it wasn’t the worst wait I’ve ever had. I timed it to be about 20 minutes. But after that, it was customs and yet another long line. A lot of of it was without barriers so it was tough to know where it ended. I think it would have been possible to sneak into it without a problem and cut 10 minutes off the time, but I also didn’t want to be “that” person, who cheats others to try and act selfishly, so I waited it out. I guess the total time for that part was roughly 30 minutes, so about 50 minutes total. At the end of it, we all just put our bags on conveyer belts and they went through x-rays. Mine cleared without a problem. I then exited the airport.

Oh, wait. Not yet, I did need to get to the AirBnb and that meant getting a taxi since Uber wasn’t allowed in Mexico’s airports. I mean, I could have easily just walked down the road some and probably paid 25% of the cost, yet I didn’t mind playing it safe this way. The rest of the time I could use Uber.

The fare was about $40 and that was okay with me as the ride was long. Now my Spanish is improving, but for casual conversation, it would still be tough to really say too many things, so there wasn’t any point to chat much with the driver after explaining the destination out to him. I sat in the taxi for the 50-minute ride south, enjoying the changing scenery along the way. Many of the roads were through small parts of towns where the cobblestones were not likely too good for the cars.

But finally, we reached the condo. I tipped $20 USD, as I had no pesos yet, and the driver seemed very happy with that. I then entered the place.

Or should I say palace. It was pretty fabulous, with many rooms leading different directions. The main area had a nice huge couch and extended out into a balcony with an infinity pool. People were in different areas and enjoying the place immensely. I was offered an open room a few flights down and I took my bags there.

The room was very spacious with a decent size bed. There was also a great balcony, but only big enough to stand on, which was fine. Overall, a very suitable room for my needs.

After taking some photos, I returned back upstairs. The sun was setting so I took many photos and then send the drone out to get photos too. This was a place where it was very nice to have a drone for capturing the magic. Each evening offered the opportunity for great pictures.

For dinner, the private chefs cooked a huge meal, so we all sat around a huge table and enjoyed the fine and tasty dining. Of course there were many drinks to consume as well—with beer and wine and spirits being in ample amounts. It was a wonderful first evening for me and a great way to end a long day of traveling.