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"A black cat that crosses your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere."~ Grouch Marx (Stay tuned for the black cat.)
Al left at 8:30 am for his final dive. I waited and waited for him to get back (well...Ok, I didn't wait, I took the kids for hot cakes, then Marth & I did some shopping, and as I was walking by the restaurant in front of our condo, I was offered free canapes (I'll explain the free part later). I thought Al would be home by around 1:30 at the latest. When he didn't roll in by 3 PM I was verging on being a smidgen worried but knew he was with great divers. But there he was sauntering up the beach with his diving book in-hand and his "degree".
I could tell by the look on his face that he had had a fantastic day. They took him out to dive almost near Tulum which is a beautiful spot to dive. His furthest dive down at 60 feet. He saw SO much, and I wish I could just tape Al telling me about the experience which is so much richer seeing his eyes light
up and his hand movement explaining how the marine life moved, and darted and dashed but alas...you are stuck with just me. He spotted many turtles and a huge string-ray and an eel that was HUGE, maybe over 10 feet long with a black & white head. Saw more stone fish, and lots of barracudas. On the boat was Dave, Al's instructor, and another instructor Steve from Northern California and his two divers who were instructional divers from Tennessee. Rumour has it, they were all very impressed with Al's diving skills. (and if you know Al, he's not a braggart). On the checks for air consumption, the diver instructors were really impressed at how little air he uses (they had used more!) Because he had such good air consumption he was able to stay down an extra 5 minutes on his last dive. Al has asthma but perhaps due to being a competitive swimmer in his day and now a runner, there's no doubt he has a huge lung capacity. (I have less lung capacity despite what you all may think 😊 That's probably due to the fact that Al reserves his words. Salut Al.
His dive was captured
by another diver and he was given her card so here's hoping I can post that video for you. After the dive, they had paperwork to do (at a beachside bar of course!) so that's why Al was late coming home. Once you finally get certified you are "baptized" with lots of beer by the diver masters so Al was rather tipsy when he got home and let's say an afternoon nap was on the menu for him!
Luna our condo complex has been using the bar next door, Fusion for many years to deliver food and drinks. They are way too expensive, and we have been a big advocate for Yan Tens so they may be in the running to take over that role. However this little restaurant outside the front of our hotel has been renovated and bought out, and they are looking to be a good contender too. The chef offered me a tasty margarita and canapes on the house yesterday because I had stopped in to enquire as to whether they could handle serving Luna's guests. It was this delicious platter of fresh smoked salmon on top of grilled baguette slices with garlic pesto sauce.
Also on the platter; prosciutto ham, tomato and garlic pesto and bruchetta alone with fresh tomato slices. WOWIE doggie. I sent the info to Tonya and she and her staff will be on the job deciding what will work best for the guests of Luna who want to lie on their lounger and be served food & drinks. In the end, Odin the beach server we hope will be the one who benefits the most because more people will order more food and he will reap the tip benefits. We always look after oru man Odin!
Last night we went to the Mexican fair figuring they'd be all set up and running. All set up and more than running; it was packed with people almost to the top of the Ferris wheel! The lineups were something I've never seen before. After a long time being there, we got on one ride. Al and Kels and Lara got to go too and then we agreed to meet at another ride but due to the crowds we got separated. The people were so welcoming and friendly; I was even offered this little cute baby to hold by her proud daddy!
Meanwhile Marth had my purse in her backpack and ended up returning to our condo to call our bank as we had tried to take out money from an ATM and couldn't. If you travel internationally you should alert your bank & credit card company, so they don't put a security hold on them. It was on my list of things to do, and we did it for our credit card but alas not our banking card.
Anyhow, back at the fair, we're (Rory, Ava and myself) are now separated from the group, with both my purse and our umbrellas being in Martha's backpack and of course it starts to rain heavy. The first rain we've seen in over 10 days; the one night we go to an outdoor festival?! Would you give me a break???
SO I'm trying to navigate the crowd to get back to our condo and I end up going over on my ankle and then a gust of wind comes up and sand nearly blinds me in one eye. So now I'm getting soaked, limping, blinded in one eye looking like Popeye, all the while mumbling to myself & the girls to "never
be without cash or your purse" and praying we'll see Marth along the way to get said purse and umbrellas. I was also hoping Marth had left the key in the lock box outside our condo so that we can all access the condo at any time. Lucky for us we met Marth coming up our street and we were able to get our umbrellas. We stopped at a restaurant Rory had wanted to go to, and now it's time to try and find Al, Lara & Kels. So I hobble to our condo and write them a note. On the way back to the restaurant, this scrawny black cat comes trotting out towards me, stops in its path and make this high-pitched screech that startled me almost right out of my friggin' dress. So I yelped back and then decide I'm going to outrun this cat because a) it's looking crazed and b) it may be an old wives tale about a black cat crossing your path, but I wasn't taken any dang chances being soaking wet, hobbling and blinded in one eye already and I didn't need any more bad luck thank you very much.
In the
end, we had a fantastic dinner of grilled chicken, fajitas and 2for1 drinks for both adults and kids. Lara had a rough few days because we think she accidentally got gluten (probably wheat was in the tortillas that we had been told were made from corn) so she has been in severe pain and vomiting. FINALLY my girl had a really healthy, fresh meal out on the town. I now carry a Spanish restaurant card explaining what she can't have. The manager ensured us her chicken was safely grilled free of "trigo or harina" (wheat and flour) and she had a fabulous dinner and feels as right as rain today. I thank the staff for accommodating us so nicely.
That was our exciting day. More exciting for Al.
Hoping to get to Yal Ku lagoon today in Akumal to snorkel and swim in cenotes! We are at 9 am just waiting to see if we can arrange a van; the one we had arranged with our driver Ramiro had to be taken into the garage so we're scrambling last minute to get another van! Probably that black *&^^% cat that I met last night brought me that bad
luck. ;(
Signing off.
Limping, one-eyed, black-cat chasing female and her co-horts 😊
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Linda
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Congratulations Al! That's very exciting! The sea life sounds amazing. The food looks amazing there too Sally. Makes me salivate. Hope Lara is feeling better. It's difficult to always having to think about what you can or cannot eat especially when you're on vacation.