Travel ...

to Mexico, over the years

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In my life, I've traveled to the country of Mexico a few times. The first time was also the first time I left the country. It was 1968 and I was twenty-three years old and pregnant (though I didn't know it at the time). I worked for the US Army Recruiting Main Station in Amarillo, Texas. I was married to the airman. For some reason, my job sent the entire office and our spouses to El Paso, Texas. While there, we went to Ciudad Juarez for dinner. And drinks. Many, many drinks. I had only one, but most of our group loaded up on various alcoholic substances. I remember the food as being delicious, the serving being delightful, and the restaurant as large and vibrant with live music.

The next time I went to Mexico was a trip to Isla Mujeres in 1999 with my best friend Kate. We met in Cancun. Kate had already engaged the hotel room, and as I recall (I could be wrong) she met me in Cancun after my flight and we took the ferry to the island together. I loved our room. Because she had a bad back, she was using a hammock as a bed, one she had brought with her. Either on the flight, or while I was there, I hurt my own back, and ended up in a hammock myself. We explored the island by day. We enjoyed spending time on our balcony. I remember getting frightened by feral dogs at one point.

One day I was trying to make a phone call home. But was never able to master the coin telephone. I had a cell phone for work, but hadn't brought it along. It wouldn't have worked for international calls anyway.

The few words of Spanish I knew didn't help me much, although it was nice to listen to people speaking it, the phrases sounding like music.

In 2007, I took my daughter, grandson, and granddaughter to Sayulita, Mexico for spring vacation. The kids were thirteen and ten. We flew into Puerta Vallarta, then bussed to Sayulita where we had rented a condo high atop a hill. There were nearly 100 steps up to it. It was a blindingly white stucco building and our condo had plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms. We bought food at the market and made simple meals, but we also ate out at restaurants, which we all enjoyed. We lounged on the beach during the day, visited the graveyard, and shopped for trinkets in the small shops

Only surviving photo of ANY of my trips to Mexico, apparently. This is Sayulita, with granddaughter in center, grandson off to the side, reading as per usual

.Sayulita was one of the many trips we took together over a period of a few years. It was a great time for traveling with the kids. I wish I had thoroughly documented every one of the trips.

After I moved to El Cajon, California (2015-2021), I made a few trips to Tecate, Mexico for dental work. It was a small town, and the dental work was brutal, to say the least. But a neighbor had been going there for decades, and she drove me the first time. I went back because it was cheap, but wow. No Novacain, no gas, and getting a tooth pulled was agonizing. I went back for the bridge. When I came back to Portland, everything had to be redone, but this time in a gentler fashion.

I realize this is not an essay of any kind. Maybe one day I can write about each trip individually with more thought and care.

Please share some of your own travel memories, ask questions if you have them, and tell me about your own forays into Mexico.