03-18-2007
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#1 (permalink) |
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Cat-Lovin Nerak Bead Lady
  Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 18,641
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Nerak & Gasman Partake of Peepstock 2007 (Trip Report)
Day 1 – Friday, March 2nd
We had done 99.9% of our packing/preparation the night before (actually I did most of it the night before that), so when I woke up at 3:50 AM (10 minutes before the alarm was set to go off at 4 AM), I awoke with not as much of that “oh, my gawwwd…. there are so many more things to get done” panic as usual. But surely enough of it to get me moving pretty quickly. Cab arrived right on time (6 AM) for our ride to Logan Airport in Boston (about ½ hour away with no traffic issues). This was our first time leaving on a weekday (usually leave on a Saturday), so I was a little nervous about weekday traffic, and the crummy weather happening (snow, sleet, rain – what a lovely day!  ) made me even more nervous. Said a good-bye to Eli and Sophie (told Sophie not to grow any while I was gone), hopped in the cab (well, as much hopping as you can do with two large suitcases on wheels, a small duffel bag with our snorkel stuff and other assorted items, and our two carryon’s), and headed for Logan. The cabbie said he wasn’t sure if the HOV lane opened at 6 or 6:30 AM, but hopefully it would be available to us. To those who don’t know, the HOV lane is for “High Occupancy Vehicles” and is located on a stretch of Route 93 northbound into Boston (and which is changed to the southbound side for the afternoon commute). Vehicles need to have at least two people in them in order to use that lane (i.e. an attempt to get people to carpool). We were lucky – it was open!! It was at this point that a little voice in me said, “But what if…… ” Damn that little voice, cuz the “what if” happened. An accident in the HOV lane. Cabbie: “This has never happened to me before.” Story of my life. Owning a 6-unit apartment house that was originally built in 1818, I’ve heard soooo many workmen over the past 7+ years say “I’ve never seen anything like THAT before!” as they pondered some task they were about to tackle. An accident in the HOV lane means, basically, you are screwed. Until they can get a tow truck in from the northern end of it to untangle whatever wreckage has ensued, you are going nowhere fast. So there we sat with the cab in Park, listening to the rain/sleet bounce off the windshield, while we watched the traffic in the regular travel lanes zoom past us at 60+ MPH (and I’m sure many of those folks were laughing delightfully at the suckers sitting still in the HOV lane! ) After about 15 minutes of me mumbling “we’re still okay, we’ve got plenty of time, we’re gonna be fine”, the lane started to move again, and we did indeed get to Logan in plenty of time.Check-in was a breeze and we soon took up our customary positions at a breakfast place outside of the security checkpoint to stuff cholesterol-laden Egg McMuffin type delights in our cake holes, drink coffee, and for me to suck in the last of my nicotine sticks before crossing over to the gate area to await boarding our 9 AM flight to Atlanta. Flight was fine. A bit bumpy perhaps, but nothing that made your fillings come loose. The part that DID get us a bit nervous was the de-icing before we took off.  This was the first time we’d ever been on plane that needed “precautionary” de-icing (per the pilot’s announcement), and it was a bit unnerving to say the least. But hey… if YOU think it needs de-icing, Mr. Pilot, I say “go for it!!” Due to the de-icing we were 30 minutes late getting into Atlanta which left us 35 minutes to get from Gate A4 to Gate E32 to make our connecting flight to Cancun. Again my mumbling started. “If we make the flight, our luggage won’t. There’s NO way our luggage will make it. NO way. NO way.”, and I did a quick mental rundown of what was in our carryon’s: our paperwork, passports, and money; one bathing suit each; my jewelry; our nighttime bite guards (hey, at $300 a pop, I ain't taking a chance on THOSE getting lost!), my glaucoma eyedrops, and my one-cup coffeemaker. Yep. That’ll see us through the potentially 3-4 days it’ll take our luggage to find us in Playa! (thinking back on Caramba’s luggage problems last December). I think I recall David telling me to relax and take deep breaths (he’s such a calming influence). As we came around the bend to Gate E32, we had one of our first YAYS of the day. There, sitting patiently and calmly (they’d had time to guzzle three beers in between their connecting flights), were kathy.web (Kathy) and her hubby, Danny!! We’d met them at Peep Fest 2006 but never really had the chance to spend much time with them. So while we tried to catch our breath (damn those cigarettes) from our OJ-type rum through the airport (remember the Hertz commercials?), we got reacquainted and soon were boarding the 1:05 flight for Cancun.Flight was fine, and I think we opted for the outrageously overpriced cocktail that Delta was offering (ya think??!!  ). Landed at 2:25 and yes, miracles do happen. Our luggage arrived too! Found Kathy and Danny after immigration, breezed through Customs, and very quickly found our pre-arranged Playa.Info transfer van driver. Made the obligatory stop at the 7-11 for some cold cervezas and relaxed and chatted our way down 307 to Playa.Check-in at Fusion was a kick. First, they had us listed for Room 7, and I’d been told by Kim that we’d have Room 9. Saw on the reservation card (which read “Karen – from Playa.Info” – no last name – funny!!) that the “9” was crossed out and “7” written next to it. When I inquired about it, I was told Room 9’s air conditioner was broken and would be fixed the next day, so we’d move into Room 9 on Saturday. Yeah, right. Didn’t sound like a plausible excuse to me, but oh well. Then they had us listed for 11 nights, not 12. That was soon fixed. Then they had us listed as $81/night, not the $90/night I had expected. I kept  about that! On our way to Room 7, we were greeted with “Hey, Karen & David!” from above. There on the balcony were Gene and Bruce, “BeeGeez” on the forum!! We’d only met them very briefly at Peep Fest 2006 and were soon to be delighted with the opportunity to get to know them much better over the next few days. GREAT guys!!!We dumped our stuff, after looking around the room and thinking “hey, this is pretty nice!” and changed into shorts and t-shirts. Upon examining our luggage, we noticed something strange with the snorkel/duffel bag. The lock that we’d put on it had been bent on our last trip. It was a functioning TSA-approved lock, so we used it again. The lock we now saw on that bag was PERFECTLY straight. And we couldn’t open it. Tried numerous times with the combination, but no go. Hmmmm…. weird.  Then we noticed that one of the end zippers was broken. (Bag had top zipper and one zipper on each end). So we were able to get the stuff out of the bag via the end zipper, but there was no way to use this bag for our return trip. Would have to buy a new one in Playa. Can only figure that Logan Airport (?) had messed up the original, bent lock somehow and replaced it with a new one. They just neglected to inform us of the new combination! Screw the luggage issues – it was time to head for the BAR!!  (priorities, ya know!) Met Ian and Connie (“TriStAlbert” on the forum) who unfortunately were leaving the next morning. A delightful, friendly couple who we wish had been able to stick around longer!! Soon Kathy and Danny joined us, as well as Tim and DeeDee (“Cazador”) who were also staying at Fusion. Again, a chance to get to know peeps who we’d only met briefly last year. David and I dove into a pina colada, a Sol, guac/chips, and split a plate of beef burritos – all for 170 p. Ian and Connie (TriStAlbert)  Kathy (kathy.web) and Danny  David and me  Soon it was time to return to the room to freshen up a bit to go meet up with Bluespicker (Erik) and Himynameisjan (Jan), along with Kathy and Danny, at the Beer Bucket at 7 PM. Erik and Jan were there already and the six of us moved the show upstairs to sit at a table and drink and chat. Saw a HUGE cockroach out on the back deck (Jan: “That’s the BIGGEST *$%# cockroach I’ve ever seen!!!!!”) Tried to get a pic of it, but apparently it was camera shy and made a run for it.Erik, Me, Jan, Danny, Kathy, David  David in mid-speak. He and Erik had a great time talking music.  Jan, Danny, Kathy  Erik and me  As you all know, travel day is a tough one, and soon Kathy and Danny said their goodnights (I think the margaritas were starting to wear on Kathy at this point). Jan, Erik, David, and I walked over the Pizza Pazza for a slice (I could LIVE on that pizza!), and then wandered back to the Beer Bucket. Jan and Erik left soon thereafter, while David and I stayed to meet up with “Vieve” from the forum (who was leaving the next morning). Vieve soon arrived, told us about how Yaxche messed up their dinner reservations (she was attempting to use the certificate she’d won in the DJ’s auction last fall), but she and her party had found a welcome at (I think it’s called) the Blue Lobster. She broke away from her guests to come by to say “hola”, and we’re so glad she did! Vieve is the one who lugged a laptop to Playa last July for me to include in the mass of donations to Angel Notion – she is SUCH a doll!! And she has the body to show off Nerak Beads to their finest, as these photos attest: Genevieve and David  Me and Genevieve  Sure hope our travel plans coincide in the future so we can hang out with Vieve longer!!! David and I hung out at the Bucket a little longer, totally exhausted from our long day (you know how you get that brain buzz going in your head and it’s not from the drinks you’ve had but more from total and complete weariness?), but we were so damn happy to be back in Playa. We had a good long laugh when David pointed out the creative wiring at the Bucket. Any electrical inspectors in Playa???   Probably a good spot for a fire extinguisher, ya think??  On our way “home” to Fusion, we stopped in a store to pick up some bottled water for our morning coffee. Hit the hay around 10:30. Oh…. Almost forgot… on the way to the Bucket, we stopped at the Money Exchange on 5th that’s right next to the “Original Senor Frog’s Store” (not the restaurant near the ferry). For the 2nd time, this chick tried to rip me off (happened in July when she almost got me for 100 p.) I gave her 170 in USD which I counted out slowly in front of her before passing it through the window slot. She recounted it and passed me back the usual calculator tape which read “10.85” and a total of “1790”. I pushed it back to her and said, “No. I want a tape to read “170 @ 10.85 with the total”. She looked at me as if she didn’t understand. I repeated myself in a LOUDER voice, “170!!!!! @ 10.85” and gave her my “Don’t eff with me, b*&$#” look.  She then shoved my USD back at me with a “No pesos for YOU!!!” look, and I just cracked up laughing at her. At least this time she was only trying to rip me off for $5.45 and not the $10.00 from last July. We walked down about 50 yards to another Money Exchange and had no problem whatsoever. When I think of the rip-offs that must happen day in and day out at that other booth, it makes me mad!!
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03-18-2007
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#13 (permalink) |
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Cat-Lovin Nerak Bead Lady
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 18,641
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Day 2 – Saturday, March 3rd
I was up at 7:30, made coffee – brought all the coffee fixin's from home necessary for a Playa vacation: Hazelnut, Vanilla Cream, and Cinnamon Cream Swirl coffee, sugar, Sweet & Low, and most importantly, a water bottle filled to the brim with Bailey’s Irish Cream – and sauntered out onto the porch area that Room 7 shares with another room to drink in the beauty of the day (sunny and hot) and the beauty of the garden at Fusion while letting David catch a few more zzz’s.  Caught a plane flying overhead.  Soon David joined me after fixing himself a cup of joe.    Chatted with Gene and Bruce as they made their way down from the room above, enroute to play the towel game on the beach, and also Kathy (kathy.web) stopped by on her return from her morning walk on the beach. Grabbed showers and dressed. While David was in the shower, I unpacked. I hated not being unpacked (which we hadn’t done since we were told we’d move to Room #9 that day). I’m the type who wants to see all the stuff and make sure aforementioned stuff is in its proper place for the remainder of our stay – the sooner, the better. Pulling stuff out of suitcases and wrinkling/messing up all the other stuff is just plain unsettling to my psyche. I wanted my stuff out and about. I wanted stuff on hangers, I wanted stuff on shelves, I wanted stuff on the bathroom counter. I wanted our stuff where we could easily find and reach for it. My plan was to tell the Fusion folk that Room #7 was fine and that we’d stay there. My stuff was happy there. As we walked to the restaurant for our included-with-the-room continental breakfast, I stopped by the office to tell them our decision. I was told that we HAD to move to Room #9, as Room #7 was to be occupied later that day. David laughed, and my eyes rolled. Oh well….. my stuff had to be moved! While having our breakfast sitting on the patio and enjoying the wonderful view of the beach, “nng88” (Nancy) came strolling up and introduced herself. What a nice surprise! She had walked down to Fusion to look for us, and I so glad we were there to be found! She’s got the BEST smile and a sparkling personality to match. After chatting with Nancy and having our coffee/juice/toast, we sauntered down to the beach to chat with Kathy and Danny and also Don and Deb (YWGDon&Deb) who bestowed our 3rd set of Bumper pins upon us and Deb gave us our relayed Bumper hugs. (Thanks so much, Bumper!! We were so darn sad to not see you and Jackie this year!!!!! I want that hug in PERSON next time, dammit!) Soon we went back to Room #7 to stuff all of our nicely arranged stuff back into the suitcases/broken duffle bag. What wasn’t wrinkled/messed up before was certainly wrinkled/messed up now! In the meanwhile, the maid had come to clean the room and left a delightful towel art.  We stashed our gear behind the lobby’s checkin area and headed up to Walmart for provisions. While walking up toward 30th, I found evidence that the ever-elusive Daniel is into graffiti.  Walmart was an experience. Took me a while to get into the pesos frame of mind (No, it’s not $28 USD for a bag of chips, you dummy!!), and we even managed to eventually locate a halfway decent substitution for our trashed snorkel bag. Couldn’t find an appropriate lock for it, however, so we’d have to keep that on our “to do” list as the days progressed. Paid 50 p. for a cab ride back (I was laughing and telling David that we were getting ripped off for the fare, but what the hell….) and unloaded our 5 gals. of water and assorted bags of beer, chips, etc. into the same spot as our waiting-to-be-unstuffed luggage. At this point the owner approached us to inform us that not only was Room #9 not yet ready for us (it was past the 12 PM checkout time and closer to the 2 PM checkin time) and that the occupants were, in fact, still hanging on the beach. We weren’t exactly jumping for joy at this news, but we’d both kinda stepped into the “let it roll off your back, as long as we’re in Playa we’ll have a good time” mode, so we weren’t too rattled by it. Around this time I brought out the rawhide bone that we’d bought at Walmart for the Fusion’s resident pooch, Libby.  After Erika from the office spoke with the #9 occupants and chatted briefly with the owner, we were then informed that said occupants had a late checkout and wouldn’t be out of the room til 4:30-5:00 PM (and then the room would have to be cleaned). Again, we let the “Playa” mode of “no problemo” take charge. Then the owner gestured toward the bar and told us to have lunch and drinks on him. Yeah!!! NOW you’re talking!!! We dove headfirst into a couple of verrrry yummy mango margaritas and shared a chicken sandwich. How could we get upset about the room while we were enjoying such a spectacular view and eating and drinking on the Fusion owner’s dime??      Kathy stopped up from the beach to say hi!  After another round of a kiwi margarita for me and a Sol for David, we headed down to Bad Boys, a bar on the beach, to meet up with peeps and perhaps see Erik (Bluespicker) jam with the band. But first we tipped our servers well and got a nice pic (David thinks she looks like Penelope Cruz. I don’t. Whatever!!)  We were the first to arrive at Bad Boys and scoped out a table near the stage. Soon the place was running amok with peeps, and we were treated to great tunes and the Great Erik himself. It was a wonderful time!!! Jan, Kathy, Danny, Deb, Don, DeeDee, Tim, David, Erik   David, Me, James & Melissa (Snowdogs - who got engaged a few days before - you oughta see the ROCK!!), Don & Deb, DeeDee & Tim  Erik (on the left) doin' his thaaaang. The other dude's playing an ELECTRIC washboard with a whisk broom!!! How kewwwl is that!!?!    Seated: Jan, Ali, David B & Tammy, John (Mr. Ali) in front. DeeDee, Melissa, David, and Nancy in back.  Nancy (nng88) and David (James and Melissa in back)  Bruce and Gene informed us that they’d seen Room #9 being cleaned before they came down to Bad Boys, so we knew our final room destination was in our sights, and soon all of that stuff would finally be unpacked for the next 11 days. Left Bad Boys around 6:30, howled at the lunar eclipse that was taking place, lugged all of our crap up to Room #9, and took showers. In ice cold water. WHAT??!!! At one point I asked David to look outside on the balcony for my cigs, and when he opened the door, he told me, “No cigs, but I found a kitty!!” Apparently we had a kitty who hung out on the rooftop nearby and would access it via Gene and Bruce’s balcony which was perpendicular to ours.       Said “adios” to Mr. Gato, finished dressing, informed management about the rather invigorating water temp in Room #9, and headed up to the Lobby Bar for Ali’s Peep Meet around 8:45. We were starving, so just checked in with the peeps and promised to be back soon. Wandered over to Babe’s to discuss using the DJ’s auction certificate I had won last fall (no reservations are ever taken, and they are closed on Sundays), stopped by La Ranita to say “hola” to Jez and Paul, and then ended up at El Oasis to feast on shrimp tacos. David had beer, and I had my first of MANY rum punches to pass down my throat during the upcoming Playa days.     Action photo  After satisfying our growling stomachs, we returned to the Lobby Bar and many peeps, all in the back room. I can’t BELIEVE I didn’t get one photo of Ali with her boo-boo head or any of DavidB and Tammy either. Sorry!! Tim and DeeDee (Cazador)  Kathy and Danny  John (Mr. Ali) and BeachbumMN (Darcie and Jason)  Nancy (nng88), Frank and Donna (Pair-A-Dice)  DeeDee, Tim, Me, and David  Don and Deb (YWGDon&Deb) and David  Had such a nice time chatting with everyone!! Got back to room around 11:30; bed at around 12:30. Left windows closed and A/C on. Woke up freezing our butts off and wished we’d brought the electric blanket from home. The A/C unit had no functioning temperature control; it was either on or off. Period. Later in the week, we learned to leave the windows open a bit while the A/C was running to mix the temps. I felt horrible doing that (wasting energy), but it was too hot/muggy with the A/C off and too cold with it on and the windows closed. Last edited by Nerak936; 03-18-2007 at 01:45 PM. |
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03-18-2007
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#14 (permalink) | |
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Cat-Lovin Nerak Bead Lady
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 18,641
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