Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Last night we went to bed about midnight, I fell asleep quickly, got up once to use the toilet at 4:30, and got up at 6am when Laura’s alarm went off.

I showered, dressed, and did the remainder of my packing then the ladies got up and did the same.

We had breakfast together from 7:15 to 8:15. The ladies had granola with yogurt from the buffet while I ordered French toast and coffee. I asked Laura if she realized they would be charged the 82mil buffet price since they didn’t order ala carte. When the bill arrived, I was correct but Laura talked to the waitress and they reduced it to ala carte prices.

We arrived at the airport by 8:45 for our 10:26am flight. Check-in was slow and that was before we arrived at the counter. A family at the counter checked in with the largest bag I’ve ever seen (large enough for a couple bicycles) AND an adult golden retriever.

We had some difficulty because we couldn’t find our flight confirmation number. I had thrown away the flight boarding passes from Medellin to Cartagena. Laura spent about 15 minutes scanning through my cellphone until she found the number in one of Viva Air’s advertising emails. I think she booked themselves for this morning’s flight and me for an evening flight. It took another 15 minutes to get us all booked together on tonight’s 10:22pm flight.

We returned to the hotel, the ladies took their bathing suits out of the suitcase and headed to the pool while I camped out at the café with my laptop and cellphone.

Men are working on fixing something in the ceiling and they put up a temporary barrier to keep people out but so far they haven’t kicked me out.

I finally broke through the 1300 ceiling in Rapid (10 minute) Chess to 1308.

I saw a couple sitting nearby and the guy was wearing a White Sox cap. I asked if he was from Chicago but they’re from Philadelphia.

For “lunch” I had a sugar donut with arequipe inside and a couple lattes.

My brother notified me that my Charles Schwab checking account checks have arrived. I can’t think of when I would need to write a check but he’s going to keep one pack and destroy the rest.

We all met up at 6:30 for dinner. Their main restaurant doesn’t open until 7pm and eating out at the pool is much to windy. We ended up ordering off the menu in the lounge. I ordered a chicken sandwich. It came with two chicken patties that with the bun and ingredients was impossible to put in one’s mouth. I removed one of the patties and put it on a plate and Teresa ate some of it. I forgot to ask for it without mushrooms so I removed those next. The sandwich was absolutely delicious, and I ate very bite.

At 8pm we left for the airport. We checked the bag, went through the TSA checkpoint then had a long wait for our flight. Teresa and I had seats in 2A & 2B and Laura was somewhere in the back around aisle 23.

It was only a little over an hour flight back to Medellin.

At the airport bags come down a chute to a conveyer at baggage claim. At one point one bag got hung up making the 90 degree turn as some cord got caught on something and everything got blocked up until a young man went over and cleared it. Laura’s huge bag also got hung up making the turn and a bag behind it shoved it off the conveyer. I was happy to see the same young man put it back on the conveyer because I wouldn’t be able to lift it.

We got our bag and I went into the restroom but both the stalls were taken. I insisted on going to the nicer restroom on the 2^nd floor but found their toilets have no seats. Sigh! I simply urinated and returned to the ladies. Carlos was waiting for us outside but couldn’t get Laura’s suitcase to fit into his trunk. It was so close to fitting that it would have fit if it didn’t have those spinners (little wheels) on the bottom. I suggested we put it in the back seat and put Laura in the trunk.

He put the suitcase sideways in the back seat and luckily for Laura there was room for Teresa and her. As usual I rode in the front.

Carlos seemed to take the long way back (scenic route?) to Envigado as he pointed out a number of places on our way.

We were back at the apt by 12:45 and I paid Carlos 90mil plus a 10mil tip for today and a 10mil tip for last Thursday that I forgot to give him.

I unpacked only the most necessary items and was in bed by 1am.

 

The New York Times’ 7-day average of new daily infections and deaths has the US with 806,851 ð 703,718 ð 756,752 new cases and 1,962 ð 1,831 ð 1,889 new deaths.

Per Medellin Guru, as of yesterday, Colombia has a total of 35,575 ð 32,317 ð 24,272 new cases with 129 ð 136 ð 135 new deaths. Medellin has 2,896 ð 1,751 ð 1,219 new cases from January 16^th to 17^th. Envigado has 126 ð 155 ð 71 new cases from January 16^th to 17^th.

 

T-shirt of the day

You got this!