Scheduled for a 1:05 pm departure, the first leg of our journey, Appleton to Chicago, finally departed at 5:45 pm. The plane was only about 25% full. We noticed that both the Appleton Airport and O’Hare were sparsely populated.

Friday, January 28, 2022

Up at 6 am! Although this isn’t all that early, it is for us. Our natural circadian sleep rhythm seems to be from 1 am to 9 am. That is the cycle we have slipped into over the past month or so. Too bad because I do like early mornings. My eyelids just don’t like them. Things are different when we are on the road. Each day brings a new exploration and that anticipation is enough to pry open my eyelids a lot earlier.

Anyway, today is the first step in a two-month Mexican excursion. It is part medical tourism, part bask-in-the-warmth, part beachcombing, and part culinary heaven. The medical tourism part is tied to dentistry. There is a clinic that ex-pats flock to, Dentoamerica, in Mezcales, just a few miles down the road from Bucerias, our home base when we are in Mexico. Dentoamerica is easily the most modern, most competent dental clinic we have ever experienced. Two years ago, Wanda had extensive reconstruction done on her teeth and jaw. She was extremely satisfied, however, two implants, due to time constraints, only have temporaries. The permanents need to be installed.

My teeth need the whole nine yards. We have made several appointments during February. This will cut into our exploration time. It is difficult to know just how much until my first consultation. I fear the worst.

On the brighter side, while the work is very competent, the cost is reasonable. I estimate the cost savings to be around 50-75% from American dentists. The American medical system is so broken.

We left home at 7 am sharp and drove to Green Bay. This first leg involves finding a place to store our van for two months, and then getting to Chicago. We are flying standby to Chicago through Wanda’s American Airlines retiree benefit. The plane loads look pretty full out of the Mosinee Airport and the Green Bay Airport. Appleton looked wide open for both the noon and the 5 pm flight.

The plan is to park our van in my niece, MO’s, driveway in Green Bay, and have my sister, Donna, who also lives in Green Bay, drive us to Appleton. We arrived at Mo’s at 9 am. Donna, and her husband, John, drove us to the Appleton Airport. The day started off at a crisp -15º F but warmed to 10º by the time we were dropped off.

With the flight scheduled for 1:05 pm, we felt that checking in at 10’ish would give us ample time to iron out any problems that might arise. When flying standby, issues have a way of cropping up, and due to COVID, we are out of practice as we haven’t traveled internationally by air in two years, but even after tons of research, we were not absolutely sure about the COVID restrictions and requirements. They seem to change almost daily.

As far as COVID preparations go, here is what we did: We laid away a supply of comfortable “approved” masks. Wanda found a reputable company, Masklab, that makes “approved” K94 boat-style masks. They are 99.99% effective, yet very breathable. We have our vaccination cards with two Pfizer shots and the booster listed, tucked away in our passports. We also have a photo of them on our iPhones. We had to scramble for a COVID test. The place in Stevens Point where we were going to go to, closed down the day before we were going to go. It is a good thing we double-checked a day early. Apparently they are under some kind of investigation.

We found a CVS Pharmacy in Wisconsin Rapids that had an opening. The only problem was that it would take 1 to 3 days to get the results. Wanda’s research has incredulously indicated that we don’t need any testing for any of our travels, not even to enter Mexico. We took the test anyway. It was free, it was the accurate PCR test, and we’d have a test if it turned out that we did need it.

Our 1:05 pm departure was pushed back to 2:45, then 3:45, then 4:11, and then 5:11. At 5:30, both the 1:05 and the 5:00 planes landed simultaneously. After both planes disembarked, we got on one of them and finally swished off to Chicago - no COVID test required.

We stayed at the Quality Inn O’Hare hotel. This is the hotel that Wanda used when she was a flight attendant for American Airlines. They have reduced rates for crew members, and Wanda ran a crash pad for flight attendants at the hotel for many years. The staff all recognized her. She got the flight crew rate.

We were ready for just about any COVID regulations on our trip. It turned out that masking was the only requirement. COVID vaccination and testing were not required. That surprised us. Check out Wanda’s stylish K94 boat-style mask from Masklabs. After two years of crappy masks, I can actually breathe with this one.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

In the morning, Wanda received her COVID test results via text message. She was negative. I assumed that my results would soon follow.

With our flight to Puerto Vallarta not departing until 7:15 am tomorrow, we had the day to spend in Chicago. Although it was less than 20ºF with a slight wind and we left most of our winter clothes at home, we needed to get some walking in.

That meant going back to the airport and jumping on the Blue Line train into the city. It was around noon when we reached the airport. My results still hadn’t come. We called the generic CVS phone number. They referred us to another number, who transferred us to another number, and so on and so forth. After 30 minutes of this phone chasing, I finally latched onto the best customer service lady I have ever gotten in touch with. She wouldn’t let me off the phone until I got my test results, and it took some doing. I was negative. So, with all that time and effort invested, we got the test results we never really needed in the first place. What a world we live in.

By the time we reached downtown Chicago, it was 1:30 pm. A brisk fast-paced walk kept us just warm enough to stand the winter bite. Even stopping for a traffic light put us below the tolerable level. I saw scores of photos that I would have taken if I were dressed better. We got off the Blue Line at Clark & Lake, crossed the Chicago River, and walked up and down Michigan Street - the Miracle Mile.

We warmed up at the Water Tower Mall. For being a traditional mall it is vibrant with a nearly full store occupancy. We walked all 6 floors of the mall. Most stores were the usual clothing and footwear shops, but one stood out - the Lego Store. The store displayed scores of huge intricate models made of Legos. There were models of all of Chicago’s famous gothic buildings, vehicles from the Star Wars movies, various popular characters, cars, planes, etc. All sported amazing detail.

The ride back to O’Hare was uneventful. When we returned to O’Hare we checked into tomorrow’s flight and found out that we will be charged for all of our bags. The United Airlines mileage program that we were using promised one free bag each. We tried to find someone at the United Airline ticket desk at O’Hare to talk to about this discrepancy but had no luck. Opinions varied and we finally deduced that we’d take care of it when we check our bags in.

Once back at our hotel, we walked to Al & Joe’s Deli, just a block away. We bought a giant Cobb salad to split and a couple of soups to go. Al & Joe’s Cobb salad is surprisingly wonderful. Although it is just a fancy salad, they add some kind of magic to turn it into a feast.

Al & Joe’s is kind of a special place for me. Besides making magical salads, a couple years of ago I unwittingly left my iPad there. I didn’t notice it was missing until we got all the way home in Wisconsin. We called the hotel, American Airlines, and finally Al & Joe’s. Al & Joe’s had found it, held on to it waiting for someone to claim it, and then mailed it back to me. We always eat there when we stay at the Quality Inn O’Hare.

A few observations: 1) From the time we entered the Appleton airport, mask compliance was as close to 100% as we have ever seen. Only the rare person pushed their mask below their nose and we saw just a few cloth masks. Even downtown Chicago was 99.99% masked. Many restaurants even required proof of vaccination. We’ve never seen anything like it. 2) Downtown Chicago has some spectacular buildings. Of course, I have always known this, but after being cooped up indoors for two months we just doubly appreciated all the cool stuff in the world. 3) Over the past 30 years that we’ve ridden the Blue Line, we have noticed how gentrified all the neighborhoods along the line have become. I know that gentrification has its downsides, but the neighborhoods really look nice now. 4) Both the Appleton airport and especially the O’Hare airport are not crowded in the least. Although not completely empty, ridership must be way down at O’Hare. Even the security lines are insanely short.

We arrived at our gated community in Bucerias, Mexico. This neighborhood is called Terralta 3. There are three separate Terralta communities, each has its own gate. We are renting a three-bedroom house in Terralta 3. We stayed there for a month two years ago. The landlady, Letty, is very nice to deal with.

Sunday, January 30, 2022

Up at 3 am. Now that is impressively early by any standard. We reached the airport around 4:15 am. It was time to haggle over the baggage. The fast baggage check-in machines wanted to charge us a zillion dollars for all of our bags, so no go with them. Next, we waited by the ticket counter for a representative. Fortunately, hardly anyone was there so the line was short. When we finally interfaced with a real human we each got our first bags free as promised. It took some negotiating, some back and forth, showing our paperwork, more back and forth, but the lady relented. Off we went to the gate.

We have the Global Travelcard that the government issues for $100, an FBI background check, and an FBI interview. That allows us to avoid the main security lines and avoid customs coming back into the US. It is awesome. Our Pre-Check security line only takes about 90 seconds.

The flights, Chicago to Denver, then Denver to Puerto Vallarta, went perfectly. The only hitch was a guy one row in front of us on the Chicago to Denver's leg, refused to wear his mask over his nose. The flight attendants were cool, calm, and collected trying to deal with the guy. He just got more and more infuriating. They noted his name and address from his ticket. Wanda says he will be contacted and consequences will be applied.

My buddy, Jeff, picked us up at the airport. We cleared customs in minutes and found ourselves cruising to our Airbnb in 80ºF and full sunshine. That is a full 95ºF warmer than it was when we left home. It was glorious.

Checking in at the Airbnb went smoothly. It is the same three-bedroom modern house in a gated community that we stayed at two years ago. The only hitch here was the hot water heater. It is one of those instant water heaters and it works intermittently. The landlady, Letty, promised to have a repair guy come tomorrow morning.

We completed our arrival with drinks at Jeff and Teri’s house. It is a pleasant one-kilometer walk to their house, especially in the wonderful evening temperatures. We got the house tour, had several drinks, and watched the end of the 49er-Rams football game. It felt good to be back.

The front door.

The dinning room flows into the living room.

The kitchen.

The front bedroom.

Another bedroom.

The downstairs half-bath.

The upstairs main-bath.

Walk-in shower.

The patio - garden.

Dave and Wanda

Get Vaccinated To Save Lives.

Virtual Business Card

North America . Europe . Mexico . Asia . Product Reviews . Books & Maps

Please send us your thoughts and any errors we may have missed. We're on the road and cellular service is intermittent in the remote areas. As soon as we get online, we are eager to read all of your messages.

Text: 715-252-6664 | 715-252-3326

Email: alloverthemaptravelventures@gmail.com