Loreto, Mexico -L.A. Int'l Airport

I think he looks pretty good for it being 5:00am at the Denver airport!  Of course he has Caribou coffee in hand and will soon be in sunny Mexico so he SHOULD be smiling!!!   It's Glenn's 60th birday trip!!!! As I'm looking at this picture, it's like - where are all the people????

 We had a nice flight from Denver to Los Angeles and it was fun looking out the window as we weren't flying very high  - below we could see all the neat red rock formations in Utah and the Grand Canyon!!  How fun was that!!

Observations about the LA airport:

1)  They need a new one!
2)  If you didn't know any better, you would not think you were in the United States - enough said!

Getting back to observation #1 - I can't believe how out of date this airport is and it really made me appreciate Denver's wonderful airport!!  We flew in on American - after getting off the plane,we had to stand in 2 separate lines OUTSIDE the terminal to wait for a bus - yes, a bus - to take us to our terminal for our next flight - luckily we had plenty of time as we stood there for quite a while!!

There were only 7 of us going to Terminal 6 - the "remote" terminal as it says on the map of the LA airport!!!  We finally got in the bus and our drive was quite interesting - right out beside where the planes were taking off, in and amongst dozens of other vehicles carrying supplies and baggage, etc.!  When we finally get to Terminal 6 ( after weaving among the planes that were at the gates), a police officer comes up to the bus and tells us the terminal is shut down - can't get off the bus - interesting - we later find out there is some major happening at the airport and it's all put on lock down!!

Anyway, we FINALLY get to crawl off the bus and walk in at one of the gates - it's a "zoo" inside as I would call it - Glenn called it a "frog show".  Oh my - tons of people everywhere, flights delayed because of the lock down, lots of gate changes........another typical day for the Raymonds when they fly!!

We did have time to grab a bagel (one, I might add) and a bottle of juice which cost us $7.50 - and we also got a club sandwich to go for the plane which cost us $10.50. I always knew California was expensive!!

After a gate change and a slight delay we finally were on our way to Loreto!!  It's always neat, flying down the Baja because you can see the ocean out of the windows on either side of you!!  And before we knew it, we had arrived in Loreto, went through customs ( a breeze) and were out the door to the shuttle vans who would deliver you to wherever you needed to go!!

Our destination was Cocos Cabanas for the next 7 nights - it's a true gem of a place, tucked away in a residential neighborhood but only one and 1/2 LONG blocks from the ocean!!  After meeting our host, Steve, and getting the lowdown on what to do and where to go in town, we were shown to our beautiful place and unpacked!!

We decided to walk out to the malecon (the walkway beside the ocean) and were dismayed to find it is AGAIN being redone!!!  When we were here 8 years ago, they were just building it so we assumed this time, that the hurricane had taken part of it out but that wasn't the case - the government just provided extra money for it to be "improved"!!! 

It was HOT out - let me repeat that - it was HOT out!!!!  I think we were both dripping sweat by the time we made it down to "Augie's" for drinks and guacamole and chips!!  My that pina colada tasted good!!!  We went upstairs so we could catch the breeze!!!

 This is a shot of the malecon looking back towards where we had walked - this section is completely done!

 And here's the view from where we had our drinks - beautiful!!

By the time we got back to our place, we were totally exhausted from the early flight and the heat!  Luckily our place has a/c so it was a pleasure to get into our nice cool place and relax!!

We walked up to Orlandos for dinner - late!!!  What a great place to eat and it was cheap!!!  2 meals and drinks for $12.00!!! I'm not sure what they do to make their rice and their beans but gosh, they are both always so good!

Right next door is a large ice cream store - judging by the many people that went in and out while we were eating, we decided it must be the best place in town!!!  Glenn got a black raspberry ice cream cone but I was so full, I couldn't even think about eating one - but trust me, I will go back - probably yet today...................

The bed felt so good last night - comfortable pillows, an overhead fan blowing - we faded fast once we arrived home for dinner...........To Be Cont'd..........