Who are you rooting for in the Superbowl?
That seems to be the question lately that everyone is asking. But I am changing the question to Where are you watching the Superbowl from?
Will you be home with family and friends? Home alone? Going to a local bar, maybe one with a huge crowd cheering for your team choice? Heading over to a friend’s house? There really are many options of how to spend game time. There are probably as many different choices as there are people since we are all so different.
We have chosen to take a few friends and head to the beach! We have done this several other times and it proves to be a ton of fun.
The girls and I have a group chat going on who will bring what as far as food is concerned. We decide what meals we will go out to local restaurants, which ones we will eat at the condo and who will bring the ingredients and cook each meal and of course who will bring what as far as Superbowl snacks. Carne asada mini tacos, wings, chips, dip, queso, meats and cheese platter, fruit platter just to name a few items. I think we are all set.
Audra and Jimmy are coming from Tucson and will meet us in Why. Jimmy had a health scare and surgery recently, so we are so beyond joyful that they are joining us. Robert and Michelle, our favorite travel companions are the other couple going. Tracey has asked Robert to drive. Because Tracey is the head of our household, the leader, the man of the family he always feels it his job to drive us on trips. I rarely if ever even help out on long drives. Just the way he is, he swears it has nothing to do with my driving ability! Whenever we have friends joining us, it is still always Tracey driving. This time he has asked Robert to drive, even if we need to take our truck to fit all of our stuff.
Jimmy and Audra are notorious for leaving early so I tell Tracey to tell them we will meet them in Why later than the time we actually think we will get to Why! As you probably know if you have read any of my posts, we are also notorious for leaving much later than we plan. No matter how hard we try, it just never works out like we think it will. This trip is no different. I have told Michelle we would like to leave around 9am, or maybe I said be to our house at 9am. That could be the major difference! I also remind them not to buy Mexican car insurance until we figure out if we can fit everything in their car or we need to take the truck.
Robert and Michelle arrive right on time. We are ready, for the most part. Everything is piled by the door ready to be carried out to the car. First, we get the few food items from the freezer and fridge to put in their cooler. At this point Robert says we can fit everything in their car. Oh, did I mention the boys are playing golf, so we have their golf clubs to fit in as well. Robert gets the food in the cooler when I remember I have a few more items in the fridge in the house that need to go with us. I, followed by Michelle run in to grab them. Robert is still moving things around in the back of the car when we return. He asks what else we have, I point to cases of water and tell him we have three cases of water to take. He says two cases. I repeat three, he says two, I think he doesn’t see the third as there is stuff piled on top of it so again, I repeat three cases of water to which he responds, “you can take two” Oh I get it now. As he gets most of the stuff in the car, I remember there are two boxes of china I promised to bring down to Getz. Robert pulls some stuff back out of the car in order to fit in the two boxes, decides he needs the soft sided cooler I had offered up earlier. I get that, load it with some of the cold food and hand it back to Robert. Just as he is getting everything in, I realize I have forgotten the wine!!! Can’t go with out our wine. We can buy beer in Mexico, but we can’t get our favorite wine. Michelle says the wine can ride by her feet, she will keep it safe. Robert, being the Jenga master that he is, has everything in the back of the car ready to close the hatch. There is a golf club sticking out to far…… stating that it is Tracey’s and he doesn’t need it he removes it from the bag. He is harassing Tracey because there has been some smack talk about who will win their golf game. He finds a hole to slide the club in, without it being in the bag it fits, and the door will close. Robert is the man and we are all in the car with all of our stuff.
When we pull out of our neighborhood, we text Jimmy and Audra to tell them we are on the road and they can leave now. About 15-20 minutes into our drive Jimmy texts they are finally on the road, delayed thanks to Damn Sudra (inside joke, stick around you will figure it out) We have a pretty uneventful drive, chatting and laughing most of the way. About a half an hour into the drive, Robert has to get on a conference call for work and we all have to be quiet. He is still on his call as we are approaching Gila Bend and he mutes his call to ask about stopping. The three of us decide we are hungry, and we want to stop and get a bite to eat. He is back on his call when Michelle tells him we want to stop at Carl’s Jr. He nods his head like he heard her, but when he turns off in Gila Bend, he turns into the McDonalds. We look at each other confused, we whisper to each other, did he not hear us, or does he know a different way. Robert angrily makes gestures that we need to be quiet. Op. He does manage to drive around the back of McDonalds, around the back lot behind the Loves gas station and into the Carl’s Jr. Just like he knew what he was doing!!! Three of us get out of the car and leave Robert talking on his conference call. Michelle says Robert said he didn’t want anything so the three of us order our food. I ask if we should get it and eat in the car with Robert or should we eat inside and leave Robert alone for a bit. At this point Tracey responds, “I have been quiet long enough, I need to talk”, so we get our food and find a table inside. We are about halfway done with our food when we are joined by Robert. He shares Michelle’s meal and we chat awhile before deciding we need to get on the road to meet up with Jimmy and Audra.
Of course, somewhere around 15 minutes or so before we are set to arrive in Why we get a text that Jimmy, and Audra are already there waiting for us. Those kids are always early!!! Once everyone has used the restroom, gotten snacks and the cars are full of fuel we are on our way.
We make sure to not exceed the 40Kmh once we cross the border and make it through the town of Sonoita. Drive is pleasant and not busy which is good. By the time we are arriving at the condo we are all harassing Tracey about how much he has been talking! So much so that I have evidently tuned him out and once repeated what he had just said, and the second time almost forgot to tell the gate guard that the car behind us, Jimmy and Audra, were with us!!
We enter the gate, turn right to go to phase 2 so we can go the HOA office and get everyone wristbands, parking passes, and keys to the condo.
We run into one of our favorite bellhops and get big hugs. Lorenzo then calls Jose to meet us in the parking garage and bring our stuff to the condo. Much of the parking lot is under construction as they re-pave it so getting into our parking garage is a maze. We drive through 3 other parking garages before getting to ours! Lorenzo led the way, hopefully we can find our way out by ourselves. Robert says he has it all under control.
Everything gets brought in and put away, the blinds get opened, the cushions put out on the patio furniture. Just the site of the ocean is so calming. A couple of us sit outside, some read, some just relax, some sit inside just relaxing, some catch up on some work that needs to be done. Whatever we are doing we are all relaxed and so grateful to be here.
Friday night we enjoyed dinner in town at Aqui Es Con Flavio, good food and a good visit with our favorite waiter there, Martin Moreno. Slow night in town and we were bombarded with musicians wanting to play music for us, followed by the flower guy twice and more musicians. Jimmy and I shared the whole fried fish, which was wonderful. We all enjoy our meals and are treated to a shot of something interesting provided by Martin to end the night. We laugh and joke and tell stories and finally decide it is time to head back to the condo. We pay our bill, give hugs, kisses, handshakes and a little extra tip to Martin and get back in the car. As we make the first turn off the Malecon it is unanimously decided we “need” Thrifty ice cream. We make a quick stop at Thrifty and each pick out a scoop to try. I haven’t had ice cream in probably 5 months or more, so it tastes extra good.
We return to the condo to watch a little tv. It wasn’t long before Michelle was asleep on the loveseat and Jimmy and Audra retired to their room. The other three of us didn’t last much longer and the tv was turned off and everyone headed to bed.
Saturday morning brought us each rising at a different time. Leisurely, without stress or pressure to be up or go anywhere. Jimmy and Audra were up and about when I came out of my room. The weather was windy but sunny. Michelle and Robert were up next followed by Tracey. Once we were all up, Tracey and I cooked eggs and bacon for everyone. We enjoyed breakfast at the condo together. Michelle gets a lesson on how to use the camera on her iPhone and the different features it has. As I clean up the kitchen from breakfast, Tracey and Robert head to the club house for an afternoon of golf. Jimmy and Audra head to the jacuzzi and Michelle and I grab our books to spend some quiet time reading. A couple of hours later Jimmy and Audra return to take a nap before cooking us all dinner. Just after they begin cooking, the boys return from an awesome time on the course. We have a wonderful meal, while enjoying great conversation. As we are talking about our plans for the following day, it is decided we will watch the recording of the live stream from our church at home. The four of us from Chandler take our “field guides” out for sermon notes and Tracey slings the service from his phone to the tv so we can all watch. There were a few glitches, not sure if it was our Wi-Fi service here in Mexico or that some many people were logged on watching with us, but we managed to make it through the entire service. Pastor Brian did an amazing job as usual, and the worship music was great. After service Michelle and I did our bible study homework together, having some great in-depth conversation. We are loving this Uncharted Generosity Campaign, the effect it is having on our church and on each of us individually. There is a little tv watching before Jimmy and Audra head to bed. It isn’t long after that Michelle and I call it a night, followed by Robert and Tracey a little later. Much to my surprise it is about midnight already! Super late for us to be up, but I am not feeling all that sleepy.
Much to my dismay that proved to be very true and at 2:48am I was still awake. I tried listening to a podcast, reading and watching tv all to no avail. Sometime after that I did manage to drift off to sleep and didn’t get out of bed until 8am on Sunday. Even thinking that was late, I was the second one out to the kitchen. I found Jimmy having a bite of breakfast. We enjoyed some conversation just the two of us, about jobs, health, friends and God. It wasn’t too long before we were joined by Audra, then Tracey, then Michelle followed by Robert. It had rained most of the night and was very overcast. One by one we take showers and get ready for the day. Once everyone is ready, we head out to Wrecked for some breakfast and time with another local friend Omar. We sit inside as the wind is blowing slightly and it is still very overcast. Breakfast is good and filling, and the bloody marys did not disappoint. We sit chatting for awhile after everyone finished their meal before deciding to move outside and play some cornhole. We each brought a jacket as we figured we would need them outside, but we were pleasantly surprised by how warm it was. The sun was now out, and the wind had died down. We played several games of cornhole rotating couples according to who won. Lots of drinks, laughs and picture taking. The band began playing so we enjoyed some good music while we had fun. Final game was a shocker as Michelle and Robert took down Tracey and me. It is not that we are that good, as we are not, but it was the first time they had ever beaten us! Great games all around. We settle up our tabs and head back to the condo with taking naps in mind.
Tracey makes it as far as the couch, Robert makes it to a chair on the patio, Michelle and I grab our books and find seats on the patio and Jimmy and Audra make us all look bad and head to the pool or jacuzzi. The sun is shining brightly now and not only do I not cover up with the blanket I carried out with me, I went back inside to put on capris, so I could roll them up and let my legs get some sun and soak up the warmth. I never even opened my book, I listened to some Marco Polo messages sent by my upline in doTerra and I sent one back along with amazing beach video, then closed my eyes and took a little nap. When I awoke Michelle was asleep in the chair Robert had been sitting in, Robert was inside, and Tracey was asleep on the couch. I decided to go inside and write this for you all to read, while I prepared some of the snacks for Superbowl. As my snacks were cooking, Jimmy and Audra returned and cooked up the carne for tacos, Michelle woke up and prepared her snacks.
By the time the game started most of the food was ready. We have enjoyed some tasty snacks and the friendship is the best. I cannot however say the same for the game. It has been a tad lackluster, not even the commercials are wowing us. Good thing this is not why we came. This time with our friends is priceless and we are so blessed to be able to come down here together.
We will be heading back early tomorrow morning, although we would love to stay another 3 or 10 or 20 days. Not sure how many would be enough. Tracey and I have workout tomorrow afternoon, Michelle gets to go with her daughter to her ultrasound and see her first grandchild and the rest are back to the grind of work and family responsibility.
Thank you all for joining us, virtually, and perhaps one day in the near future you can actually come down to paradise with us!