On Our Way-SMA to Seattle - A Two Day Trip

The journey began with calling a taxi to take us to the SMA bus station.  They said 15 minutes - I said, "Por seguro" - she asked the driver by radio again and he said, "Por seguro".  OK - we got our luggage out by the gate when it was close to 15 minutes and waited.  John went up to the corner to flag down another taxi since it looked like this guy might not show on time.  At about 20 minutes, John flagged one down.  Just as he was backing up to the gate, the other guy showed up - from the opposite direction - he went past us once without realizing it was the right place.  Oh well, asi es Mexico, we got to the bus station in plenty of time.  We took the ETN bus which is "Executive Class" - only 3 seats per row so very roomy with individual media screens and headphones and remote control to watch a choice of movies, music, etc.  Of course, they were all American movies but dubbed in Spanish.  The bus also had its own Wi-Fi so I got out my laptop and yes, it worked. We had our "Geezer" cards and were able to get the tickets at half price - normally they were around $30 US each and we got them for $15 each - nice savings.  Some times it is worth it to be old, as I often say.

The bus stopped to pick up passengers in Queretaro so the whole trip took more than four hours but we were in no hurry and John used the time to snooze.  We arrived at the Mexico City North bus station and bought our taxi ticket for 110 pesos to take us to the Fiesta Inn Aeropuerto where I got a good deal through Expedia.com for $79 US plus tax.  Of course, the tax brought it up to over $100 but the hotel is very nice and comfortable.  We had dinner in the restaurant - John had enchiladas and I had a club sandwich.  They had a buffet available but we were not hungry enough for that.

Next morning we slept as long as we wanted - it was still before 8:00 when we woke up.  We decided to have the breakfast buffet which was not that much more expensive than ordering off the menu.  Since we probably would not get anything to eat on the planes or have time to eat in Houston, we indulged ourselves at the buffet and it turned out to be quite good.  They were making omelettes to order and it was yummy with mushrooms and a delicious cheese.  The buffet was 199 pesos each - pricey for Mexico but lots of food.

We relaxed in our room and read for a while until it was time to head to the airport.  Took the hotel shuttle and arrived at the airport in plenty of time for whatever may happen in the check in process.  The shuttle dropped everyone off at one spot by Terminal 2.  So first stop was to find out where Continental check-in was.  We couldn't really find any signs but we had information from the Internet that our Gate was K-53 so we looked for that.  We found the security point but they told us we had to have our boarding passes - go back - turn right and check in.  Well, we found a Continental machine to print boarding passes - we did it and headed back to the security area - nope - had to go back and check our bags.  Finally found the check in counters for Continental.  At least the lines were not long and baggage check in was pretty easy.  Finally, boarding passes in hand, we made it through the security check in area.  That went quickly and we then filled out our immigration forms and headed for the gate - and waited.  Everything was on time and the plane was very light on passengers.  They took off on time and we even got a sandwich, chips and candy bar for lunch - that was a surprise. We arrived on time in Houston.

Clearing customs was not difficult and lines were not very long.  As we walked back into the terminal after re-checking our bags, we asked one of the cart drivers where our departure gate was.  They took one look at the old man I was with and said we could ride to our gate on the cart.  That was great because it turned out to be a loooong distance.  When we arrived at the gate, it looked like a full plane - it was and they oversold.  We offered to give up our seats for compensation.  Sat around until the plane was loaded and it turned out we did not have to give up our seats - but it was truly crowded.  It was a very long ride - almost 4 hours.  The biggest treat was that coming into Seattle, the sun was shining and there were no clouds and we flew right by Mt. Ranier - quite a beautiful sight!  Unfortunately, I was in an aisle seat and didn't have my camera in hand.  Oh well - it is imprinted on my brain.

Mt. Ranier -  Not my picture - But this is what we saw

We picked up our luggage and easily found the shuttle service for our trip to our home away from home.  The house was very nice and we were happy to be here.  We had a light supper with goodies left by our hosts and went to bed.  It was a long two days.