I was due for a weekend off and after the lucrative but very difficult job I had yesterday, it was easy for this one to be it. I do have a teeny job to do tomorrow, but it’ll go super fast.

So much of my precious time off is centred around shopping and food that I felt a strong urge to go do something touristy today. But first, I had a long lie-in, then extended morning couch time with Ms. B before heading out. 🙂

The museum of natural history (Museo de historia natural) is one of the few I haven’t been to yet so I decided to head there as I also needed to go to Walmart in Pensiones and the two locations are convenient to each other.

I had no trouble finding parking near the museum, which is located in a grand old house:

Before going in, I walked the block to the entrance of the Parque Zoológico del Centenario (zoo) to get a ginormous coco ice cream in lieu of lunch. While I enjoyed it, I browsed a few vendors and picked up these lovely dragonfly earrings:

(The loop for the ears definitely needs a bit of adjustment!)

Entrance to this tiny museum is free. No photos are allowed inside and all the exhibits are only in Spanish. The museum was inaugurated in 1987 and the exhibits haven’t really been updated since, although I did notice a few changes to adapt to new research, like Pluto no longer being listed as being a planet in our solar system. I did learn some interesting things and really enjoyed the exhibit about the dinosaurs. The plaques were at an accessible reading level and I didn’t need to pull out my dictionary once! At the end, I took a survey about my experience and mentioned that they need to deal with the lighting, as it was quite dark in some rooms and I couldn’t read the plaques without using my iPhone flashlight. So I’d say the natural history museum was a pleasant way to wile away 30 minutes, but is definitely not a must-see Mérida attraction.

I then headed over to Walmart as it seemed my best bet to get a few items. B’s wet food packets were on sale, so I grabbed a pile. A stocking clerk saw that I was clearly looking for a particular flavour and asked if she could help me! B prefers red meat to chicken so I like to have more of the beef and lamb on hand for her. I couldn’t find the lamb. The clerk took me to an aisle where there was more stock and pointed the lamb packets out to me. Nice gal!

Walmart Pensiones is in the middle of being renovated and expanded. Add in that it was a Saturday and I joked on Facebook that it was like the Hunger Games in there, with too many people and super crowded and disorganised aisles. But I wasn’t in any rush and store clerks were helpful and friendly, so it was all fine, plus I got through the till in record time!

A vendor in the parking lot got a super easy sale as I was heading back to my truck:

That’s one of a pair of hammock hanging ropes. The ones I bought this summer are already starting to fray, so having backups is a good idea. I like the idea of the metal on these. As long as they don’t squeak, these should last me longer.

As I was checking out of Walmart, a vendor on Facebook Marketplace got back to me to say he had what I wanted in stock and that I could pick up right then if I wanted. I was a bit bummed that his reply came so late as it meant some serious backtracking, but I still headed to his place since I was out with the truck and in no rush. Shockingly, Google maps got me to a block of the right address without any detours!

The item in question was for B. I’ve been having serious problems with ants getting into her food the last couple of weeks, the first time that’s been an issue, so this stand for her food bowls seemed like a good idea! I hope she will use it! $400 got me the stand plus the two stainless steel bowls. It feels like a good deal and it looks good! I had a few choices of stain colours and I really liked the look of the dark.

Here’s a map of my day (Meliton Salazar is where I picked up the food dish stand):

It was fun to head into parts of Mérida I don’t normally go into and to get in so much truck time, although, again, I have got to get the AC looked at! Driving here really doesn’t stress me out even if it is not a stress-free activity. You just have to be vigilant. I’m really starting to know my way around the main roads and that definitely makes driving more pleasant as I don’t need as much navigational help as I did a year ago. I just sometimes need a pointer on how to set off in the right direction, like getting back to Itzaes from the museum, because one ways make navigation tricky. But once I was back on Itzaes, I could get to Walmart without help and I got to about five blocks of the vendor’s house with no help since he was behind Sam’s Club Aviación and I knew how to get there from Walmart.

I’m now waiting on linner from the Vietnamese restaurant (tomorrow’s plan is to cook!) and looking forward to seeing if Ms. B will take to her new table. Expect a report! 🙂