Even though I’ve put in a lot of hours over the last three days, it has felt a bit like a vacation, what with a nice hotel room and eating most of my meals out. Back to the real world very soon, I’m afraid. *tongue firmly in cheek*

I was surprisingly tired today, considering how great I felt yesterday. At least, I’ve managed to get up without my alarm every day! It was another good breakfast, enchilada casserole with refried beans. I love Mexican ‘breakfast food’! 😀

After work, I went to the Pizza Hut next door for linner. They didn’t have the special we can get in Canada, a personal pan pizza with two toppings and a side salad, so I got the medium pizza, figuring that the leftovers would freeze overnight and could be munched on during my drive tomorrow. I’ve never spent that much at a Pizza Hut in my life, though, $20 with the tip! But, then again, I’ve never had leftovers. I was pleased to realise at the end of my meal that I knew how to say, “I’d like a takeaway box, please” in Spanish. Really, what a difference from last year!

I came back to my room to drop off the leftovers, then set off to find Finitos, a frozen treat place that I suspected sold nieve de garrafa, the frozen treat I loved so much in Maz last winter. I found them and asked in Spanish if I could try the prune flavour (another thing I couldn’t have done last fall!) before buying a medium sized cup of it for $2. I’m sure they would have mixed flavours, but when a gal’s got a craving, you don’t dilute its satisfaction! 🙂 The treat wasn’t nearly as good as what I get in Maz, but it definitely hit the spot. I liked that there were a few whole prunes in it and that I could suck the fruit off the pits. Yum!

I had a walk while eating my Finitos. This part of Nogales feels so much like Mexico and I got a reminder to watch where I step because the sidewalks are so uneven!

When I came in, I did some Google research to find a TelCel store tomorrow before San Carlos. Looks like the one in Hermosillo right on MX-15 and after the BMW dealership is my best bet in terms of not having to make a detour and actually finding the darn thing.

I spent some time on the TelCel site to see if anything has changed since last year and it seems like it’s all the same. I did fine with this part of my Mexican adventure last year and the only thing that’s improved this year is that I have more verb tenses and will be able to assure them that I did this last year and their SIM card will work on my phone. Oh, and I know to send a text message to activate my data service! One thing I will have to remember to do is ask if they can give me a Mazatlán number since I got a lot of complaints about my long distance phone number last year!

I’d be lying if I said I was completely calm about the border crossing tomorrow, but there is nothing like the pit of snakes I had in my stomach last year! It’s more of a ‘this is so thrilling!’ kind of feeling. I’m looking forward to being at my home on Isla and settling into my Mexican life, but I think that I will enjoy the drive down a lot more this year instead of treating it like a grueling marathon.

Twelve hours till I plan to be up, thirteen till the absolute latest I plan to be pulling out of a gas station, and, oh, twenty-one or so at the absolute most before I should be rolling into San Carlos!