Wrapping up our Grand Cayman Road Trip

Grand Cayman Travelog #23
Back at the Westin - Fri, 19 May 2023, 4pm

We just got back to the Westin on Seven Mile Beach after wrapping up our road trip around the island. After our visit to (don't you dare try to go) Barefoot Beach we stopped at a few other places.

We visited the beach at the Wyndham resort. It's on pretty much the far point of the island from here, and what's interesting is how quiet it is. There's almost nothing around it. That's both a good thing and bad.

We made a quick stop at the Cayman Parrot Sanctuary. It was a quick stop because we didn't go in. The asking price of $20 each to see some birds didn't seem worth it.

As we worked our way around the East End we did stop for sightseeing and pics at the Old Lighthouse and The Blowholes. I'm going to skip sharing pics from those spots for now in the interest of finishing this blog series before my next two trips.

Our timing on this drive was just right. Moments after we left The Blowholes it started to rain. It's one of those tropical afternoon showers that doesn't last too long but it was heavy at times. Not the sort of thing you want to tough through if you're outside.

Back at the hotel now the sky has cleared. We're discussing hitting the beach for and then using the hot tub before going out for dinner tonight.

Trade Show Day 3: It's a Wrap!

Vegas in May Travelog #5
En route to LAS - Wed, 24 May 2023, 2:30pm

Day 3 of this trade show is done, and that's a wrap— and not an hour too soon. I am so tired. Only the knowledge that we were done today at 2pm— and not 7pm like the previous two days— kept me even able to seem cheerful today.

As is kind of typical for these shows, the last hour was mostly us exhibitors talking to each other and taking each other's swag. I scooped several reusable water bottles and a few other things from other vendors. Meanwhile my team and I were successful at shoving all our powered mini bluetooth speakers into people's hands. We don't want to have to pack things to send back to our marketing warehouse! I couldn't get rid of all of our cookies, though. We were left with a few dozen, individually wrapped, to toss into one of the boxes to tape up and hand off to FedEx.

Taking the boxes to FedEx was my last responsibility for the day. ...Other than getting home, that is. A colleague and I packed things up at 1:45. Technically that was 15 minutes early but nobody cared. Nobody was left to care. Most of our team had already left by that point— including our event coordinator, who left two hours early. She had to get to her flight. She booked a flight too early to stay for the whole event. And she's in charge of our presence there. That certainly prompts some amount of "Why TF am I busting my butt anymore?" introspection. 😒 Anyway, the last colleague and I packed up two boxes and took one each down to the FedEx office in Caesars Palace.

Now I'm in an Uber headed to the airport. My flight's not 'til 7:50pm tonight. See, I booked a flight late enough to allow me to stay for the whole event. Now I'll change it. There's a 6pm departure that has seats available still, as well as a 4:20. The latter lands at SJC at 5:45, meaning I could be home just after 6 and have dinner with Hawk. That's what I'll shoot for.

Up next: I catch an earlier flight than expected!

Home 5 Hours Early, Leaving Again in 2 Days

Vegas in May Travelog #6
Back home - Wed, 24 May 2023, 8pm

A crazy thing happened at the airport this afternoon after wrapping up the trade show in Las Vegas. I moved up my ticket by not just one flight, not two flights like I planned, but three flights. Instead of the 7:50pm departure I got on the 2:50pm departure— at 2:50pm!

I didn't think I was going to make it in time for that flight, but it was delayed about 20 minutes. Hey, sometimes Southwest Airlines' business-as-usual of being behind schedule works in my favor! The agent at gate 12 printed out a new boarding pass, pushed it into my hand, and said "Run!" Fortunately I only had to run to gate 15. 🤣 And I even got a pretty good seat on the flight.

My good fortune of good timing continued when I landed at SJC. I opened the Uber app to call a ride as I rode the escalator down to the arrivals hall. "Searching for drivers...." the app said, as usual... then *ding!* "Your driver is here." LOLWUT? There was a driver just sitting in the pickup area already. I don't think him loitering there was legit, but it's not my place to bust him for that. I wheeled my bag out the door and across the street as quickly as I could.

The upshot of all this is that I walked through my own front door at 5:00pm. I had expected it to be almost 10pm when I got home tonight. Woohoo, 5 hours early!

With that extra time I was able to unpack my suitcase and meet Hawk as she came home from work. We went out right away to a favorite local pizzeria and got donuts for desert on the way home again. Now it's 8pm and I'm seriously thinking about going to bed soon. And I am so happy that I'm home and relaxed already, instead of struggling to stay awake for another two hours of travel. Though frankly I didn't even stay awake the whole time this afternoon.... I nodded off for about 30 minutes on the flight from Vegas.

It's also nice that I've got extra time to catch up this evening as my next trip starts less than 48 hours from now! On Friday Hawk and I are flying to San Antonio, TX after work and staying there for the Memorial Day weekend.

Update: I was so worn out from this trip following hard on the heels of my Club vacation that I was in bed, lights out, by 9pm Wednesday night and sound asleep minutes later. Finally, some rest for the wicked!