Mota Mota Mota…

Airplane Cast 021918

By The Fillerbuster

Greetings and salutations, people.  Thanks for coming aboard (the boat).  In this case, the plane.  True Airplane Cast.  I am not sleepy and in a middle seat on the plane.  I need more room and WIFI to officially work.  I put my written and Google Doc lists on a spreadsheet.  I will write my fill (no pun intended) and then post tonight.

NOTE 1:  True Airplane Casts have no edits.  Sorry for any grammatical errors.  Literally throwing a theme pic and posting.  And sometimes my hooks get cutoff at the beginning when transferring from Word.  Not sure why.  Sorry again.

NOTE 2:  Back to new school style next time, with more FOCUS.  For now, separated dribble.  I say “separated” as I conveniently split up the sports, and Cabo stuff.  Skip what you want.  Skip it all.  I don’t care.  I just need to write this, if only for myself.  I am compiling the travel stuff for later years, and you never know when someone reads it when planning some travel.

NOTE 3:  I stayed in airplane mode (no pun intended) for all of this morning in transit and at the airport, so I could be missing some updates.  Can’t wait to catch up overall.  And obviously, I didn’t sit in Cabo watching sports, so I admittedly headline grabbed, and read partial articles.

SPORTS (one sentence only style especially in respect that I was more headliner chasing than analyzing on deep reading):

• Slopestyle skiing is my new favorite odd sport. I should have already known all about this sport.  You design your OWN run?  All runs are different?  That is brilliant.  I couldn’t turn away watching it the other night.  Love the imagination AND athleticism that goes into it.
• I heard an announcer say a skeleton racer had “superior equipment,” but don’t all racers have the same gear in that event, and if they don’t, isn’t that kind of jacked up?
• Shaun White won another Olympic event. It must be really depressing that Shaun White is older, cooler, and still better than all of these youngsters.
• I hear that Wall and Gortat had a little session together for healing, and consider Beal and Wall already had issues, the Wizards are letting some prime years get away from their title chances with these chemistry problems.
• Wait-Wall has been part of TWO problem relationships…pattern??
• I think one of my favorite non sports related Olympic moment was hearing a foreign couple pair skate to Disturbed’s remake of The Sound of Silence.
• We went to Colt & Gray in Denver the night before we left for Cabo, and I wish we would have just saved that money for another excursion, and the food and service there to me were just OK…basically Colt & Gray, just OK.
• Whether home or out of the country, so scary to hear about school shootings and so sad they continue to haunt our culture once let alone on a regular basis-I will let the specialists write about this one.
• I feel like we need to take Isaiah Thomas and Rajon Rondo out and just get them LOADED together, as either eternal peace or fun mayhem WILL happen.
• With a suspected THIRTY college hoops violations expected to be announced, I am so glad that it is so obvious UVA does NOT recruit illegally, as we get like 1 recruit a year in the top 100 and look about as harmless as you can get.
• You have to love what Bode Miller did for skiing and fandom, but you wonder how much he would have won without partying, and also wonder when he will mature to the point of NOT saying on air as an analyst that getting married ruins your ski title chances.
• I admit that initially it was just Lindsey making me pay attention to it, but the movie Game Night DOES look funny as hell.
• We watched that Three Billboards movie on the way to Cabo, and I had no idea A) Woody Harrelson was in it and B) how good it was overall (probably because Woody was involved).
• It kicked Shape of Water’s ASS, as you KNOW my feelings on that weird movie.
• The fact that a snowboarder BORROWED Shiffrin’s skis to WIN the event is so freaking awesome or ludicrous.
• FAU football lost its OC, but I have a feeling that although it might cater to reworking some of that offensive genius this past year, it will NOT derail the Lane Kiffin machine (especially since that machine STARTS in Norman next season).
• And THAT is the OU game I believe we might be attending next season.
• It is not only great for the Cardinals but also for FOOTBALL fans that Larry Fitzgerald is coming back for another year.
• I can’t believe Michigan State hoops came back from 27 down AT Northwestern and that is the biggest hoops comeback of this decade, folks.
• It is a shame they have the whole Nassar trouble thing going on-otherwise it might be a cuter story.
• Lindsey Vonn should stop tweeting about being single and lonely on Valentines Day, as A) she dated Tiger Woods and is famous and B) she should be focused on trying to win her Olympic events C) she should probably think that celebrities are pushing the envelope in harmless encounters as opposed to stalkers with strangers on social media.
• Cool that Austin Dillon was the Daytona 500, but MUCH cooler (to SOCIETY) that Bubba Wallace got second.
• I have to get back to the USA for The Voice opening rounds, as although the whole show is somewhat irritatingly addictive, the early rounds before they turn around is where it is at.
• I feel like this whole Time’s Up movement already happened in the 90’s to some degree and that this is Stage II, which is embarrassing that we are pretty much regressing in the workplace.
• We got Early Bird for Southwest, and it continues to astound me as we got B19 and B20 today, which is ridiculous considering I am paying to be EARLY.
• The pilot says even though we left 40 minutes late we will be on time, and the concept of “making up time” continues to confuse me and Mr. Seinfeld apparently.
• For new readers, if you can go faster legally, why not go faster ALL THE TIME???
• Hey, all, the Golden Knights are still pretty freaking good, and those castoffs on that team must be sending nonstop texts to their losing old teams.
• Just when we think we have teams figured out, they have a Saturday that negates that theory.
• Wichita State is now up after beating Cincy.
• UNC suddenly has a resume that is getting more impressive.
• Auburn is suddenly who we thought they were.
• OU…well, they will get in with a VERY low seed, and have a player still that could make a tourney run.
• I hear Fergie’s anthem was not so good, although I personally haven’t seen it yet.
• Finally, you know you are getting old when Rae Carruth was good, went to prison, and now is out of prison 17 years later, all during my “knowing” years…yikes.

CABO:

• If you are heading to Cabo anytime soon, I think Lindsey and I are now to the consultant level of guidance as she is two trips in, both inclusive resort and hotel, and I am one totally town/non resort trip in.
• Plan further ahead, and don’t do the one stop flight at LAX. We did this semi-last minute, still got there at 330pm for a decent price, but getting up at 3am wasn’t a great time.  Go nonstop and don’t delay the fun even if you are saving a few bucks with the one stop.
• Plus, I have decided LAX drinks are the WORST price-wise. How do they get away with that with so limited options to eat in certain gates?  They have you cornered.
• Cabo San Lucas is about 30 minutes from the airport, and the transit is all about the end result by the beach, because your view DURING the ride is people living in river beds, desert, dried up river beds with people NOT living in them, and mountains (well, large hills as I am a CO guy).
• Yes, it may or may not be true that I thought the actual TOWN was named “Cabo Wabo” for many years of my life from about 1987ish-1997ish.
• Yes, Sammy Hagar was a very large influence on my life.
• I learned on the way that it never rains in Cabo and is always the same temperature, but that a storm ALWAYS comes the week of September 16^th, so don’t plan any vacations for that week there.
• I learned there is another town right down the coast (San Jose Del Cabo) where things are less lively and relaxing, so I won’t be going there probably before I go BACK to Cabo San Lucas.
• When we got there, I learned one thing, which is the main drag literally TRANSFORMS itself from a very quiet tourist town and nice walk during the day to mayhem once the sun goes down. Controlled mayhem, because tourists occupy enough of the main drag to be somewhat of a majority.  Literally, it is kind of like those bad alien vampire things in I Am Legend…sun goes down, town goes nuts.
• As examples of this, we walked in and checked out Squid Roe and Cabo Wabo when we got there, but it was QUIET. Like, quiet to the point of me asking myself WHY would businesses be open during the day like that?  It isn’t like I would trust the FOOD there during the day when I know what happens at night.
• Cabo Wabo is the perfect place to go for cheesy 80’s colors in house and 80’s music.
• Squid Roe is the perfect place to go to for hookups, bachelorette parties, and general shenanigans (boxing rings, multiple open floors, shot ladies, etc.)
• For the whole trip, I honestly don’t know how some of the businesses make it there. Places I thought should be closed during the day were open, and places I needed to be open at night were closed on Friday and Saturday nights…very unpredictable.
• I immediately knew I was home when we sat at the bar after walking a bit and I heard in succession GNR, VH Panama, and an unreleased VH song all within 15 minutes.
• Run your card in pesos as that saves you money-I actually didn’t know that until this trip.
• The amount of pesos still look so intimidating at first on your receipt.
• I have to reel myself in from my bartending days (I am an above average tipper because of those gigs), as I can dial it back a little there. I tipped a guy $7 on $35 and he almost followed us home.
• The marina was a marina, but would become an important part of transit as our time went along there.
• We did get to check out the beach the first night before the sun went down, as my general rule in life is to beeline it to any type of water a destination has as soon after wheels down as possible.
• It was a pretty American town for being in Mexico, and dollars flowed as freely as pesos for the most part. I was expecting a little more foreign I think.
• You will say “no thank you” a couple hundred times whether on the beach or street, as you really can’t go 10 feet without someone offering you something. Obviously, this goes on there as it does in every foreign city relying on tourism, but I noticed it downtown here more than other places I have been.
• We ate our first dinner at Los Barriles (something like that) and I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone visiting. They ring the bell and clap when anyone comes in, they cook certain dishes AT your table, they are reasonably priced, they are energetic, and along with our high caliber drunken shrimp and surf and turf, I had possibly the best queso and hot sauce/ salsa I have had in my LIFE.
• I have pics of all this stuff if anyone wants to check them out and wants the link to view. I probably took about 500 pics and kept 300 good ones.
• Crazy thing at the end of that dinner was some Americans sitting down next to us as we were finishing up. They saw our FirstBank card and asked if Lindsey and I were from CO.  Then, asked where in Denver.  Then where did she grow up in Genesee.  Then, she found out they were the mother of one of her childhood friends and they KNEW her mom.
• Pool chair next to someone who lived 3 blocks from us in Uptown Denver, shared an excursion van with a family from Charlottesville, and figured out LOTS of people made that Pres Day venture.
• Abolengo is a cool Hookah bar and has famous people in photos with weird clothing or props-my favorite was Princess Lea (I know it is spelled differently than that but am typing on turbo) decked out in clothes from the late 1800’s.
• We went to Jungle Bar (Lindsey’s favorite place there and I now concur) for some free ladies night drinks, and then hit Cabo Wabo again. Like clockwork MADE for me, we waited through a set break, heard the band do both Sweet Child O Mine, VH Jump, and JUST when I was looking for a sign to leave, they played Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, which made it easy for me to run/leave.
• I would NOT go to Cabo without using the Passport deal. You pay $80 upfront cash at a downtown place, and then get 2 for 1 on everything from restaurants to excursions.  We paid back our $80 in the first event and meal.  I honestly can’t imagine people doing a lot of stuff there without overpaying without this thing.
• The Office is right on the beach and DEFINITELY get one meal there. We had a GREAT brunch there and everyone was very friendly, and we had a barricade still from the beach hustlers.
• We did parasailing that day. There are two types of parasailing from what I have seen.  Well, two things that COULD be grouped under that term.  Although on our list of doing, we did the OTHER one from the jump off the cliff one.  Parasailing from a chute being dragged by a boat is RELAXING.  You are basically chilling out in a mini seat a 100 or two feet above the water with GREAT views of everything you came to see.  Relaxed as long as you don’t drop.
• I rationalize that when they dropped us off in a different spot than when we signed up, it was just a good excuse to walk the WHOLE beach by the Sea of Cortez.
• We just did a cruise that night around the Arch and whale watching. Good closeness to The Arch and Lovers Beach, and we actually saw a couple of whales.  Mission successful, except that Lindsey had something not agree with her from the night before or that morning, so we just chilled on the cruise, got some great photos, and went back to hotel to chill out for the night.  Had a nice pool day the day after.
• We stayed at Hotel Medano. I can personally tell you most you need to know about where to stay in Cabo.  We spent about 4 hours researching all of them before selecting Medano.  We ended up happy, but would choose other ones now on our next trip with better knowledge.  Listen, Medano was great.  Pool was nicer than we expected and room was clean.  It just depends on what you are looking to be close to and what you are doing.  Medano is perfect as it is a close walk to beach, and about 5 minutes from the main drag and marina.  But, I could now see other options being better for other parts of a trip.
• It also depends on whether you want to do the resort thing or stay at a hotel close to town. I totally get the resort thing.  But, Cabo is a place where you want to be downtown some or all of the nights.  Given that I have now been there and Lindsey has done the all inclusive thing, we are set on just getting a hotel and partying IN town on future trips.  Or maybe doing the resort but NOT doing all inclusive.
• It’s not like you can get in the ocean on the Pacific side anyway, right?
• I like what we did-just did one full resort day at Breathless to get meals, drinks, pool, and beach for a day.
• There is a steep hill to and from the beach wherever you end up staying. That was fine going TO the beach, a downer coming back.
• You watch amazingly odd shows in Mexico, as you are either watching something in Spanish that you prefer to watch and know all the scenes, or you just accept Family Feud, some Seattle news station, or whatever else is rolling in English.
• The Olympics were nicely timed during in between things for us.
• I am not sure how I just started wearing Dri-Fits two years ago, but I LIVED in them during my trip. Long sleeve clothing that doesn’t allow me to get burned or get hot…sold.
• We didn’t end up scuba diving this year but I personally didn’t push it on this trip since my feeling is that it would suck in comparison to Belize (our last one). Next time DEFINITELY on the docket.
• We skipped the waverunner, but to be honest, I have done it in such cool places, this one didn’t call out. Limited area where the quieter Sea was, a cool arch to see, but then way too crazy on the Pacific side to go anywhere.  Too choppy.
• It took a LONG time for me to talk myself out of doing the waverunner.
• I ate sushi, which is a new milestone (only had it once before in Carbondale), and I will say Arts & Sushi was a pretty stellar place to eat it. My sample size is two, but Lindsey is an expert and has eaten there twice now.
• I found it odd that the convenience store by our hotel did NOT have Corona.
• We did the nibbling fish-feet thing, and I hope my feet didn’t kill the nice woman’s fish the day after.
• One of the highest rated restaurants on the Passport was Invita. Their signature dish was lasagna, which I of course got.  I will say this.  If I take in account ALL lasagna, it wouldn’t rank.  But, if I keep in mind that I am eating Italian food in Mexico, then it was ridiculously good.  The experience overall was stellar.
• My wife and everyone else make fun of me for my addiction to cargo shorts, but I can recall at least one time every day it was good I had plenty of room in my pockets. They are funny until someone needs me to carry something.
• How does water proof sunscreen know to come off in the shower again?
• The sales tactics of the hustlers was very entertaining to me as a salesperson. We heard them all, but I think aside from the obvious comments on sports gear a tourist is wearing, the most clever one that actually got me to stop was asking me about what ANOTHER tourist said to man and the meaning of it.  He asked me that someone had used the term “tenure” with him, and not only was it a good strategy, but a good choice of word that made me think hard for an equivalent.
• We got away eventually once I realize I was the target.
• La Dimujuana (something like that) was a GREAT restaurant kind of hidden away in the resort areas, but know you are heading in with NO English on the menu or through the servers. I just stuck with garlic shrimp.
• I personally think someone should break the news to the locals that us States people probably trust pharmacies that are not combo liquor stores.
• Or, are THEY the brilliant ones in combining them. I need a flow chart.
• There is not too much digital signage going on south of the border. I DID see one band with a digital screen behind it asking for tips and that was funny to see.
• The spelling of things when trying to spell things in American make me laugh. They are printed out multiple times on a menu or on a sign.  Coob Salad.    Etc.
• We went horseback riding. The ride out was ok as I tried to figure out how to steer a horse.  The ride on the beach was priceless and worth the money right there.  The ride BACK to the home base was the slowest, waste of time in the hot sun I remember.  Don’t worry about me owning a ranch any time soon and taking up horseback riding.  I would have paid the same amount of money to do the ride to the beach, on the beach, and then picked up and driven back.
• I don’t think my horse liked me.
• How do I love Westerns so much and never paid attention to HOW they steer them?
• In this day of nice phones, I think some of the businesses (the cruise line, the horse company) ruin their chance at tourist buying the expensive photos at the end if they use our phones to take pics on the ride/cruise. Nice to do, but I am not paying after that.
• One thing I WILL show you a picture of is the guitarist that Lindsey saw last time and we HAD to see according to her last trip. I thought it was going to be ok.  I sort of trusted her.  I had NO idea.  I will simplify it.  He is the best guitarist I have EVER seen in ANY band that plays ANYWHERE as far as bars week to week.  He was unbelievable.  He was playing Eddie Van Halen solos while smoking, doing shots, etc.  It was literally amazing.  Drenched with sweat after.  If you are in Cabo on a Friday or Saturday night, go to the Jungle Bar on a Friday or Saturday night and see The Lions.
• Oh, and we had checked out Cabo Wabo right before it to use the bathroom, and we came out and he jammed out Sweet Child O Mine, like he KNEW I was there like the other band two nights before.
• We watched a band two doors down right after, they also played some GNR, and we walked away because I couldn’t watch anyone play GNR right after seeing the other guy destroy it.
• Summary? Cabo is incredible and I plan on going back soon now that I know HOW to do it.  Would I visit there regularly?  YES.  Without a doubt.  Would I enjoy the town more than the resort?   Yes.  Would I move there?  I probably would not, but that is mainly because I need more blue swimmable ocean beach.  Thanks for the great time, Cabo.

And here is the guitarist from The Lions.

Links I saved for you before a couple of days ago:

That’s it for today.  Hope you enjoyed or are at least more informed.  My next trips are Vegas for the first weekend of March Madness, Orlando to see my parents, and an unknown week trip somewhere yet to be determined between myself and Lindsey.  I hear the Captain has started his initial descent.  Gotta go and get back to the sub 20 degree weather of Denver.  Will I blog again?  That is a CLOWN question.  Peace.

The theme?  It is an AIRPLANE blog.  That is the sports reference in that movie when he takes over.  “Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon…”

Mota, Mota, Mota.

Focus Ideas for next time brainstorm: