Sad day

Today is a sad day. We are having to say good bye to all our friends from over the 18 years coming down and new friends we made this year. Could not believe when we arrived on the 9th of Jan it would take over 2 1/2 hours from the time our feet touched the tour-mac and checking in at Villa Merecedes. Soon as we got our luggage in the room(very upset over confusion of the room) we headed to Any's for her beef stuffed chile rellenos(? on spelling)- our favorite dinner there. Because of the rain on Wed & Thu we got to make new friends sitting there on the patio just enjoying the fact we were in "Z". We went to our regular places to eat and found a couple of new ones with friends- funny what happens when it rains. Our 2nd week we went to the Pacifica Spa. We had a room at the top with the beautiful view of the the infinity pool and the manicured grounds. We love it there because it is nice and quiet and don't have all the noise at the main part of the resort. With the wait staff starting at 12, you never have long to wait for uno mas- their snack menu is limited but portions are good size. We totally loved sitting out on the balcony every morning with our coffee watching the sun pop up over the hill- it seamed cooler in the mornings this year than last. Our 3rd and 4th week moved to the Grand. At first we were disappointed for the unit we had booked(the small 2 bedroom under the restaurant) is now the office. We were going to be put in a middle unit of the new building that when we left in Feb the area was being dug out with a backhoe and bucket. When Kathie saw the unit, no way because for her it felt like being in a cave-there were no windows. You had a large balcony with a heated soaker tub. If we would wait, we could get a end unit- the unit was worth the wait. The shower area was like nothing we had seen before. Off the shower there was a small area with a bench that you could just sit and relax after your shower. Being a end unit there was no traffic going past our room. We would open the door, and with the front open there was always a good breeze going through the unit. The view of the bay and sound of the waves hitting the rocks was just what we needed to charge our batteries for the rest of the winter. Can not believe how fast these 2 weeks have gone by. Pacifica offers transportation to the main resort. We had our schedule of restaurants that we wanted to go to. Wed. was a beach day for us at Pacifica Resort- we are offered a hospitality room to get cleaned up before going to dinner. Wed. morning we went to a presentation on the program Pacifica runs helping the poor. Sad part there is only so much money available and the needs are great. They sponsor children from very poor families with good grades. They have a building where the children are offered English and a computer lab to give them a step up. Sad thing is this program is not available for high school students- we got to meet some of the students and your heart goes out to them. We have been contributing every year at checkout- money well spent. We just love the staff here at the Grand and when we see staff at Pacifica that was here, they have to come and greet us. When ever you go to a resort or hotel year after year you get to know so many of the staff and it is a sincere greeting that they are glad you are back. Our last gourmet dinner will be at El Faro's a 17 year tradition that we have dinner there on Friday evening. Tonight will be hard telling the ones we know bye till next year. You know a year is a long time and about September we will start counting the weeks and then the days till we come back. Now wait till United post the flights using air miles. Unless there is a direct flight from Chicago, we will get back in the routine of not flying on Sat because the airport is to small for all the larger planes at the same time.